How many of you will buy the M8 or Digital M

How many of you will buy the M8 or Digital M

  • I have my unit pre-ordered already.

    Votes: 122 15.1%

  • Need more cash

    Votes: 141 17.5%

  • Will buy it for sure sooner or later

    Votes: 234 29.0%

  • Not interested or have no plans to get one.

    Votes: 311 38.5%
  • Total voters
    808
Mark Norton said:
I've no doubt that the M8 will give us the very best digital imaging, ranking alongside the R9DMR and D2X and even Canon's best might approach the M8 (when used with R-glass of course).
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Mark
I sure hope so, but if i can just get a R-D1 that has 10Meg and Leica quality and build, I'd be happy. In fact, if I could get an R-D2, I'd be happy.
Quite frankly, I wish that Epson/Cosina would continue on down the path of further development of the R-D1. They have come so tantilizingly close to a perfect example of a digital rangefinder, that it almost makes me want to cry when I realize that the chances of another chapter in its development is grim at best.
Leica is starting from scratch and there are bound to be teething problems. Don't get me wrong, I'm "in" with regards the M8. But I sure wish there was another choice available as a second body or backup. My R-D1 won't last forever.
Needless to say, I won't be selling my R-D1 anytime soon. In fact, I'm thinking about a second body especially if the price actually reaches a 2K level. I doubt the M8 will have the Epson/Seiko's cool watch dials that make the R-D1 worth the price of admission by themselves, in my book. Of course I'm crazy.

Rex
Peoples Republic of Berkeley
 
mac_wt said:
Hmmm, they're nice pics, but I'm not overly impressed. The first one has some seriously blown highlights (but it is a high contrast scene). The flare in the second one is not really spectacular and overall I don't think the colors really pop. They're certainly nothing you couldn't do with a (cheap) film camera. I hope the M8 will do better.

Wim
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yeah, blown, but from a moving vehicle this was shot, on a sketchy Casio with 5500+ shots through it at a reasonably high ISO. For under $300, that isn't bad at all. In fact, I used a D200 about a week ago, and it was awful - worse than this Casio by a fair margin.
 
rvaubel said:
Mark
I sure hope so, but if i can just get a R-D1 that has 10Meg and Leica quality and build.....
Rex
Peoples Republic of Berkeley
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Haven't you just described the M8? This reminds me of the old joke that Shakespeare's plays weren't written by Shakespeare at all, but by another bloke with the same name.....
 
Ben Z said:
A lot of people would've bought it if they'd just re-badged the RD1 and charged another 30% for it
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The price diffeenc there was only very partly due to the cost of the Leica badge; the bodies were virtually the same, but the lens was different. The Panasonic lens had "ordinary"multicoating, but the Leica version had the far more expensive Leica "ultrathin"coating on some of the inner lens surfaces, giving a slight, but noticable better flare behaviour.
 
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jaapv said:
The price diffeenc there was only very partly due to the cost of the Leica badge; the bodies were virtually the same, but the lens was different. The Panasonic lens had "ordinary"multicoating, but the Leica version had the far more expensive Leica "ultrathin"coating on some of the inner lens surfaces, giving a slight, but noticable better flare behaviour.
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Interesting. I never heard of this before, certainly not from anyone affiliated with Leica. Could you post a link to where Leica or Panasonic describes this? The only substantiated rationale (other than the cosmetics and Leica nameplate) I've ever seen for the price difference was attributed to "better bundled software" :D
 
That is the reason that the lettering was different on the two versions of the lens as well. I did see this, years ago, on DPreview forum I think, but I cannot for the life of me recall the exact thread. Sorry.:( :( I doubt Leica would avow this publicly.
 
I can imagine Leica's angst over that catch-22. If they didn't point out the lens is better they lose sales because the only reason people would buy their version is because it says Leica, and OTOH if the did point out the lens is better then they cost Panasonic sales and tick off their partner.
 
Ben Z said:
I can imagine Leica's angst over that catch-22. If they didn't point out the lens is better they lose sales because the only reason people would buy their version is because it says Leica, and OTOH if the did point out the lens is better then they cost Panasonic sales and tick off their partner.
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The difference is small anyway.
 
I'm going to take a wait and see attitude. I would like a camera with FEWER modes, better usability and a more elegant design that what is offered in the market today. A number of years ago, I purchased a canon EOS elan II with eye control. It was a high tech as you could get back then. The camera took great pictures, but I never really enjoyed using it as much the Pentax MX it replaced; for me personally, there were just too many menus, modes, spot meter settings etc. I've been using a variety of digital cameras for years but they all suffer from the same "feature creep" that exists in the Canon Elan. A Leica digital wont be the highest pixel count or the most features. I'm hoping it will take traditional, straight forward, elegant Leica design and wrap it around a digital sensor.
 
jaapv said:
Do you like the 5D? I borrowed one for a few weeks to see if it was a decent upgrade over my 10D. It was - in a technical sense. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the results from a technical point of view. But I did find it had the same boring digital look my 10D has. Maybe it has something to do with the CMos sensor.
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I do. I like it very much. With the exception of my (Mamiya) Universals, it's my go-anywhere camera. If I need a tinier camera, I simply bring along the SP or the Prominent, but the 5D...

I understand the comment about the 10D's "look." I had one, and I really didn't like the "plastic effect" of that particular camera. I also don't like Canon wide lenses at all, but there are ways around both of those things.

First of all, use lenses pretty wide open for good DoF control. That's my style in particular and works well with the 5D. Increase sharpening in the camera for less "plastic" look.
For wides, go Zeiss, Solms, or (as I did, as I got it for free!) an M42 mount 28mm works just fine. Just file a bit off or the mirror will hit the back of the lens on the way down...

I'm looking (quietly- I really can't afford one) for the Canon 50mm f/1 EOS lens. I miss my Noctilux.
 
jdos2 said:
I understand the comment about the 10D's "look." I had one, and I really didn't like the "plastic effect" of that particular camera. I also don't like Canon wide lenses at all, but there are ways around both of those things.
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You dont like the canon 12-24mm? I thought that lens made beautiful wide angle shots.
 
shutterflower said:
yeah, blown, but from a moving vehicle this was shot, on a sketchy Casio with 5500+ shots through it at a reasonably high ISO. For under $300, that isn't bad at all. In fact, I used a D200 about a week ago, and it was awful - worse than this Casio by a fair margin.
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Im sorry, either something wasnt setup right or your were not familiar with the camera. The D200 has garnered countless praise from the press and most users. My shoot VERY clean all the time and is heads and shoulders above my Olympus e-300 and my other cameras.
 
I just got my Calumet catalogue and they are saying the Sony Alpha with the same resolution as the M8 will be sold for around £600 ($1000?). Now forgive me for being trollish but if leica really wanted to make headway in the digital market surely they could price the M8 a bit more aggressively. As it is they are preaching to (dwindling numbers of) the converted yet again. Say what you like about CV but at least they're a bit more evangelical about the rangefinder concept. I love RF photography but without a proactive approach, it will die.
 
I've been thinking about this far more than the subject merits.

Pre 9/11, my bride and I went to Africa on a photo safari. We shots hundreds of rolls of film. Processing was in the thousands $$. In 2002 we went again with nikon d-100's. We made far more photographs and, by my calculations, saved the price of both the cameras in processing in that single trip. As a backup, I took some conventional film cameras and film. What a hassle through 4 airports both ways and wrestling with inspectors who want to xray it!

If the M-8 is done well or if it is a disaster, film will slowly become a quaint anachronism like vinyl phonograph records did when the music CD arrived. There'll be film around for a great long while, but the economies of scale are disappearing in manufacturing and processing etc. Soon the price of film and processing will skyrocket. Nikon has signalled it's exit from the film camera market. ..what more is there to say? This is not an opinion about what should happen it is about what will happen.

I am selling ALL my film stuff. If I sell it by the pound, I should have enough for an M8!


Digital Baby

walking-gray-card-2.jpg
 
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