Firmware 2.4

[Bill Pierce]

I'm sure this is one of many threads, but in case you haven't come across the information, the M8 has new firmware that will allow "discreet" advance (no cocking noise until you trigger it) advance.

http://en.leica-camera.com/service/downloads/rangefinder_cameras/m8/

 

[johannielscom]

I vote for a name change on the discreet advance.

It should be called Silent Mode, like on the Konica Hexar AF. The Hexar AF has the same functionality, when in Silent Mode. It only advances when you release the shutter button.

For four years I have been waiting for someone on the net to figure out a hack on the Hexar RF allowing this. I would have bought a Hexar RF right away if it were possible at all to delay transport on it.

My brand new M8 is arriving Thursday. My M-Hexanons will no doubt be very comfortable with the Silent Mode M8.

 

[dof]

I vote for a name change on the discreet advance.

It should be called Silent Mode, like on the Konica Hexar AF. The Hexar AF has the same functionality, when in Silent Mode. It only advances when you release the shutter button.

For four years I have been waiting for someone on the net to figure out a hack on the Hexar RF allowing this. I would have bought a Hexar RF right away if it were possible at all to delay transport on it.

My brand new M8 is arriving Thursday. My M-Hexanons will no doubt be very comfortable with the Silent Mode M8.

An original M8 with the Discreet Advance is so far from silent that this makes even less sense than calling it discreet. And it actually is discreet - using this option, the shutter is thus separated from the re-cocking mechanism.

 

[Bill Pierce]

Sadly true. The original shutter, not the advance, is the loud, attention-getting sound.

 

[Keith]

The first time I ever heard it described as sounding like a stapler I laughed ... that's exactly what it sounds like IMO! Fortunately the camera has other attributes that go beyond that irritating shutter! 😛

 

[dseelig]

disreet advance

disreet advance

Well I installed it and really like it . Fianally leica does the right thing. Now when will they outsource the bodies to Asia so we can get a lower price and be able to use a menu system for lens recognition as well as the 6 bit coding to get the camera to not need a 6 bit code. David

 

[Ronald_H]

Well I installed it and really like it . Fianally leica does the right thing. Now when will they outsource the bodies to Asia so we can get a lower price and be able to use a menu system for lens recognition as well as the 6 bit coding to get the camera to not need a 6 bit code. David

The (sad?) truth is that most Leica afficionados will never accept a Leica being built anywhere else than in Germany... Canada was bad enough for them.

Even if it would mean half the cost, it would also mean less exclusivity. A Leica for the masses would only reveal what we all secretly know: That they are outdated, ridiculously overengineered and overpriced dinousaurs from another age. Film or digital, it doesn't really matter. There are some clever solutions in the M8... and I suspect the people who bemoan its deficiencies also love it to death. But basically a plastic, entry spec dSLR has comparable image quality, if not better.

That's not to say I don't like the M8 😀 but I would not go as far as to buy one. For that amount of money I rather have some (second hand) glass, a huge pile of film, a Panansonic G1 and a few adapters. And still have money left to go somewhere to make pictures.

Ah well, rant over.