I've read about it online, but I never thought it will happen to me - the sensor of my Leica M9 cracked today. I cannot link the crack to anything I did nor to any extreme weather conditions. My M9 was probably from the first batch of cameras that came in the US and it's still under warranty, so it's not that big of a deal. I guess it will be a Leica MP time for the next couple of weeks. This is how the sensor crack looks when you take a shot:
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Something was overtightened for sure …
I wonder if Leica warranty covers this?
it is photoshop
leica does not crack. if it cracks, it is because it will be higher art after crack.
same as apple, always works
and we should buy hybrids
Fake!! how can the camera focus to zero distance so clearly in second pic??? even when i get tiny specs of dust on the sensor, it is tiny blotches of blur. and also the shadow effect is too thin between the 2 pics
Not sure if sarcastic or stupid…
Dust particles on the sensor are placed a bit away from of the actual sensor, on the UV/IR-filter, that’s why they are blurry. this crack is a crack in (probably) the filter itself, which is placed right on the sensor and as such a cracked line will appear sharp on the image, regardless of the lens and focus.
It is a fake !!!
Now this is why i wouldn’t dare to buy one used. Lucky you for happening within warranty, tho if this would happen outside warranty one could argue it is clearly a unacceptable production fault.
ps. It could use a free factory cleaning
It’s the cover glass to the sensor that can crack.
Just curious, could you post the serial number.
Leica will fix it even if out of warranty.
Dear M9 Users,
Please let me update you on the broken cover glass situation. We at Leica are aware of the issue and the current reported isolated instances are a very low proportion of the cameras delivered.
Our colleagues both in R&D and QA are investigating and have not yet determined a root cause, nor it was possible to provoke a sensor to crack in our labs (temperature shock, heat, cold, humidity, mechanical bending etc.).
Cameras found to have this fault are having the sensor assembly replaced as a priority (free of charge of course) and our Customer Service will complete the repair in the shortest delays possible.
With my best regards,
Stefan Daniel, Leica Camera AG
the first digits of the serial# are: 3810xxx
3810xxx is right in the middle of the bulk of the ‘cracking sensor serial numbers.’ But it’s interesting that it took this long to finally crack. Anyway, not to worry as Leica will fix it (even out of warranty.) Plus they are expediting the repair times for cracked sensors and so it shouldn’t take long at all. But sorry it happened to you.
The cause is simple: It’s the conversion between inch and metric. Shuttles fell from the sky for that, so to say.
It’s the cure that proves tricky.
Mine is cracked too and I was heart broken for this.
The serial no. of my M9 is 3975490 and my warranty is expired. Will agency in Hong Kong help to get it fixed free of charge? Thank you.
Grace TSOI
I think they will fix it for free but I am not sure – I have not received the estimate yet.
Yes, see the comment above. Leica promised to replace any cracked sensor regardless of whether the camera warranty is expired or not. They will replace your sensor for free, though it may have to go back to Solms, Germany. Check with your local Leica customer service.
Yes, they did replace it for free and they were able to do it in the US. Leica US basically shipped the camera back to me the day after they received it.
I think Leica will fix a cracked sensor even after the warranty expires.
Even if not the first owner ? Or wouldn’t they even know who the first owner was when all the right papers are there ?
You are lucky you had a M9 !
I have to be careful with my old M8s, it is cold in Paris lately, with up and down temperatures !
And no more warranties….
“You are lucky you had a M9 !
I have to be careful with my old M8s, it is cold in Paris lately, with up and down temperatures !
And no more warranties….”
You’re lucky to have an M8!
I’m from Paris too, but no Leica in hands to shoot
Enjoy your beautiful camera
“that came to the US”, you wrote.
Didn’t the sensor come FROM the US in the first place?
yes, that’s true
Ouch! Did that glass just spontaneously crack?
I had a mirror fall off of my Canon 5D a week before a 2 month trip to India… I was glad that did not happen while I was in India. Canon took care of it in time, but I never used that camera again – trust is just no longer there.
Best of luck getting your M9 repaired, I heard Leica service is top notch.
Yes, just noticed the crack yesterday. I used the camera last week and it was fine. Should not be a problem since the M9 is still under warranty.
Sorry to see your sensor glass cracked.
But just look at it! other cameras simply can’t produce such a high quality, sharply delineated crack as you can with a Leica.
This problem is alarming and can happen to any m9 at any time and no one can tell for sure if it will be replaced out of warranty.
No, you are ill informed. The CEO of Leica has promised the company will replace any cracked sensor, even after the warranty period.
Ouch, that’s too bad. Hope they fix it in a timely fashion.
Is this an occurance over a set of known serial numbers, or a random thing?
My understanding is that the very first batch of M9 had this issue, I have not heard of any cracks in later productions.
well at least it should be a reasonably straight forward repair job.
I’ve had my M9P for 6 months now, out of that time it has been in the repair shop for 3 months….and is still there
I wonder if this pic posted on LUF was taken with your camera… http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/members/93328-albums4708-picture6069.html
no, that’s not mine
That was a joke.
LOL
Leica will replace it. When it comes to service, Leica have a very good reputation. They are still replacing faulty sensors on the Digilux 2 and that camera was released in the mid-2000s…
That must have been some UGLY woman you photographed!
Film rangefinders would have the occasional problem with having the shutter curtain get burned when walking around in bright sunlight with the lens uncapped. If the aperture were wide open, it wouldn’t take long to heat a very small area to a very high temperature. Of course this seems unlikely as I would think Leica would have tested and eliminated it as a possible cause early on.
The previous M film camera shutters were rubberized cloth. The M8/9 uses a metal leaf focal plane shutter with lighter colored blades and eliminates that issue, which was rare anyway. Just ‘walking around’ it won’t ever happen but if you leave it on a car seat and the sun just so happens to hit the cloth shutter curtain correctly for a length of time, you could burn a hole through it (the lens acts like a magnifying glass.)
On a scale between brilliant and foolish, where you place the idea to point a lens at the sun, even more so with an open aperture?
I always do this. What, are we not suppose to “backlight” just because of a camera design flaw.
The physics of focusing a picture of the sun onto a surface applies to every camera and photographer.
The comprehension of what is talked about does not.
It’s good that Leica customer service is responding to you about this issue. I can’t get a peep out of them by mail over questions regarding a recent image corruption issue since their latest firmware release. I’ve written about this on my blog if you’re interested (click on the web link).
It’s nothing personal. At Leica they don’t answer to writing or to the phone. The only way to make them listen is to buy rhem.
Leica USA answered my email right away.
Actually they’ve replied quite promptly last year to my earlier enquiries (to Leica Germany) when all the noise flared with the SanDisk Ultra (new series) card formatting problems. At that time, I had many email exchanges about it, but lately on this latest issue – nothing.
in the meantime, the CS-sensor of Leica USA simply cracked, that’s why.
(CS = Communicational Skills, Competitive Spirit, Customer Satisfaction, …)
The same happened in Europe in the 1960s or 70s. And they still haven’t fixed it. So, prepare for an extended queueing up.
Their technical service has particular skillful people. But the attitude of the company towards communication and response is even less than underwhelming.
And if someone would try to give his or her best in this field, he or she would probably soon leave for a competitor, out of frustration.
That’s how I would sum up dealing with Leica for some 30 years.
The statement from Stefan Daniel above was made to the Leica User Forum when the problem first became apparent. There is a thread there which lists the SNs of M9s affected and the vast majority come from a batch released around the end of 2009/beginning of 2010.
The one in this story appears to have come from that batch and Leica will replace the sensor FOC, even if the warranty has expired (which is the case with the earliest M9s).
Leica will also expedite the repair.
Estimates are that 1 in 1000 M9s have suffered this fate, to date.
Cracked sensors were also reported on M9P, this model hit shops in June 2011.
I’m sure that Andreas Gursky could sell that picture of yours for a couple of millions, if his name was on it
It is 2012 after all. This is just the beginning…
Speaking of things breaking, I just had my Ricoh VF-2 viewfinder get stuck in extended position, then the hinge jammed and started cracking! I wonder how Ricoh will deal with it!
That is not a cracked sensor, that is a spontaneous artistic work that only Leica can produce.
Simply a State of spirit of the Leica which translates into less inspirational moment, that we all spend so. That is a State of Art from a Leica sensor. Simply a Leica sensor broken is inspirational to us all, is art at the highest level, personality. Isn’t anyone can complain of a broken Sensor, only Leica to give us as beautiful example of art.
exactly. there is probably even few chapters written about in in Semetko’s book and workshops. How to line your crack with horizon, how to holgeica your photos to that you can even more hide your skill deficiency. and so on and so forth
Congratulations Admn. i’ve been punked
Hey
Bummer man, I hope mine doesn’t do that. Mine isn’t first batch though.
CR
Hey LR!
Maybe you could make a small series and report of the progress about this case…?
To me it would be interesting to read how Leica reacts, how long it takes, what they actually do and so on.
…some kind of status update / ‘Blogumentation’.
sure, I shipped the camera today, will create another post once I get it back with all the details
In the high-end C and N bodies, has this ever been an issue???
I mean, cameras are nothing more than batches of assembled components of hopefully compatible materials and design. So, it stands to reason that other companies may have had things like this happen as well???
Leica’s ‘perfection’ being considered of course…….would seem to make them ‘flaw-proof.’
I have never heard of cracked sensors before the M9.
Cracked Nikon D3 sensor: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/996696/0
Cracked Nikon D700 sensor: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=998190
Chuck Norris’s M9 never cracks.
Be prepared to welcome a $1,000ish bill from Solms.
Digital Leicas, oh…
I hope not
Like a German car Fine to own under warranty Out of warranty forget it TOO expensive to repair Before reading this article I never heard of this happening before to a camera I guess next time use a better sensor company NOT Kodak
Sadly I too have an M9 which has a cracked sensor. My camera has always been tucked inside a Luigi case and has absolutely zero rough house/ hardcore treatment. I think I can identify the day the crack/ flaw occurred. It seems to be in the glass filter that sits over the sensor.
I am on assignment in a remote region of Australia and this is (according to Melbourne based Leica repairer) will need to go back to the cameras place of birth for it’s rebirth.
It’s rather devastating. More so when it’s not related to any identifiable event.
Ive just read up the page and seen a question about C and Ns and their sensors. I was one of the early adopters of the 5dincluding even carefully used in very very tough conditions including 2 years ago in 52C (136F) when the glue melted off the mirror mounts and the mirror detached. The mirror was put back in place with liquid nails, using a piece of fencing wire to dab in the glue and today remains operational. The sensor and the overall exterior of the capture device (it’s close to being a camera) is far more durable than the M9 which as I’m sure you all know seems far less robust than any analog Leica. Even today there isn’t a mark on the 5d screen and it’s been through hell and back min a hat basket. And it’s never had a problem with its sensor. But nor does it produce images liked the M9.
I just wondered have Leica fixed this already?
Yes, they fixed it and they were pretty fast too – I got the camera back in few days (including shipping). They replaced the sensor here in the US, there was no need to ship the camera to Germany.