Please turn M8 'Protect' button into 'ISO' button. POLL.

Please turn M8 'Protect' button into 'ISO' button. POLL.

  • Yes please, an 'ISO' option would be very usefull.

    Votes: 159 87.4%

  • No, I don't see the need.

    Votes: 23 12.6%
  • Total voters
    182
Roger Hicks said:
Surely the real question is why Leica would spend the money to do this. -- -- To ask for an 'upgrade' (which, apparently, not everyone agrees is an upgrade), for no money, on a discontinued camera, is optimistic.
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The OP referred to an upcoming firmware update. This is exactly the kind of feature firmware updates typically provide.

Why would they spend the money? Because it's smart marketing. This is the kind of marketing that sells cameras to people like me.
 
JSU said:
Roger,
With respect to redefining the "Lock" button as an access to the ISO menu, it probably would be cheaper, and easier, to offer it as a firmware upgrade rather than suddenly have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of M8 & M8.2 cameras showing up for a simple reprogramming easily accomplished by the user. Perhaps Leica Camera, AG could offer the code through a secure download for a modest fee.
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Sure, no question: I was talking about only the shutter dial thing. But Leica sells relatively tiny numbers of cameras, and the Protect/ISO substitution would appeal only to some of that tiny number: it's not actually an upgrade, more a sideways-grade. There'd also be the problem that when the camera was sold on, the new buyer would have (in effect) a mis-labelled button on the back, leading to endless to-and-fros on forums like this.

I'm not saying that it's a bad idea. I'm just saying that if I were Leica, I'd look very hard at the cost (to me) and benefit (to my customers), and I'd probably decide it was more trouble than it was worth. Of course I'm not Leica, so I don't know, but that's my guess. I also suspect that comparatively few Leica users are the sort of people who really care much about firmware upgrades: they buy a camera that works for them, and use it. Would the Protect/ISO option be smart marketing, as referred to by Lss? Maybe, but you don't necessarily market every product the same way.

Cheers,

R.
 
tom.w.bn said:
But you already have an M8. Would you buy an M9 or a new lens if they did this?
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Whether Leica implements this single feature or not is not the question. I would simply like this feature, and if there is indeed a firmware update coming for the M8 I would prefer having it implemented. Even the fact that they are providing a firmware update for a camera this old actually makes me happy. Once that is established it's time to talk about what the update does.

What I was getting at with my post is that the way Leica treats the owners of their older (digital) cameras will affect my decision of buying an M9, perhaps a year or two from now, the next camera after that and so on. A new Leica body is simply a lot of money. Unfortunately I can't be one of the early adopters of these products to enjoy them while they are the latest and the greatest. That's why I am interested in the way they handle discontinued products.

I believe Leica has shown they do things right with the mechanics. In the digital age things like firmware updates also matter.
 
Canon has done similar things via firmware -- added functionality to released models, with no added cost to the user. When the 1DIII was introduced, its joystick button was almost useless. Users asked to be able to use it to set the autofocus point, as on the 40D and similar cameras. Canon added this function via a firmware update, making the 1DIII easier to use. Similarly, in response to user requests, the 5DII was firmware-upgraded with added video features months after it was released. I believe they added 24 fps (had been only 30 fps) and exposure compensation and/or manual exposure (not sure) to the video mode. I guess a difference is that the 1DIII and 5DII were still current models when these changes/upgrades were introduced. Canon could have decided that these changes would be more trouble than they were worth, but I think users appreciated them very much.
 
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ZlatkoBatistich said:
Canon has done similar things via firmware -- added functionality to released models, with no added cost to the user. When the 1DIII was introduced, its joystick button was almost useless. Users asked to be able to use it to set the autofocus point, as on the 40D and similar cameras. Canon added this function via a firmware update, making the 1DIII easier to use. Similarly, in response to user requests, the 5DII was firmware-upgraded with added video features months after it was released. I believe they added 24 fps (had been only 30 fps) and exposure compensation and/or manual exposure (not sure) to the video mode. I guess a difference is that the 1DIII and 5DII were still current models when these changes/upgrades were introduced. Canon could have decided that these changes would be more trouble than they were worth, but I think users appreciated them very much.
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They added the feature when the 5D was rather young and it was to boost the sales figures. That's ok. But they don't offer a firmware for the old 5D. That's the difference. Leica offers a firmware for a camera out of production.
 
Lss said:
Whether Leica implements this single feature or not is not the question. I would simply like this feature, and if there is indeed a firmware update coming for the M8 I would prefer having it implemented. Even the fact that they are providing a firmware update for a camera this old actually makes me happy. Once that is established it's time to talk about what the update does.

What I was getting at with my post is that the way Leica treats the owners of their older (digital) cameras will affect my decision of buying an M9, perhaps a year or two from now, the next camera after that and so on. A new Leica body is simply a lot of money. Unfortunately I can't be one of the early adopters of these products to enjoy them while they are the latest and the greatest. That's why I am interested in the way they handle discontinued products.

I believe Leica has shown they do things right with the mechanics. In the digital age things like firmware updates also matter.
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I think they treat the M8 owners very well. Probably your dream feature will not be in the upcoming firmware but I'm sure there are many owners who will appreciate the optimizations they will ship with the firmware. If it includes the already discussed manual selection of the lens, I will be very happy. Bringing a firmware for a camera out of production is very unique and a sign that they care about their customers. I hope this doesn't sound too naive 🙄
 
They've been good to my M8 and I trust the same will be true of the M9. Perhaps some of the work they did on the M9 software proved easy to apply to the M8, at little additional cost.
 
mabelsound said:
Perhaps some of the work they did on the M9 software proved easy to apply to the M8, at little additional cost.
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My thoughts exactly. Surely adding a Menu option is easy for a software engineer and something he/she could knock up in their lunch break (almost)?

And just to point out to the members who feel an ISO option would appeal to a limited few, the poll result so far shows that over 8 out of 10 would like to see the option.
 
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jsrockit said:
I don;t get how it would be of any advantage... it seems easy right now.
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Press the button, scroll up or down, release the button that's all. Same for the M9 IINW. No need to use the set button that we must press 3 times currently. Just a matter of chimping more or less though. We're far from analogue controls a la R-D1. 🙄
 
LCT said:
Press the button, scroll up or down, release the button that's all. Same for the M9 IINW. No need to use the set button that we must press 3 times currently. Just a matter of chimping more or less though. We're far from analogue controls a la R-D1. 🙄
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Well right now I hit the set button twice, scroll up and down, and then hit the set button again... seriously, all of this for one button push? I don't get it.
 
am using day time custom setting (incl. ISO 160), and other for night time (with ISO 640). switching between the two is very fast, no need to fumble long time in menus.

but still, having some meaningful use for "Protect" button would be nice 🙂
 
jsrockit said:
Well right now I hit the set button twice, scroll up and down, and then hit the set button again... seriously, all of this for one button push? I don't get it.
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Because you don't hate chimping as much as i do i guess. The lesser and shorter the better for me. YMMV. BTW what is curious with Leica is they force us to chimp with the M9 to check battery level and remaining shots but they put an iso button in lieu of the protect button of the M8. 🙄
 
LCT said:
Because you don't hate chimping as much as i do i guess. The lesser and shorter the better for me. YMMV. BTW what is curious with Leica is they force us to chimp with the M9 to check battery level and remaining shots but they put an iso button in lieu of the protect button of the M8. 🙄
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I think the original meaning of chimping was looking at the screen after taking a photo to verify what photo you took. Using the screen to alter some settings or check the camera status is not chimping in the original meaning.
 
LCT said:
You know perfectly well what i mean don't you?
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Hm. Don't know exactly. I was out today with the M8 and tried to imagine what it was like when the lcd for battery and remaining shots was not there and I had to look on the screen instead. I must say that the extra display is nice but not so important to complain about the M9 solution.
 
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