M7 DX Coding issue

[lightwriter]

I have an M7 which I sent off to Leica for repair 1st of Dec as it did not read the DX coding on the cartridges. Before all of you roll your eyes at me, I know that it's not a big deal and that we all lived without and can continue to do so by means of the ISO manual setting. The thing is that I feel that if the camera has that function by golly it should work. So 4.5 months and many phone calls later, I got someone on the other end who said that it was in Germany and that it would be back in a couple of weeks - that was almost 2 months ago. A few weeks went by and I called again to no avail. I left countless messages but did not receive a single call back. I finally got someone on the phone this morning and he said that they had implemented a fix but that they had decided that it was not a good fix longterm. My question to fellow M7 owners; Is there some kind of existing problem with the DX code reader on the M7s? I ask b/c he offered to return the camera to me implying that while there was a fix in the works, it would be a while before it was finalized so I should just live with it if I wanted my camera returned any time soon. Should I just "live with it"? I hate to think of having a non fully functioning Leica. Anyone else have this problem?
Thanks
-Carlos

 

[Dougg]

I wish I were familiar enough with the M7 to know if you can just switch off the DX coding as an option, because I'd want it off. Far from being a convenience, I think it's royal pain in the one camera I have with that feature. I never want the meter to be set to the box speed; NEVER, I always have my own ideas what the Exposure Index should be. So I have to manually re-set the ISO value for every roll! 🙁

But certainly, OTOH, the camera should work correctly as designed. I'm shocked that this long after the intro of the M7 they don't have a fix for this problem.

 

[BudGreen]

I have an M7 and I've never heard of this problem. Once in a great number of rolls it may have a problem reading the DX code, in which case I set it manually. The dial on the back allows you to select the desired speed, or DX for auto. It's not at all inconvenient to set it manually, but I would be irritated for having spent so much money on a camera that was not working properly.

 

[StuartR]

I have not had it have a problem with reading the contacts, but I have had a problem where if you nudge the wheel in the wrong way it can change the ISO. This was a problem for me when I used a Luigi case without the cutout, but after having the cutout made, I have not had the problem since. I would definitely say live with it for the moment. Just set the ISO yourself and wait the fix. Sure, it's annoying, but at least it has almost no impact on the functionality of the camera.

 

[Avotius]

this is one of the reason I have not jumped on an m7, the DX problems and the startup time on auto (did they ever fix that?)

other then that I really wanted an m7 but it seems to have too many problems with all those trinkets they put into it. Hello MP

 

[StuartR]

The benefits far outweigh the problems for me. I have an MP as well, and the M7 is slightly quieter, slightly smoother, and has better exposures. And yes, my MP has been recently CLA'ed. As such, I generally use the MP for black and white, and the M7 for slide film.

 

[JohnL]

My M7 seems to read the DX OK.

 

[TEZillman]

My M7 has missread the DX code once or twice in the two years that I've had it. It's always been a issue with the coding on the film canister.

There seems to be a myth about a "long start up time" with an M7. The fact is that the camera displays the film speed for 2 seconds after it's turned on. I usually turn the camera on, take the lens cap off, check the aperture setting on the lens and raise the camera to my eye. I rarely see the film speed display. If the camera is left on, the display goes blank after a minute or two, but is instantly ready when you press the shutter.

 

[CZeni]

The DX issue comes from the contacts not being able to read the film cartridge clearly...my early M7 did this and I send it back to Leica for repair...bigger issue was a film counter that couldn't count.

But yes, you can set the ASA manually perfectly well - the only thing is that you'll now see a blinking LED in the finder which is a bit annoying.

And start up time? An utter non-issue. It's not like a digi point--n-shoot. Yeah, it shows the ASA, but I've been able to do my shooting just fine, never caught out by the delay.

 

[SDK]

I have two M7s (one standard from 2003, and one built a la carte December 2004) and both are somewhat unreliable at reading DX speed info. It's no big deal to me that DX reading not work reliably, but Leica ought to re-engineer the DX contacts. I don't trust DX reading on my Nikon F4 or Hexar RF either, but they work fine. DX never struck me as a necessary feature. I always set film ISO manually on all my cameras, with exposure compensation 99+% of the time. That works fine for color negative film that I shoot.

 

[peter_n]

My understanding is that it was the earlier M7s that exhibited the problem. I also have two and they both have read DX info reliably. Having said that I am a bulk-loader and so mostly I override the DX because the loaded film speed rarely matches the DX of the cassette I load it into.

When I do have that match I have set it to DX and exposures have been fine.

 

[lightwriter]

Thanks for all the responses. I did not think this a common issue but apparently is/was with earlier versions. I guess I'll just wait a little longer to see what happens. If nothing has been done, then I'll just live with it as I have for so long. In fact, I suspect that I will never trust the DX coding again and always set my own ISO as the photo gods intended.

As for the start up lag; I am in agreement with you as it has never been an issue for me. Start up lag was never an issue even with my 1st generation DSLR's. On the other hand, MY start up lag needs some work. It takes me several seconds to check aperture, compose, adjust exposure, focus and fire the shutter 🙂

Thanks again,
Carlos