M8 Charger

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Richard Marks

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Im not sure if this helps others but I have been through 2 M8 chargers now. The weak link on both occasions has been where the socket adapter inserts into the back of the main housing of the charger. The retaining lugs are not very strong. Its not a brilliant design, but I think on both occasions the damage has happened becasue its been in my bag with the socket adapter connected. I am sure that travelling with it detached would make it last a lot longer. The other thought is to permenantly glue the two pieces together but with obvious loss to international travellers.
best wishes
Richard
 
Richard Marks said:
The other thought is to permenantly glue the two pieces together but with obvious loss to international travellers.
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Not necessarily. My Radio Shack adaptor set fits the USA prongs on the M8 charger just like any other of my chargers that all have a fixed prong set. Likely anyone who's an international traveller already has such a set for their other electrical devices and could permanently attach their home-country prong adaptor to the M8 charger. But I agree about travelling with it detached, though mainly because it reduces the bulk. BTW, does anyone know why the charger is like 10 times the size of the battery? You'd think there'd be room for at least a second battery bay.

Another thought is that it would be best to hold in the release catch when attaching a new prong adaptor, rather than snapping it in. Less wear on plastic parts. Learned that with cheap cameras and their back latches :bang:
 
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I take the adapter off and 'store' it in the battery opening and wrap a rubber band around it. Keeps the prongs from sticking out and breaking off.
steve
 
I suppose it was a well intended idea with the detachable prongs but as Ben Z says, most travellers have a universal type of converter. I hope some 3rd party comes up with a better design fairly soon. In the mean time im quite tempted to glue mine toghether. Incidentally the car charger connctor works verry reliably if you are stuck with a loose mains coupling.
 
I think that the M8 charger is about the best in the business. The best thing about the camera, actually - I am not at all as impressed with that, honestly. The charger is small and compact, flexible, reliable and fairly rigid. How is it possible destroy it is beond me.
 
Olsen said:
The charger is small and compact
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😱 Surely you jest - I've never seen another camera charger as huge!

Defeats the small-travel-kit rangefinder philosophy somewhat...!! :bang:

I'm hoping that tiny travel chargers will soon start appearing on eBay...
 
The charger is built like a tank

The charger is built like a tank

I agree with Olson, the charger is built like a tank. True it isn’t the smallest, but compared to all the other gear I carry it’s no big deal. I tried to bend the lugs Richard mention and they didn’t budge. The only complaint I have about the charging system is the $100 us, for a spare battery. Bill Galleries
 
Olsen said:
I think that the M8 charger is about the best in the business. The best thing about the camera, actually - I am not at all as impressed with that, honestly. The charger is small and compact, flexible, reliable and fairly rigid. How is it possible destroy it is beond me.
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You're kidding right? 😱

I've got to wonder what the definition of small & compact is in Norway because it certainly match that used in the UK or US! Small & compact compared to a cell phone of the 1980's perhaps? Small & compact compared to a truck battery? 🙄

I agree that the only practical way to avoid problems with the adapter plug is to remove it and store it in the bag with the charger. The US plug is similarly vulnerable and unlike most similar adapters the pins don't fold away.

I can't complain about the utility of the charger, but it definitely doesn't fit anyone's definition of a practical travel charger. The other problem is that the bulk of the charger can cause it to prise itself out of the normal crappy US wall socket you come across in hotels.
 
RichC said:
😱 Surely you jest - I've never seen another camera charger as huge!

Defeats the small-travel-kit rangefinder philosophy somewhat...!! :bang:

I'm hoping that tiny travel chargers will soon start appearing on eBay...
Click to expand...

You've obviously never seen the charger for a Canon 1DMk2. It's about twice the size of the Leica charger but can charge two batteries simultaneously.
 
The charger is; HUGE!, HEAVY! and most of all prone to FAILURE! I'm on my third one. The problem seems to stem from plugging in a battery "for the night" which seems to cause the charger to ? over-heat ?. With the third one, I'm timing the charge and then unplugging immediately after a full charge. So far no problems. I hope Leica hires the design engineer from Canon that makes their travel chargers. Certainly a small, reliable 3rd party charger for M8 batteries would be an instant best seller to any manufacturer watching these threads. Defending the charger as "well built" is like saying bigger is better, but in this case, portability, reliability and weight (less) should be the goal. The charger is not the camera. It adds nothing to image quality, so like a bit part in a play, it needs to support the star not detract from it. Love the M8, but very unhappy with the miserable lack of design here.
 
I've travelled quite a bit with mine and had no problems (apart from the hotel where the socket switched off when I turned off the bedside light). That's in 2 years. (Should guarantee a failure tomorrow...) Often I'll leave a battery 8-10 hours; sometimes 24+.

Mind you, I've only used mine on international standard voltage so far, not 110/120v.

Cheers,

R.
 
I wish the charger had been made smaller and come with a cord. I have an old Leica point and shoot. The charger is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and the cord allows me to plug it in almost anywhere.
 
gfspencer said:
I wish the charger had been made smaller and come with a cord. I have an old Leica point and shoot. The charger is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and the cord allows me to plug it in almost anywhere.
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I'd certainly second the via-a-cable approach. I'll try and persuade Leica to offer a cable option for the existing charger. Or even a Mk. II that is cable-only.

Cheers,

R.
 
Working third party charger! Was traveling and had more problems with my Leica M8 charger. A local camera store offered the "ANSMANN DIGI-CHARGER VARIO" for about $50.00. It works * PERFECTLY * with the Leica M8 batteries (and the Canon 5D, and the flash(s)). Excellent product, small, both plug and car adapters and is now my default charger both home and abroad. Here is a link here:

http://www.ansmann.de/cms/consumroot/charging-technology/universal-chargers/digicharger-vario.html

I've given up on replacing the Leica chargers, and this was a random, lucky find that others having problems might wish to investigate. I did a quick search on the net and you can get these from pretty much everywhere.
 
Reading some of these responses make me wonder a number of things. One of them is whether some take rough handling as a normal matter. The other one is why is it that German electrical engineering keeps on making huge things.

I've never had a problem with my charger, and I leave the prong adapter on all the time. No play in there, pretty solid. If anything, I think the charger is the weakest link in the M8 box.
 
Ken,

Thanks for that - I'm going to check in with Downtown camera to see if they've got any of those. I know they carry Ansmann (who, incidentally, make the Leica charger/battery too) but I have never seen that particular charger.

Cheers
Dave
 
Why wouldn't they make it like the DLux3

Why wouldn't they make it like the DLux3

This is a sweet charger, and the batteries aren't that much different size wise, volts/amps a little different, but com'on. It is a perfect charger, small and fast.
Wasn't Tim working a a smaller charger.
Earth to TIM, where are you?
 
kenn said:
Working third party charger! Was traveling and had more problems with my Leica M8 charger. A local camera store offered the "ANSMANN DIGI-CHARGER VARIO" for about $50.00. It works * PERFECTLY * with the Leica M8 batteries (and the Canon 5D, and the flash(s)). Excellent product, small, both plug and car adapters and is now my default charger both home and abroad. Here is a link here:

http://www.ansmann.de/cms/consumroot/charging-technology/universal-chargers/digicharger-vario.html

I've given up on replacing the Leica chargers, and this was a random, lucky find that others having problems might wish to investigate. I did a quick search on the net and you can get these from pretty much everywhere.
Click to expand...

LOL! The "Leica"M8 charger is an Ansmann charger!
 
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