Fallen back in love with the M8

[Archiver]

Feeling like adding another digital Leica again for well bellow 2K$.
I was checking X 113, very disappointing IQ and breaking battery door.
I was looking at Leica current two Lux compacts, they both have only pana raw files, which my LR has no support. One of them with super zoom has next to mobile phones IQ and another is just to much of Panasonic.
M8 still has no alternatives as not so very expensive Leica with really sharp images.

Just saying: if you're looking at Leica compact cameras, you might as well buy the equivalent Panasonic, as it will save you a lot of money and you'll get the same camera, internally. And I'm still using Lightroom 4.4, and I use Adobe DNG Converter for every raw image that 4.4 does not support.

 

[Rob-F]

Every time I feel tempted to pick up another M8.2, the thing that stops me is that my lenses are not coded, and I don't want to be mailing them off to get them coded. I had the coding kit with the little marking pen for coding them. I don't want to go through that any more. I did like the color. And I liked that the framelines were sized for a 2M distance. My favorite lenses to use on it were the 28mm Summicron, and the 21mm ASPH with a Zeiss auxiliary finder.

 

[taffy]

Every time I feel tempted to pick up another M8.2, the thing that stops me is that my lenses are not coded, and I don't want to be mailing them off to get them coded. I had the coding kit with the little marking pen for coding them. I don't want to go through that any more. I did like the color. And I liked that the framelines were sized for a 2M distance. My favorite lenses to use on it were the 28mm Summicron, and the 21mm ASPH with a Zeiss auxiliary finder.

With risking sounding ignorant, I don't even know what the 1m/2m framelines mean or how they are affecting my results LOL.

I want to buy grooved flanges on eBay to code the lenses - mine aren't coded either.


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[Rob-F]

With risking sounding ignorant, I dont even know what the 1m/2m framelines mean or how they are affecting my results LOL.

I want to buy grooved flanges on eBay to code the lenses - mine aren't coded either.

Taffy, the framelines on any rangefinder camera are accurate only at some specific distance. The M8.2 framelines are accurate at two meters; and plenty close enough at longer distances. The framelines on an M6, for example, are sized for minimum focal distance of 0.7M, making them right on at that distance; but at longer distances, they show much less than what you will get in the picture. I shoot at longer distances, so I really like the M8.2 framelines!

 

[Rob-F]

RE the replacement flanges: the last I heard, they were made in China, and I would worry about whether the thickness was exactly right. I tried Chinese LTM to M adapter rings, and they were the wrong thickness, which will throw the focus off. If Cosina is making them, I would buy them without hesitation, however, for use with my M9.

 

[taffy]

Taffy, the framelines on any rangefinder camera are accurate only at some specific distance. The M8.2 framelines are accurate at two meters; and plenty close enough at longer distances. The framelines on an M6, for example, are sized for minimum focal distance of 0.7M, making them right on at that distance; but at longer distances, they show much less than what you will get in the picture. I shoot at longer distances, so I really like the M8.2 framelines!

Thanks for sharing this info, RobF. I understand better now. Have the habit of chimping on my first shot to get an idea of what's in frame. Funny thing, Ive always liked the 35mm FOV prior to the M8 but with the cropping and the difficult-to-see framelines w/24mm lenses, I now prefer the 45/50mm FOV than 35mm lenses give me.


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[taffy]

RE the replacement flanges: the last I heard, they were made in China, and I would worry about whether the thickness was exactly right. I tried Chinese LTM to M adapter rings, and they were the wrong thickness, which will throw the focus off. If Cosina is making them, I would buy them without hesitation, however, for use with my M9.

They are and they're pretty cheap 🙂 However I use Photomechanjc to add in which lens I used. But I don't get the in-body corrections as well as the lens profile corrections in editing software but somehow I don't think the lenses I use warrant a lot of it with the exception of the 25mm (coded) which vignettes when I forget to switch on the coding reader in software.

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[mcfingon]

I think your pictures above look great Taffy, regardless of what they are shot on. Really fine compositions as well as very high technical quality.
John Mc

 

[jarski]

I recently bought M240. plan is to use 35 on it, and 75 on my M8.2, so am having portrait option as well without need to changes lenses.

 

[taffy]

I recently bought M240. plan is to use 35 on it, and 75 on my M8.2, so am having portrait option as well without need to changes lenses.

I'm interested to know how the colors are similar / different between both M cameras. I think if the M8 dies in a few years the 240 / M-E 240 will be the likely next camera.

 

[taffy]

I think your pictures above look great Taffy, regardless of what they are shot on. Really fine compositions as well as very high technical quality.
John Mc

Thanks very much, John Mc 🙂

 

[Rob-F]

Thanks for sharing this info, RobF. I understand better now. Have the habit of chimping on my first shot to get an idea of what's in frame. Funny thing, Ive always liked the 35mm FOV prior to the M8 but with the cropping and the difficult-to-see framelines w 24mm lenses, I now prefer the 45/50mm FOV than 35mm lenses give me.

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Taffy, the 28mm lens will give you a 37mm equivalent. Pretty much the same as a 35mm FOV.

 

[taffy]

Taffy, the 28mm lens will give you a 37mm equivalent. Pretty much the same as a 35mm FOV.

Hey Rob thanks for this. Doing a quick google search now I realize that the there are different frame line for 24mm and 28mm! No wonder I didn't have seeing-the-framelines problems with the 28 Ultron as compared with my 25mm Biogon!

Maybe I'll live with it for now - the biogon is quite a nice lens. I hear the 28ZM is nice too

 

[jarski]

I'm interested to know how the colors are similar / different between both M cameras. I think if the M8 dies in a few years the 240 / M-E 240 will be the likely next camera.

was curious (and a bit concerned as well) about M240 colors (ooc jpegs, not raw), compared to earlier two digital models. my initial impression is that they aren't very far apart. M240 files have same Leica feel that I've grown used to with M8, and different to Sony, that am also somewhat familiar.

but need to shoot more... 🙂

 

[taffy]

was curious (and a bit concerned as well) about M240 colors (ooc jpegs, not raw), compared to earlier two digital models. my initial impression is that they aren't very far apart. M240 files have same Leica feel that I've grown used to with M8, and different to Sony, that am also somewhat familiar.

but need to shoot more... 🙂

This is good to know. This makes me more open to move on from the M8 when the day comes. I do have a Sony as well and yes, it is different. While my Sony is the more advanced camera (and does good video), the joy of shooting comes almost exclusively from the M8.

(Maybe because the screen is so bad I end up thinking "hey maybe there's a keeper in there but I'm just not seeing it" LOL)


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[mikemyers]

A lifetime ago, I gave my brother my Nikon SP, and bought a new black Leica M2 with 50mm Summicron, which lasted several years until it got stolen. In 2009, after reading about the Leica M8, I bought a black M8.2 demo camera, and fell in love with it. A month or so later the M9 came out, but I decided to stick with what I had.

Several times over the years I got interested in the M8.2 again, especially for taking infrared photos which it did so easily. Eventually though, it got moved to the back row, and I found myself using the latest Nikon DSLR gear. Missing my Leica, I bought the new Fuji X100, then a 100s, and then a 100f. I suppose in any reasonable comparison, the Fuji would be a better camera, but the Leica had benefits that I couldn't put into words - it's what I used growing up, and the photos I took were MY photos, not something that a camera computer captured. A couple of months ago, while over in India, I started reading up on the M Leica cameras again, and by the time I got home, I was very anxious to get started.

Over the past several weeks, none of my other cameras have been touched. Anything I want to capture, I do with the M8.2. I've been using my 50mm lens, my 35, and two wider angle Voigtlander lenses, 25mm and 15mm as I recall..... but mostly I'm using the Leica lenses.

I love the image quality. I love the resolution. That the camera shows colors other cameras can't see is no bother to me, and I can put on my deep red filter and get spectacular infrared photos, blocking out most of the visible light. A few days ago I set my "image review" to "off". Now it's more like shooting film. ISO stays at 160 for the most part, maybe 320 if needed. I did buy a "ThumbsUp", which gives me a better grip on the camera.

Last week I wondered if I should look into a newer M, but not only would that cost a lot of $$, I have a feeling I would lose some of the magic that the M8 camera does so naturally.

I'll be going back to India in several months, and I might just skip my other cameras, and only bring the Leica.


I remember this forum from ages ago. I used to live here. I'm back.

 

[Doug]

Welcome back, Mike, to RFF and the M8.2! I'm very fond of my M8 which has had two of the three 8.2 upgrades installed; shutter and framelines. There's just something attractive about it, despite the modest resolution.

 

[taffy]

Welcome back, Mike. I am coming up on one year since I fell back in love with my M8. Since then I've acquired the 50 Planar, 35 C-Biogon, and the VM 35 1.4 Nokton v1.

I'm loving the Nokton + M8 combination and shooting this combo always makes me happy. When I look at my photographs I notice that despite the 1.4 lens and a max of 320 ISO + 1/45 speed, I still get a bit of blur and shake in my photos of my almost 3 year old but I have gotten over it because of the overall product.

For once I've found Photography Nirvana and I hope it lasts forever.

 

[taffy]

M8 + ZM Planar 50

Not the FOV I prefer but this lens is very good on the
M8!

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[robert blu]

This thread is an interesting read...many lovers of the M8 around...which is a good thing in a world so ready to speak about the digital obsolescence 🙂

I do not own an M8 but recently stumbled in this video interview (unfortunatelu only in italian language) with the photojournalist Alessandro Di Mise who uses now a Leica M8 for his work after he used in a recent past DSLRs !