Forum Newbie Just Bought M8

Teuthida

Teuthida

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Greetings Everyone-

First post here, so Please be kind.🙂

53 y/o, been in love with b&w photography since I was 11. A confirmed Leica nut, having at one time owned practically every model Leica has made except an m1. Still think the M5 is the best rangefinder ever built (I've always been a contrarian). However, I don't subscribe to the idea that the Ms have any mystical qualities that make me a better photographer, nor do I think that rangefinders as a class are "faster" or more "intuitive." Actually, if I had to grab one camera to walk out the door with, it would be a Leicaflex SL with the 35-70 Vario-Elmar, as I consider it to be the best built and most straight forward camera ever made.

What I like about the Ms are their mechanical elegance and simplicity. i also love their mechanical aesthetic, and consider the m4 to be the most beautifully elegant camera ever made. Don't care much for the Irwin Putts school of photography with its emphasis on specs, resolution shootouts and technical nitpicking. Just give me a camera thats small, inconspicuous and portable and gives me the added bonus of a certain amount of tactile pleasure.

That being said, I've reluctantly hauled myself kicking and screaming in the the digital 21st century, as even a LUddite like me can see advantages of digital workflow. In a previous existence I studied darkroom techniques under George Favre, HCB's longtime master printer ( amazing skill, wonderful man) but I don't think even George could duplicate in the darkroom what many of us now take for granted with Photoshop. Nik Silver Efex is amazing.

So, I've just bought an M8. I'll be using it for b&w work only (is there any other kind?). I've read all the horror stories along with the unadulterated praise. I'm sure thetruth lies somewhere in the middle.

Tell me what I need to know about this camera.......
 
First, welcome!

Compared with just about any other Leica thev M8 makes a noise like a staple gun, and the IR filters really are important if you want reasonable-looking pictures of foliage or of synthetic 'black' fabrics. Neither of these 'enormous' drawbacks matters to the vast majority of photographers for the vast majority of subjects, and won't matter a damn for mono. For a review of the M8 when it came out, see http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/m8.html. The only real amendments I'd make to that are that the M8.2 and M9 are even nicer.

Oh; yeah; and for B+W I still prefer film to any conversion, ever.

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger Hicks said:
First, welcome!

Compared with just about any other Leica thev M8 makes a noise like a staple gun, and the IR filters really are important if you want reasonable-looking pictures of foliage or of synthetic 'black' fabrics. Neither of these 'enormous' drawbacks matters to the vast majority of photographers for the vast majority of subjects, and won't matter a damn for mono. For a review of the M8 when it came out, see http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/m8.html. The only real amendments I'd make to that are that the M8.2 and M9 are even nicer.

Oh; yeah; and for B+W I still prefer film to any conversion, ever.

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...


Second that... I think you will enjoy the 8, its a good camera. It has its limitations, but can produce some stellar images.

I also second film... I love it, and as long as they make it, film will be my 1st choice. Especially in medium format.
 
Welcome! I can't add anything to what they have said. I loves Roger's comment that the M8 sounds like a staple gun - that's a perfect description. My standard kit is a M7 with B&W film and my M8 for color. I could sell a few things to aquire the M9, but I am happy with what I have. My M8 takes wonderful images when I do my part correctly.
 
Personally I am one who does not like the look of "digital B&W". I actually have a thread going in the "Film vs Digital" section that has some comparisons. I don't like the huge mid tones, blown highlights, and lost detail in the shadows, and the general lack of life and character. I'm not trying to be discouraging here, but to me nothing beats the look of HP5+ or Tri-x. The different personalities you can get out of your shots just by swapping the film are amazing, and no amount of digital software can replicate it. Don't get me wrong, digital B&W has its uses, and overall I prefer the colour from digital over film, especially with cheap development and scanning.
I can't tell you anything about the M8, but I just got my first M (M2) and although I wasn't staggered when I first operated the film advance, like people say you will be, but that viewfinder is something else!

What style of photography will you be doing mostly?
 
Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on purchasing the M8.

There are a number of threads on performing conversions of RAW files to monochrome on RFF. Best to shoot DNG mode. Lightroom and Photoshop offer a number of conversion possibilities.

You and I are within months of each other, and I also started with my first RF at 11. I picked up an M8 just over 18months ago, and still learning about it.

One of the tricks for avoiding blown highlights and lost shadow detail: buy older lenses with lower contrast. The Canon 35/2.8 in Leica thread mount (as an example) is a wonderful lens for preserving tonal range. The Leica Summarit 50mm F1.5 is another example for a faster lens that is low-contrast and preserves shadow detail.
 
Just as a quick example: Summarit 50mm F1.5 (circa 1956) on the M8, "quick and dirty" in-camera JPEG. I need to revisit this shooting RAW format now that I have Lightroom 3.4.

picture.php
 
Teuthida,

As a long time Leica user you understand the in's and out's of rf photography. The M8 is right at home and using it is very familiar. You will see many posts complaining about it's limitations and a large percentage of them are about what an M8 can't do and and consumer level dslr can (live view, auto focus, etc..).

I resisted for awhile and recently bought a used M8 and enjoy it very much. My only real complaint is that I want a full frame sensor...the M9, but just don't have the $7k to make that happen right now.

Best regards,

Bob
 
Teuthida said:
Tell me what I need to know about this camera.......
Click to expand...

silent mode. press shutter and take a shot, keep it down, and when you raise it, shutter returns.

(I had M8 about a year, until I figured out how it works... was many times puzzled why it seemed at different time intervals 😛 😀 )
 
Thank you everyone for the kind words and advice.

Havent received the camera yet but waiting anxiously. Still don't know how I'll take to the idea of an M that you can't wind film into. Is it REALLY a a Leica M, or just a simulcrum?😱

I've been playing around with my wife's D80 and must agree with those who've said that theres something 'different about the look of digital capture. It just looks 'false' to me in some way I can't define except to say that my eye has been educated with the look of film and digital isnt it. Although I do love the versitility of lightroom and especially Nik Silver Efex 2, which to me is an absolute necessity for us old silver guys in the digital age. If you haven't yet used it, you will be amazed at its ability to render digital capture much like the look of film.

I just sat down with Robert Frank's LONODON/ WALES last evening. I couodnt help but think that, in this age of resolution charts and IQ graphs and HDR capture, he'd be panned on internet photo forums as an amateur hack. But man, what beauty and pathos and incredible vision. I'd give anything to be able to create work like that.
 
It was harder to get used to the M8 having a Meter in it rather than not taking film. I use an M3 and M2 up to getting the M8.
 
I agree with jarski on the silent mode. Pree Menu button and under Advance change from standard to discrete.

The M8 takes great infrared images. I usual carry a R72 filter with the camera.

Having owned a D80 in the past, I can assure you the quality of the files produced are worlds apart. Though I believe the sensor in the D80 to be the worst of all Nikon's dSlrs.
 
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