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M8.2

ecliffordsmith

ecliffordsmith

New member
Hi All,

I can understand that people who were hoping for an M9 soon would be a bit disapointed with this release but otherwise this really just seems to be the upgraded M8 with a couple of tweaks.

For me personally I would like to see a sensor and electronic framlines in an M9 to consider upgrading (if, of course I cannot have my M8 upgraded to the spec :)).

I must admit that the idea of an 'S' mode seems strange. I hope this is not instead of the 'A' mode? Whilst Jono for instance stated above that he liked the feature it is something I, personally never use on cameras. I am all for a direct way to change the ISO but I would not want the camera to do it of it own accord. A waste of a click on the shutter wheel in my humble opinion.

I hope in general that this pushes people considering an M8 into the yes camp.
 
TRSmith

TRSmith

Subscriber Member
I think auto ISO works extremely well on the new Nikons. Especially since they seem to have such an enormous noise-free range when it comes to ISO. Alas, the M8's usable, noise-free ISO range seems to be far less forgiving.
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
ecliffordsmith said:
Hi All,

I must admit that the idea of an 'S' mode seems strange. I hope this is not instead of the 'A' mode? Whilst Jono for instance stated above that he liked the feature it is something I, personally never use on cameras. I am all for a direct way to change the ISO but I would not want the camera to do it of it own accord. A waste of a click on the shutter wheel in my humble opinion.
Click to expand...
Funny isn't it, I wouldn't dream of using auto WB on the M8 (or any other camera). But auto ISO is really useful, BUT it must have a 'minimum shutter speed' setting and a 'top ISO setting'.

It's great for taking candids, where the lighting may change quite a bit, and you want to keep the same aperture within a shutter speed range. So, for instance, if you were shooting indoors with a 35mm and you wanted to shoot at f2, and to keep the shutter speed above 1/20th, you could set the auto-Iso, so that the camera will always give you the best possible ISO within those constraints.
Without it you need to set a higher ISO than you might need, and you don't normally have time to change it if you're grabbing 'the moment'.

I agree with Tim, it's more useful on the D700/D3 where you can go up to 6400 without too much trouble. Still, I think it'd be useful on an M8 as well.
 
ecliffordsmith

ecliffordsmith

New member
Tim/Jono,

I think you have explained why I have reservations about the feature. There are consequences requiring exposure decisions to increasing the ISO on the M8. I am happy to expose for highlights between 160 and 640 but go nearer the mid range for 1250 and 2500.

Jono,

I was unaware of the shutter speed/top iso parameters. This does indeed add a level of sophistication to the feature I was until now ignorant of so thanks for explaining that.

I look forward to the day when I can say I can go up to ISO 6400 without too much trouble on an M ...
 
Hank Graber

Hank Graber

New member
This is about what I would expect from Leica. Major upgrade once every 4 or 5 years and one upgrade incorporating client feedback in between. If the M8.2 is more reliable with a smoother quieter shutter that's a step forward. I don't see any DRF competition in the near term so I expect Leica to continue to survive. I'm perfectly happy with a 4 or 5 year product cycle. I'm not going to shell out 5K every two years for a new body. Image quality of the M8 is a match for anything I would have used 35mm film for so anything beyond what they have now IQ wise is MF territory, not what the M was intended for. Better high ISO performance would be more important for a reportage camera.

Faster wide lenses and a small format camera that is better then the Ricoh GRD. That would do a lot for the Leica line up and we still might see that.
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
ecliffordsmith said:
Tim/Jono,

I think you have explained why I have reservations about the feature. There are consequences requiring exposure decisions to increasing the ISO on the M8. I am happy to expose for highlights between 160 and 640 but go nearer the mid range for 1250 and 2500.

Jono,

I was unaware of the shutter speed/top iso parameters. This does indeed add a level of sophistication to the feature I was until now ignorant of so thanks for explaining that.

I look forward to the day when I can say I can go up to ISO 6400 without too much trouble on an M ...
Click to expand...
I think you just hit the nail on the head . . . on the other hand it'd be nice to get that much detail without too much trouble on a Nikon!
 
S

sinwen

Member
Leica has said the M8 is here to last, thanks this upgrade great idea (sic) and they said they couldn't make it FF.
So expecting a FF M9 is a bit of living of hope. Nothing will happen on this side before long, except correcting the original flaws that's all about the M8.2.
Leica also made it clear there was no new R this year. Anyway they would probably have come with another APS sensor type while the market is on FF. Their lateness in this department is awful how could they cope with it ?
I love my Leica R and M but must say Leica will be out of the business if something big doesn't happen NOW.
So what is left ? They talked of a cheaper M, I see nothing else than Micro 4/3 Panasonic copy with Leica lenses. That's mean we'll get a few micro 4/3 Leica lenses to chew for this Photokina. Will it be enough for them to survive ?
I am afraid.....
 
S

Stuart Richardson

Active member
They also said a digital Leica M was impossible (right up until the RD-1 came out) and that there would never be a digital R series camera until they gave us the DMR. What the marketing people say and what the engineers are working on are very different things. Furthermore, if Leica went out of business every time the general public said they would, they would have been gone shortly after the Nikon F2.
 
Hank Graber

Hank Graber

New member
I'm sure they are working on some more ambitious changes for the M behind the scenes. The new owners didn't purchase Leica just so it could limp along forever. But a serious leap forward for the M will likely take some time. No manufacturer has expressed the least interest in the DRF market. They need all their resources to remain competitive in the DSLR market, Nikon and maybe soon Sony are bringing some serious competition to Canon. None of the DSLR companies can afford the distraction for such a small return. So the M8 is sure to remain best in class for the near future.

There are no stock holders to answer to so management can think long term. I hope Leica has another M3 like really innovative product in it's future. I'm also hoping they don't cede the small format space to Ricoh and Sigma as it's a natural for Leica. In the mean time there is not anything on the market like the M8 so I'm happy clicking away with it.
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
sinwen said:
So what is left ? They talked of a cheaper M, I see nothing else than Micro 4/3 Panasonic copy with Leica lenses. That's mean we'll get a few micro 4/3 Leica lenses to chew for this Photokina. Will it be enough for them to survive ?
I am afraid.....
Click to expand...
I have to say, I can see huge possibilities here. I would have thought that a well made body could be combined with an optical 'rangefinder' which could have accurate electronic framelines, manual focus confirmation or autofocus - plus the ability to use live-view on the LCD screen. It could also be a good deal smaller than the M8 (more like a G9 size). Tiny new leica lenses made for the reduced sensor/lens distance (20mm rather than 27) and an adaptor so that you can use all your old M lenses (with the 6 bit coding providing information). Together with Olympus' excellent new 4:3 Zuiko zoom lenses

Most of the new stuff required (lenses / optical 'RF' viewfinder) etc. are right up Leica's street.

It just seems to me to have the potential of providing a setup which people really would like to have, with image quality far beyond that available with the current ricoh and panasonic compacts.

But I fear they aren't going to join in :eek:
 
M

matmcdermott

Guest
Burried in the Polish article is mention of a new 1.4x viewfinder magnifier. Both this and M8.2 available in October.
 
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