sojournerphoto
Veteran
Found out yesterday and now waiting to hear from Leica as to whether they will repair without charge. Camera bought new in October 2010.
Mike
Mike
My M9 sensor glass cracked
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jsrockit
Moderator
Sorry to hear that... hopefully it's repaired free or cheap. Unfortunately, sometimes Leica doesn't want to admit to defects.
Monochrom
Well-known
bad news!
can you post a picture to see how does it affect images?
Hope it can be done without much cost to you!
Good luck!
🙂
can you post a picture to see how does it affect images?
Hope it can be done without much cost to you!
Good luck!
🙂
JMQ
Well-known
How did it happen? was it a spontaneous crack? sorry to hear about this.
sojournerphoto
Veteran
Thanks All
The crack just appeared. I noticed when I downloaded a card yesterday and ran the sensor clean function to check. There is the crack in the upper corner of the sensor.
Apparently it is a known issue, although Leica has not issued any explanation and so theories abound. I'm hoping that they are still happy to repair even though the camera is just over 3 years old now. It has never been dropped or banged, but that doesn't seem to be causal in any case.
I understand that the number of affected bodies is small, but it shakes your confidence a bit when it devlops such a fault after 3 years of use, and without warning. Still, we'll see how they respond. My last exchange with Leica was very positive (as have all my dealing with Zeiss been I should also say).
The images are affected by a line showing up across the bottom right corner of a landscape frame, as seen below. Incidentally, the picture was accidentally underexposed by over 3 stops - f2 and 1/8000th at iso 640 and pushed in lightroom. Apart from the line across I'm surprised how good it looks (RFF seems to have enlarged my 900 wide original)
Mike
The crack just appeared. I noticed when I downloaded a card yesterday and ran the sensor clean function to check. There is the crack in the upper corner of the sensor.
Apparently it is a known issue, although Leica has not issued any explanation and so theories abound. I'm hoping that they are still happy to repair even though the camera is just over 3 years old now. It has never been dropped or banged, but that doesn't seem to be causal in any case.
I understand that the number of affected bodies is small, but it shakes your confidence a bit when it devlops such a fault after 3 years of use, and without warning. Still, we'll see how they respond. My last exchange with Leica was very positive (as have all my dealing with Zeiss been I should also say).
The images are affected by a line showing up across the bottom right corner of a landscape frame, as seen below. Incidentally, the picture was accidentally underexposed by over 3 stops - f2 and 1/8000th at iso 640 and pushed in lightroom. Apart from the line across I'm surprised how good it looks (RFF seems to have enlarged my 900 wide original)
Mike
raid
Dad Photographer
I hope that Leica replaces the sensor free of any charges.
sojournerphoto
Veteran
I have to admit that I didn't pay too much attention to the background until yesterday - 3 years in and all was fine. However, since I noticed the line and looked at the sensor, it seems that:
- there were some groups of serial numbers with higher failure rates, but random failures in all groups
- failure rates are low, but occur at any time and are not predictable
- the odd person has had more than one failure on a camera body
- Leica have been good at repairing without charge - I will tell more when they respond
- Leica haven't advised a cause, but JaapV has a theory that failures relate to poor bonding between glass and sensor and heat cycling
- I am not aware of any instances with a Monochrom
I too think of it as a lifetime camera, particularly as I use film and the MM alongside. Have to see what transpires.
I've also been down a path looking into banding on the MM, after picking some up in a shot I posted earlier. Almost all my pictures are actually clean, but that one has visible banding at iso 2,500 - not pushing the camera at all. Seems odd, but I've not found a good explanation yet. SD card compatibility may be a cause, presumably by impacting on the analogue bits, but I'm using the same 32Gb Transcend cards that work perfectly in my M9, and usually in the MM...
It's all a mystery. Film is really much easier!
Mike
- there were some groups of serial numbers with higher failure rates, but random failures in all groups
- failure rates are low, but occur at any time and are not predictable
- the odd person has had more than one failure on a camera body
- Leica have been good at repairing without charge - I will tell more when they respond
- Leica haven't advised a cause, but JaapV has a theory that failures relate to poor bonding between glass and sensor and heat cycling
- I am not aware of any instances with a Monochrom
I too think of it as a lifetime camera, particularly as I use film and the MM alongside. Have to see what transpires.
I've also been down a path looking into banding on the MM, after picking some up in a shot I posted earlier. Almost all my pictures are actually clean, but that one has visible banding at iso 2,500 - not pushing the camera at all. Seems odd, but I've not found a good explanation yet. SD card compatibility may be a cause, presumably by impacting on the analogue bits, but I'm using the same 32Gb Transcend cards that work perfectly in my M9, and usually in the MM...
It's all a mystery. Film is really much easier!
Mike
Richard G
Veteran
Very unsettling. The delay in finding the replacement will likely be the worst of it. Your wife will want colour of course, but you will get away with more Monochrom shots at home. So it's an ill wind etc.
thompsonks
Well-known
Don't worry! They recently replaced mine without charge, and you get a free 'tune up' and new body covering.
Kirk
Kirk
sojournerphoto
Veteran
Thanks Kirk.
And now for the 'MM banding at base iso' issue... the workaround being not to shoot before buffer is empty is not practical given the speed it takes to write to the card!
And now for the 'MM banding at base iso' issue... the workaround being not to shoot before buffer is empty is not practical given the speed it takes to write to the card!
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
MM banding - just use a fast and stable card like the Lexar Pro 600x.
sojournerphoto
Veteran
I'll give it a go, but it produces banding if I shoot repeated images at iso 320 on both transcend and sandisk class 10 cards. I first investigated because of the shot below, which is high iso, but had visible banding in the mid tones (upper right). This is an exception and most images are free of banding.
Mike
Addy101
Well-known
Forget the class rating, class 10 is just 10 MB/s, the Lexars JaapV talked about are nine times as fast at 90 MB/s.....
mbohara
Member
Same thing happened to me with one month warranty left. Leica covered under warranty and threw in a RF adjustment. It took six weeks to get the camera back and Leica NJ could never give me a straight answer on the status of the repair...but I got it back.
sojournerphoto
Veteran
Leica have emailed to confirm they will replace the sensor free of charge. Currently it is out of stock, so the repair could take 4 to 8 weeks.
I am very pleased and relieved about their good approach to me as a customer, and am comfortable with that wait, assuming their supplier delivers as expected.
Mike.
I am very pleased and relieved about their good approach to me as a customer, and am comfortable with that wait, assuming their supplier delivers as expected.
Mike.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Wow!
That's faster than it took for any of my M9's three trips to the Leica service center! That camera was always out for more than 2 months.
Phil Forrest
raid
Dad Photographer
Does anyone know if Canon, Nikon, or SONY would also replace a broken sensor for free?
I mean, is this something that we can expect from all manufacturers of the advanced digital cameras?
I mean, is this something that we can expect from all manufacturers of the advanced digital cameras?
NazgulKing
Established
If it isn't under warranty, no. But on the other hand, the probability of getting a broken sensor or a sensor whose AR coating degraded is an order magnitude less at least.
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
Compared to Leica, you mean?
zuiko85
Veteran
I install a new sensor in my M4-2 every 36 shots.
Well actually my 'sensor' is past expiration date but it has been stored in the refrigerator.
Well actually my 'sensor' is past expiration date but it has been stored in the refrigerator.
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