sirius
Well-known
Leica is famous for building tank-like dependable cameras. Have M8 users felt that this tradition continues? Would you bring your M8 into high humidity, a snow storm, a dust filled desert country?
Richard Marks
Rexel
Its too early to say Sirius. The build quality feels exceptional, but it is electronic and can not seriously compare with a mechanical camera at extremes of temperature. I think if i was heading for rough country id make sure my all risks insurance covered everything. Maybe we shold ask how repairable is it?
Sailor Ted
Well-known
It seems as tough as my M6- I’ll let you know after I've sailed to the Line Islands on the Equator later this summer : )
T
T
marbrink
Established
Seems to be very tough. Just wish the LCD had a little bit better protection..
R
RML
Guest
Since a film Leica M can withstand very heavy treatment, try throwing an M8 against the wall and see if it still works. Or hit someone over the head with it in a fight, as someone I met in Mongolia had to when he clashed with an irate ninja miner.
jaapv
RFF Sponsoring Member.
My film Leica's always needed a service, straightening of the lensmount and general clean after a trip through dusty, bumpy,and camera-unfriendly Africa....
pundit
Established
Mechanically, it is truly an M camera with the same build.
Electronically - we shall see.
Electronically - we shall see.
egpj
50 Summilux is da DEVIL!
I will be interested to see how it performs as well. Maybe we will see a ruggedized version before too much longer.
Ben Z
Veteran
From the latest bunch of reports of M8s going belly up I think most people should be grateful if their M8 is working, period. Like Jaap I have never found Leicas to be particularly rugged. I still have my 2 original Pentaxes from 1966 that are working 100% and have never been serviced. My M4 has had to be overhauled 3 times and minor adjusted a couple more times since 1970 and never took anywhere near the beating the Pentaxes did.
Sailor Ted
Well-known
Ben are these reports coming in for Mars? What reports of a "bunch" of M8's going "belly up?" By "bunch" do you mean a couple of reports? How do you define the word "bunch?"
I know R-D1's go Kaput daily however I do not think this is the case for what I see to be a far more rugged camera- remember I do own both.
I know R-D1's go Kaput daily however I do not think this is the case for what I see to be a far more rugged camera- remember I do own both.
Ben Z
Veteran
Over at www.leica-camera-user.com there are reports of around a dozen M8s dying or developing faults that can't be corrected without the camera going back to Solms. One of them is Sean Reid's own M8, and it's the new updated one, not his older original one. So far Leica has only sold a couple thousand M8s and a dozen that we know of have gone belly-up, that's a rather alarming percentage. The RD-1 has a crappy rangefinder, a well-known fact, but one that has nothing at all to do (or to mitigate) issues regarding the M8. If I were you I would keep my fingers crossed about that perfect M8 of yours.
Sailor Ted
Well-known
12=5? For an old guy you shure have some new math : )
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
I don't know if I would bring myself into a place filled with any of those things. Any digital camera, rugged or not, will get affected where it matters most: the sensor. You have to take all precautions to protect it, specially when switching lenses, internal seals or no internal seals.sirius said:
R
RML
Guest
sirius said:
I don't know about the M8 as I don't have one. Yet, I brought my R-D1 and my Eos 300D to Mongolia on more than one occasion. Summer heat, winter cold, dust, rain and sleet, as long as you take care not to expose your camera too much to the elements (meaning visualise the shot, take out camera from bag, do the shot(s), put the camera back in bag) it'll go a long way before you really need to give it a solid scrub. I reckon the M8 is no different.
Ben Z
Veteran
Sailor Ted said:
Sean Reid, Steve F, Steve Ziffer (both of his M8s), Brent Nicastro, John Faier, Hans Roggen and Wade Heninger all report problems that will have to go back to Solms. That's eight DOA. Then there are four more whose M8s have recently locked up but were able to be revived by rebooting or some other method--at least so far. Not really new math, just the ability to count on more than the fingers of one hand
Sailor Ted
Well-known
Hyperbole:
Ben 8 is not 12 (inflated 33%) and all computers, even new Apples, need a reboot once in a while. Hardly epidemic or in the case of a re-boot, not worth mentioning.
Assuming there are 2000 M8's in circulation and assuming the number 8 can be multiplied by 3 or 24 units that’s a percentage of .012. You've got better odds of striking it rich in Vegas then you do of going "belly up" in Solms. Of course this could change next week or next month but at this stage it’s far too soon to call.
Ben Z said:
Ben Z said:
Ben 8 is not 12 (inflated 33%) and all computers, even new Apples, need a reboot once in a while. Hardly epidemic or in the case of a re-boot, not worth mentioning.
Assuming there are 2000 M8's in circulation and assuming the number 8 can be multiplied by 3 or 24 units that’s a percentage of .012. You've got better odds of striking it rich in Vegas then you do of going "belly up" in Solms. Of course this could change next week or next month but at this stage it’s far too soon to call.
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Ben Z
Veteran
Sailor Ted said:
8 have already died and must go back. 4 more have exibited repetitive faults that the owners so far have been able to correct by rebooting, but they are faults nonetheless and the rebooting has only cured them temporarily until the next time. To me that makes 12 that are or should be sent back for service.
More importantly this latest spate of glitches is affecting the latest cameras Leica is currently shipping. So it's not valid to take the 1500 first-round ones into account.
BTW there are about 30 M8 owners active on the LUF so even granting you 8 vs 12, that's 8/30 or approximately 1 in 4. I'll be glad to take those odds in Vegas
Sailor Ted
Well-known
Ben Z said:
Sounds like my Wintell machine
However if it is a factor of 1 in 4 as you assert then it will become painfully obvious in a few weeks- again so far it's just too early to call.
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SDK
Exposing since 1969.
Don't even well designed electronics have "bathtub" failure rates? That is, most failures occur in the first few days of use, and machines that don't fail are likely to work fine for many years before failure rates start to climb? Just because the M8 is a costly Leica why would you expect them all to be immune from typical engineering fault rates?
The main reason I see not to buy an M8, if you want a digital M, is because some time Leica will make a much better model, with a full frame sensor and higher resolution and sensitivity.
The main reason I see not to buy an M8, if you want a digital M, is because some time Leica will make a much better model, with a full frame sensor and higher resolution and sensitivity.
Trius
Waiting on Maitani
The dust-shaker sensor on the E system bodies (and someone else has it now, too, just can't remember who) and the weather sealing on the E-1 really appeal to me. The lack of weather-proofing on the E-xxx bodies have kept me from getting one, even though I like the features and form factor of the E-330.Gabriel M.A. said:
I'm somewhat surprised that at $4800, the M8 doesn't have both of those technologies, let alone not even one of them.