chaospress
Established
Firmware is 2.0.2.5. As far as I know that's the most recent one, having come out in July.
Previously flawless M240 fails after 30 day return period
- Thread starter chaospress
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chaospress
Established
jaapv, is SD Formatter a program to download or could I just reformat the card in camera?
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Download the free software from the SD Association (which is the club of SD card makers and camera companies etc)
https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/
When using the formatter choose overwrite format.
Actually I always format new cards and the ones I use from time to time. It can even speed up startup time.
Not applicable here, but not everybody sees the warning about formatting SDXC cards through a computer card slot.
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
That is indeed he most recent one. You should encounter lockups only very rarely, if at all.
Don't forget you are using a computer with a lens, we have all experienced hangups with our PC or Mac. Unfortunately it comes with the territory.
Cameras are pretty good, but not 100% perfect in this respect.
uhoh7
Veteran
How many frames did you shoot on your M9? What was the firmware?
I've shot 140,000 frames.
You told him to call Leica. I told him to change the card. 🙂
OP: I would avoid Sandisk. I'd do a search at the L-forum and see what cards people are liking, besides those. I've had and heard problems about various versions. If you did format the card in camera multiple times, I would stop that and just erase all. See what happens.
The Leicas are famous for card issues. Nobody complains that much anymore, because compared to the crazy picky M8, the 240 seems to work with many more cards.
Kwesi
Well-known
This is not an M9 issue. It's a well documented M240 issue. The best way to mitigate this is to follow Jaap's advice above regarding SD Formatter. The only advice I would add is:
After formatting insert card in camera and format in camera.
Avoid deleting files in camera.
Lock the card before inserting into a Mac or iPad for downloading.
For optimum performance use a Sandisk 95mb/sec card 32gb card.
Please note that the Sd Formatter should only be needed once when the card is brand new prior to inserting in camera. Thereafter it should only be used in the unlikely event the card develops a problem.
Hope this helps, most of us M240 owners have been through the occasional lockup so you are in good company 🙂.
After formatting insert card in camera and format in camera.
Avoid deleting files in camera.
Lock the card before inserting into a Mac or iPad for downloading.
For optimum performance use a Sandisk 95mb/sec card 32gb card.
Please note that the Sd Formatter should only be needed once when the card is brand new prior to inserting in camera. Thereafter it should only be used in the unlikely event the card develops a problem.
Hope this helps, most of us M240 owners have been through the occasional lockup so you are in good company 🙂.
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
I have very good results with Lexar Professional 16 GB 600x and even better with the newer 1000x
I would say use SD Formatter twice a year as well to claen the card up and restore the file structure.
I would say use SD Formatter twice a year as well to claen the card up and restore the file structure.
Kwesi
Well-known
interesting. What do you find to be better about the 1000X compared to the 600x?
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Slightly faster startup, 1.2 sec over 1.4 sec. I understand from LUF that I have one of the faster copies - it varies. Testing method: Put a stopwatch on the screen of the laptop, aim the camera at the screen, Start the camera with the shutter button depressed whilst hitting the spacebar with the other hand at the same moment, camera records the time. Do so twelve times, redo obvious failures, discard slowest and fastest, average.
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
Another thing to avoid religiously: Taking the card out of the camera without switching off. You can corrupt data, even the file structure doing so, if the camera happens to be writing to the card. I even destroyed a card irretrievably that way.
In the same vein, lock the card when downloading. Computers (especially Mac) write files back, or try to.
In the same vein, lock the card when downloading. Computers (especially Mac) write files back, or try to.
Lss
Well-known
Once again, not at all my experience with the M8.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I downloaded and tried the SD card formatter on several different cards, both size and brand, testing with the M-P. Sandisk, Transcend, HP, Lexar; 16G, 32G, 64G ... So far, I have seen no evidence of any difference in operation between the ones formatted in the camera and the ones formatted with SD card formatter.
What is supposed to be different? What is supposed to be incorrect about the in-camera formatter? What is the issue with formatting SDXC cards with my computer? I just have no idea what you're referring to here.
thx,
G
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Indeed, it was not my experience with the M9 either. But the OP has a typ 240 anyway ... discussing these alleged problems with the M8 or M9 is entirely irrelevant, as is the number of exposures made, etc.
The issue is that the OP has seen some odd behavior with an M typ 240, itself a replacement provided for the original one he purchased. That's an issue that I'd take up with Leica. The card speed issue I mentioned is possibly a cause: that's the one change I've made to using the M-P that does seem to have an effect. The difference in behavior has been noticeable exclusively when using the M-P to record video, for me.
G
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
bobby_novatron
Photon Collector
I had this happen to me a couple of times with my M 240. Black screen + lock up. I think it has happened twice since I got my M 240 six months ago. Re-insertion of the battery did the trick.
It wasn't a critical failure, and only a temporary annoyance.
FWIW I'm using a Lexar 1000x Class 10 SD card, formatted in-camera. I definitely am a believer when it comes to using fast, high-quality cards. The performance of the M 240 improves drastically with a good card.
The new firmware seems to have made the camera even more stable, I've had no issues whatsoever since the upgrade.
It wasn't a critical failure, and only a temporary annoyance.
FWIW I'm using a Lexar 1000x Class 10 SD card, formatted in-camera. I definitely am a believer when it comes to using fast, high-quality cards. The performance of the M 240 improves drastically with a good card.
The new firmware seems to have made the camera even more stable, I've had no issues whatsoever since the upgrade.
MCTuomey
Veteran
You can expect what you wish, but every dRF from Leica has had and continues to have operating tribulations, from the M8 through the M240. None of them is bullet proof, assuming your standard is something like a pro-level dSLR (Canon 1-series for example).
My take is that these operating quirks are annoying yet manageable, and just part of using these cameras. You get something for the price of an M240, but it doesn't necessarily include bullet-proof, glitch-free operating performance, as has been true in varying degrees for its predecessors.
uhoh7
Veteran
here is the thread to look for the right card. Again, avoid Sandisk, unless you like the risk of a freeze. 🙂
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/241047-best-sdxx-cards-for-m-240/
"You think Russian Roulette is dangerous?"
"I tired it once and I'm fine!"
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/241047-best-sdxx-cards-for-m-240/
"You think Russian Roulette is dangerous?"
"I tired it once and I'm fine!"
Lss
Well-known
I'm not that impressed with the 1-series Canon quality. I still own one that regularly locks up. Didn't even need to put a bullet through it. Probably should.
photomoof
Fred Krughoff
I assume you mean "copy" from an inserted drive, not "download' from drive on Wifi or over the internet?
OSX will write the Unix hidden files .DS_Store, ._ AppleDouble, and a .Trashes folder -- it uses these files for indexing and deleting. These files should cause one little trouble. But you can certainly lock a card and it will be read only.
If one is really bothered by metadata, "Blue Harvest" can be installed. http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest/
Cards should indeed not be removed from computer or camera, unless they are unmounted, or the device is off. But I do it all the time anyway, bad, bad.🙁
Godfrey
somewhat colored
In 15 years of using flash-based storage cards to transfer files from camera to computer with OS X, I've never once had OS X write any files back to the card.
OS X does write UNIX hidden files to directories when running its own file system, but I haven't seen it write these files to FAT16, FAT32, or ExFAT file systems at all.
G
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