Leica M8 Field test, Iraq

Just plain incredible...I thought about getting an M8, but luckily hesitated long enough to read this...
 
I would be willing to give mine a second chance... if it ever gets released from the vault in Solms... they've had it "in repair" since May 13.

Dave
 
Well, I am very happy with my own M8 so far. Still I can see his points - except on reliability so far.

I guess it comes down to different uses really... I also remember another photographer working in Iraq with M8s, who was very happy. Anybody still got the link?
 
For the Leica of old, "gentleman's camera" would have been a most damning verdict. But for Leica today, unfortunately, it seems to be the painful truth.
 
Don't have one or plan to get one but this says to me that perhaps they aren't seriously interested in producing a camera for the professional photojournalist. Combat photography is an extreme environment for sure but it's not really that far removed from a lot of the work currently being done in non combat hotspots around the world.

I thought his baseplate comment was dead on.
 
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This at least removes the "fantasy" of an M8 being the only camera I'll need for the foreseeable future.

I have an M5 and a DSLR, and I guess the M8 was the place where the fantastic rangefinder and the convenience of the DSLR met... but after reading this (and seeing dcsang's NEW M8 still out for service), it makes me realize that maybe I do need to hold off for now.

Wow. The most damning evidence is that dark shot from the M8 compared to the 5-yr old Canon...
 
I would never make the M8 my primary digital camera, but i do use the heck out of it. I have bashed the crap out of it on this forum and others, but it does continue to really work where an SLR is just not going to be very practical.

I would have continued to bash it a bit here and there and claim that Leica is clueless and does not care if it were not for one thing:

I personally saw a pretty important person from Leica reading this forum today and they do quite often, multiple times a day. The person said they can not respond and given the situation that it *is* a company, I can understand why.

But know that they are working their asses off and have AWESOME new stuff headed our way.

By the way, William Albert Allard is still toting his around, David Alan Harvey still pulls one from his bag...and so do I.
 
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I'd be really pissed too if I spent the money on it and it fell so short. It does add a bit to confirming that something like a 5d + 3 or 4 L primes could really go a long way in comparison.
 
fdigital said:
I'd be really pissed too if I spent the money on it and it fell so short. It does add a bit to confirming that something like a 5d + 3 or 4 L primes could really go a long way in comparison.
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Ah yes, the "L" primes. What a load of silly marketing gimmick.
 
I thought that was a pretty fair review and brought up some good points ... even some frustrations I've felt myself like the on/off switch and the lack of fast wide-angle glass.

Although I do have to say, the two images he posted, 1st from the M8 and second from his Canon, there are a lot of things about the Leica shot I liked better:

Leica:
Iraq19666.jpg


Canon:
Iraq19072.jpg


He claims each image is untouched, but the vignetting & saturation on the Canon shot is pretty bad IMHO. The color tone, balance, detail & clarity of the Leica shot are all far superior for me ... and the shot seems to focus more in on the actual frame of the shot, rather than amateur tactics to draw my eye in like the bad vignette.

I dunno, the Leica shot just hits me emotionally far better than the Canon shot does. Of course the composure of the Canon shot is far better ... the expression on the main character's face as well as the fact you can see much more of the other guy and he's actually working on the wheel ... but still, the technical details of the Leica really speak to me better.

Although some bokeh would have been nice and his complaint that these shots exemplify about no fast wide angle glass is a big annoyance IMHO. Here's to hoping for a full-frame or larger some day.
 
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I totally agree with the review. As a former photojournalist, I can see where the M8 falls short in terms of reliability, usability and especially customer service ("... send it to us and you might get it back in two months."). I bought the M8 knowing that I'm just a weekend hobbyist now and can put up with all the quirks (filters, inaccurate frame lines) but this is not a camera for hard-core news photography. Seems that the M8 is geared mostly for collectors and hobbyist.
 
Maybe my laptop is way off but the Leica shot is too green for my taste. He's using fast glass to isolate the subjects with shallow depth of field and it works. In this case, the Leica has lots of it, my eyes wander around to the stone/mortar wall in the first photo as a result.

I'm not a Canon user but the saturation in the Canon photo is much better and realistic to my eyes.


Leica:
Iraq19666.jpg


Canon:
Iraq19072.jpg


He claims each image is untouched, but the vignetting & saturation on the Canon shot is pretty bad IMHO. The color tone, balance, detail & clarity of the Leica shot are all far superior for me ... and the shot seems to focus more in on the actual frame of the shot, rather than amateur tactics to draw my eye in like the bad vignette.
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