an ode to the M8

Well this thread has got me thinking :) What would be a reasonable price to pay for a low-shutter count m8 or m8.2? Looks like KEH prices start at $1700. How easy is it to encode lenses and is it absolutely necessary to do?
 
Hi,

I'm new to the forum and an M8 user (amongst other cameras).

I decided to take a leap into digital rangefinders last December. I wanted to try a digital Leica as I love my M6. I went for the M8 based on my budget as M9 secondhand values are quite strong in the UK. I got it at a low price - about £800 iirc.

I love the M8 despite many of its drawbacks...

10mp...
enough for me and in the region of my scanned film
1.3x crop...
I wanted full frame so my lenses paired up between bodies but for the price I can live without it.
Noise...
I dislike this modern phenomenon of ultra-clean high-iso images so it doesn't bother me too much. I would prefer it to be a little better though.
Poor LCD...
I find it useless except to change settings. I like this though - if the camera had an ISO dial I would happily live without!


I very much view my M8 as an M6 loaded with endless colour film. An added benefit is not having to pay for the increasingly expensive C41/E6 film and chemicals something which will make the camera pay for itself in the long run. I also don't have the hassle of scanning (a real labour of love for B&W). And there's also the fact that software is so good these days I can take my M8 files and make them look like any colour film I choose.

Some people here might be interested to note that I just got my M8 back from Germany (literally this morning) after a major repair. The shutter locked up on me a couple of months ago and I was getting an error message. The camera was a brick. Apparently the fault was some sort of broken circuit board and the sensor / shutter comes together? Anyway, Leica fixed the shutter, fitted a new sensor, and did their usual excellent job of checking the rest of the camera over. The repair wasn't too cheap but luckily I could claim on my camera insurance. So contrary to some rumours they do have some spares for the M8.

I now feel lucky to have a 'brand new' old M8!
 
Wow thanks for that, I just received one myself and really love this little
guy it just makes me look a little bit different at taking pictures. I'm glad
to hear you got yours fixed.
 
RichardPhoto said:
Hi,

I'm new to the forum and an M8 user (amongst other cameras).

I decided to take a leap into digital rangefinders last December. I wanted to try a digital Leica as I love my M6. I went for the M8 based on my budget as M9 secondhand values are quite strong in the UK. I got it at a low price - about £800 iirc.

I love the M8 despite many of its drawbacks...

10mp...
enough for me and in the region of my scanned film
1.3x crop...
I wanted full frame so my lenses paired up between bodies but for the price I can live without it.
Noise...
I dislike this modern phenomenon of ultra-clean high-iso images so it doesn't bother me too much. I would prefer it to be a little better though.
Poor LCD...
I find it useless except to change settings. I like this though - if the camera had an ISO dial I would happily live without!


I very much view my M8 as an M6 loaded with endless colour film. An added benefit is not having to pay for the increasingly expensive C41/E6 film and chemicals something which will make the camera pay for itself in the long run. I also don't have the hassle of scanning (a real labour of love for B&W). And there's also the fact that software is so good these days I can take my M8 files and make them look like any colour film I choose.

Some people here might be interested to note that I just got my M8 back from Germany (literally this morning) after a major repair. The shutter locked up on me a couple of months ago and I was getting an error message. The camera was a brick. Apparently the fault was some sort of broken circuit board and the sensor / shutter comes together? Anyway, Leica fixed the shutter, fitted a new sensor, and did their usual excellent job of checking the rest of the camera over. The repair wasn't too cheap but luckily I could claim on my camera insurance. So contrary to some rumours they do have some spares for the M8.

I now feel lucky to have a 'brand new' old M8!
Click to expand...

Congratulations on you old new M8. I am not sure if they upgraded (to M8.u or M8.2). When the shutter problem came out, Leica offered free repairs or upgrades to the M8.2. Maybe your timing did not allow for your repair to be upgraded, maybe they did upgrade it. The upgrade lowers the sound of the shutter. In any case, you will love it even more. I got my M9 and sold my M8, only to buy the M8.2 later on. I am using it more than the M9.
 
pepeguitarra said:
Congratulations on you old new M8. I am not sure if they upgraded (to M8.u or M8.2). When the shutter problem came out, Leica offered free repairs or upgrades to the M8.2. Maybe your timing did not allow for your repair to be upgraded, maybe they did upgrade it. The upgrade lowers the sound of the shutter. In any case, you will love it even more. I got my M9 and sold my M8, only to buy the M8.2 later on. I am using it more than the M9.
Click to expand...


I'm not an expert on all the different M8 specs but it seems just the same (the 1/8000 version). I got the impression it was a fault on some sort of circuit board rather than the mechanical parts of the shutter.

The invoice states: exchange accessory carrier, engrave serial number (hotshoe had a slight crack so Leica replaced it), repair winding mechanism, repair shutter mechanism, replace sensor, repair pixel/line fault on image, adjust sensor, adjust rangefinder, clean rangefinder, adjustment of all parts, cleaning and end control. I also ended up with a nice new leather cover as they needed to remove the old one. All that was billed as labour costs. The only part they billed for was €32.54 for the hotshoe.

It's the first time I've had to deal with Leica repair over in Germany. I'm extremely impressed to say the least. Sure, it isn't cheap but the service is first class.

I just hope I never need to use them again! I dread the day when my M8 develops a fault that Leica doesn't have spares for... Same story with my XPan - I'll be devastated the day that thing stops working!
 
tah said:
Started with the Epson RD-1 and then the M8.2, both with the great Voigtlander 28/1.9 as the only lens.

Tore
https://www.flickr.com/photos/taherman/
Click to expand...

I love the pictures my RD-1 gives me (even in consideration of my previously-favored Ricoh GXR M-mount) and while I'm somewhat tantalized by an acquisition of an M8, I'm not quite certain what additional advantage it might provide me over those other two cameras of mine. Can you explain why you left the RD1 for the M8? Thanks, Jim
 
I wasn't sure I wanted to keep my M8.2, but now I have actually bonded with it. I like the color and IQ, and the accurate framing I get at my usual shooting distances. And I like its compactness for travel. I I love my D700, but the M8.2 with three or four lenses all fits in a Domke F6, with room left over for an M7 body.
 
I love my M8 and my M9. I find these two beauties to be a perfect pair for my photography needs. I usually have a 35mm lens on the M9 and a 50mm lens on the M8 (short tele). They take same batteries and lenses :)
 
I got mine quite early, about a year in I believe - it was quite an investment even second hand...

Was able to, and worked towards, getting a "good" one - and it has been 100% stable and reliable all the way!

The funny thing is that it was left almost untouched for the past 2-3 years, but when I got a really good bargain on an M9 I started using it again :)

Right now I am actually doing paid work with my M9, and that feels really, really good & promising!

The M8 now follows me the days when nothing is booked, and I hope to get into the "zone" I spent some years in during the nineties with an M2/6 - more or less carrying it 24-7 and catching those moments that arise...

Right now I am considering to ditch all my other gear, AND the possible jobs that come with it - its mostly real estate and other non-inspiring stuff anyway.

In my experience deliberate and carefully selected limitations is what brings out the best in a photographer, trying to catch all & everything just makes for scattered images with no punch or focus...

And for this the M8 is perfect, especially in combination with an M9! :-D
 
Raid,

i am a recent owner of a M8, and I was wondering about your comment that the 50mm acts as a short tele. Can you comment on your usage with this combination. Does it work well ? Do you talk specific type of images with this lens/body combo ?

thanks
 
I think of the 50mm not as a short tele, but a tight 50. The effective focal length is 66mm. That is not so different from the 55mm and 60mm Micro-Nikkors that have been widely used as normal lenses.

Want to know the funny part? The so-called 50mm framelines on my M6, M7, and MP actually cover the same field, at my usual shooting distance of say 10+ feet, as a 60mm on an SLR. The true 50mm field will be on the film, but not the finder. How many of us shoot with that, all the time? At least with my M8.2, what I see is what I get.
 
raytoei@gmail.com said:
Raid,

i am a recent owner of a M8, and I was wondering about your comment that the 50mm acts as a short tele. Can you comment on your usage with this combination. Does it work well ? Do you talk specific type of images with this lens/body combo ?

thanks
Click to expand...

The 50mm lens will have a 50x1.3333 perspective. It makes an excellent portrait lens on the M8. My top choice is the rigid summicron. There are many photographers who use the classic 50mm look for portraits. On the M8 it is a cropped 50.
 
Personally I find a 50mm to be a bit too short to be used as a traditional portrait lens on the M8 and much prefer using my Nikkor PC 8.5 CM F2 for this type of shot. Things I like using the 50 for are street, candid 1/2 3/4 portraits and full length shots.

21 F 1.8 mm Landscape and interiors
28mm F 2.8 landscapes
35mm F 3.5 Street and candid portraits
50mm Street, candid portraits full body (Nudes)
85mm Portraits.
Usually carry between 1 and 3 lens all depending on what kind stuff I expect to be shooting.
 
ascherjim said:
I love the pictures my RD-1 gives me (even in consideration of my previously-favored Ricoh GXR M-mount) and while I'm somewhat tantalized by an acquisition of an M8, I'm not quite certain what additional advantage it might provide me over those other two cameras of mine. Can you explain why you left the RD1 for the M8? Thanks, Jim
Click to expand...

I'm also a proud and happy owner of an R-D1x and was salivating at an M8 but wondering what the advantage might be?

Note that I currently use Alien Skin Blow up 3 to upsize the R-D1x files if necessary; it's amazing in that it can blow up a 6mb file to 3 or 4 times that size without a discernible loss in quality.

One thing that I think is an amazing plus for the R-D1x is the 1:1 viewfinder and I'm loath to give that up unless there is a good reason.
 
I notice there are almost no used cameras of M8.2 bodies on ebay, i feel the itch for another M8.2 as backup, the M8 remains my favourite digital camera. but there are more used M9 right now than M8.2 on the market, are the M8.2 dead, or do people hoard them nowdays :)
 
maitani said:
I notice there are almost no used cameras of M8.2 bodies on ebay, i feel the itch for another M8.2 as backup, the M8 remains my favourite digital camera. but there are more used M9 right now than M8.2 on the market, are the M8.2 dead, or do people hoard them nowdays :)
Click to expand...

It simply didn't sell in the numbers that the M8 and M9 did. It was an in-between model.
 
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