Leica questions

[Guy Mancuso]

Woody i see no reason why it would not but have to get all the legal stuff from Leica to be sure.

 

[LJL]

Woody,
In the FAQ document just released by Leica on their site, the very first question deals with this. The answer states that any Leica M8 in the market is available for this upgrade. There is no information yet on what may be the "non-original owner" upgrade plan and costs. This may create a multi-tiered category for used cameras....those with and those without the upgrades, and then which upgrades they may have.

Also of note is that FAQ does suggest that even the sensor and digital electronics are being considered. They have not definitely committed to this, from my reading, but it sounds as though that is part of the plan. To me, that is a very key piece of this entire upgrade program, as the sensor and electronics is essentially our swapping in different rolls of film on the film Ms.

LJ

 

[jonoslack]

Sean

this still does not address whether a "used" camera can be purchased and upgraded. Any word on this? The price for used M8's would disastrously decline if they cannot be upgraded.

Woody Spedden

HI Woody
I hope you're well
Assuming that Leica are going to make a profit out of this (it seems unlikely that it's a charity move), then it would be pretty odd to limit their marketplace to the original purchaser - so I don't doubt that every camera will be available for upgrade (mind you, I don't know, just applying a little logic to the situation).

 

[Daniel]

i got the same impression as well. especially regarding the sensor and the electronics. although Leica has not made a definite commitment, i think this is very feasible, because, by the time they decide to upgrade the sensor and the electronics, the parts will be more compact and hopefully less expensive. the later will depend on industry supply and demand.

whatever, the fact that the m8's internals are upgradable is very exciting for me because i'm so used to nikon (nikon is not the only one) obsoleting prior models soon before they get a chance to settle down in the stores.

so my question would be: based on the FAQ, does this mean that Leica has plans to offer other parts upgrades in the future, for example, full sensor, improved noise control at higher ISO?

– dan

 

[LJL]

I am keeping my fingers crossed here, as that concept of swapping out the sensor and electronics was also part of the DMR plan, and that did not happen.

LJ

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Yes as i am told there will be more upgrades which could include FF

 

[Sean_Reid]

Sean

this still does not address whether a "used" camera can be purchased and upgraded. Any word on this? The price for used M8's would disastrously decline if they cannot be upgraded.

Woody Spedden

Hi Woody,

I believe any M8 can be upgraded if one is willing to pay for that.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[carstenw]

It does seem that it needs to be registered. Access to the upgrade form is via a registration.

Guy, please make Leica understand that a great number of us wish more accurate framelines were part of this upgrade.

 

[Sean_Reid]

Woody,
In the FAQ document just released by Leica on their site, the very first question deals with this. The answer states that any Leica M8 in the market is available for this upgrade. There is no information yet on what may be the "non-original owner" upgrade plan and costs. This may create a multi-tiered category for used cameras....those with and those without the upgrades, and then which upgrades they may have.
LJ

It's my understanding that the cost is the cost no matter who the owner is. I'll have to ask about VAT.

Cheer,

Sean

 

[Daniel]

sean or guy,

not sure if this was answered already, but is the 2-year warranty added on top of existing m8 warranty? for example, i purchased my m8 on 7 january 2008, so, if i choose this upgrade option, will i have an additional 2 years? or the 2-year warranty only applies to the parts mentioned in the upgrade -- the new shutter and the lcd glass?

EDIT: by the way, just in case some of you are wondering if the new firmware makes the m8 recognize sandisk extreme III 4gb sd card. no it doesn't.

 

[Sean_Reid]

Woody,
In the FAQ document just released by Leica on their site, the very first question deals with this. The answer states that any Leica M8 in the market is available for this upgrade. There is no information yet on what may be the "non-original owner" upgrade plan and costs. This may create a multi-tiered category for used cameras....those with and those without the upgrades, and then which upgrades they may have.
LJ

It's my understanding that the cost is the cost no matter who the owner is. I'll have to ask about VAT.

Cheer,

Sean

 

[Sean_Reid]

sean or guy,

not sure if this was answered already, but is the 2-year warranty added on top of existing m8 warranty? for example, i purchased my m8 on 7 january 2008, so, if i choose this upgrade option, will i have an additional 2 years? or the 2-year warranty only applies to the parts mentioned in the upgrade -- the new shutter and the lcd glass?

EDIT: by the way, just in case some of you are wondering if the new firmware makes the m8 recognize sandisk extreme III 4gb sd card. no it doesn't.

It applies to the whole camera.

I believe its 2 years from the date of the upgrade but I'd need to double check that.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[woodyspedden]

Guy, Sean et al.

Thanks for the comments. I agree with the logic but still cannot tell for sure from the Leica news release. I would seriously doubt though that they would forego the potential revenue and further alienate some of their oldest M8 customers. So we will wait to see if our logic bears fruit in the reality

Woody

 

[Steen]

How many upgrades does the first payment of 1200 € cover, just this first upgrade or an infinite number of upgrades in the future ?

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I think just the 1st one announced.

 

[Steen]

That was what I feared, Guy. In that case I think it is waay too expensive for just two new components, none of them being the sensor.

 

[Sean_Reid]

Guy, Sean et al.

Thanks for the comments. I agree with the logic but still cannot tell for sure from the Leica news release. I would seriously doubt though that they would forego the potential revenue and further alienate some of their oldest M8 customers. So we will wait to see if our logic bears fruit in the reality

Woody

Hi Woody,

I'm not going from the news release. I'm going from my direct discussions with Leica.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[Maggie O]

s
EDIT: by the way, just in case some of you are wondering if the new firmware makes the m8 recognize sandisk extreme III 4gb sd card. no it doesn't.

Oh well, I guess I'll just leave mine in the D-Lux 3.

 

[TRSmith]

Personally, I'm hoping the new shutter will actually improve slow-speed, hand-held shooting. In a camera system that frequently sells expensive lenses that are often judged by some very subtle nuance, obtaining the ability to shoot at (dare I say it?) even 1 full stop slower represents some real value. That remains to be seen of course. But if that proves true, it adds a lot of value. My cron suddenly gets closer to a lux and a lux gets well, even lux-ier.

By the way, I downloaded the shutter sound files and played them. If you do that and your Mac is set up in any way like mine, the MP3 files will open in iTunes. It took me awhile to realize that I had my preferences set with the "Sound Check" preference turned on. That preference automatically balances the volume levels from one "song" to the next. With it turned on, you won't hear any difference between the shutters. Find it in Preferences > Playback > Sound Check and de-select it.

 

[ChrisDauer]

That was what I feared, Guy. In that case I think it is waay too expensive for just two new components, none of them being the sensor.

I'm with you on this one. However, it's nice to think that maybe an upgrade would be to FF. Of course, maybe the upgrade is going to the M9 whenever that is