M9 suddenly died.

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swoop

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So I was working yesterday morning. Took some shots, turned the camera off. Drove to a different location, turned the camera on and out of nowhere, my month old Leica M9 does this now...


deadm91.jpg


This is a properly exposed image. I've tried underexposing, overexposing. Removing the battery and letting it sit. It exposes properly. Menu's are fully functional. Shutter clicks perfect. Even turned on the shutter cleaning to make sure the sensor wasn't damaged. But the image is all messed up. Happens in both JPG and RAW. Same result. Black image. Purple lines of some sort.


Will be sending Leica an email and shipping the camera to Leica NJ. I hope to god this is covered under warranty as this is my second M9 after dropping and breaking my first. i admit that was my fault. But I did nothing wrong this time!
 
I would be interested to see some statistics on the reliability of the Leica M8 & M9 compared to canon or nikon. It seems to me that Leica has more than its fair share of quality control issues. A shame really, particularly for a company that praises itself as making the best camers in the world, and then charging the requisite Rm and a leg for them.

Sorru to hear about the problem you are having. I hope you are covered by a warranty.
 
This is why Leica will NEVER have the same reliability reputation as they used to. This isn't a digital MP....and people look at me funny when I tell them I'm a full time professional photographer and Leica fan, but cannot rely on Leica for my work. I love my M9, and no I don't feel confident in it's reliability, at least no where near the reliability of my Nikon cameras.

That being said, my M9 hasn't skipped a beat, yet, but I'm mentally prepared for if/when it does. My condolences to you and your M9. May your repair be completed swiftly by Leica.
 
I'm no expert here.. I've seen this kind of thing in some camera and other imaging gear. I repeat, i know nothing about Leica gear. It may be as simple as a loose flex cable board connector. that is if the camera didn't get wet. Do you live in an area that is close to salt water.. ie ocean, sea port? Was the dealer you purchased the camera from in this kind of location? Digital gear functions on very small voltage differences. I won''t go into it here. I'm assuming that Leica seals there digital cameras well and that they are fairly EMP proof (static charge)? Salt water is very corrosive to mating connectors. This is why you see gold and such metals used for connectors. If you live in this kind of place, look at Pelican's CF and SD card cases. They are small, cheap and seal well. Also store your gear in sealed cases with Si Gel. It's a big problem.

Demand that they tell you the nature of the failure. Tell them that you are on this form and many await the outcome of the failure interrogation. If it was a component failure, make them disclose the exact component(s). Ask about other cameras within your SN run having similar trouble..
 
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hmm… a lot of damning talk in this thread for Leica. how many M9 sudden deaths have we recorded so far that have nothing to do with mishandling? just curious.

P.S. google search D700 died and count the threads

As annoying as it is electronics with microscopic components and tiny little tolerances die all the time. i have a tv cabinet with 2 dead laptops in there both died just over a year in. as technology gets smaller and more sophisticated there is simply more and more to go wrong.
 
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Part of the problem is not just the failures but ASTONISHING cost of repairs when the warranty is up. This is what makes the purchase of a M8 such a daunting prospect. If it goes t1ts up after a few months, trivial repairs start costing 700, 800, 1200 Euros! I hate to say it but it makes a M9 a 3 year ownership deal after which the cost of repairs would scare the hell out of a lot of people.

Look at the cost of replacing a 5D II shutter vs a Leica digital M...
 
jeff laitila said:
I would be interested to see some statistics on the reliability of the Leica M8 & M9 compared to canon or nikon.

Sorry to hear about the problem you are having. I hope you are covered by a warranty.
Click to expand...

My M8 worked flawlessly for 3 years. My first M9 worked great for 3 months until it fell out of my camera bag while I was running and hit the concrete rolling. Leica was willing to sell me a new one at cost with free extra battery, charger and copy of Lightroom 3.

I hope this is just a fluke thing. I've spent $11,000 on two M9's this year. If this issue isn't covered under warranty I'll be selling all my Leica lenses by the end of the week.

Fortunately I have a Canon 5D mk2 that I purchased to use as a backup after my first M9 broke so I'm not completely miffed. But it's still worrying that it just crapped out for no reason.
 
If you didn't do anything wrong I can't imagine it isn't covered by the warranty. I think when it come sot their flagship digital products Leica needs to get back to basics and focus on reliability and quality. Part of the problem is they don't have the resources to meet demand and still maintain quality control (though from what I hear the M9 is a far better camera than the M8 was at release).

Perhaps the opening of Leitz Park in a few years will help? then again maybe not trying to release three new cameras at the same time (M9, X1 and the S2) would also help.

Best of luck with the camera, I hope they sort it out fast...
 
Sorry to hear your M9 is DOA, hopefully it is covered under warranty. This type of failure happens with all kinds of electronic products no matter the initial cost.

Bob
 
NathanJD said:
hmm… a lot of damning talk in this thread for Leica. how many M9 sudden deaths have we recorded so far that have nothing to do with mishandling? just curious.

P.S. google search D700 died and count the threads

As annoying as it is electronics with microscopic components and tiny little tolerances die all the time. i have a tv cabinet with 2 dead laptops in there both died just over a year in. as technology gets smaller and more sophisticated there is simply more and more to go wrong.[/QUOTE

I think you a quite right about electronics part but there is a very high expectation of what is acceptable from Leica regarding reliability/quality. When a good part of your reputation is based on perfection and you charge accordingly for your product the let down is greater when it DOAs. Reliable stats re M9 vs D700 DOAs would be nice but not forth coming. It would be fair to say that for every M9 sold there may possibly be 100 to 1000 D700s sold. The same failure rate for both would generate substantially higher numbers for the D700 in any case. That brings me back to your last bit on electronics, the M9 is just another digital camera subject to the same problems as it's supposed lesser brethren.

Bob
Click to expand...
 
I was talking with a fellow yesterday who was in Cairo when his Nikon DSLR went down. Also a fellow photographer with him on the tour had a Canon D5 which went dead also. So it happens to all mfgs products. Don't blame Leica, electronics as well as mechanical camera's go bad sometimes. I'm sure you will be covered.
 
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