[Leica] Sensor corrosion?

[John McMaster]

I still have not found any camera that I enjoy using as much as Leica's. Some may get close or surpass it in results but I do not enjoy using things with lots of buttons and options. I always shoot manual exposure, where Leica are top for displaying IMO, and the results are far better for my use than anything else I have used (inc Fuji X-100 and X-T1).  Going back to not liking a camera, if that is the case then I will not use it - such as with my D800E. My photography is for enjoyment and that includes the taking as well as the results.

If you are using CV or older Leica lenses then the bodies look expensive, however with a Noctilux or a few modern Summiluxii and/or APO lenses then the lens value soon outpaces the body ;-) As others have said, there are no known issues with the M(240) and the S2 is not widely hit with sensor corrosion. I have had over three years use from my Monochrom so far, I do not expect to pay for it to be fixed (other than two 1€ train fares) and then it will carry on for another few years. 

Finally, I think this issue is at Kodak's door rather than Leica's?

John

-----Original Message-----
From: LUG [mailto:lug-bounces+john=mcmaster.fr at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Nathan Wajsman
Sent: Saturday, 26 September 2015 9:00 a.m.
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Sensor corrosion?

All I know is that I keep hearing about cameras having to take trips to Solms for repairs. And when I look at my own experience over the years, I have never had to send my Canon, Ricoh, Panasonic, Pentax or Fuji cameras for repair. The only film camera I have had that has needed repair was my M7, and the only digital camera I have owned that needed repair was my M8.

I was thinking the other day that Leica cameras are a bit like the BMW company car I had in Belgium in 1998-2000: off all the cars in my life, it was the one I enjoyed driving the most, but it was also the one that left me stranded at the side of the road more than any other car I have had (with a possible tie with the crappy Chrysler car I had in the US in the 1980s).

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman

Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/

Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator

YNWA













> On 26 Sep 2015, at 06:47, Geoff Hopkinson <hopsternew at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Never buy any digital cameral again then Nathan because all of them 
> can fail!
> I think that Sony, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fujifilm have had 
> (different) fails too requiring rectification programs/firmware 
> fixes/workarounds/operating limitations.
> I don't know the failure incidence rates but Leica Camera sold 10s of 
> thousands of the M9. They have gone to development and production of 
> new custom sensors for replacing faulty ones in the M9 now and soon 
> for the Monochrom.
> I have recently got the excellent XT1 as well to learn as I think I 
> mentioned this trip. I have seen three of them fail (hotshot for 
> studio wireless trigger operation) at home during workshops.
> 
> But I don't know why you would avoid the M excepting price as always? 
> A handful of the earliest had potentially insecure strap lugs. There 
> haven't been any other rectification programs that I can recall? What 
> are the reliability issues that you mentioned???
> 
> On Sat, 26 Sep 2015 at 6:20 am Nathan Wajsman <nwajsman at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> This effectively means that I will most likely never buy a Leica body 
>> again :-( The new ones are priced out of my range, and given these 
>> reliability issues, a second-hand M9 or M240 are too much of a crap 
>> shoot.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Nathan
>> 
>> Nathan Wajsman
>> 
>> Alicante, Spain
>> http://www.frozenlight.eu
>> http://www.greatpix.eu
>> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
>> Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/
>> 
>> Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator
>> 
>> YNWA
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 26 Sep 2015, at 00:09, John McMaster <john at mcmaster.fr> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Uh huh, so you have not read about the Leica/Kodak issues? Or have 
>>> you
>> seen
>>> dust on the sensor that looks this? I haven't.....
>>> 
>>> john
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: LUG [mailto:lug-bounces+john=mcmaster.fr at leica-users.org] On
>> Behalf Of
>>> Mark Rabiner
>>> Sent: Friday, 25 September 2015 9:46 p.m.
>>> To: Leica Users Group
>>> Subject: Re: [Leica] Sensor corrosion?
>>> 
>>> Looks like someone sneezed when you were changing lenses.
>>> My snot on sensor issues seems to have vanisish with my last camera 
>>> which had a sensor vibrate thing  built into it which vibrates 
>>> everything off
>> when
>>> you turn the camera on or off and really does a heck of a job. I 
>>> have a totally clean sensor on a five year old camera. Yet I'm doing 
>>> a whole lot more lens changing now actually carrying a second lens 
>>> with me all day
>> and
>>> eschewing zooms for 1.8 primes.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 9/25/15 3:06 PM, "Leland Deane" <leland.deane at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I agree it's sensor disease. It hit my M9 (now gone) and it has 
>>>> just hit my Monochrome (about to be sent it for sensor replacement)
>>>> 
>>>> Leland
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> John yes I agree it looks like the corrosion issue. There are 
>>>> sample issues somewhere in Leica Camera's official response if you 
>>>> wanted to search those out. Were it mine I would be contacting for 
>>>> a repair
>> booking
>>> for sure.
>>>> 
>>>> On Fri, 25 Sep 2015 at 7:57 pm John McMaster <john at mcmaster.fr> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> To those who have had affected sensors, does this look like sensor 
>>>>> corrosion? These are screen grabs of 100% image and it does not 
>>>>> look like dust or similar..
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Chiaroscuro/Misc/SensorCorrosion.
>>>>> png
>>>>> .html
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> john
>>>>> 
>>>>>