Leica M8 Colors are sublime

peterm1

peterm1

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I recently picked up my new (well second hand ) M8 and have been blown away by the way it renders images with original Leica glass. I especially like the way it handles color. Here are some samples. All are pretty much straight from the camera with minimal noise reduction and sharpening and not much else. All were shot with either a Summicron 50 (version 3) or Summicron 35 (version 4).

I would have to say that I agree with comments I have read to the effect that the result is somewhat more film like in appearance. There is certainly something different in any event! I have been shooting digital for several years now using Nikon, Panasonic and Sony equipment and although these are of course very competent cameras none of these come close. At last here is a camera which does not require hours of post processing to get acceptable (to me) images and which can pretty much produce good output straight from the camera. These samples are DNG files converted in Lightroom.

When I look at the images that come from this camera all of the concerns regarding its slight clunkyness (compared with other M cameras) drop away.

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peterm1 said:
I would have to say that I agree with comments I have read to the effect that the result is somewhat more film like in appearance. I have been shooting digital for several years now using Nikon, Panasonic and Sony equipment and although these are of course very competent cameras none of these come close.
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More film-like? These images look purely digital. Too clean (too plastic, too sterile) for my taste. And no less digital than images from Nikon, Panasonic or Sony that I've seen.

However, enjoy your M8.
 
I agree Peter, that the color rendering of the M8 can be a joy. I must add though that my favorite lens for shooting with color in mind is is the Zeiss C-Sonnar 50mm. For my taste, the combination of ts contrast and the M8 sensor is often perfect right out of the camera.

Cheers,
 
Low Contrast lenses go great with the M8.

My favorite lens for it is an uncoated 5cm F1.5 Sonnar, converted to LTM.

Wide-Open
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But you can't please all the people all the time.

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The 3rd and last one show clearly the green tint that I hated in the M8 files. It always was some work for me to get that away. Especially with artificial light I didn't like the colours. Although the camera makes stunningly sharp photos.
 
Green cast is indeed a problem that might occur in low light situations. Further, if you compare the M8 with the R-D1(s), I find the R-D1(s) much more film like and that is also why I still shoot film apart from having an M8.2.
 
J J Kapsberger said:
More film-like? These images look purely digital. Too clean (too plastic, too sterile) for my taste. And no less digital than images from Nikon, Panasonic or Sony that I've seen.

However, enjoy your M8.
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These images is better than film, cleaner, but if you really need more film like just add grain, reduce color saturation and make wrong color balance in photoshop.
 
J J Kapsberger said:
More film-like? These images look purely digital. Too clean (too plastic, too sterile) for my taste. And no less digital than images from Nikon, Panasonic or Sony that I've seen.

However, enjoy your M8.
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I can't say that I see that these differ from some other high quality digital images, but I often wonder if small images on a monitor are what we are all after. It certainly has become the standard measure of what we seem to prefer, but I would not hang monitors throughout my house, yet this is how we judge everything these days.
 
bwcolor said:
I can't say that I see that these differ from some other high quality digital images, but I often wonder if small images on a monitor are what we are all after. It certainly has become the standard measure of what we seem to prefer, but I would not hang monitors throughout my house, yet this is how we judge everything these days.
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I often shoot with a Nikon DSLR and pro lenses (e.g. 17-55mm f2.8) and believe me when I say that I see nothing like these files coming straight out of my camera. Admittedly its a D200 and therefore a couple of years outdated in technology but never the less it is still an excellent camera in my view even though the later equipment is much better in some respects.

I most certainly can get excellent files from my Nikon DSLR camera but I usually have to work pretty darn hard to do it. This means photoshopping each image to sharpen, denoise, then adjust color, saturation and contrast - at least. Sometimes it involves selective processing on different parts of each image to produce nice tones.

But here I am seeing image files coming straight from my M8 that require little post work. They are inherently sharp and while they may need a little denoising especially if shot at higher ISO settings they lack very little in terms of color or tone. They also seem to have nice tonal gradations from light to dark - more so that other cameras I own which sometime struggle to produce subtle gradations in this respect.

I have examined my images at full resolution on screen and I also see more detail in them than anything I have seen from my other equipment.

I have pretty high standards when it comes to image making and this is why I normally spend a lot of time post processing. but if I can eliminate the bulk of that work because I am getting better files out of the camera then I am very content. I will most likely still post process to some extent, but more of that will go into creative rather than basic manipulations. (Simply becuase thats what I like.)

And I do not resile from my earlier statement. The colors I see from this camera are more often than not, very pleasant indeed.
 
Im not seeing "sublime." I don't see anything i wouldn't expect to be able to get with any digital camera. Some look like they could have been made with a Canon G10, some with a Sony NEX.

None are bad. But, where is the sublime part? Maybe you feel they look 'filmlike' because they haven't been whitebalanced so much that they're neutral/sterile? I like color casts sometimes. Blacks also seem 'crushed' in the first two —* no detail —*but that's what chrome film does. I just don't see how these are unique to an M8. It's sorta that Leica voodoo. Random stuff gets attributed to Leica.
 
I've had an M8 and then switched to a D700 ... to be honest as good as the M8 was I prefer the look of the Nikon's files.

I guess it's a personal thing but I think the D700 leaves the Leica behind in all areas.

YMMV of course. :)
 
I have examined my images at full resolution on screen and I also see more detail in them than anything I have seen from my other equipment.
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You see, that is, in part, my point. We are looking at low resolution JPEGS. I don't doubt that you can see the difference. Of course, there is much more to an image than resolution.
 
The M8 is a great camera and was gound breaking technology for Leica but I think there's a myth developing around it's output that it doesn't quite deserve IMO.

Much the same as the way the M3 has become the 'holy grail' for some people ... whereas in reality it's just a 35mm rangefinder.
 
My M8 is the only camera I use, and, I agree with Keith.

It's everything I need, and I like the photos I get with it - but if I dropped it in the toilet, it would not turn the ... 'stuff' in there to wine.
 
When were you in Adelaide? I buy flowers from the woman in the first shot all the time!? I will probably see her tomorrow...

Marty
 
Freakscene said:
When were you in Adelaide? I buy flowers from the woman in the first shot all the time!? I will probably see her tomorrow...

Marty
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Marty Hi. I live in Adelaide - I work in a building just across Victoria Square so drop into the central market quite a lot at lunch time. Give her my regards when you see her. She is very attractive and makes a lovely photographic subject. She probably noticed me taking photos but was kind enough to say nothing and I suppose I was trying to be relatively discrete.
 
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kully said:
My M8 is the only camera I use, and, I agree with Keith.

It's everything I need, and I like the photos I get with it - but if I dropped it in the toilet, it would not turn the ... 'stuff' in there to wine.
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That is funny..

and I really love my M3s, but I make very sure they don't fall in either.
 
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