I am getting a fairly persistent SD error on boot with my Leica M10-R and RRS baseplate (it is an arca-swiss L-plate with grip.
My hunch is that the RRS plate is pulling in places it shouldn't. When I unscrew it, but keep it attached with my hand I get no error when I restart it. Also when I use the OEM baseplate there is no such error.
The design of the two plates is quite different. Leica OEM plate uses a very fine rotating mechanism on the battery side that swivels into a latch, and on the other end (viewfinder end) there is a hole for fitting over a small nub on the camera body.
The RRS plate uses a thumbscrew instead, which attaches into the tripod socket. My guess is that some sensor in the body isn't getting triggered properly.
Does anyone else have / had a similar issue?
The only reason for me using the RRS plate is to use it to attach quickly to a monopod or tripod (horizontally or vertically). I could probably do without the vertical option, but it is very nice to have a baseplate with an arca swiss mount built in so that I don't have to unmount an arca plate, then unmount the baseplate to get to the battery or SD card.
Perhaps there is an arca option that the same mount as the OEM baseplate?
IDSWorks makes grips that have arca-swiss base plates integrated into the design. I have not heard of anyone having difficulties with them, so you might want to check them out to see if their products (they have two options for the Leica M10 series). They don't seem to have the "L" portion of a bracket though.
The RRS plate probably had some misaligned magnet or something? The fact that it works when you hand holding the RRS plate suggest the design was ok...
From my experience making a 3D-printed version, the magnet must be positioned with absolute precision. Even a slight misalignment can prevent it from working properly and trigger the SD card error.
Once your 3D printed one is perfect, you could send the step file to unionfab to have CNC cut or sintered and anodised.
I did that with the tripod plate for my Mamiya 6.
Fred Miranda wrote:
From my experience making a 3D-printed version, the magnet must be positioned with absolute precision. Even a slight misalignment can prevent it from working properly and trigger the SD card error.
1. The OEM baseplate has a gap between the plate and the leatherette.
2. The RRS plate pushes against the leatherette. Possibly causing the SD card issue.
3. If I add a shim, I don't currently get the SD card error. However I need to verify this.
More analysis required.
In short: I think this could be down to a design issue of the plate.
Id be really cautious that you are receiving the sd error message on your M10. My M10D had the same message (2X) and Leica did not have good news for me.
But you may be onto something with that chassis distorting with different plates.
I'm going to run it for a bit with the Leica baseplate.
The RRS plate is definitely poorly designed, I will part with that. Regardless of whether it is the culprit or not, it doesn't fit right and is damaging the leatherette and base of the camera. A shame because I had one on my X-Pro2 and it was wonderfully engineered.
Looking now for other options that don't cost the earth. So far:
- Kameracraft - nice but expensive
- OwlKrown - one doesn't exist for M10
- IDSWorks Lite - seems like the best so far
- Various unbranded options on ebay
Minimum req:
- Baseplate with arca swiss
- Tool-less removal to get to battery and SD card
Ideal requirements
- A hand grip / finger grip (lower priority), but I'd want wood due to my hand freezing on the metal one in the winter.
- L-plate. Apart from the RRS one nobody seems to have this.
I think the problem is the custom 6 bit coded lenses. I created my own coding tool, and used a Uni SuperInk black marker (and previously a Posca pen).
I did a lot of experimentation - when I turned off the camera, and back on with the lenses I coded, the other options on the screen (manual n, manual r) disappear / are greyed out. With the coding system off, but custom lens markings applied the camera would do its usual multiple second boot and then flash SD error.
So I then wiped the lens mount free of the markings (isopropyl alcohol). Turned off the camera and back on - zero problem and boots within a couple of secs. With auto detection on and no markings it also boots.
So I cleaned both lenses off, and now it works flawlessly.
So if you are having such issues don't fret! It could be your 6 bit coding method.
The lens encoding issue was a bit of a red herring - a hurdle I had to stumble through if you will.
The issue still appears, and perhaps is the main board.
1. I updated the firmware. same problem.
2. I tried multiple SD cards, all type I UHS Sandisk Extreme Pro. 32, 64, 128GB. All show the same problem.
Behavior I see...
- Sometimes when I turn it on, i don't see the led on the back turn red, then I get the SD error. Then sometimes I see the LED light red and it boots immediately with no SD error.
- I can clear the fault by quickly turning off and on again - it boots immediately and clears the error.
According to Claude AI:
"That LED behavior is the clincher and it lines up almost exactly with a documented failure pattern in other M10-series bodies. That rear status LED is documented as the memory-access indicator it's supposed to light up during card read/write activity. If it lights red on boot, the card interface has initialized and made contact; if it doesn't light, the camera hasn't established that connection at all and in your case, that's precisely when the SD error follows.
Combined with three different cards (128GB, 64GB, and an older 32GB, spanning multiple ages and capacities) all producing the identical pattern, this now conclusively rules out the cards themselves. That's not a coincidence with a card; that's the camera failing to consistently power up or initialize its own card interface.
There's a closely matching real-world case worth knowing about: an M10 owner had this exact symptom intermittent power-on, sometimes booting fine with the memory-access LED blinking correctly, sometimes not responding at all. Leica's own service center in Japan diagnosed it and replaced what they called the "memory card module" i.e., the card reader/interface hardware on the mainboard, not the card slot mechanically or the baseplate. It worked for about two months, then the same behavior returned, and the camera eventually stopped responding entirely and had to go back in.
That's genuinely useful context to have before you send yours in:
This does look like a mainboard-level card-interface fault, consistent with what we discussed as a possibility a while back.
It's a known, if uncommon, failure mode you're not dealing with something mysterious or user-error related; Leica's own techs have a name for the part.
Realistic expectation: even a proper repair/part replacement isn't always a permanent fix in every case worth asking the repair center directly whether they're replacing the card interface module or the full mainboard, and what warranty they'll put behind the work."
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I would be interested to see if others have had this same problem with that specific behavior
I purchased a Lexar 128GB UHS-II card based on the notice in the firmware update release notes that stated UHS-I cards can be unreliable in the M10 series. I still get the error.
Some debugging:
1. I notice that immediately preceding the error if I turn off the camera the LED on the back of the camera does not light red.
2. When i turn on the camera again I get the SD error.
3. However, when I do turn off the camera and see the red LED light up, when it turns on next it always boots - the red led turns on and boots normally (and then led turns off) with no SD error.
So hunches based on that observed behavior...
1. A firmware error when shutting down the camera (perhaps a race condition) when shutting down that is causing the camera to turn off BEFORE the card is accessed.
2. Some kind of power delivery error that isn't allowing the system to boot down correctly - the power gets axed before the final procedures happen.
3. Maybe dirty contacts in the SD card slot. I blew it out, but maybe there's some corrosion there. Not exactly easy to access to see, or clean.
I have a feeling I will be sending it to Leica with my findings.
