Shutterbug Review of M8

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Scott Tansey

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Shutterbug has a review of the M8 in the new April, 2007 print edition. I could not find it on the web yet. They like it and they discuss the different issues. In fact they like it much better than the M7 which they could not recommend in the initial review. Somehow there was a problem of taking out the film with the M7.

I have been taking pictures for the past couple of months. I have used the 35 1.4 Lux and the 75 1.4 Lux. I have been pleasantly surprised, and the Leica M8 has been the digital camera I have been using. I also have a Canon 5d, but I like the smaller size of the Leica. I just purchased a Noctilux, and I look forward to using it.

I have been using Lightroom for my post production, since Aperture does not yet natively process M8 files without the work around. I have learned about the M8 from this site and the Leica User Listserve, and I appreciate all the comments (flames etc.)
 
I am a new Rangefinderforum member just getting my feet wet. Have read the Shutterbug review and came away interested although not sold. The comparison with 5D left more questions than answers. I would like it better if the reviewer took a position rather than wishywashy "objectivity." Wait for PSCS3, Bridge will handle the download/import operation very well. Having said all that I do appreciate the Shutterbug review, maybe I best go to B&H today.
 
Objectivity is so overrated. The Commodore 64 is the best computer ever made, not those fancy, expensive Cray computers; that's my position. ;)

I have the Canon 5D and the Leica M8. They complement each other. Now, an RD-1 would complete the circle.
 
Hey Gabriel, I disagree. I like the Commodore 128 myself...

(Still have 3 64s, a 128, and an Amiga 1000 in boxes in the basement. want one?)
 
An Amiga 1000! Sure, I'll take one! (my gf will kill me -- I've been trying to get rid of a Mac Performa 620 for the past three years)
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
Objectivity is so overrated. The Commodore 64 is the best computer ever .made, not those fancy, expensive Cray computers; that's my position. ;)
Click to expand...

That was my computer growing up ... duel 5 1/2 inch floppy disk drives

I still remember the games on those disks

Typing:

Load "*" ,8,1

Below The Root

I can't remember the exact company, but one of my friends' family got a home computer when we were small and I can remember his dad marveling at the fact it came with a 1mb Harddrive that they debated whether or not to partition it into 2 500kb LOLLOL :p

I don't miss those days at all ... but I do appreciate them
 
"In fact they like it much better than the M7 which they could not recommend in the initial review. Somehow there was a problem of taking out the film with the M7. "

Scott, could you please reference where this information came from? Shutterbug rated the M7 as one of their top photo tools for 2002, see: http://www.shutterbug.net/features/1102sb_editor*****s/index.html

After reading Shutterbug for at least 10 years, I can't recall them ever finding a camera that they didn't like, so I don't give a lot of value to their reviews other than that they do a good job of describing features. I did read every article I could find published about the M7 before I purchased mine three years ago and do not recall a negative article in any magazine, so your comment just surprised me.

Tom
 
Tom,

I cannot remember this specific issue, but there was a problem of removing the film which the reviewer did not like. I was surprised about the review. Lets face it, Photo Magazines are not the most objective parties due to their reliance on advertising. Notice that most photo magazines do not print articles on consecutive pages. All the articles say "turn to page..." That forces the readers to go through a bunch of ads in order to finish the article.

Even the article in Popular Photography only asked a rhetorical question. I wish that photo magazines would be more objective and have higher standards of review such as the music magazines. Notice the low percentage of 5 starred reviews in Rolling Stone. I think the last one was Modern Times by Bob Dylan.

That is why this and other forums on the Internet are so important. Although the conversation about the Leica M8 has generated a lot of heat, it has also generated a lot of light.
 
I'm not an M7 user but the contacts which read the DX coding of the film crowded the slot holding the film. In truth, problems such as this in using a film rangefinder -- whether it be an M6 or M7 or MP or one of the earlier breathren -- are simply a matter of getting adjusted to the unique way a Leica rangefinder handles. The M7 is a great camera. The guy who reviewed it was not use to it.
 
It seems that the spring-loaded contacts applies to much side load to the canister and made it difficult to remove in the bottom loading design of the M7. Leica can retrofit the optical solution which reportedly solves the problem.
 
Al Patterson said:
Hey Gabriel, I disagree. I like the Commodore 128 myself...

(Still have 3 64s, a 128, and an Amiga 1000 in boxes in the basement. want one?)
Click to expand...

I remember watching with great envy how fast a game would load on my friend's 64 and his floppy drive versus the tapes with my TI994A and Timex/Sinclair. And he had 64k memory! I finally got one with two drives. They were good in their day and the software was good. Games surpassed others and there was a software suite (a crs moment so I forget the name) that was better than Windows until 3.1. I still have one although one of the drives died after a house fire. Someday I will have to go back and print out some of the files and scan them into some Windows software. Yeah, those were the days! :D

I was even able to get COBOL and C as well as some other languages like Logo for it. Fun.

As to the M8 review, I thought it interesting of sorts, but as already mentioned, I don't think I have ever seen a bad review in a photo mag.
 
Scott Tansey said:
Tom,

Notice that most photo magazines do not print articles on consecutive pages. All the articles say "turn to page..." That forces the readers to go through a bunch of ads in order to finish the article.
Click to expand...

Not quite correct. The primary reason for this is to keep most of the important articles near the front of the magazine, allowing each one to have a splashy lead-in page with photos and/or graphics.
All the ad space is booked beforehand and the editorial dept. has to lay out the articles around the blocks of ads. They could still choose to run the articles in their entirety, one after the other, but that would make for a boring lookig magazine. Casual readers who flip through the pages until they see something they like would lose interest too quickly.

When all you guys were playing Karateka on your 64s I was killing on Zaxxon on an Apple II Plus with amber monitor!:D
 
LOL! Karateka! I loved that game! That and Adept.

Best game ever made. Not those fancy schmancy PS-III games. That's my position. :D
 
oftheherd said:
I was even able to get COBOL and C as well as some other languages like Logo for it. Fun.
Click to expand...
Wow. And I thought I was insane compiling Pascal while programming Logo at the same time on that speed demon. Ok, not at the same time, concurrently...
 
Ha! I spent much of my formative years with Ballerburg and MIDImaze and later Their Finest Hour on the Atari. And as we all know, Commodore machines are evil and Commodore users are posers, just to warm up some old archrivalries :)
 
Scott Tansey said:
Tom,

I cannot remember this specific issue, but there was a problem of removing the film which the reviewer did not like. I was surprised about the review. Lets face it, Photo Magazines are not the most objective parties due to their reliance on advertising. Notice that most photo magazines do not print articles on consecutive pages. All the articles say "turn to page..." That forces the readers to go through a bunch of ads in order to finish the article.
.
Click to expand...

Wasn't this one of the Popphoto articles when they were putting the Bessa, Zeiss Ikon. and M7 togethor .... I believe it was that reviewer who was having problems with the loading of the film

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3600/speaking-frankly-rangefinder-revival.html
 
I love this caption:

Leica M7: The real thing since 1954. Click photo for more M7 images and info.
Click to expand...

It was Top Secret, and not unveiled until about 40 years later. The world wasn't ready for an M7 in the 50's, I guess :rolleyes:
 
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