I Love My M8!

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Sailor Ted said:
? (Do we have any actual photogs here?) :rolleyes:
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The World Press organisation seems to think so.

And if you can remember any of my previous posts on the M8 I was very enthusiastic. And yes, I've made a great many good images with the camera. Problem is I've lost just as many due to any number of problems. I WAS prepared to live with IR filters. Maybe if all the other problems with the camera are sorted out I'll pull it back out the box. I just don't see that happening. I didn't spend 5K on a camera for serious use to keep second guessing it's technical limitations. I understand a lot of you love your M8's, and I'm happy for you. I wish I was happy with it too. If I look at the facts, unfortunately Leica are treading very unstable ground here. Nowhere in the documentation that came with my camera was there mentioned anything about the need for filters AND coding for my favourite focal lengths. Looking at that fact alone, I am within my rights to a full refund where I live. Why haven't I done that yet? Because I really want it to work out in the end. I want to shoot digital and I need a small rangefinder. I'm lucky customer support is very strong at my local store and with the Leica reps.

Negativity aside, here's one of the last I took with my M8 before becoming a gloomy ba&^%!d. A lot of work went into correcting IR in this one, but that's about it.

TIm

PS: the chair was that colour...
 

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Not mentioning filters was a blunder by Leica- but the coding was in all factory documentation. Plus that it is not necessary - which is the case.
 
jaapv said:
Not mentioning filters was a blunder by Leica- but the coding was in all factory documentation. Plus that it is not necessary - which is the case.
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No, coding is not 100% necessary, but if you shoot colour with IR filters on 35 or wider, I'm guessing you don't want cyan corners. That's a big problem considering the manual states total compatability with virtually all M lenses ever made. Vignetting I can accept. Discoloured corners I can't. Where can I get my second gen summicron 35 coded? In fact, that lens doesn't even have a thread for a filter so I'm out of luck on both counts.
 
Ir

Ir

I dont understand the fuss. I have had magenta in a few photos out of 1200 so far and they were easily fixed in a few seconds in PS. I don't even have my filters yet and it has not stopped me from using the M8, even for a paid job or two.

It provides better files than my 5D did, so I can't understand how a 30D can give better IQ as someone stated here. Anyway, Im extremely happy with mine!
 
TJV said:
No, coding is not 100% necessary, but if you shoot colour with IR filters on 35 or wider, I'm guessing you don't want cyan corners. That's a big problem considering the manual states total compatability with virtually all M lenses ever made. Vignetting I can accept. Discoloured corners I can't. Where can I get my second gen summicron 35 coded? In fact, that lens doesn't even have a thread for a filter so I'm out of luck on both counts.
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If that is your problem, read this thread: http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/16826-alternative-method-correcting-486-cyan-drift.html Good lateral thinking that makes cyan corner correcting a two-second job in PS.
 
This discussion depresses the hell out of me (so why did I read through it all?) with all the talk of magenta casts and too much noise. I'm late to this M8 party and I know there's been plenty of talk on this forum and others about the problems inherent in the M8. I'm totally bummed that Leica would ruin its reputation for building high quality cameras by having such an obvious problem in their flagship rangefinder. If I'd been president of the company? PULL THEM OFF THE SHELVES unitl they can fix it, OFFER REFUNDS or at least FULL WARRANTY SERVICE on all M8's sold.

I can't afford one and that's probably a good thing, given how ****ty the images are in some ways. I have seen some really beautiful shots taken with it too. And sure some of that is the photographer, or the bow not the arrow to use one person's analogy. But to have a several thousand dollar camera manifesting irregular color casts and other issues is just...it's sad, is all. Very sad.
 
You shots look good to me Ted, but you are being cruel to trools, the moderators will stomp all over you if you keep on doing this, trolls are alowed on this site...

Alas I dont like the look of the M8, but I thought that of the M5, in '74.

Keep posting, I'm more tempted by each shot.

Noel
 
Sailor Ted said:
This is BS- the images from this camera are outstanding.

See my and other flickr accounts. Search on keyword "M8"
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Outstanding in many ways and flawed in many too.

Perhaps the issues with the M8 are not so much as with the Lovers and Haters who all Troll this issue.

This is a polarized topic, no way around that. You all will disagree with a large majority of the opinions posted on it, but two wrongs don't make a right, so cut the BS, opinions are fine, if you don't agree, don't feed the fire, be happy you are on whatever side you are on.

When does the BS end, when the BS stops being slung and that starts with you. (You means in a general sense Ted for everyone, not you "Ted" you.)
 
Sailor Ted said:
This is BS- the images from this camera are outstanding.

See my and other flickr accounts. Search on keyword "M8"
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Ted in all honesty .... a lot of those other people post CRAP pictures taken with the M8.
They also post at forums with titles like .... "my first picture with the M8".
I think Flickr in general is not a good reference to promote the M8..... there is excellent M8 stuff at FlickR and there is complete crap at FlickR.
You are looking at the good stuf ... the non-believers only see the crap.
I really can't understand why people keep on posting M8 pictures with magenta colorcasts, not taking the time to use a proper colorprofile or buy a filter ..... they are doing the M8 no favor !
 
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I'll post some links to my M8 photog freinds on flickr whose work I respect. I'm sure some will hate it but then again they can...
 
Ted, I thought the images of the homless dude were fantastic. I loved seeing the big images, especially the sharp detail of the guys skateboard. The lenses on that M8 of yours rip.:cool: Please keep posting here, and don't mind the others negative statements.

Greg
 
Jaapv,

No banding-no streaking-no magenta. So? I am sorry for you that you are disappointed, but maybe, just maybe, it is not the arrow but the Indian?-to quote Ted ;)


This is insane. You post images with color shift, magenta etc, and scream about the awsome IQ. Just to top it off we have a M8 owner here who objectively evaluated the camera, and cannot stand it. So you just say it is his fault and not the camera. I thought your whole argument was, " Please do not talk about the M8 unless you own one. You cannot comment upon it unless you see how fantastic it is."

Furthermore, I have not seen a single image from the M8 that is better than any Canon DSLR image. So please stop with the generic statements "Funny that large numbers of users are getting excellent results, even better than any 135 class camera on the market" How can you even say something like that and expect to remain credible on any forum?

To qualify, I have seen some Leica M8 images that I liked and found very impressive. I would have loved to have a small compact camera that could work well and take those types of images. However, having to possibly discard 50% of my images because of artifacts, color shifts, etc. does not really seem worth while.
 
jaapv said:
I think that is a pretty good and expressive photograph, Ted (btw the pedestrian's shoes are magenta - it must be the M8...;):D) And what is the problem with a bit of noise? Would my comment on that photo, had it been taken on 200 ISO slide-film be: "It has a lot of grain"? The point is: It is not neccesary to produce noise at ISO 640, see my low-light shot, which had no additional noise-reduction applied apart from the C1 default. So it may well be an artistic choice. I know that I deliberately shoot at ISO 1250 when planning to convert to B&W to get more "life" into my images. I like that possibility.
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The problem with the noise is you already said it was better than most 135mm digital solution on teh market in terms of IQ. Maybe it is better than the 135mm solutions ten years ago in terms of noise and functionality. By comparison to modern digital solutions the M8 fails when it comes to noise.
 
ywenz said:
are we simply ignoring the magentas nowadays and accept it as a fact of photography?
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I think Magenta is a perfectly valid color; humans can see this color, I don't know if dogs are naturally repelled by it, or are obsessively concentrated on this.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
I think Magenta is a perfectly valid color; humans can see this color, I don't know if dogs are naturally repelled by it, or are obsessively concentrated on this.
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I know the dogs absolutely love the M8, the glow attracts them first, and then they love it for obvious reasons..
 
spersky said:
The problem with the noise is you already said it was better than most 135mm digital solution on teh market in terms of IQ. Maybe it is better than the 135mm solutions ten years ago in terms of noise and functionality. By comparison to modern digital solutions the M8 fails when it comes to noise.
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That is : If one prefers the smoothly-ironed-flat look an unnamed other digital brand produces, yes the M8 does not come close, nor Nikon, or Pentax. I have no objection to noise per se, as long as it does not detract from the image.This in analogue to grain in film. If it does detract there is always Noise Ninja, Neat Image or any other action to revert to the new plastic look if one desires. People tend to forget that CMos sensors are really very noisy, forcing Canon to develop very advanced noise-reduction firmware, which is highly succesfull, at the cost of making the images look "digital" This is not a value judgement, a matter of taste, but my preferences happen to lie elsewhere and I am happy Leica did decide not to go down this road.
 
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