Ive been pondering the same question, thanks for bringing it up. The Leica website says what Graham has said, that having an M8 and getting an upgrade will get you a look-over as well. However, if they find something wrong, and its not under warranty, I think you would have to pay to repair it (no?). I mean, this is Leica, they are not going to fix it for FREE, right?!..........
So I was thinking (which usually gets me in trouble) and came up with this idea: I cant afford a new M8 or M8.2 for that matter. Option #1) So if I buy a used M8.2, I would have the upgrades, but no warranty, so Im cautious of this route. Option #2) I can buy a used M8 in good condition and PERFECT working order. I could then immediately send it to Leica (before it needs repair) for one upgrade. That one upgrade, although about a thousand bucks would buy me a one year warranty on the whole camera. Lets say I use the camera another year, and if I still like it, I can buy another one upgrade and essentially buy myself another year of full warranty. I could do that for the third year as well.
So, I could buy an M8 for $2500, then spend $1000/year for one upgrade each year X 3 years for full warranty. THIS IS ASSUMING THE CAMERA WAS IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER WHEN I BOUGHT IT!). At the end of that 3rd year, I will have spent $5500. Then, what would the resale value be? It would be a full M8.2 by that time, but not worth $5500. I just saw a M8.2 sell for $3400, and it was only 6 months old in perfect condition. In 3 years, the M8 I have upgraded to an M8.2 may be worth $2500???? maybe???? In this case, I would have basically "rented" the camera with a full warranty, and paid $1000 per year to "rent" it. Is this the price of admission to play the digital Leica game? Is it worth it?
OR
Just buy a used M8.2 without warranty and roll the dice??????
In conclusion, the cost/benefit ratio is pretty steep for digi Leica (any better for Epson? I hear about a lot of them being passed around and needing repairs). I can easily keep my M6 and keep shooting film, and pay about the same $1000 per year for film and development, and not have to deal with crop factors, IR issues, and the like. Besides, in 3 years, Im pretty sure Leica will have more competition, either from digi RF producers (Epson, Cosina?, Zeiss?, other?) or just general digital manufacturers, as evidenced by Samsungs NX-10 coming out, there is no M-mount yet, but I imagine there will be. The Samsung sensor is APS-C, so is a good sized sensor with crop-factor of 1.5 with built-in EVF (they are leaders in this technology), so the cameras are getting smaller than DSLRs with the optical advantages of DSLRs.......hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm.....can I be patient enough to wait for a digital equivalent (roughly) of a digi Leica for half the price?
What do y'all think??
