Should I send by M8 in for Service??

B

bherman

bherman
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I just picked up a used M8 at a photo show, serial number 3100617. It was hardly used, and only has 1400 shutter actuations.

With that said, according to my research, the serial number falls into the category of one of the early ones which in part exhibited some of the documented anomalies mentioned all over the internet.

I am in the process of acquiring a couple of Leica lenses, and thought that before I totally took the plunge, that I call Leica and ask what they thought.

I was curious, so I asked them that based on the serial number, has it ever been in for service? They responded 'No'.

Obviously, Leica won't readily admit that they had some sort of 'systemic' issue with a particular range of serial numbers, and certainly nothing which would warranty a recall or anything.

The person who I spoke with in the NJ-based service dept, said that I could send it in with a note, and the technician can mount a lens and run it through some tests to determine if there was anything to be concerned about.

I mentioned this to a well-known and honest Leica dealer, and he said that I should just use it and see if anything crops up. He said that they are in the "service business", and they will almost definitely find something that needs to be adjusted, cleaned, tweaked etc, and want to send me an invoice.

What do you guys think?

Brad
 
Just use it and see, if anything, happens. Not every early M8 exhibited anomalies. But then again, you have to do what YOU feel comfortable with.
 
if you send it to leica NJ and they come back with a list of things, can you return the camera or get a discount? If not, i dont see the point of sending it in unless you know something is wrong. Anyone can tell you, anything "LEICA" is pricey and unless money isnt an issue (in which case you probably would have bought new or an m9), then i'd just hold off.

If you do get your camera serviced, it comes with a 1 year warranty BUT ONLY on what they fix or replace.

Oh and Leica NJ has been very quick in turning around items. 2 Leicas turned around in a matter of days, with 2 day UPS shipping back
 
I had a pretty early M8 and had no problems. If you don't see a problem with the camera, not sure why you would send it in. It seems, with most electronic items, that a lot of the problems come out pretty early due to "infant mortality" so if it's working fine now it most likely will continue.
 
bherman said:
I mentioned this to a well-known and honest Leica dealer, and he said that I should just use it and see if anything crops up. He said that they are in the "service business", and they will almost definitely find something that needs to be adjusted, cleaned, tweaked etc, and want to send me an invoice.

What do you guys think?

Brad
Click to expand...

I would definitely follow this advice. If you don't have a problem with your M8, don't send it in.

I don't know about Leica NJ, but I had a VERY bad experience with Leica Solms.
 
I dont really get it... Did you even shoot with it? Why on earth send a camera in if there is no issue with it? :rolleyes:
Just shoot and be happy
 
A camera of this vintage needs an extra mass lead otherwise it will show excessive high ISO banding and the "Scotty-beam-me-up" artefact. As Leica actively recalled a 1500 cameras affected, only a few remain in uncorrected state. Just contact Leica Solms -not NJ, they have no info on this- and inquire.
 
Roger Hicks said:
I have a very early one (received December 2006), and have not had any problems. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...
That is the next series that did not have a factory recall. The first series was delivered from November 5th 2006. Serial number range 3100001 to 3101500. Deliveries were suspended after 3 weeks, the cameras recalled and deliveries of new cameras were resumed in late December 2006. Those were unproblematic.
 
jaapv said:
That is the next series that did not have a factory recall. The first series was delivered from November 5th 2006. Serial number range 3100001 to 3101500. Deliveries were suspended after 3 weeks, the cameras recalled and deliveries of new cameras were resumed in late December 2006. Those were unproblematic.
Click to expand...


Mine has a S/N 310154xx, delivered in Jan. 2007, and needed to be sent to be fixed for the banding issue.

I have had a few frames since I got it back where there was "bleeding" from highlights when the source is a fluorescent light and banding when around old BlackBerries (clarification for Intertoobes searches: not the fruit, but the cellphone). I found this out a year after I received it back from Solms, and decided not to go through the pain of sending it again.

Instead of Long Beaching about it, I just avoid shooting when near BlackBerry users and when there is a very strong point of light from a fluorescent light in the dark (i.e. an old lamp post with a close-to-expire ballast).

Just gotta be observant and not freak out.
 
You mean the brown banding at higher ISO or the coloured waterfall ? The last was fixed in firmware.
There is also the Jezus stripes that a few M8s suffer from.
A camera from January 2007 cannot have been recalled by the factory, as the series from November, which was affected, was sold out. The recall was in December 2006. You probably did not get the 30% lens voucher either.
 
Japp;

I'm the same guy who wrote in on the Leica L Camera Forum. The banding (or what I call banding) is a thin vertical blue stripe which runs 2/3 of the way down the frame. That's what I could see, as I just bought the camera.

The issue remains that the serial number, which is: 3100617, is still one of the first M8s, so according to Leica Solms, the circuit board and/or sensor should be replaced. Perhaps they'll replace the board and re-map the sensor. I really don't know.

Brad
 
That is a dead pixel killing a pixel column.It is caused by cosmic radiation (Neutrino strike) and if you are lucky it can be mapped out. Otherwise it means a sensor replacement.
The banding on the first M8s was brown horizontal regular stripes at high ISO and requires a soldering in of a mass connector on the Motherboard.
 
jaapv said:
That is a dead pixel killing a pixel column.It is caused by cosmic radiation (Neutrino strike) and if you are lucky it can be mapped out.
Click to expand...

Neutrinos never ever hit any of my Nikons, so I ALWAYS stored my M8 close to my Nikon digital.

Say what you will, but it worked so far! I would suggest Leica do the same, bundle a cheap Nikon with their expensive digital cameras. I'm sure it would even save them some money...


:D
 
jaapv said:
You mean the brown banding at higher ISO or the coloured waterfall ? The last was fixed in firmware.
There is also the Jezus stripes that a few M8s suffer from.
A camera from January 2007 cannot have been recalled by the factory, as the series from November, which was affected, was sold out. The recall was in December 2006. You probably did not get the 30% lens voucher either.
Click to expand...

I had what you can call "brown banding" (I didn't know it had a name), as well as the stripes, but the one thing that was consistent was that middle strip at high ISO/severe underexposure, which definitely got fixed at Solms.

I did get the 30% lens voucher, btw. I was ready to pull the trigger on the 28mm Elmarit ASPH, but then the W triple-recession came with a vengeance.
 
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