It's a heartbreaker.
I've been a photo addict since about 1942 when I was twelve and built my first darkroom. In the sixties I traveled a lot and photographed all over the country with a view camera, a Rolliflex, and three Leicas: a IIIf, M2 and M4. I even bought the M4 brand new with a 50mm f/2 Summicron. But in 1972 we moved into a new house that had 7 bathrooms, counting the one in the garage, and no place to set up a darkroom. So, after I got back from a second year in Southeast Asia I sold all my equipment.
For about thirty years I've been sorry I sold my Leicas, especially the M4. Eventually, in 2000, when Casio came out with the first 3 megapixel camera I got back into the game with digital and I've been shooting almost daily since -- nowadays with a D2X. But I love street photography, and the D2x is no street camera.
Then Leica announced the M8 and I was ecstatic. Once again I'd be able to work with a small, fast, quiet, black, street rangefinder. I watched the announcements and got ready to buy my M8 and 35mm Summicron for street work. Then the whole thing fell apart. I started reading about the problems my prospective new treasure was having with purple blacks, green blobs, streaking, erratic white balance, shots that never got to the SD card, etc.
Now what? I've been reading M8 discussion threads for days now and I've about come to the conclusion that Leica has had it. That Leica executives rushed this incomplete camera out in time for Photokina reminds me of the ad agency executive who braced an agency "artist" and told him, "I didn't say I wanted it to be good. I said I wanted it by Thursday."
It all seems very unLeicalike. I'm pretty sure panic has set in at Leica and that the "fixes" are going to be required "by Thursday." The problem is that with Leica's financial problems, if the M8 doesn't get fixed by "Thursday" they're out of business. But if the "fixed" M8 comes in at the same level of reliability as the released M8 they're out of business. It seems to me there's a high probability that the rushed fixes will be like the classic problem with the old IBM 360 operating system. Every time IBM did an upgrade to the system they fixed about 5,000 bugs but they introduced about 5,000 new ones.
All I can do is wait and keep my fingers crossed. I want that M8 in my hand, but not with purple blacks, green blobs, streaking, erratic white balance, or erratic storage to the SD card. If I can't have a properly functioning M8 then I'll have to keep doing street photography with my D2X or D100 and hope and pray that someone else will come out with the camera the M8 should have been.
It's a heartbreaker.