R-D1 vs M8

Buy an M10, ah sorry we did not come to that point yet :)

I am happy with my analog set. I might try Sony NEX instead. Anyone compared NEX to RD1 with respect to IQ?


You're right for the M10, I guess it will be an awesome camera :)

IMO NEX isn't in the race : hideous, no RF, even no finder, horrible interface… puuuh!
 
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I just sold m'y R-D1 and got a M8. I LOVED the ergonomics of the Epson. The shutter winder, the reversible LCD, the analog gauges and even how the film rewind knob is now a scrolling wheel. HOWEVER pretty doesn't make it practical. The menus of the Epson are WAAAAY worse than the Leica. Deleting and zooming in an image is not intuitive at all and takes a long time. Yes you need to use menu buttons to change ISO and WB, but the symbols for WB on the Epson aren't exactly clear and the ISO knob is no faster. The files of the Epson were definitely nicer for color and noise. But the M8 well exposed are pretty close and and the 4 extra MP are seriously worth it. The M8 is solid as a rock and with the addition of the Thumbs Up makes it is a pleasure to handle. I would have loved to kept both to leave the Epson on a shelf but needed the cash for the M8 which I really just bought until the M9 becomes affordable. As of right now having owned both, I'd take the M8 (cost difference included).
 
Do you use any specific profile/s in Lightroom 3 with the M8? What is so much better in LR 3 compared to previous versions particularly for ISO 1250?

When you open an image in LR3 in development mode, that was already imported with a previous version of LR, then you are asked if you want to upgrade to the new "2010 process" for that specific photo. My personal observation is, that especially the M8 files look better in details and grain is less visible with the new LR process. Then they improved the noise engine in LR3.
When I work over older M8 files I think some of the ISO1250 files now look good while I thought they were almost unusable back with LR2.

Here comes the disclaimer. I did no scientific test. Just a personal observation that may be spoiled by the fact that I do film development in the meantime and maybe I am not so critical regarding noise now. :cool:

I use three profiles: Adobe Standard, Camera Standard and the profile from the user Double Negative in this thread http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84524. Each one has it's strengths in different lighting and color situations.

The last weeks I did some work on my old M8 files with more knowledge, LR3 and different profiles. Over a year ago I sold my M8 because there were so many photos that were just ok and work with the colors was difficult, not to speak about the noise. If I had the knowledge and tools back then I would have kept the camera. So yesterday I bought a used one again. Thank god it's christmas and I had to buy some present for me :D
BTW the market is full of M8 at a reasonable price. It costs less now compared to what I got a year ago.
 
I currently own and use both the M8 and R-D1. Both are great cameras. I prefer the Leica mostly for the smaller crop factor and bigger file size. In practice, the R-D1 file size is not at all limiting most of the time, but it's still nice to have more pixels. My advice is to decide between these cameras based on lens choice (viewfinder and crop), file size needs, and price.
 
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