Appreciate your views / discussion

[MartinL]

My main motive for buying into the M8 is that my digital kit has outgrown me in size and weight. It will remain in use for my work where I can park the lenses and accessories and even employ a wheelie if necessary. But for travel and family, I want stuff I can keep around my neck, waist, and/or in pockets. I want quality for its own sake (just knowing it, feeling it, and looking at it on the shelf) and for the photos it can produce.

I'm inclined toward Voightlander lenses. As I read reviews, it seems that the M8 crop will address, to at least some degree, some of the issues where Voight compares unfavorably with Leica lenses.

I'm pretty fluent with a digital workflow. I don't quite relate to selecting a lens from one's kit because of a preference for a certain "creaminess." I'm inclined to wait for a time (if ever) when my fundamental requiement for "sharp and fast" seems compromised by subtler criteria.

I currently am using a 21/4 on a Bessa L. I'm considering adding 28/1.9; 40/1.4; and 75/2.5.

I'd appreciate comments. And thanks for listening.
Martin

 

[Ben Z]

My main motive for buying into the M8 is that my digital kit has outgrown me in size and weight. It will remain in use for my work where I can park the lenses and accessories and even employ a wheelie if necessary. But for travel and family, I want stuff I can keep around my neck, waist, and/or in pockets.

If you think a Leica M (8 or other) can't outgrow you in size and weight, better keep close tabs. Leica equipment is more GAS-producing than any other brand I know of, and those little lenses are deceptively heavy. Buying new, the obnoxious prices are a deterrant, but used lenses call like sirens 😱

 

[MartinL]

If you think a Leica M (8 or other) can't outgrow you in size and weight, better keep close tabs. Leica equipment is more GAS-producing than any other brand I know of, and those little lenses are deceptively heavy. Buying new, the obnoxious prices are a deterrant, but used lenses call like sirens 😱

Regarding the size and weight, I haven't done the full math, but the Canon MKII with battery is almost 3 times the weight of the M8 body/battery.

I'm not immune to GAS. However, I've been lucky to make some good early decisions with good "systems." And that's what I'm trying to develop around the M8. Here are some more specific questions (than my 1st post or ramble):

1. Of the 3 lenses I'm considering adding to my 21/4-----at a target cost of +/- $1200----are there some alternatives (new or used) worth considering? Would you spend that money (or more) differently (assuming you were after roughly the same range and speed.) These additional lenses are the 28/1.9; 40/1.4; and 75/2.5.

2. I've seen no comment on whether the crop factor of the M8 narrows the quality difference between Voightlander and "comparable" Leica lenses. What do you think?

3. I like film, and I've enjoyed my recent and brief experience with it. However, when shooting digital, I find ISO/ASA is a more powerful (and therefore, more useful) variable that I miss when I load a roll of 1-,4-, or 800 in the camera for 36 shots. This, and sticking with a workflow I'm already comfortable with, are persuasive to me, but remember, I haven't actually used the M8. Is on-the-fly change of sensitivity a factor for others?

Martin

 

[ferider]

I currently am using a 21/4 on a Bessa L. I'm considering adding 28/1.9; 40/1.4; and 75/2.5.

Hi Martin,

although I don't use an M8, you cann't go wrong with any of those three
lenses; IMO, the best lenses that CV has built. Also, all three are unique,
the 28 and 40 for speed and the 75 for size.

Roland.

 

[etrigan63]

Stupid question: How does the M8 display the brightlines with a 40mm? As a 35mm, in which case they would frame too much, or as a 50mm in which case they would frame too little? From my understanding (I haven't gotten my M8 yet - but I will) the bayonet flange depresses a lever that sets the brightlines. How would one override that?

OK, that was multiple stupid questions...

 

[ferider]

For the Nokton out of the factory it is 50mm lines. But you can modify the
lens flange to bring up 35mm lines.

Roland.

 

[Ben Z]

Regarding the size and weight, I haven't done the full math, but the Canon MKII with battery is almost 3 times the weight of the M8 body/battery.

Of course. I had the original 1D breifly, with 3 of the "L" zooms and I sure do know exactly what you're talking about in terms of weight and volume!
You didn't specify what Canon DSLR you had. I currently have a 20D, and plus a 28-135 zoom weighs quite a bit less than my M6 (or an M8) and 28,35,50,75,90 and 135 lenses 😉

 

[MartinL]

For the Nokton out of the factory it is 50mm lines. But you can modify the
lens flange to bring up 35mm lines.
Roland.

Is this modification a standard "setting" or something more exotic? Newbies on board: 'splain this realll s l o w. 🙂
Martin

 

[MartinL]

Of course. I had the original 1D breifly, with 3 of the "L" zooms and I sure do know exactly what you're talking about in terms of weight and volume!
You didn't specify what Canon DSLR you had. I currently have a 20D, and plus a 28-135 zoom weighs quite a bit less than my M6 (or an M8) and 28,35,50,75,90 and 135 lenses 😉

My EOS L zooms are 16-35/2.8; 24-105 IS/4; and 70-200 IS/2.8 + extender. I use them primarily for in-house documentation. Often adults and kids "just" talking and listening. It's not candid work (they know I'm there taking photos), but it's also something that has to be approached with the greatest respect. In some ways it presents a challenge similar to sports photography----even if I'm not looking for a subject caught in mid-air, mid-swing, or just the right grimace. Good gear helps. You can see some of the small res images at
http://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/
click "Gallery" on the left side.

Until now I've used the same equipment for personal use. It could be argued that the RF lens range I've selected is roughly "covered" by my 24-105 which, if paired with a lighter Canon body (5D?), is comparable to the total RF body + lenses. Also, a bunch less money. I know I don't have to make my case to readers of this forum, but the M8's attraction is much like a desire to wear different clothes on a casual weekend than I wear for work: I want a camera to express myself and represent myself in a different way, even if I'm pretty much the same person.

Which still leaves me very curious about the nexus of ISO (as a shot-by-shot variable rather than a "setting" as with film) and crop factor; and how this might affect lens selection criteria differently for film and digital. If I get no answer in this thread, I'll wait a respectable amount of time and repost it as its own thread.

Thanks for listening
Martin