Jono,When the upgrade becomes general, there will quickly be a clamour for new cameras with the quieter shutter - and the idea of sending it straight back is not going to be attractive. So, to my mind, whatever Leica may be saying right now, there will be a market for both 'versions' and if there is a market and they can make them without new production lines or new R&D costs - why on earth wouldn't they? Whatever they might be saying now.
This is pretty much a key point that seems to be lost right now, at least from what Leica is saying, but we will have to see what else may change over time. The thought of buying a brand new M8 "base model" and then having to purchase a separate voucher for an upgrade some several months later seems odd to me. Maybe this is where some dealers may order M8s, have the option upgrades already done, and then sell those to new/prospective buyers. Just knowing that you have a choice of shutters is great (and maybe a choice of sensors later also), but it seem terribly frustrating to then learn that you cannot get a camera that way to start. (What dawned on me later was that as soon as you take ownership of an M8, the in-camera shutter instantly becomes "used", until you are able to send it in for replacement. Same would be true for the sensor and anything else. So what happens to those parts? Will Leica install "used" parts on other cameras for repair, or do they get discarded or sold to some secondary repair market or something?)
I agree that things are "half full or half empty", and for the most part, I see them as "half full". There are just a few things that really could use some further explication that keep pushing things below the meniscus on that glass and making it feel more "half empty" at times
LJ