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Would you buy your M8 again?

Absolutely! I also added a second used body. Even after adding a D3, the M8 is my favorite to carry and shoot. The M7 is a close second so you can see where my shooting preference lies, and I'm about to add an M5.
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
I agree with Peter...full frame is an issue for me. It is not the end of the world, but it is there. Full frame has advantages beyond simply having lenses look like they should...the extra sensor size has enormous benefits for ISO performance, as cameras like the 5d and D3 demonstrate. The IR is of course an issue...the only other I would add would be the new framelines...I wish they were optimized for 2m rather than .7m...

All that said, the great thing about the M8 is that it is small, takes M lenses and has superb image quality if you use the IR filters. The interesting thing I have found, is that at their base ISO's, the M8, DMR and D3 all have fairly similar image quality...assuming one uses a good lens. I think lenses make more of a difference these days than sensors...at the top of the line and at base ISO anyway. I think this is a great development, because it allows me to use the M8 when I want a small, compact and unobtrusive kit, or I can use the D3 when I need the speed and flexibility of an AF DSLR.

So, yes, I would buy the M8 again. It still does something that no other digital camera can really offer -- a small, high quality digital camera that has a great optical viewfinder, and uses the incomparable M lenses.
 
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cmb_

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Yes, the M8 is a joy to use. Same holds true for the DMR - also a joy to use and I would not hesitate to purchase another.
 

Peter Klein

New member
Very happy with mine. Je ne regrette rien.

Like Jaapv, I'm pretty much using the 35-50-90 combo I always used with film. I was mostly a 50mm kind of guy with film, so now I'm a 35mm kind of guy with the M8. But I must admit to getting a couple of used CV 28s (the 28/3.5 and the 28/1.9) to have an (almost) 35mm effective field of view again.

The M8 gives near-medium format quality at ISO 160--I still have trouble believing how much detail there is in the files. At 320 and 640, it's still better than film. At 1250, it is noisier than some DSLRs, but still usable with some care.

I can use it pretty much as I've used my film Ms before. I can still use the Leica lenses that I love. I can still play with my older LTM lenses when I want an older look.

The IR issue is gone once you buy filters. The 1.33 crop is real, but once you get used to it and maybe buy another lens, things are pretty much like they were with film.

My main annoyance is the focus shift problem with fast lenses. With some lenses at middle apertures, it requires learning to focus on the closest thing you need in focus, rather than the central thing (sometimes on a person's nose rather than their eyes). Annoying, but the camera is still well worth putting up with it.

And the M8 files convert to B&W in a really beautiful way!

--Peter
 

Maggie O

Active member
Oh, I suppose I would. Mine was a gift, though. Not sure I'd fork out five Gs for anything that didn't have an engine in it.
 

jaapv

Subscriber Member
Yes, the M8 is a joy to use. Same holds true for the DMR - also a joy to use and I would not hesitate to purchase another.
Ah-yes I can second that. My main trouble nowadays is deciding what system to use. An ultimate luxury...:toocool:
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Indeed. I'm not swift at changing lenses and find some times when I need both the 75 and a wide angle, so I have two bodies now. My most comfortable lenses are the 28 and 35, although I love the look of the Leica 24 on the M8.

scott
 

s.agar

Member
Yes, but after carefully tring the rangefinder for infinity and close focus with my 35/1.4, since I have been fightingwith these errors from day one until now. (This is my second body, still misaligned, still being aligned from time to time.) The infinity alignment is so easy, but not the close distance.
 

charlesphoto

New member
It takes absolutely amazing pics but it can be a source of constant frustration as well. Like last night I went to an important reunion of musicians, etc and quickly grabbed the M8. It showed two bars on the battery indicator and I stupidly forgot to snatch an extra battery. I think it's because I've been shooting with the D3 so much - two bars would last me weeks!

Anyway, after about 50 shots it totally ran out. I got what I wanted (I wasn't working or I would have used the D3 and/or had spare batteries) but it was frustrating.

Full frame I don't need. Proper battery calibration and a good preview screen (ala D300) and a faster buffer would make the camera ideal. As it is, I have no plans to upgrade. I'm sure I will lust after the M9 but for now I need to stop chasing the dragon. M8 and D3 are about as great a combo one could ask for.
 

Maggie O

Active member
It takes absolutely amazing pics but it can be a source of constant frustration as well. Like last night I went to an important reunion of musicians, etc and quickly grabbed the M8. It showed two bars on the battery indicator and I stupidly forgot to snatch an extra battery. I think it's because I've been shooting with the D3 so much - two bars would last me weeks!

Anyway, after about 50 shots it totally ran out. I got what I wanted (I wasn't working or I would have used the D3 and/or had spare batteries) but it was frustrating.
Son, that's sort of like blaming your F3 because you forgot to bring two rolls of film.

I swear, you damn whiny kids are so spoiled these day!!! We had ASA400 film, in 36 exposure batches, and we were thankful for that!!! :cussing:

Now, GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!

Damn kids. (and their music) :p
 

charlesphoto

New member
Ha! Thank you - I feel young again at 44.:D Never had an F3 though did shoot with an F (and later F2) for many years.

I just think that one should get more than 50 shots from a camera with supposedly 2/3rds battery power left (or heck, even 1/3rd). Is that too much to ask of a $5K camera?
 

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
A smaller battery and its subsequent shorter charge life are the price paid for a much smaller camera than the D3. Of course since I don't own a D3 I can't be 100% sure the Leica battery is smaller. Is it?
 

LJL

New member
My perspective, based on the original question has been evolving also. I was really excited about the M8 when it was released, and I was equally thrilled to get the first one that landed in Houston in November 2006. That also carried the famous line "Houston, we have a problem." I wrestled with all of the other early adopters to figure out what the heck was and was not working properly. I was not thrilled, but I loved having an M camera back in my hands again, AND being able to do all of it digitally. That made it worth the pains.

A year and half or more later, I still love the M8. I shoot it as often as I can. I carry it with me almost everywhere, even if not shooting something. I love the glass I have collected for it. It has become a "go-to" camera with the Noctilux for some of my portrait shooting lately and the images are fantastic. However, it has been an expensive journey so far, and not without many of the shortcomings others have commented on. In the first 20 weeks I owned it, 9.5 of those weeks had it in Solms. Not good. It took another 4-6 months to get my Noctilux, and countless more weeks to finally get it properly working for foucs. All of the filters, codings, mount swaps, etc., have been a great tinkering exercise, but frankly, as a full-blown working tool it still does not cut it. Too many little things that are fidgety. I also had some ridiculous expectations that the files would produce otherworldly prints for me, but they can only be pushed so far.

So, would I do it again, knowing what I know and have experienced now? Probably not. I will not give it up, but I also have been candid to others asking me about it. If they are tinkerers, and have a history with Leica, and have the money, I tell them to get one and have some fun. If they do not fit those categories, I tell them to consider other things. I myself am about to jump into MF (again, as I used to shoot MF film around the same time I shot with M4s), as the M8 today, cannot deliver the images I want for some things. For PJ work, casual travel and fun shooting, it is still a blast, but I want more from the images, and the M8, even with the best glass, is just not getting there.

Not bashing the M8 here. I have one, will keep it. I maybe could/should have spent the money and time on MF instead, but that field was not too settled either at that point, as it is now. Not really a regret, but a sober perspective. It does let me get some things that my big Canon DSLRs do not match, but overall, it has many limitations for my professional needs.

LJ
 

johnastovall

Deceased, but remembered fondly here...
Absolutely, warts and all there's nothing which does what it does and does it so well.

It put beauty and joy back in to my photography.
 
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