M9, I am not enjoying it, is it just me?

[Jeff S]

Camera reliability aside, the issue seems to be your own discipline, or lack thereof.

I reluctantly made the switch from film to digital 3 years ago (to M8.2 after 25 years with film Ms) when I decided not to put in another darkroom (my 5th) in a new house. My commitment to myself was to not change my discipline and essential mode of photographing. That was the easy part.

The challenge for me was to learn the entire digital workflow so that my prints were still satisfying. For me it's all about the print. It took some months of concentrated effort and experimentation, but the results were worth the effort. The learning curve is continual, but that's no different from my film and darkroom journey.

YMMV, but you'll never be happy with digital if you don't make the commitment and maintain the discipline.

Jeff

 

[hteasley]

Very rarely, I've had my M9 start up badly, and it has always been with pressing the shutter button too soon, before the camera fully started up. This has happened two or three times. I've had the camera become unresponsive once. Each time, taking the battery out and putting it back fixed the issue.

I'm around enough computer equipment that I'm not all that put out by these tiny, fixable failures. I have bigger software failures during the day, all the time.

I do understand not feeling well connected with the camera, though. Sometimes, things just feel awkward. But that feeling comes and goes, for me, anyway.

 

[swoop]

It's happened to me a handful of times where the M9 locks up. I have never been able to recreate it. It just happens at the most awkward times. Removing the battery and putting it back in is usually the problem solver. Its rare enough that I'm not completely annoyed by it. But it always happens when I'm about to photograph and that is what makes it frustrating.

Film is going to get more and more expensive. Consider how often you shoot and if it is worth it. Do the math. I have over 34,000 frames on my M9. If I was working with film, which costs me about $5.00 a roll and then $6.00 to develop at a pro lab. Figure 36 frames per roll that's about $0.30 a frame which would have cost me over $10,200 by now in film and development costs alone. It's like the camera was thrown in as a bonus. And taking uncessary photos is a really personal thing. I treat film and digital the same. I go to a news assignment and shoot maybe 15 frames. I know guys at the daily news that took 200 shots for the same story.

 

[greenwell]

I was determined to give digital a go,I have followed and learnt about it over the years. I rather burnt my bridges by selling off all my film gear bar the MP, as I have a good selection of M lenses the M9 was the way to go, I tried the canon to see if I could master a dslr from scratch which I could but I did not like the weight etc,I haven't tried a 135mm M lens but I was looking for a slr for that type of lens as 90mm is the longest M lens that I have. With film cameras I never thought of carrying a back up but when a digital goes wrong apart from turning it off and on again I feel helpless.

 

[Ben Z]

I still have film cameras, but I have not shot a roll of film in several years. I have not bothered to delve deeply into workflow because it's not my thing (neither was darkroom). Digital can be the same as film with a camera like a DSLR or M9 which are based on their film predecessors. I only use the LCD for setting menus. Auto-review is permanently OFF. My M9 acts just like my M4, the only difference to me is they use different mediums on which to capture an image.

 

[greenwell]

Thanks for the tip about removing the battery the great thing about this forum is the amount of help and advice that members pass on.

 

[muser53]

Rupert, Loan me the M9 and I'll let you know if you're alone or not. ;-)

 

[Guaranteed]

Ok you've talked me into it, I'll swap my R3A for your M9. 😉

Seriously, best of luck in sorting out your current issues with it.

 

[Jeff S]

Thanks for the tip about removing the battery the great thing about this forum is the amount of help and advice that members pass on.

You should stop over at the Leica Users Forum (LUF). There are 3 pages of FAQ on the M9, and another entire section devoted to the SD card issue.

But IMO, unless you commit to LR (or some comparable system), you're not getting the value out of digital. I don't miss my darkroom days a bit; to the contrary, I find the digital workflow much more efficient and flexible.

LUF also has a whole forum section devoted to post processing, if that's a concern of yours.

If your heart isn't in it, though, no amount of info will get you over the hump. Nothing wrong with preferring film. Different strokes.

Jeff

 

[johannielscom]

It's happened to me a handful of times where the M9 locks up. I have never been able to recreate it. It just happens at the most awkward times. Removing the battery and putting it back in is usually the problem solver. Its rare enough that I'm not completely annoyed by it. But it always happens when I'm about to photograph and that is what makes it frustrating.

Film is going to get more and more expensive. Consider how often you shoot and if it is worth it. Do the math. I have over 34,000 frames on my M9. If I was working with film, which costs me about $5.00 a roll and then $6.00 to develop at a pro lab. Figure 36 frames per roll that's about $0.30 a frame which would have cost me over $10,200 by now in film and development costs alone. It's like the camera was thrown in as a bonus. And taking uncessary photos is a really personal thing. I treat film and digital the same. I go to a news assignment and shoot maybe 15 frames. I know guys at the daily news that took 200 shots for the same story.

My RolleiRetro100 in 36 exp. is EUR 1.43 a roll, say USD 2.10. Home developing in Rodinal 1:100 is ridiculously cheap, let's say 5 cents a roll.

That amounts to USD 2,030 for those 34,000 shots.

I can shoot 119,000 frames until I have spent an M9, and still have a mechanical M to sell at a premium price when done with that.

With 4,000 shots a year that is a 30-year job, BTW... 😛

 

[Jarle Aasland]

I'll trade my Nikon SP, Nikon S2 (both with 50mm lenses), a Nikon D2X and a Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 for your M9. I'll even throw in a couple of rolls of Tri-X 🙂

 

[leicashot]

Enjoyment between the M9 and MP is a state of mind, more than the physical or technological differences between the cameras.

It's just like changing girlfriends. You only get back what you put in.....then you get married and everything changes 😉

 

[Jeff S]

It's just like changing girlfriends. You only get back what you put in.....

So to speak.🙂

Jeff

 

[Out to Lunch]

I have read about card reading problems with the M9 a number of times. Is this a recurrent problem or has Leica fixed it?

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Jarle- I thought you were getting an M9!

What, not offering a DCS-100 as part of the trade?

What's insane- what Nikon E3's and Fujix 505'a are going for. Keep something long enough...

I've never had a problem reading PNY and older Sandisk cards in the M8 or M9. I learned very quickly to format the SD cards in the camera. I do not use the fastesr cards, never had a problem... Until the Sandisk 8GByte UHS-1, but it was never in the M9 and would not work in the Olympus EP2 or Ricoh CX-1 either.

 

[crist]

He usado la m8 , m9 y no dejo de sentirlas como un juguete comparado con las leica tradicionales , no se si soy el único .

 

[Turtle]

surely this is about image processing and mind set? Stop using the LCD and shoot as you would with the MP. Then get better at image processing because in my experience digital processing can be very demanding to get rid of the ultra clean digital look and inject some character into what you have shot. Some films made that part easy.

 

[Jeff S]

I have read about card reading problems with the M9 a number of times. Is this a recurrent problem or has Leica fixed it?

As quoted over at LUF on August 5...

LEICA M9/ SD Card compatibility

Leica Camera has recently become aware of customers experiencing compatibility issues related to select types of new memory cards when used in the Leica M9.

First of all, we would like to thank you all for the lively participation on our call for assistance to solve the SD-card issue with the M9. With this information, we would like to give you the latest information on the status:
The facts from today’s point of view are:
Customers report that the camera stops working if shoot in burst mode and view images while others are still in the buffer.
We have a very limited number of customers approaching Leica for this issue. Most users do not have a problem.
If the fault occurs once, it can be reproduced.
Images can be lost in case of this malfunction and the card can be damaged/destroyed.
There are no indications that it is a firmware bug in the latest firmware 1.162.
It is not a general incompatibility of certain cards, the M9 is in general compatible with SDHC cards, including newer San Disk Class 10 and Class 1.

What Leica is doing:
Our dedicated technical teams are actively working on identifying the root cause and solving the problem.
SD-cards in question are being tested at Leica’s QA department intensively to find the root cause for the malfunction.
We are in contact with SanDisk and getting their full assistance.
We started a structured query in the Leica User Forum to get a better overview about the customer’s experience.
As soon as possible, we will communicate the issue's origin as well its solution.

Until the solution is found, what can be done if this malfunction occurs?
If possible, use cards that worked well in the past: Keep on using it, don’t format it.
Please avoid formatting cards in the computer.
If you are forced to use new cards: Use them carefully: try to avoid browsing through the images on the screen while the red LED is blinking.
In case of malfunction, please stop using the card. If images are lost, try to recover them. Here is a tool: PhotoRec - CGSecurity

As soon as we have news on this topic, we will let you know.

Leica Camera AG
Stefan Daniel, Director Product Management Photo
Jesko von Oeynhausen, Product Manager Leica M-System


Jeff

 

[Sonnar Brian]

SD card manufacturers seem to be concentrating on write-speed and sacrificing compatibility with the SD standard to acheive it. They are taking more risks to have "the fastest card".

http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109092

If you use an M8 and M9 like a film camera, there is no need to have an SD card faster than a rating of "2". I've never run into a buffer-full problem with a "2" and "4" because I use them like they were film cameras.

 

[RichyD]

" I thought that the M9 would be different but I have got fed up of constantly deleting photos that I would not have taken in the first place if I had been thinking"

That says it all.. think before you shoot whether film or digital. It's the instant result age, I see people firing away and immediately looking at the result. Yes, that approach can make you lazy, if it's no good just try again but then the moment has gone. Use the same discipline as with film, think about capturing the moment and don't look at the results till you get home.