M8.2 announced by norvegian news service

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veraikon

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The norvegian news service announced some infos about a M8.2
Leica M8.2 er leveringsklar

Leica M8.2 leveres også i svart

Leica M8.2 leveres også i svart

Den nye Leica M8.2 er en viktig utvikling av Leicas tyskproduserte digitale rammesøkerkamera for profesjonelle fotografer. Nå er den leveringsklar med en veiledende pris på Kr. 42.980. Les pressmeldingen fra Leica/Lars Farnes AS her.
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http://foto.no/cgi-bin/articles/articleView.cgi?articleId=40975

The price should be NOK 43000 incl Taxes
 
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on the first view (I don´t speak norvegian) these are the differences:
Leica M8.2 har fått en ny ekstra stille og vibrasjonsdempet metallbladlukker
low vibration metall shutter
Den nye snapshot moden
new snapshot mode
Den automatiske ISO innstillingen
LEICA M8.2: additional automatic setting with free choice of ISO range.
Den nye Leica M8.2 er det aller første profesjonelle digitalkameraet som benytter ripefritt safirglass på
Back: 2.5“ color monitor (scratch-resistant sapphire coverglass), 😉

SD and SDHC cards up to 32 GByte

Display selection automatically matches the lens in use. 100% of the sensor format is covered at 0.7 m (LEICA M8.2: 2 m)
Scope of supply: M8 camera (10702 silver or 10701 black),
M8.2 camera (10712 silver or 10711 black),
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Don´t worry about the price (7400 US$).
Norway is a high-price, high-tax country. Interesting would be the price without any tax.
The only time I was in Norway a normal beer in a normal bar was about 12 US$
 
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I can buy an M8 demo for around $4000, which comes with a 1-yr warranty. If I do the upgrade I get the LCD glass and slow shutter and another year of warranty starting when the existing one expires. So, aside from the auto-ISO mode (which I've never used on any DSLR) I'd have an M8.2 w/same 2-yrs of warranty, for $5500. Why would I pay more than another $500 for a "factory" M8.2?
 
I don't know about the Auto-ISO feature but the rest sounds very much like the factory upgrade that was discussed quite a lot earlier this summer. Key points there were a different shutter and sapphire lcd glass and the price about €1100.

According to the Norwegian page, it's a press release from the Norwegian Leica agent and it also says that some design features such as the red logo has been toned down, the hot shoe now comes in the same colour as the camera and there is a new, more scratch-proof colour used on black cameras. It comes with AE with Auto-ISO and Auto-WB. Same sensor as the previous version, 1.3x. Flash sync at 1/180s and a "Auto slow sync" mode with compatible flashguns.

(Snapshot mode: “S” setting of shutter speed dial = automatic control of exposure time, ISO speed and white balance. Menus reduced to essential functions, hints on aperture and focus settings are displayed when the Info key is pressed.
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Remember that the Norwegian VAT is at 25% and the MSRP of 42980 NOK is only 1700kr more than the in-store price of the M8 v1.0 (41290 NOK).
 
veraikon said:
Please don´t hang on the price in Norway . This country is a high price country - and almost nothing is economic over there.
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Maybe, but if the M8.2 was priced much higher than $5500 as current M8 is in the US, it wouldn't attract many current users to trade up, as their M8 is worth maybe $3700 (and only if they sell privately, because a dealer would give them at most 60% of that). It would still be more economical for current owners to have theirs upgraded.

With regard to new customers, if the revised model is priced near the existing model, Leica and/or dealers would need to drop the price of existing M8 bodies until they are sold down to the point where Leica officially discontinues them. So one way or another, there will be a significant price gap between the two models. Therefore the big question is, are the revisions enough motivation to draw new customers? My completely unobjective and personal opinion is, no. The people who have been waiting for the next generation were expecting more along the likes of: a better and/or larger sensor, removal of the need for IR-cut filters, vastly-improved processing of high-ISO noise, etc.

But like anything Leica comes out with, there will be a certain core group who will jump on it with gusto.
 
Leica could improve their high iso noise with better firmware. It's not clear that new hardware is a must for this. They could also generate alot of good will by creating a menu mode that would allow one to set the lens type, instead of relying entirely on 6-bit coding. As for the diamond screen - I could never figure that one out. For $19.95 you can buy something just as good from B&H and be done worrying about it.

/T
 
Intrestingly the original post at foto.no has been pulled. Check it, it just says "L" now. I wonder if that increases or decreases the credibility of the info.

=)

/M
 
Last time information leaked from Leica (upgrade program) it was reliable. Also, I don't see why someone would write a fake post with such non surprising information.
 
I just sent mine for service, am wondering how long, and what their idea of service is, as in, if the problem is due to older hardware, what will they put in, old stock, or new stock, and will it come back as an M8 1.5? Perhaps they now have more options in parts replacement?

To maintain a good reputation, I would hope they upgrade where practical.

I could have lived with some of the problems, making corrections post shooting, but at the price and reputation of Leica, I think high expectations should be reasonable.

The offered upgrades seemed expensive, I have no idea where the justification comes from, parts, labor, or somewhere else. I have little dealing with their service, just a CL, everything else has been used. A new top and servicing the CL was $300, more than a few years ago, but I thought it was reasonable for the time as they had to engrave the top, in line with other factory service.

I took a TM to them in Germany and they just said they would send it out with no estimate of cost, to a former employee, so I passed.

If something wonderful happens, will post it.

Regards, John
 
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