p.10 #5 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
Fred Miranda wrote:
Third party manufacturers already stepped in with non OEM batteries for the M8, M9, and M10 series. Hopefully it's only a matter of time before they recognize the opportunity with the M240 series as well. Once that happens, Leica's disregard for customers still shooting older M bodies won't feel quite as egregious. I try to be fair to Leica, but I will also call it out when criticism is deserved.
For those shooting the current model, don't assume you are immune to this either. If you plan to keep using your M11 and this pattern continues, there is no guarantee its battery will still be readily available once the M12, M13, and whatever comes next are released....Show more →
Hi fred, how’s the 3rd party battery going? I noticed from you link, it’s a 1800mah capacity battery.. means extra juice over the original 1100mah rated
Did you get give or take the same shots capacity or more with that extra capacity?
I think i have been in the anxiety stage during my adventure with m10p since they ran out of battery available but seeing 3rd parties start popping out, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel
p.10 #6 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
jakontil wrote:
Hi fred, how’s the 3rd party battery going? I noticed from you link, it’s a 1800mah capacity battery.. means extra juice over the original 1100mah rated
Did you get give or take the same shots capacity or more with that extra capacity?
I think i have been in the anxiety stage during my adventure with m10p since they ran out of battery available but seeing 3rd parties start popping out, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel
The issue I'm having is that it doesn't seem to hold a charge. If I leave it on the camera for a couple of days, it's low or completely exhausted when I go to use it. But if I charge it and use it right away, it works fine. For now, the workaround is to remove the third party battery when I'm not using the camera. That said, this could just be an issue with this particular battery, since it's the only one I have tried.
p.10 #8 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
Jorge Torralba wrote:
Its not just battery supply. Its service as well. Send a q3 or another camera that needs special service. You will be waiting an eternity.
Leica needs to up their support and service if they want to continue charging an arm and a leg for their gear.
In whole honesty, that would be the situation in a "normal" world. But I don't think it is, actually, the case.
Leica can do whatever they want, and they can charge whatever prices, there will still be people happy to pay for their (Leica's) services and products. And I would go so far to say their number is still increasing.
p.10 #9 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
Jorge Torralba wrote:
Leica needs to up their support and service if they want to continue charging an arm and a leg for their gear.
They clearly do not as unfortunately this has been the case for decades now. It used to be even worse.
Leica does some good things but they also have very little respect for their customers, especially customers who complains, even for good reason.
They do not have an US mindset when it comes to customer service.
p.10 #10 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
pmeheut wrote:
They clearly do not as unfortunately this has been the case for decades now. It used to be even worse.
Leica does some good things but they also have very little respect for their customers, especially customers who complains, even for good reason.
They do not have an US mindset when it comes to customer service.
I keep hearing that the M240 and M262 series, along with all their many variations, are 'not relevant' because supposedly few people still use them. That just seems crazy to me, especially given how much Leica prides itself on the M-mount and lens compatibility going back to the M3. In my view, they should make it a priority to ensure these dedicated batteries are always available. Electronics may eventually fail, but the heart of the camera (the battery) should never be hard to get. Leica shouldn't use that kind of scarcity to push loyal shooters into upgrading their cameras.
They offer far too many excuses for something that's simply inexcusable.
p.10 #13 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
Fred Miranda wrote:
I keep hearing that the M240 and M262 series, along with all their many variations, are 'not relevant' because supposedly few people still use them. That just seems crazy to me, especially given how much Leica prides itself on the M-mount and lens compatibility going back to the M3. In my view, they should make it a priority to ensure these dedicated batteries are always available. Electronics may eventually fail, but the heart of the camera (the battery) should never be hard to get. Leica shouldn't use that kind of scarcity to push loyal shooters into upgrading their cameras.
They offer far too many excuses for something that's simply inexcusable....Show more →
Amen, Fred!
Hey, Leica, if y'all are listening, we will continue to need BP-SCL2 batteries. The M Type 246 Monochrom is a quite nice long-exposure IR (Infrared) camera, so, remains relevant, even if I should happen to tire of "normal" Monochrom shooting. My wife, especially, is fond of IR shooting, so, I not only bought a second M Type 246 camera, I bought a SPARE PAIR of them! (My wife is not the junior photographer, but the mentor who persuaded me to start serious photography, with interchangeable-lens cameras.)
Leica, please, tell your OEM supplier to make some more BP-SCL2 batteries! Thanks for your consideration of this matter.
p.10 #14 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
Leica Store Miami shows the status of BP-SCL2 batteries as "coming soon," but with no option to pre-order.
Leica Store Miami did have BP-SCL5 batteries, for the M10-series, in stock a few days ago. They are out-of-stock as of mid-day Saturday, 28th of February, 2026.
p.10 #15 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
i own the M-E 240 from 2019 which in part i bought to give me another battery , now i have the M262 and the M-E with 3 batteries.
its simply not acceptable not to be able to buy a battery for a 6 year old camera in my view.
p.10 #16 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
For those with M10-series cameras, I was able to add three BP-SCL5 batteries to my B&H cart, Wednesday afternoon, the 4th of March, 2026. I did not buy them, but completed every step up to payment method. (I would like to add a couple of extra BP-SCL5 batteries, but would rather not spend the money, until the end of the month.)
B&H still shows the BP-SCL2, for the 240-series, to be "Temporarily Out of Stock."
p.10 #17 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
In case anyone has not noticed, plenty of dealers recently re-stocked BP-SCL5 batteries, for the M10-series, but, some of them are now starting to show the BP-SCL5 as being out-of-stock. I decided to preemptively order another pair of the BP-SCL5, even though my present supply are still doing well.
At the end of this month, when I receive an infusion from my retirement fund, I am going to see about getting on multiple waiting lists, for the BP-SCL2.
p.10 #18 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
Finally got the M10 I've been talking about since last August should be here tomorrow, I grabbed the nitecore usb charger sometime last year anticipating the M10 but didn't realize it's micro usb. Has anyone tried the newer 3rd party usb c charges and know if it's worth grabbing? I may do it just to not have to worry about losing a micro usb cable but thought I would ask.
p.10 #20 · Leica's Battery Shortage Is Hurting the Brand!
Just received my SCL5 batteries from B&H. $215 each! Actually in my old Nitecore chargers they showed FULL after a very short time-like less than 10 minutes.
Speaking of chargers...
FWIW, I bought a dual M11 charger on Amazon for $25. Just started using it to see how it does versus the Leica original single battery charger.
Plugged the dual charger into an old iPhone 5W (?) charger. Inserted 2 M11 original batteries that were about half full. It took about 1.5 hours to get both lights solid green from flashing red. As per my experience with Leica chargers I reinserted each battery to see of there was still some charge capacity available. They both turned green again in less than 15 seconds.
So then I decided to see how these battery capacities were on the original Leica single battery charger. So on each battery the yellow came on in one blink and the green held steady after about 3 blinks. They seemed full to me and to the Leica charger as well.
I am no engineer, but to me it seems the dual charger for $25 performs extremely well and in the US I can buy 9 of these dual chargers (not that I ever would do that) for the price of one Leica charger. Both chargers are made in China.
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