buy an M8 in 2012?

[DennisPT]

I may be on my way to buy a clean M8 soon. Then, and if I like the M8, I may buy an M9 after a year.

Maybe consIder M8.2 if situation allows, Raid. The shutter sound makes a difference.
Cheers,
Dennis

 

[Chris Bail]

Raid - that's been my plan as well. Still waiting for the M9 prices to drop down a little lower.

 

[raid]

Brian gave me this advice. He did the same. Now he uses both cameras.

 

[Doug]

An M8 with the shutter and viewfinder upgrades would likely be less expensive than an M8.2, maybe a good option to shop for. It would have gotten a thorough checkup in the process, and if black would have a more durable finish than a black M8.2...

 

[gdi]

The real question might be why you would buy an M9 (sharing all basic electronics) for three times the money, five years into the M8/M9 product cycle.

Maybe because the image quality and other features are worth 3 times more to a lot of people. It was a very worthwhile upgrade for me (though nowhere near 3x the cost)...

 

[Mudman]

Then go for it! If you enjoy the way an M handles the M8 is your best bet in that price range...

I'm not the op, Damaso. I already did! I do unfortunately have to send my M8 to Leica NJ at some point, as it has the vertical line problem at high ISO.

 

[rxmd]

The M8 is so sharp it will burn your eyes. It can also reveal things that are just wrong.

The real question might be why you would buy an M9 (sharing all basic electronics) for three times the money, five years into the M8/M9 product cycle.

The ACR 2010 profile improves the low-light performance a bit (as does the new color noise filter on Lightroom).

Dante

Was that a black dress?

 

[kanzlr]

You mean basically like every M ever made has been designed (which is the beauty of it for me and other long time film M users). Have you considered using a grip, thumb rest, or any such add-on? Personally I like 'em naked, but others prefer the available accessories.

Jeff

yes, exactly. I find the design (functionally, not visually) aweful in almost every respect. The only thing I like about the M8 was the rangefinder mechanism / viewfinder and, to a certain degree, the sensor.

I tried the Thumbs Up and a halfcase and an M8 hand grip. All of them made it a bit nicer to hold, but still a K5 SLR feels 1000% better in your hand, like it is made for it.

So, yes, a modern rangefinder camera would be great.

 

[Dante_Stella]

No, in fact, the dress was purple.

Dante

Was that a black dress?

 

[jpfisher]

Was that a black dress?

If you'd like to see an example of the magenta fabric effect, here is a shot without a UV/IR filter and one with, both taken on the same day of the same subject--

Without: http://www.downeffect.com/gallery3/var/albums/2008-10-05/L1020057.jpg?m=1298612054

With: http://www.downeffect.com/gallery3/var/albums/2008-10-05/L1020056.jpg?m=1298612052

 

[Teuthida]

Am I crazy? I bought an M8 a couple months ago, and haven't even felt the need to bother buying an IR/Cut filter yet...am I the only one that doesn't see this as a "necessity"?

I do find myself shooting the M8 more and more like a film camera...I hardly ever have the urge to chimp the screen unless I'm testing a new lens, and shoot a lot less frames with more keepers.

Never used an IR filter on my M8, ever. But I just shoot B&W.

I too just use the camera just like my film M's. I never use the LCD screen and keep it turned off so no shot review shows. his helps battery life significantly.

As for IQ, I've found the M8 DNG files to exceed the quality I can achieve with a 6x4.5 ACROS 100 scanned at 4000 dpi on a 120 dedicated scanner, so the issue of its "old technology" sensor is irrelevant to me. I also see no 'real world' difference between M8 and M9 files, and find the whole pixel peeping mentality boorish.

 

[jsrockit]

All of them made it a bit nicer to hold, but still a K5 SLR feels 1000% better in your hand, like it is made for it.

Better in "my" hand you should have said... I hate huge grips.

 

[kanzlr]

Better in "my" hand you should have said... I hate huge grips.

true. in my hand 🙂

I also do not like huge grips. But no grip? 🙂
The K5 grip is great because it is has a form that you completely grip and is rubber coated (like a lot of SLRs, actually).
Even the GXRs grip is nice, as it too is rubber coated and is just big enough to hold the camera reasonably well in ones hand.

 

[rdeleskie]

Was that a black dress?

Hilarious! But sadly true.

 

[uhoh7]

fuji xpro heralds dawn of M8 revival 🙂

 

[faris]

I have had the M8 since it was first released. Shortly afterwards I bought a
second one.

Recently on a trip my D700 broke down. My wife's D-Lux4 called it a day.

1 month trip with only the M8 ( the cron 75 apo, and the cron 28 asph ).

It, imho, is as good as it was when first released.

Marrakesh..an old door.

p.s With all the negatives ascribed to it; even today it can easily hold its own.

 

[hteasley]

Am I crazy? I bought an M8 a couple months ago, and haven't even felt the need to bother buying an IR/Cut filter yet...am I the only one that doesn't see this as a "necessity"?

FWIW I am using the M8 solely for pleasure, and sticking to the D700 for paid work...so if I see some funny magenta colors in people's poly/cotton blend T-shirts, I just correct it in post, or covert to BW...not a huge issue for me.

You can change it in post, but it is presumptuous to say you can correct it in post. IR contamination is so variable within most scenes that it is difficult to say you can eliminate it.

 

[Doug]

You can change it in post, but it is presumptuous to say you can correct it in post. IR contamination is so variable within most scenes that it is difficult to say you can eliminate it.

+2; not just some fabrics, but foliage and skin tones for example. In a high-IR environment it becomes unmanageable....

 

[Jeff S]

...so if I see some funny magenta colors in people's poly/cotton blend T-shirts, I just correct it in post, or covert to BW...not a huge issue for me.

A lot more is affected than black synthetics turning magenta. Anything that reflects light containing IR (daylight or tungsten) can result in a color shift: green vegetation can turn yellowish/brown; skin can turn purplish, etc. Not using a proper filter undercuts the general color capabilities of the camera, and of course does nothing for lens protection. I put my filters on when I bought the camera and haven't bothered with them since.

The film world taught me to make life easy on the darkroom assistant (me)...no reason to be different in the digital realm, especially when the fix in this case is so damn easy.

And speaking of my film days, I obviously had to decide in advance to load either color or b/w film. After that, if I didn't 'see' in that respective film mode (each requiring a separate mindset and skill set), then the results would have been unremarkable, and without any relation to intent. Digital has made a lot of lazy photographers IMO. Anyone who routinely makes b/w pictures after the fact or as a result of color flaws misses a lot of what b/w photography is about. I wouldn't do that, not because of some purist ideal, but because my pictures would suck.

Jeff

(Didn't see Doug's post before my own)

 

[Doug]

When I first got my M8 I intended to use it for black & white only, having heard good things about the effects of a bit of IR on the tonality. Though there's a slight loss of sharpness unless the lens is apochromatic. So I didn't get UV/IR filters, and went with OOC B&W JPEGs.

Well, I got curious about the colors of some shots and processed the DNGs to see. I was reminded that I'm mainly a color photographer, so that was pretty much the end of my experiment with digital B&W.

Then we headed out for a college alumni edu-tour of Malta and Sicily followed by a rest-up week in the Canary Islands. M8, no filters... and I got some lessons on the troubles that IR contamination could cause. Also at that time the camera had an un-detected vertical line problem. Educational experience!