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M8 announcements

Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Dear LEICA M8 customers,

The desire to own a digital camera manufactured by Leica, possessing the identical lifelong value retention associated with every Leica product, was brought to us by many of our customers. Leica Camera AG has now configured the LEICA M8 to meet this demand. With today’s newsletter, we would like to inform you exclusively and in advance of an outstanding innovation regarding your cherished LEICA M8.


Subjects
LEICA M8: An investment in the future

What does the first upgrade kit include?

How do I get the upgrade for my M8?

Firmware update 1.201 available

LEICA M8: An investment in the future

With the introduction of a perpetual upgrade program, every LEICA M8 will forever be a state-of-the-art digital camera. Today’s and tomorrow’s users will always be able to incorporate the latest refinements and developments in handling ease and technology. It is our aim to secure your investment in the LEICA M8 for the future. “While other digital cameras quickly become outdated and are replaced by newer models, our new concept extends the value retention and resistance to obsolescence embodied in the Leica ethos. Over time, we will gradually offer new product features and developments as upgrade options,” declares Steven K. Lee, CEO of Leica Camera AG. “Our customers can therefore still invest in the photographic tools they need without worrying that they will miss out on improvements and technological developments alo ng the way.
This information will be presented during the PMA fair in Las Vegas, beginning January 31st.

What does the first upgrade kit include?


• Scratch-proof sapphire glass cover for the LCD monitor.
• Noise-optimized shutter with a fastest speed of 1/4000s.
• If so desired, the camera will be picked up at your home and sent directly back to you, without any intermediary stage in the process.
• Health-check and complete adjustment of the camera, testing all its functions.
• Installation of the newest relevant firmware.
• New factory warranty of two years covering the same conditions as for a new camera.



How do I get the upgrade for my M8?
• This offer applies exclusively to all registered M8 users.
• We will inform you shortly via e-mail when the website is updated with detailed information about the new M8 upgrade program, and will also inform you as soon as possible how to purchase the first upgrade certificates.
• The fact that you are registered as a M8 owner will give you guaranteed access to an exclusive online area where you will be able to purchase your upgrade certificate.
• Purchasing the upgrade certificates will be possible as of March 2008 - the actual upgrading will commence as of August 2008.
• The upgrades will be fullfiled in the same order as the upgrade certificates were purchased. It is therefore advisable to acquire the certificate as quickly as possible.



Firmware update 1.201 available
In keeping with the overall sustainability of the concept of the rangefinder camera system, Leica Camera AG is now offering all LEICA M8 users an updated version of the camera firmware, which can be downloaded free of charge from Friday, February 1st from our website. Among other things, the new firmware version contains new, substantially improved automatic white balance algorithms for natural color rendering in nearly all light conditions. We will send you special information via e-mail which contains a direct link as soon as we post the firmware update on our website.



We would feel very honored if you would be amongst the first to participate in our new program for the lifelong value retention of your M8.

Yours Sincerely,
The Leica internet team
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Jack and I will be at PMA on Saturday and i do have meetings setup with Leica so hopefully i can get even more detail from those meeting that i can bring to the forum and such. If folks have questions on what they would like me to ask , than please start a thread and i can bring it to the table and hopefully get answers for you. Have a great day
 
L

LJL

New member
Guy,
Thanks for the post. While this is an interesting path, I wonder more about what is NOT being talked about as "upgrade" options......like maybe a new sensor at 16MP or so? How about that "non-coded lens" menu option?

Not tossing cold water here, as I do appreciate the interest Leica is expressing. Just would like to understand how far the "upgrade" option might extend.

LJ
 
L

LJL

New member
Guy Mancuso said:
Me too and hopefully I can get more data on this Saturday.
Click to expand...
Guy,
Something that may be worth asking them is if they have some sort of "roadmap" for these "option upgrades", or if these are simply add-on charges for doing a minor tune-up and LCD screen cover replacement that should have been covered as being possibly a faulty design issue from the start.

Again, not tossing cold water here, but this "seems" just a bit short on offering. Since we do not yet know how much more they want to charge us for this "option", that may temper some things too.

Also worth asking is how some of these upgrade options may or may not be taken. For example....my LCD screen may be fine, I can do my own firmware update, and my camera has recently been tuned and adjusted....if I do not opt for this upgrade option now, what may be included or charged for in future options, should they become available? (This sort of relates to the first issue about any possible "roadmap". Just thinking about how many trips and at what costs for time and money to keep sending bodies back for new tweaks as Leica rolls out more option upgrades.)

LJ
 
simonclivehughes

simonclivehughes

Active member
Guy, I'm guessing from what has been revealed about the 1.201 firmware that we are not going to get the proposed (by Sean and others) easy access to ISO and exposure compensation? In your opinion, is there any hope whatsoever that this might be implemented in the future, or are we simply SOL?

BTW, I just got my email from Leica.
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
simonclivehughes said:
Guy, I'm guessing from what has been revealed about the 1.201 firmware that we are not going to get the proposed (by Sean and others) easy access to ISO and exposure compensation? In your opinion, is there any hope whatsoever that this might be implemented in the future, or are we simply SOL?

BTW, I just got my email from Leica.
Click to expand...
Great question and hard to say but it is on our list of questions once again
 
Daniel

Daniel

New member
maybe this means that an m9 is in the works?

if i were marketing, i'd made sure that my m8 owners will be happy and assured that their m8 investment didn't become obsolete.

:D

edit: leica's announcement is very encouraging. whether or not an m9 is possible doesn't matter to me. the fact that leica has made a point to not allow the m8 to become obsolete by providing m8 owners a reasonable and continuos path of upgradability is very encouraging. there are no other camera company in the industry today that does what leica is doing. for example, nikon just came out with new cameras, and already the older cameras are obsolete. it's the unfortunate nature of the electronics industry. my favorite d70 has been obsolete since the d70s came out. it has been at nikon repair for over a week because parts for it are not immediately available. the d2x will soon to follow. suddenly, 5000$ has become even less extravagant to fork out for a leica. thank you leica.
 
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J

Jim Stone

Workshop Member
Guy,

No email here yet and I even attended the last workshop !!! :D Guess we'll have to find one with instructors that are IN with Leica! :ROTFL: Seriously though, thanks for the updates and don't forget to ask them IF the Telyts will work with the new R10. Good luck with that one. :D

Have a great workshop,

Jim
 
simonclivehughes

simonclivehughes

Active member
Guy, another thought is that we should ask for clarification that ongoing firmware development will not be necessarily tied to the latest upgrade, thereby stranding those of us who do not commit to an upgrade. I realize that in some cases part of a firmware upgrade may be specific to newer hardware, but original owners who elect not to upgrade shouldn't be left behind on more generic firmware upgradability.

I mention this as the announcement specifically states that the upgrade includes:

"Installation of the newest relevant firmware."
 
L

LJL

New member
simonclivehughes said:
Guy, another thought is that we should ask for clarification that ongoing firmware development will not be necessarily tied to the latest upgrade, thereby stranding those of us who do not commit to an upgrade. I realize that in some cases part of a firmware upgrade may be specific to newer hardware, but original owners who elect not to upgrade shouldn't be left behind on more generic firmware upgradability.
Click to expand...
Simon,
I think Guy has created another thread for the questions. That aside, I agree with your thinking on this also. The shutter upgrade is just such a thing. I may want a quieter shutter on one body, but a faster shutter on another to handle using a Nocti in brighter light, for example. I sure would hate to miss firmware updates on the second body that I might get for the first one.

LJ
 
S

Stuart Richardson

Active member
While I appreciate the intention, this does not really seem to me to be worth the 1200 euros it is supposed to cost. A sapphire screen? I have a 15 or 25 dollar schott glass protector covering mine...problem solved. How much quieter are we talking about? It's not exactly loud at the moment, so if you are going to sacrifice your highest shutter speed, then it better be significantly quieter. As for firmware, it's great that they are continuing to update it, but how many people can't handle the job of updating it themselves? Admittedly, the extra warranty and CLA is nice, but how long is it going to have to be in the shop in order to execute the upgrade? Also, it says they are not even going to start until August 2008...but they want you to buy the upgrade in March. So you shell out your 1200 euros in March or April and conceivably don't get an upgraded camera until October or November of 2008 (given how long the turnaround is for their normal repairs). Sounds like a great deal for Leica and a very bad one for the consumer.
Don't get me wrong, I really like Leica and their cameras and wish them success with this, it just does not strike me as a very good deal. Who knows what cameras may be available by then...that will already be after Photokina and presumably there will be an R10, D3X, and any number of other new things that may or may not outperform the M8. All the things the upgrade covers are cosmetic or tangential to the image itself...if they were making it full-frame or with a new non-IR contaminated sensor, that would be another matter.
 
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