M7 electronics quality issues?

[proenca]

Kleb,

I came from a M7 to a MP. sad reason though, my M7 was stolen. The MP forces you to think before you take the shoot but unless you are taking photos in constant changing light, its easy to get used to. You set the exposure and then compensate here and there if you see the light changing. No biggie.

But trust me, in terms of feel, theres a world of difference from a MP to a M7.

 

[StuartR]

Both are superb. I am a little biased though, as my M7 is a la carte and basically looks like an MP...if anything I would say the M7 is better built, but I don't know if that is because it is a la carte.

 

[peter_n]

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.

I'm not so sure. On the internet you always hear about the problems, but you don't get lots of posts from people who don't have problems. It's human nature to complain...

So I'll repeat my complaint about the mechanics of my M6TTL; it failed. 😀

 

[rffguy]

Hi Klebleev,
I sent my m7 back to Leica Germany for repair well over a month ago. No word yet. Mine had the blinking-dot problem, the random-bc-flashing problem, *and* the wrong-iso-detected-when-set-to-dx problem! So, I'm not impressed with the electronics of the m7 either!

 

[sepiareverb]

I'd go with an MP, but the rewind would bug me. The worst thing is that tiny shutter speed dial that I'd have to turn all the time. The worst thing about the M6 is that shutter speed wheel. Just way too small. I shoot the M7 by manually selecting the shutter speed often, and it is simple to adjust. With the M6 I am always having to take the camera away from my eye to grasp that wheel with 2 fingers.
Well it looks like the snow will actually stop for a day up here tomorrow- so I'll be out with the M7's to see how it goes in practice with the manually set ISO.

 

[Klebleev Denis]

I'm not so sure. On the internet you always hear about the problems, but you don't get lots of posts from people who don't have problems. It's human nature to complain...

So I'll repeat my complaint about the mechanics of my M6TTL; it failed. 😀

Agree, i'm just confused about m7 quality. I thought m7 - is the perfect camera with 1000 years of reliability. As you can see fron this topic i'm not alone with such kind of problems. I have nikon fm3a for 4 years of heavy use - and absolutely no problem. But my first leica in 2 days of use had mechanical and electronic breakages. I have ny own "statistics". 2 of my friends have m7. One of them has "bc-blinking" problem. So 2 of 3 m7 i know have electronicall problems, more then 66% ;-)

 

[Klebleev Denis]

Kleb,

I came from a M7 to a MP. sad reason though, my M7 was stolen. The MP forces you to think before you take the shoot but unless you are taking photos in constant changing light, its easy to get used to. You set the exposure and then compensate here and there if you see the light changing. No biggie.

But trust me, in terms of feel, theres a world of difference from a MP to a M7.

thank you for comment, i'm still thinking about mp. but i forecast my shooting speed decrease. it disturb me.

 

[peter_n]

Same thing here. I've had a number of Nikon SLRs for 25+ years and never a problem. Now I'm having the same experience with my Leica M7s. If internet forums had been around 25 years ago I would probably have been reading about Nikon problems then too.

I will grant that it is extremely annoying when you pay a small fortune for a camera and it turns out to be a dud. But we have no way of knowing what the overall failure rate is, we are simply reading about isolated samples of one. As I say, when that one is yours it is a bummer and I do sympathize.

Modern manufacturing seems to have embraced the concept of end-customer beta testing. So many products are sold before they are ready. I blame the software companies for institutionalizing the idea and now we're sort of used to it. I've bought nothing but Volvo cars my whole life, and that company is now a disgrace the way they sell new models that are not properly debugged before they reach the marketplace. And a car costs a lot more than a camera!

 

[StuartR]

I agree with Peter completely!

But Volvo is now owned by Ford...they even look like Fords now...

 

[sepiareverb]

Well our first day in over a week that it hasn't snowed! Out today with the M7's as usual but I've set the ISO myself, no DX today. Not a single lower dot flashing unless I had dialed in Exposure Compensation. So there is a fix to having the damn dot flashing me- albeit one that I probably shouldn't have to make considering the price of these things.

Now does this point to the DX contacts being faulty? Or just the DX portion of the wheel? Should I pursue fixing this with Leica?

 

[Klebleev Denis]

The same problem on www.leica-camera-user.com

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/film-forum/21045-m7-lower-dot-battery-problem.html

 

[sepiareverb]

yeah, that's me

 

[peter_n]

Except that here he's in Vermont and over there he's in New Jersey, but really he's hiding up in Canada... 😉

 

[sepiareverb]

check your detailed VT map! 🙂

 

[peter_n]

Ooooh tricky! 😀 I will!

 

[35mmdelux]

I have the same dot problem occasionally. Then the battery went kaput. I guess it was telling me the battery was low... replaced the batteries and occasionally the same dot issue arises. I like the AE alot so I don't pay attention to the dot issue anymore and keep shooting away.

But the battery going kaput taught me a lesson - make sure I have an MP or M6 on hand as back up.

 

[JohnL]

I have an early M7 that I bought third-hand. Sometimes it fails to read the DX code properly, but it's rather rare, and I suspect it may be as much the film as the camera. I also have a bit of flare in the focusing rectangle under certain light conditions, but its rarely more than a minor hassle. I don't pay much attention to the dots - they don't bother me. I always carry spare batteries.

 

[TEZillman]

Just to add a positive comment, I've had my M7 for 3 years. It was purchased new and I have never had a problem with it.

 

[peter_n]

Tom I haven't had mine as long as you've had yours but so far I've had the same experience. Also I don't mind the blinking dot either as I used to get it using bulk loaded cassettes with "incorrect" dialed ISO for the DX. Then I inadvertently found out that using a label on the canister that covers the DX coding fixes the problem. 🙂