Discussion Forum Leica M System M9 Leica Addresses Issue of M9 / Battery Low Issue
  • August 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm #807
    Josh Lehrer

    This was posted on Leica Camera’s website today:

    [INDENT]Leica Camera has recently become aware of an issue being experienced by owners of the M9 in regard to the battery. The issue occurs when an M9 battery is fully charged and inserted into the camera. After a very short time, long before the normal drain period, the camera incorrectly shows a “battery low” message. This may happen every time the camera is used or only periodically.

    Leica engineers have identified the source of the malfunction. It is caused by an electronic component that needs to be replaced. Once the component is replaced, the defect is remedied. There have been 15 cases of this problem, which is equal to 0.05% of the total units sold.

    If you encounter this issue, please make sure that you are using original Leica batteries and send your camera to your local representative for repair. We will put a high priority on these repairs and fix them free of charge. We apologize for any inconvenience this issue has or may cause.[/INDENT]

    Source: http://en.leica-camera.com/news/news/1/8263.html

  • August 19, 2011 at 7:02 am #816
    Doug

    Interesting issue in itself, but also it implies there have been 30000 M9 cameras sold… if 15 units is .05% of units sold. Or am I reading this wrong…

  • December 11, 2011 at 1:48 pm #1686
    Farnz

    Doug;554 wrote: Interesting issue in itself, but also it implies there have been 30000 M9 cameras sold… if 15 units is .05% of units sold. Or am I reading this wrong…

    I read it the same way. 30,000 M9’s is an awful lot of camera for Leica to manufacture by hand though.

    Pete.

  • December 21, 2011 at 10:35 pm #1732
    irakly

    There is another interesting battery issue, mostly concerning those who still uses their M8 batteries in M9 cameras.
    According to the M9 product specialist at Leica USA with whom I spoke the other day, older batteries that are reaching their end-of-life point (which is approximately two years) may cause an undercurrent situation. It makes a camera behave erratically leading to write errors, corrupted SD cards and camera acting like the battery is dead. I tend to believe him, because I used the M8 battery in all three instances of my M9 playing possum during high-pace shooting. This always happens when the battery has less than 30% charge.

  • February 9, 2013 at 8:40 pm #3556
    Jack MacD

    Thanks Irakly,

    The M8 battery in an M9 problem you described just happened to me. I had 30% of the battery left, and I suddenly had a dead M9.
    First I reinserted the battery and initially it showed I had a full memory card. Then the card returned to a correct reading. I wondered if the card was the problem so I reformated the card. Problem remained.
    Then I swapped batteries to a M9 battery and saw that I was using an M8 battery when I had the problems. Checked the forum and discovered I was not alone.

    I place a sticker on each battery so I know when it was purchased. I will start using nothing but the newer M9 batteries in the future, and leave the M8’s as last resort backup.

    Jack

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