[Leica] Leica blocking 3rd party batteries in firmware?

Mon Feb 9 18:45:13 PST 2015

Kyle, there is a lot of information and mythology floating around about
batteries for the M8/M9 series.  Leica, of course, recommends you use only
their branded batteries, which, like most Leica things, cost more than they
should. Some of the early third-party batteries didn't have sufficient
capacity (1400 mah instead of 1800), and caused problems.  Some of the
early shutter and firmware issues were confused with battery issues,
muddying the waters.  These days, as long as you get a battery with 1800 or
1900 mah capacity, they should work.  But, as others have noted, non-Leica
batteries will sometimes measure low in the camera when they are in fact
fully charged.  Usually this happens if the battery is recharged when it is
not fully exhausted.

I have used both Leica-branded batteries and third-party batteries, and the
latter do behave this way, but work just fine. I've gotten into the habit
of using them until the little three-bar display on the M8 disappears,
leaving only the battery symbol present. That's discharged enough. If I get
a low battery message, I just remove the battery, wait 30 seconds of so,
then replace the battery.  That usually does the trick, and the camera
displays full charge.

Only once have I had to actually drain a battery, which I did by turning
the auto-sleep off, displaying something on the LCD, and going to bed. Next
morning, problem solved.  I've heard of people discharging the battery with
a flashlight lamp or LED to the same effect (pins 2 and 4 I believe, but
easily determined with your trusty voltmeter).

As a working pro, you may not want the uncertainty of using 3rd party
batteries, in which case you'll have to pay the freight for gen-you-wine
Leica batteries.  Then again, the tricks outlined above work well most of
the time, and for many of us the savings are worth it. If you always carry
3 batteries, you're going to be OK. If you're a situation where you can't
afford a low battery delay, just put a fully-charged battery in the camera,
and run down the partially discharged one later when you things are more
casual.

Hope this helps!
--Peter

On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 2:59 PM, <grduprey at mchsi.com> wrote:

> No chip in the one of mine that has opened up, but then it was made
> probably in 2006, as it was bought in Feb. of 2007.
>
> gene
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Geoff Hopkinson" <hopsternew at gmail.com>
> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 9, 2015 4:24:47 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica blocking 3rd party batteries in firmware?
>
> To focus on your specific question Kyle, I have never previously read of
> anyone's speculation that any version of their genuine batteries were
> 'chipped'. I did provide the official explanation for the changed camera
> behaviour from the firmware update for whatever you want to make of that
> ;-).
> That model has been used and available since 2006 and is still in use with
> some current models of course. You will see subtly different marked
> versions in circulation and genuine production has come from at least two
> different manufacturers/countries that I am aware of. There are different
> power ratings markings (on some non-genuine ones) too. There are many tens
> of thousands of the originals in circulation, there having been 30,000+
> M9's for a start. Those numbers are tiny compared to the volume production
> for the big brands of course.
> One recent comment elsewhere I saw was that leaving the (non-genuine)
> batteries for longer on the charger past the nominal fully charged
> indication made them then show as charged fully in the camera. You could
> try another charger too if you were in a mind to investigate?
>
>
> Cheers
> Geoff
> http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman
>
> On 10 February 2015 at 06:25, Geoff Hopkinson <hopsternew at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Kyle due to some publicised reports of write errors one of the changes in
> > later firmware for the M9 was to make the camera less tolerant of
> marginal
> > power levels from batteries. One indication of that was for when you want
> > to perform a sensor clean. The camera would not start that unless the
> > charge was nearly full. They also noted that all batteries have a finite
> > life (limited number of charge cycles before they become much less
> > efficient). Voltage levels of course are not the the sole
> > measure/indication. Their instructions also include noting about a number
> > of cycles before the units are most efficient initially and recommend
> > periodically running them 'flat' (not shorting them out though.
> >
> > Including those originally included I think I had four (genuine) units I
> > used over 6 years (maybe 25000 exposures? or so with the two cameras that
> > got randomly rotated and I never saw any problems with them personally.
> As
> > far as I know two or three of those are still in service now with Lluis.
> I
> > would typically change the battery with the SD card after ~400 exposures
> or
> > whenever I forgot to turn the camera off before putting it in my bag,
> > whichever came first.
> >
> > I think on this list at one point different people reported varying
> > experience with different non-genuine batteries. They might chime in?
> >
> > For sure the Leica ones cost a lot. I guess that the one for the M8/9 was
> > easy to clone or whoever actually made the originals produced a lot of
> them
> > to different standards? It's interesting that the battery for the M (typ
> > 240) is actually two of the earlier assemblies in one case, but I've not
> > heard of a single non-genuine version anywhere.
> >
> >
> > Cheers
> > Geoff
> > http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman
> >
> > On 10 February 2015 at 01:19, kyle cassidy on the lug <
> > leicaslacker at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Howdy folks --
> >>
> >> I've been using 3rd party batteries in all of my cameras since
> >> Australopithecus started banging rocks together -- in Panasonics,
> Nikons,
> >> and various Leica's with no problem. In fact, I've often wondered if
> >> workers from the OEM shop sneak back in at night and continue production
> >> without labeling them.
> >>
> >> I recently got four off-brand M9 batteries (from two different
> retailers)
> >> and notice a curious behavior -- when they're fully charged often the
> camera
> >> will give a "battery low" warning and shut down -- however voltage meter
> >> shows the batteries are fully charged. I'm wondering if Leica has
> possibly
> >> chipped it's batteries and instructed the camera not to work with 3rd
> party
> >> batteries (in the same way that the Keuring coffee-machines recognize
> >> imposter K-Cups and refuse to work with them.) I can think of several
> >> possible reasons for this, but chipping the batteries I think is the
> most
> >> likely. Another option is that only 3rd party manufacturers who make
> >> batteries for Leica cameras are hucksters, but it seems less likely.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts on this? $130 for a battery is $120 that I could use toward
> >> a plane ticket to photograph something with a battery that's worth $10.
> >>
> >> Kyle
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Leica Users Group.
> >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
> >
> >
>
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