M240 Turns on but non-functioning

[pechelman]

Has anyone had this problem;

Camera appears to turn on and the LED flashes on the back like normal, but then stays lit for a longer time than normal, like ~3 seconds.

Framelines do not display. Buttons are unresponsive. LCD will not turn on with any button press (menu, set, info, lv, etc)

Makes no difference is there's a memory card in the camera or not.

Have tried pulling the battery while it's on and off.

I'm currently on travel, so i do not have access to a charger, but wondering if it could be the battery? I was getting the ubiquitous "Check Battery Age" message, but last night when I used it the battery still showed ~70%.

Any ideas?

 

[Huss]

Is there a lens on it? Can you try a different battery? Or charge the one you have? I read that once that message appears, it no longer shows the correct battery level.

 

[rscheffler]

Don't really have anything to suggest. All three of my M240 batteries now show the 'check age' message, being all slightly over two years of use now. Still seem to show battery level, though whether or not it's correct, I'm unable to verify.

I'd try leaving it without a battery overnight and seeing what happens. Or, leave it on with sleep disabled overnight until the battery is dead. One time I accidentally did this and it completely reset my camera. Probably a long shot...

 

[pechelman]

Have tried with and without a lens.
Only brought the battery in the camera since it was supposed to be a short trip.
Didnt bring a charger.

I thought I had just recently charged this battery before I left, but maybe not.

Currently stranded here in SoCal, possibly till Saturday, due to the bad weather in Denver. May try to make it up to the LA Leica store to see if I can rule some things out or not.

edit
Tried leaving it sit for a while without the battery, didnt make a difference.
Tried with a blank, formatted in computer memory card, no difference.
I have no way to change any setting on the camera (sleep mode for example) and no way to charge, so cant try that either.

 

[Mackinaw]

You may want to try the “L-Forum” and check out their extensive FAQ section on the M240 and other digital Leica’s. Maybe you can find an answer there:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/forum/177-leica-m-type-240-262/

Jim B.

 

[pechelman]

Thanks, Jim.
Just posted the same question over there

 

[Huss]

A quick trip to the Leica Store on Beverly in LA, or to Samy's Camera in Culver City (LA) - whichever one is closer to you would be good. You could try one of their batteries and see if that is the cause.

Where are you staying if you are still in LA?

 

[pechelman]

So i got a phone call this morning at 850am that i was cleared on the standby list on an 1120am flight out of LAX. And I was in downtown long beach. Barely made the flight, some running was involved, but finally got home.

Popped in the spare battery at home and whala, works perfect.

I wonder if the camera was accidentially left on or something, possibly with the shutter button half depressed.


Lesson for those reading this thread in the future;
If you see you LED blink normally and then stay illuminated for ~5 seconds, without LCD working or framelines displaying, it probably just means you have a very weak battery. As it turned out, the battery had barely enough power to trigger the sensor to take a picture without opening the shutter. I had a bunch of completely black photos on my card when I got home and could see them.

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Glad it wasnt anything other than the battery.

 

[Huss]

Good news. Charge up that battery and see if it still works with it. Does your good battery have the age warning message?

 

[pechelman]

Going to test the suspect battery today. Charged it last night.
I have a total of 4 batteries (for 2 m's) and 2 of them display the message.
Putting some tape with an ID number on them so I can better keep track on them.

If I discover anythin else, will report back

 

[pechelman]

more like, now I know to double check the camera is really off.

 

[pechelman]

i was traveling pretty light on this trip, so my camera was in a soft lens bag that i had leftover from a fuji lens. With the 28mm summicron & hood, the fit was very tight, and with the soft release on the camera, and how I had it placed in my messenger bag, I believe the shutter button might have been continually depressed. I think this was my downfall.

my auto-off is set to 2 min otherwise