M7 electronics quality issues?

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rffguy

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Hi. I am new to the world of the Leica M7. This is a camera I very much want to like, but so far my impression of it is less than great. Specifically, I am wondering about the quality of the electronics. I have 2 issues:

The "bc" light occassionally comes up. I thought this may be because the factory-installed batteries were stale, but I have seen "bc" with fresh batteries as well. Turning the camera off and then on again seems to make it go away.

The bottom red dot sometimes blinks. I have seen this with Neopan 1600 and the camera set to DX to automatically detect ISO. The scene I'm viewing has plenty of light and this is a fast film, so I don't know why this light blinks. Turning the DX dial back and forth seems to make it go away.

I believe I've read posts where other people have had these issues as well.

1) How common are these problems?
2) Has anyone sent in the camera for repair and had these things taken care of?

Thank you.
 
Is the cam new or used? I'm not sure what the "bc" light is but the blinking dot occurs when you manually override the DX with a different ISO value dialled in on the wheel on the back of the cam. Sorry you're having problems with the camera. I've not had any issues with mine (yet).
 
"bc" is short for battery check. It could be that the battery outsides are dirty. Try taking them out, and rubbing them with a clean cotton cloth to remove any oil that could be limiting the current. I've also noticed it in cold weather with middle-aged batteries.

The blinking light on the bottom shows up when ISO on the DX coding of the film does not match the ISO manually set or you are using exposure compensation. Learn to ignore it most of the time, it's a dumb feature, especially since the camera displays ISO in the finder when turning on. The upper dot comes on when the shutter is depressed half way in AUTO mode, and indicates exposure lock.

Your camera is probably fine.
 
Hi there.

"bc" stands for battery check. the camera is brand new from b&h. The contacts are clean and the batteries are new and fresh. I saw "bc" occasionally with the factory batteries as well as my new fresh ones.

I see the blinking dot when the camera is set to automatically detect film speed. I'm not manually setting film speed or compensation. I correctly see 1600 (i'm using neopan 1600) blink in the viewfinder when the camera is turned on, but then that blinking dot sometimes happens. It is not a matter of the camera not being able to correctly meter the scene because there is plenty of light.
 
You have 14 days to return photographic gear to B&H if you want a replacement. They are excellent about returns. What are the first four digits in the serial nr?
 
Mine does the same thing

Mine does the same thing

Bought it from BH 4 months ago. Does the same thing but only with certain film. WHen I put in some Tmax it gave the wrong ISO speed, and constantly had the blinking dot. That roll came out bad if I remember correctly.

After that, I had a few very weird shots that were way OOF even though they were focused when I snapped. Also, I get the BC evey now and then for no reason. Its been quirky and then broke over a week ago when it seized up. Its at leica now getting repaired.

I have since bought an MP and i like it SOOOOO much better than the M7 in every way. Size, feel, and use. I used AE on the M7 all of the time, but realized I do not need it. I prefer the MP as it can be used even without a battery. Its a very nice camera, and now I am emotionally attached as it gave me 5 scars on the top of my head (see my other post about this)

Anyway, I love my M7 and MP, but may end up selling the M7 once Leica repairs it.

If you are a bit unsure, return it to BH. I almost returned my M7 when I bouht it from them, but decided to keep it. I have returned a couple of lenses and they were awesome about it. No problems. Just be sure to get your RA# within 14 days.

Good luck.
 
Also

Also

sometimes when I have film in my M7, the ISO reading that shows up when the cam is turned on is wrong. For example, if I have a roll of Delta 400 in it it may show up that my film is ISO 25 when the cam is turned on. I have to turn it on and off about 4 times, move the ISO dial, and it finally works.
 
Can Leica fix these issues with the M7?

Can Leica fix these issues with the M7?

Hi SteveRD1,

Before you sent the camera to Leica, did you talk to them about the issues? Did they say they knew about these issues and could fix them? I believe I've read in the past about others having these issues as well, so I'm wondering if Leica has a definitive fix.

Also, do you know how long it will take from the time you put your camera in the mail to when you will get it back?

I've had my camera for about a month so my 14 days are up. These are quirky issues that happen seemingly randomly so it's not something I caught right away.

Thanks for the info.
 
Your serial nr. is recent. I asked because very similar issues happened with earlier cameras and were supposed to be fixed. Your DX problem is identical to the earlier one and is (I believe) fixed by an optical reader. I would send it back to NJ if this bothers you, but I hope you have a backup - they take their time. Good luck!
 
M7

M7

I spoke with Leica the day they recieved my camera about 10 days ago. They told me turnaround should be 2-3 weeks. BUT it was sent in to fix the broken film advance lever. I did not even tell them about the other problems. Ill probably call today and tell them to fix those probs as well.
 
Sorry to dredge this one up again, but I'm curious just how many M7 users are having problems with the lower dot. It is beginning to become annoying to have the damn thing flashing at me when I haven't made any adjustments. Turning the ISO wheel all the way round will sometimes seem to fix the problem, but I think it is just erratic. It happens on both bodies #2853XXX and #2943XXX. I haven't tried setting the ISO manually recently as seems to be one indicated workaround, but will next time I'm out. As I recall it didn't help.

I don't have the $ to get MP's with the angled rewind crank through ala carte- and I like the shutter speed dial so much better on the M7. Are M6 TTL's my solution?
 
Have you checked to see whether your ISO dial is locked in? During handling, the dial can sometimes be knocked/nudged a little so that the camera thinks it's set to an ISO that's different from what it's sensing from the film cartridge's DX code, even when it looks correctly set to your eye--this applies to whether you set it to DX or set the ISO manually (what I do) & the same thing can happen to the exposure compensation part of the dial.

FWIW, IME @ least, the M6 TTL's aren't completely free of electronics issues. The ISO mechanism on mine totally failed last year, i.e., always set to ISO 100 no matter what the ISO dial was set to & had to be fixed by Leica NJ (DAG didn't want to deal w/any electronics).

sepiareverb said:
Sorry to dredge this one up again, but I'm curious just how many M7 users are having problems with the lower dot. It is beginning to become annoying to have the damn thing flashing at me when I haven't made any adjustments. Turning the ISO wheel all the way round will sometimes seem to fix the problem, but I think it is just erratic. It happens on both bodies #2853XXX and #2943XXX. I haven't tried setting the ISO manually recently as seems to be one indicated workaround, but will next time I'm out. As I recall it didn't help.

I don't have the $ to get MP's with the angled rewind crank through ala carte- and I like the shutter speed dial so much better on the M7. Are M6 TTL's my solution?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Well after posting I played with the dials on both of them and on the older one (the .58) I can make the dot appear by simply touching the center of the ISO dial, the piece you turn to change the ISO. The .72 doesn't seem nearly as sensitive. By setting the ISO manually I do seem to be able to eliminate the dot flashing so much, (it didn't come on in the .72 during the 5 minutes I messed with things- a record) but I like DX for the simple fact that I'm a bit simple and will forget to change the ISO when switching films. DX is an easy habit to get into- after 15 years of DX am I gonna remember to check? I'll try. I have been better with this on the M5 & M6.

I did try wiggling the outer wheel- to purposely knock off the exposure compensation dial and couldn't make the dot appear. This is one of the things my dealer told me was the culprit. The older body does seem to have some problem with that ISO dial no? If simply touching it- not turning it- touching it sets the light off doesn't that indicate a repair is needed?
 
My two M7 bodies are 2786xxx and 2942xxx, not so far from yours. I've not had problems with the DX or manual setting which I use quite a bit because I bulk load film. I also have an M6TTL backup and that failed mechanically but the electronics (so far) have been fine. It is very annoying to have something like this happen but getting an MP isn't the answer either. The earlier M7 bodies did have DX problems so you might want to get in touch with Leica in NJ. The problem is that even if they assign a "priority" grade to your ticket a fix can take 6-8 weeks total because they are overwhelmed with the M8 issues.
 
Damn digital nuts! Another case of technology causing more troubles for the rest of us halides.

Thanks- I have a guy I've dealt with at Leica NJ in the past- had forgotten about that till just now I will get ahold of him and get the 'official' take on this.
Any contacts for Leica in Canada left? I am very close to Montreal.
 
I also have the blinking ISO problem from time to time. Usually if I roll the exposure comp back and forth it goes away. I think the ISO/Exposure comp wheel design on the M7 is the weak link in the camera. All that said, I also heard that this can be caused by the film cannister moving around and messing with the DX contacts. A way around it is to make sure you tighten the film when you first load the camera. I am not totally convinced that that is the real solution though.
 
I bought my M7 a week ago. I set up my camera to auto dx and load delta 400 inside. But camera showed me dx = 5 000. It happened again when i put different kind of film. I returned my m7 because on the next day i had a mechanical problem besides electronic, the shutter didn't returned on the start position after shooting. My m7 first 4 digits = 2945.

After that i was speaking with my friend, who has a m7 and he complains about "bc" blinking after setting a new batteries.

For me it looks like m7 has a lot of problems with electronics. That's why i'm thinking about mp, but i really need autoexposure.
 
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