Hard decision about the future of my M8 ... maybe you feel the same way?

tlitody said:
So what was the attraction of Leica in the first place?
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Now that is an interesting question ... you ask some beauties and this one also requires a serious explanation!

As a dewy eyed newbie I signed up here about four years ago to enhance my photographic experience ... that and the brief period I spent hanging around p.net (shudder) had quickly made me realise 'that' place wasn't for me!

Like many I secumbed to peer pressure, jumped on the Leica train and truly believed that they were the path to better photography and wound up with a collection of M bodies and numerous screwmounts. All good fun being one of 'the clan' of course but it wasn't doing my photography any good at all and luckily I eventually realised this!🙄

The couple of Leicas that are lurking in my cupboard are a reminder of this 'stupid' period of my life ... and don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the cameras or the people that truly love them, I blame my own foolishness! 😱
 
Keith said:
Now that is an interesting question ... you ask some beauties and this one also requires a serious explanation!

As a dewy eyed newbie I signed up here about four years ago to enhance my photographic experience ... that and the brief period I spent hanging around p.net (shudder) had quickly made me realise 'that' place wasn't for me!

Like many I secumbed to peer pressure, jumped on the Leica train and truly believed that they were the path to better photography and wound up with a collection of M bodies and numerous screwmounts. All good fun being one of 'the clan' of course but it wasn't doing my photography any good at all and luckily I eventually realised this!🙄

The couple of Leicas that are lurking in my cupboard are a reminder of this 'stupid' period of my life ... and don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the cameras or the people that truly love them, I blame my own foolishness! 😱
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and now he sticks around to get his 'joe fix' every day...😎
 
Keith, I understand you completely, especially since the D700 is such an excellent camera, in most cases better than the M8. Besides, you have some film M's, so I guess you should sell the M8. It is a matter of personal preference: I just got an M8, for which I paid almost as much as a D700, but I love rangefinder (and Leica) so much I am willing to settle for a sensor which is not as good as a D700 sensor.I simply do not like SLR's anymore, the only SLR I use nowadays is my Hasselblad.
 
The strengths of the D700 (and DSLRs in general) were brought home to me last night!

I was sitting at my computer having just come in from chainsawing some firewood (winter here) at about 5.30pm ... I was about to spend a pleasant hour before dinner at this place actually. The phone rang and it was the gallery curator wanting to know why I wasn't there getting ready to shoot the opening for that night! I pointed out that she had told me via email it was actually the 21st and not the 20th so I had assumed it was tomorrow night and not tonight ... she had indeed made a blunder and given me the wrong date! 😱

No time to shower shave or do much at all except throw on a clean shirt, toss the D700 and 35mm f2 AFD Nikkor into a bag and leap into the car and make some attempt to get there before it opened which I didn't quite! By the time I got there it was packed and my pulse rate was soaring ... turn the Nikon on check to make sure the camera is set on 3200 ISO, lens at f2, manual focus and auto exposure with matrix metering and go! The battery was only showing about two thirds charged but that's no biggie!

In M8 land I would have had to find my 35mm Nokton, (usually on some other camera) put the IR filter on it, gather up spare batteries etc and arrive at a venue that was already buzzing with a camera that required a lot calmer more considered attitude than I posessed at that particular moment!

I was very grateful for that camera's auto capabilities last night because mine were minimal! 😀
 
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Keith said:
Now that is an interesting question ... you ask some beauties and this one also requires a serious explanation!

As a dewy eyed newbie I signed up here about four years ago to enhance my photographic experience ... that and the brief period I spent hanging around p.net (shudder) had quickly made me realise 'that' place wasn't for me!

Like many I secumbed to peer pressure, jumped on the Leica train and truly believed that they were the path to better photography and wound up with a collection of M bodies and numerous screwmounts. All good fun being one of 'the clan' of course but it wasn't doing my photography any good at all and luckily I eventually realised this!🙄

The couple of Leicas that are lurking in my cupboard are a reminder of this 'stupid' period of my life ... and don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the cameras or the people that truly love them, I blame my own foolishness! 😱
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Well I just took a look at your website and with the exception of the west end gallery, I'd say all the images are static or posed location images which is not really the prime territory of a leica. More the the territory of MF or LF which you say you prefer anyway.
 
tlitody said:
Well I just took a look at your website and with the exception of the west end gallery, I'd say all the images are static or posed location images which is not really the prime territory of a leica. More the the territory of MF or LF which you say you prefer anyway.
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And strangely the west end stuff was taken with 4x5 via a Crown Graphic ... I guess it is a rangefinder though! 🙂
 
I was very grateful for that camera's auto capabilities last night because mine were minimal!
- Great story (glad that wasn't me...)
 
Keith said:
The strengths of the D700 (and DSLRs in general) were brought home to me last night!

I was sitting at my computer having just come in from chainsawing some firewood (winter here) at about 5.30pm ... I was about to spend a pleasant hour before dinner at this place actually. The phone rang and it was the gallery curator wanting to know why I wasn't there getting ready to shoot the opening for that night! I pointed out that she had told me via email it was actually the 21st and not the 20th so I had assumed it was tomorrow night and not tonight ... she had indeed made a blunder and given me the wrong date! 😱

No time to shower shave or do much at all except throw on a clean shirt, toss the D700 and 35mm f2 AFD Nikkor into a bag and leap into the car and make some attempt to get there before it opened which I didn't quite! By the time I got there it was packed and my pulse rate was soaring ... turn the Nikon on check to make sure the camera is set on 3200 ISO, lens at f2, manual focus and auto exposure with matrix metering and go! The battery was only showing about two thirds charged but that's no biggie!

In M8 land I would have had to find my 35mm Nokton, (usually on some other camera) put the IR filter on it, gather up spare batteries etc and arrive at a venue that was already buzzing with a camera that required a lot calmer more considered attitude than I posessed at that particular moment!

I was very grateful for that camera's auto capabilities last night because mine were minimal! 😀
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Keith, what I hear in the above story is excitement. I think you've found your niche, *and* the equipments that you're comfortable and confident with. It's time for focus.

I say get rid of the excess, if it's the M8, so be it.

Your M lenses will stay with your film M body (you do still own one, don't you?), shoot a roll every now and then. It's still fun that way 🙂
 
shadowfox said:
Keith, what I hear in the above story is excitement. I think you've found your niche, *and* the equipments that you're comfortable and confident with. It's time for focus.

I say get rid of the excess, if it's the M8, so be it.

Your M lenses will stay with your film M body (you do still own one, don't you?), shoot a roll every now and then. It's still fun that way 🙂
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Thanks Wil ... 🙂

... ahh yes! Still four M mount film bodies in the cupboard at last count! 😱

😱
 
I'm in the opposite position to you Keith. I find I use my M8 everyday for the sheer convenience of both digital and RF. I had thought of selling my two M6 bodies, which rarely get used; along with all my other film gear. I'd considered buying an M9 with the proceeds but have decided to hold off for now partly as it's still a big mental step and partly as they're not in great cosmetic condition.

I had struggled to find the time to dev all my films generally but now that I'm starting to see the affects of an economic downturn I'm having to work even harder and therefore have even less time to develop and print film.

I'll stick with one RF, the M8, until I decide to go fully RF digi and replace both RF film gear and the M8 with two M9 bodies. Then I'll stop buying RF gear altogether...well, that's the plan at least😀
 
One of the things that I find really amusing Pickett is my M8 looks pretty much like the day I took it out of the box ... a very faint mark on the LCD and that's about it!

The D700 is already looking quite tatty for some reason but I swear I haven't treated it any differently ... maybe it's a subconscious thing! 😀
 
Pickett Wilson said:
I know there must be some beat up M8's out there, but I've never actually seen one that didn't look like it just came out of the box.
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M8.2. Fair wear and tear on the baseplate. The scars on the top plate happened in the bag -- a finder came off and was rubbing against the top plate, gouging bits out of the paint, on a dirt track in Croatia.

Cheers,

R.
 

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It is paid for and there is no tax on owning it.

The crop factor is disapointing, but I sort of got used to it with Nikon cropers. Then I got a D700 and a D3 and life is grand again. But I still pull out my D40 and D200 and you know they are not half bad knowing I can go full frme if I want. Sot of like driving my 1983 station wagon. Runs perfectly and if I need a nicer car, there is one in the garage.

For me, photoshop fixes the purple blacks and the off color corners. Then again I am not a pro wedding guy who would have thousands of pics to correct.
 
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