Leica M8 raw-file?

[Landberg]

Hi!
I´m thinking of buying a Leica M8. I would like to see how the files look at different iSO. Is there someone here who would like to send me some "sharp" raw-files at different ISO? (DNG)

email me: landberg.rikard(at)gmail.com or link the files in the thread!

Thanks!

 

[bayernfan]

are you talking true RAW (accessible only by a special camera menu and RAW2DNG software), or the camera DNG files?

 

[Landberg]

The DNG-files

 

[bayernfan]

plenty of samples on flickr, search "leica m8 dng".

if you want to see some true RAW files, i can email them to you. the difference is pretty amazing.

 

[Landberg]

plenty of samples on flickr, search "leica m8 dng".

if you want to see some true RAW files, i can email them to you. the difference is pretty amazing.

Hi! Please do!🙂

 

[bayernfan]

sent, hope they're helpful. 🙂

 

[Landberg]

sent, hope they're helpful. 🙂

Thank you! Looks nice! Is the RAW2DNG software the way to go?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Not for me, as film shooter. I'm taking M8 files as is.
Link for relatively high ISO with M8 and M-E.

 

[Landberg]

Not for me, as film shooter. I'm taking M8 files as is.
Link for relatively high ISO with M8 and M-E.

Thank you! I used to own a Leica M-E so this is a greta comparison for me.

 

[xyz3450]

Can someone post a link to the RAW2DNG software please? Available for Mac OS or just MS windows OS? Thanks....

 

[bayernfan]

http://m8raw2dng.de

the software is not exactly user-friendly. it runs in terminal and you'll have to go through a few semi-advanced steps to get it up and running. the website has all the info you need, you just need to do some digging around.

 

[BLKRCAT]

5 seconds of google:

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/leica_m82_review/sample_images/

 

[Landberg]

5 seconds of google:

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/leica_m82_review/sample_images/

I have seen them, but there are not a lot of different ISO and a lot of the photos are not sharp.

 

[peterm1]

http://m8raw2dng.de

the software is not exactly user-friendly. it runs in terminal and you'll have to go through a few semi-advanced steps to get it up and running. the website has all the info you need, you just need to do some digging around.

I never succeeded so gave up. Part of the problem is that the author is not a natural English speaker (or perhaps it is more that he is just a computer geek more used to speaking to other geeks in geekese). I simply could not follow the instructions sufficiently well, even though I am reasonably adept at using software and have been for 20 years now. For example I still have no idea what a "droplet" is - I thought it was a small quantity of water. He seems to assume it is a term of art that everyone will understand and comprehend how to use. To make it worse there is some jiggery pokery that has to be endured each time the camera is turned on and in the end the combined issues meant I could not be bothered.

Anyone who works out how to build a user interface that any dolt like me can use has my personal thanks. The M8 cries out for it.

 

[xyz3450]

http://m8raw2dng.de

the software is not exactly user-friendly. it runs in terminal and you'll have to go through a few semi-advanced steps to get it up and running. the website has all the info you need, you just need to do some digging around.

Thanks. If you've used it, for you was it worth it? Do you do so (or did so) regularly? Thanks again....

 

[bayernfan]

Thanks. If you've used it, for you was it worth it? Do you do so (or did so) regularly? Thanks again....

I've got it setup so that it's very easy to use. I drag my RAW+JPG images from the M8 SD to a designated folder on my mac. Within this folder is the "droplet", which I simply double click to convert all uncompressed RAW files contained in the folder to DNG. Lightroom, Photoshop, etc are able to work with these converted DNG files.

As mentioned in a post above, yes, you have to put the M8 into a debug mode to shoot RAW+JPG. If the camera turns off or goes to sleep, you have to go thru the sequence again. I have "auto power off" set to "off". Battery life suffers a bit, but I know I'm shooting true uncompressed RAW files.

My M8 has a single vertical band that appears at ISO 1250 (a typical problem). I've used the RAW2DNG software to completely eliminate this band as well.

I was so pleased with the results, I donated money to the creator of RAW2DNG in appreciation for the work he's done.

 

[willie_901]

Hi!
I´m thinking of buying a Leica M8. I would like to see how the files look at different iSO. Is there someone here who would like to send me some "sharp" raw-files at different ISO? (DNG)

...

Keep in mind that the M8 employs two-stage ISO amplification. The analog signal-to-noise ratio below ISO 800 is higher than at ISO 800 and above.

With raw files the shadow-regions' signal-to-noise ratio will be higher by intentionally underexposing a scene at ISO 640 compared to ISO 800 and above. By underexposure I mean using the shutter time and/or aperture at ISO 640 the meter would recommend when ISO was set higher.

Intentionally under-exposed raw files will appear dark when first rendered. During post-production their global brightness can be increased to produce the desired results. The improvement in technical image quality will be most apparent in shadow regions because these areas have the lowest signal-tonoise ratios.

Of course, this method is useless when using in-camera JPEGS.

 

[Godfrey]

are you talking true RAW (accessible only by a special camera menu and RAW2DNG software), or the camera DNG files?

What is the difference between "true RAW" and the M8's DNG output?

G

 

[mnutzer]

What is the difference between "true RAW" and the M8's DNG output?

G

14bit uncompressed raw data compared to 8bit compressed standard dng data.

Check out the site quoted above:
http://m8raw2dng.de

"The included image covers 3968×2642 pixels in a 16-bit container with 14-bit of data.
That makes black=0 and white=16383.
The standard M8 DNG only has 3920×2638 pixels with 8bit of information (0-255)."

But be prepared for additional inconveniences when shooting with the M8 and the necessary work steps for the subsequent developments.

 

[Godfrey]

14bit uncompressed raw data compared to 8bit compressed standard dng data.

Check out the site quoted above:
http://m8raw2dng.de

"The included image covers 3968×2642 pixels in a 16-bit container with 14-bit of data.
That makes black=0 and white=16383.
The standard M8 DNG only has 3920×2638 pixels with 8bit of information (0-255)."

But be prepared for additional inconveniences when shooting with the M8 and the necessary work steps for the subsequent developments.

Interesting, although completely academic to me. I'll never own an M8.

Memory card sizes were much smaller in the years leading up to the M8 introduction, and memory card prices substantially higher than what was current just a scant five years ago, never mind now. And computing power has risen astronomically too. So options to reduce file size and simplify the processing were much more important a decade ago.

G