my M8 just died

[usccharles]

uh oh...

walking my dog with my camera tonight (approx. -5 celsius outside), wanted to see how the grainy the pictures are at hight ISOs. 2nd day since my camera arrived. battery at one bar. came back inside, set the camera aside a bit as the lens started to fog up. went back to it about 5 minutes later and it won't turn on. switched the camera off, then back to on, but nothing showing on the battery meter, and when i press the shutter, the red LED light next to the LCD screen blinks ones, but nothing else...

i swear i had a little battery left when i came in. i'm recharging the battery now, but i'm getting alittle worried it might be something to do with condensation...

🙁 worried...

 

[RML]

Ouch. That sucks. But don't worry too much yet. Warming up and evaporation may just give you back your camera.

 

[kbg32]

It will be fine. If your battery was that low, the cold will take its toll on it. Just recharge and see. Probably a good time to invest in a second battery anyway. Keep it charged and warm in your pocket.

 

[barjohn]

If the battery was indicating zero, it probably was nearly exhauseted and the cold stress was enough to drop it below the level needed to run the electronics. See what happens after it is charged.

Edit- KBG32 and I had the same thought and posted about the same time.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Are you sure your M8 "DIED", and it's not that your battery got spent very fast because you took you gear in subzero temperatures?

Any (battery-powered) camera will "die" with this affliction. You must keep your batteries warm, otherwise, in temperatures like that, they'll run out of charge pretty darn quick.

 

[heninger]

That is a dead battery.

When I got my m8, my charger was defective and I went a week with that red light.

Charge the battery and you are going to be back in business.

 

[usccharles]

woohoo! it works!!

just recharged the battery and it was the battery afterall. but that was kinda odd. right before i went inside the house, i remember i looked at the meter and it had one-bar. one-bar means 25%~50%. it wasn't even at no-bar, which is 0%~25%. does that mean it was damn cold outside or is my battery meter off by 25%?

damn leica lagging. my dealer in korea has no batteries to sell me. he said just be happy i have a m8. which i am, but i'm going on a trip in a few days and i only have one battery that gets spent really really fast...

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Ask Tony Rose at popflash.com, he may have some in stock. I got two from him already.

 

[barjohn]

Have you done the dep discharge recalibrate? Set the camera so it doesn't shut off and leave it on untill the battery is fully discharged. Then recharge the battery and you should be good to go. Important to let it discharge in the camera. This recalibrates the camera meter. The meter may be off (a known problem) and you think you have more battery charge than you actually have beause the meter is showing it.

 

[Topdog1]

B&H and Adorama both had M8 batteries earlier this week.

/Ira

 

[kbg32]

Here is a trick that Leica in NJ told me. The battery that came with my camera was showing 3 bars after all night of charging. I thought I had a defective battery/ charger. He told me to leave the camera on all night for 2 or 3 nights to let the battery empty out and then recharge fully after each night. That should cure the fix of the battery not charging all the way. There is also going to be a firmware update this month that will take of this as well. I bought a second battery from B&H, as a backup and it charged fully the first time. See if letting it empty out 2 or 3 times helps. The cold can wreck havoc on batteries anyway, especially if they are low.

 

[usccharles]

Have you done the dep discharge recalibrate? Set the camera so it doesn't shut off and leave it on untill the battery is fully discharged. Then recharge the battery and you should be good to go. Important to let it discharge in the camera. This recalibrates the camera meter. The meter may be off (a known problem) and you think you have more battery charge than you actually have beause the meter is showing it.

thanks, will definately try this 🙂

 

[fotografr]

You're a lucky man. My M8 died after just one day of shooting, and it wasn't the battery. It's now in Solms and expected to come back late next week.

 

[rsl]

uh oh...

walking my dog with my camera tonight (approx. -5 celsius outside), wanted to see how the grainy the pictures are at hight ISOs. 2nd day since my camera arrived. battery at one bar. came back inside, set the camera aside a bit as the lens started to fog up. went back to it about 5 minutes later and it won't turn on. switched the camera off, then back to on, but nothing showing on the battery meter, and when i press the shutter, the red LED light next to the LCD screen blinks ones, but nothing else...

i swear i had a little battery left when i came in. i'm recharging the battery now, but i'm getting alittle worried it might be something to do with condensation...

🙁 worried...

Ouch. That sucks. But don't worry too much yet. Warming up and evaporation may just give you back your camera.

Good grief! Don't EVER bring a cold camera straight into a warm house and set it down. Put it in a tight case or a tightly closed plastic bag before you bring it in. Evaporation may have brought back the battery, but condensation on small metal parts eventually can rust them. When that happens, the camera really "dies." It's a problem even with sealed cameras like the D2X.

 

[Bob Parsons]

As far as the capacity of the new battery is concerned you will probably find it improves with use. Mine was quite poor after the first charge but after 4 or 5 charge/discharge cycles there was a significant improvement in capacity.

Bob.

 

[Trius]

So enclosing a camera in something that keeps the condensed moisture in contact with the camera is good?

 

[landryrk]

Amateur astronomers know well not to bring their telescopes into the house after observing. Most of them have dust-proof locations in their garages or outbuildings that have pretty much the same ambient temps as the outdoors.

So if your shooting in very hot temps or very cold temps, probably a good idea to have a similar parking spot for your camera(s).

My $.02

 

[sf]

uh oh...

walking my dog with my camera tonight (approx. -5 celsius outside), wanted to see how the grainy the pictures are at hight ISOs. 2nd day since my camera arrived. battery at one bar. came back inside, set the camera aside a bit as the lens started to fog up. went back to it about 5 minutes later and it won't turn on. switched the camera off, then back to on, but nothing showing on the battery meter, and when i press the shutter, the red LED light next to the LCD screen blinks ones, but nothing else...

i swear i had a little battery left when i came in. i'm recharging the battery now, but i'm getting alittle worried it might be something to do with condensation...

🙁 worried...

doesn't cold temperature kill batteries?

 

[RML]

doesn't cold temperature kill batteries?

It doesn't kill them but it drains them pretty fast.

 

[RML]

So enclosing a camera in something that keeps the condensed moisture in contact with the camera is good?

Nope. But letting the camera adjust to room temperature gradually is the way to go. I tend to keep the camera under my down coat and only shoot when I need to. That way the camera stays as warm as possible in Mongolian winter. And since I don't have a way to let my cameras grow warm gradually (canteens, shops and houses are usually 40-50 degrees warmer than the outside temp), I try to keep the cooling of the camera to a minimum. It's easier and faster. 🙂