Power Pack option for M8/9?

[eleskin]

I posted a reply on another thread about batteries not lasting as long on the M9 as the M8. This is really terrible, and does hinder any pro that wants to use this thing on the streets of Cairo etc,,,,

What I propose is that Leica design a battery pack that would go under the camera the same way the M winder attaches to the M6, etc,, only here, there will be two plugs that go into the camera itself. One would be for the SD card slot that would serve as an extension so you could load the card from either the back or bottom of the new power pack. The other plug would be for the battery chamber itself to connect the power pack to the camera. The pack itself would have quick change packs, either a Leica supplied battery or a pack that would take AA batteries just like the Pentax 645N does ( I love that Pentax in that you could power that up from any K m Mart or Drug Store in an emergency. Imagine the advantage of that in Asia, the Middle East, or parts of Africa!!!!).

If Leica doesn't build it, there should be a third company that will. Then, you could shoot all day without being distracted by millions of battery packs and just shoot away!!!!!!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Unsurprisingly, Leica has already considered this for the M8 (right down to the AAs), and dismissed it as infeasible. I do not know why, but I assume there is a reason. Maybe things have changed since I discussed it with them a couple of years ago.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Richard Marks]

Its a nice idea but if leica do not do this I doubt there are enough sales to make it worth the while of an independent.

The real issue is better battery life, faster processors and higher resolution LCD, live view, good TTL flash, spot metering are very much what we are accustomed to on pro grade DSLR's. I think this is not going to happen in an M9 and just accept it for what it is. A very expensive camera with some specific properties that a relatively small number of people value highly enough to pay for irrespective of the limitations.

It looks as though Leica thought that it would be enough to break into full frame and solve the IR cut out issue (after all this is what we were begging for). But in some ways it just makes the other issues all the more irritating. Unfortunately it is not possible to make a timeless classic once you enter the digital arena. I do not think that it is unreasonable to expect some revision of the hardware after 3 years.

Richard

 

[Harry Lime]

Something like this?

http://tinyurl.com/y8cncjy


I made this sketch last year.

 

[ashrafazlan]

Still don't understand why Leica didn't update the batteries, you can get a lot more juice out of newer batteries than what was possible a few years ago.

 

[Richard Marks]

Still don't understand why Leica didn't update the batteries, you can get a lot more juice out of newer batteries than what was possible a few years ago.

I suspect they risked everything on the M9 full frame concept and also the S2 project and did not have funds to do anything else. They were also under pressure to launch without glitches. At least the existing system has had most of the problems ironed out. Its just that an awful lot has happened in the last 3 years. Other than the full frame and IR filter issue it appears the digital M has stood still.

Richard