Are you struggling deciding between the M8 and Nikon D3?

Are you struggling deciding between the M8 and Nikon D3?

  • Leica M8

    Votes: 157 49.2%

  • Nikon D3

    Votes: 123 38.6%

  • Both, you silly goose (bad GAS attack!)

    Votes: 39 12.2%
  • Total voters
    319
Didn't vote, no money for either, but the D3 would be my choice for the money.

Bob
 
I am a relatively satisfied M8 owner.
I wouldn't buy the D3 at that price for a whole host of reasons: shooting style, having to buy a new suite of lenses; size and weight, etc.
That said, I am very happy this new Nikon is entering the market. I think it is going shake up a lot of manufacturers, perhaps even Leica, forcing them to raise their game, and eventually to lower their prices on some of the bleeding edge features.
Long live competition!
 
The D3 sounds great. It's just a little late for me, having abandoned Nikon a couple years ago. Now, I have my (cheaper) Canon 5D, full frame and high IQ. I have always liked the Nikon layout and handling, but it's too late for me.
 
toyotadesigner said:
If I'd have a customer for a tiny broschure: D3. Else: None. 12 MP is the dirt of a tiny fly. I won't give up my 130 MP from my scans.
Click to expand...

Aren't these scans empty megabytes? If I save my scans as a TIFF they are 100++ MB. If I save them as a JPG (apples to apples) they are about 3-9 MB. I'm not convinced consumer level scans of negatives show much more or any more detail than a good digital camera. I just cropped an image from my R-D1 (6 MP sensor), using about 1/3rd of it for the final image. It was even shot at 800 ISO, which is pretty noisy on the R-D1. The final image size was a 1.4 MB JPG. I printed it at 11x17 on an Epson R1800. The image was beautiful - no pixilation and excellent detail. There was a small amount of noise visible if I took my glasses off and stood about 3 inches from the photo. Otherwise, nada!

/T
 
The D3 is a revolutionary camera. The M8 is simply a decent camera in a unique form factor.

I've seen portraits taken by the D3 in low low light at 25600 ISO and it looks great! It is also the sexier looking camera of the two...

One can argue that it's reasonable to sacrifice camera size to achieve high resolution with a medium or large format camera, well in the case of the D3 vs M8, you are sacrificing camera size to be able to experience photography that is truly revolutionary. Small price to pay in my book.
 
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If I were spending $5K, I'd buy the D3. I wouldn't even consider a M8.

Early last winter a small set of people spent lots of time and $$$ trying to figure out how to get useful color images from the M8. Some of them justified these efforts by claiming their commercial photography clients insisted on the very best quality. When the D3 hits the streets (assuming it lives up to the hype... which is an assumption at this point) I can't wait to find out if any of those people switch. Of course the M8 has the M aesthetic and the D3 is a large, heavy, loud SLR. Buwt for commercial photography a SLR has very few disadvantages over the more efficient and less intimidating M body.

I also can't wait to see how the D3 performs with manual focus Nikkors and Zeiss ZF glass. I hate to use lenses without a DOF scales.
 
I didn't vote to signify "Neither".

DISCLAIMER: I am not a sports-photographer, if I were one, I'd probably vote for the D3.

For me, neither cameras is attractive in the least bit. Both are overpriced and they won't produce images that are proportionally better as they are more expensive than my current cameras.

If I want quality digital at similar prices, I'll get a used Contax 645, and a used digital-back.

If I want to get higher quality, I'd stay with 120 film 😛
 
350D_user said:
I vote for neither. The D3 looks incredibly cumbersome, the M8 is... nah... definitely neither.
Click to expand...
Seconded. I have neither the budget or the desire for either. Both are grossly over-priced and overrated IMO. Plus they'll likely be outdated in a short time.
 
I already have the M8 and my D3 will be delivered very soon.

Both are the best i could buy and they complement each other very well.
Of course it's both stupid and cumbersome to have more than one camera, but i can't help it. At least there is only two for me now.

/Erik
 
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