Leica M8 with M9 shutter

[Harvey03]

I bought my first M8 and it had a very low shutter count. Sub 8000.
Big mistake. I should’ve thought it through and used my experience of buying older cars that hadn’t been used much.
The shutter gave in after 50 actuations.
So off to Leica Germany and 14 weeks later (thanks Brexit) I have an M9 shutter with the 1/4000 max instead of the original 1/8000.
I did buy a second M8 to cover the repair.
One has to be sold. The second has the classic coffee stain. However it is a later issue.
Which do I sell?
Has anyone else used the M8 with the M9 replacement?

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The newest M8 is only three years older than the oldest M8. The Coffee Stain means a lower resell price. The M9 shutter is quieter.
I would keep the one with the new shutter. I'm lying. I would keep both... But that does not help answer the question...

 

[Harvey03]

I have to agree keeping both gives me a chance of one lasting a good number of years

 

[Harvey03]

I would be interested to know the value of the repaired M8

 

[raid]

My M8 has the 1/4000 max shutter speed. I bought it used this way. No clue if this is then the M8 with a M9 shutter.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

I don't recall the exact details, but as it happened to me the M8 was originally released with a top speed of 1/8000. At some point early on Leica updated the shutter to 1/4000 and recommended the 1/8000 shutter be replaced. This of course, was all under warranty. Then there was the IR Cut issue in the sensor ...

A perfect example of Leica releasing a product without adequate beta testing.

 

[splitimageview]

And then there was the "perpetual upgrade program" debacle. I hope no one actually paid ~$2000 for sapphire glass and a less "kinetic" shutter with a lower top speed and a slower sync...

 

[Harvey03]

The new m9 shutter installed and behaving as it should. More refined. Not so much as a gunshot. A silencer applied. Not quiet, just a little less obvious.

 

[mnutzer]

Sell both and go for an M10.

 

[raid]

Sell both and go for an M10.

I kept both and got an M10.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The M8 had the 1/8000 top shutter speed, and is louder than the M8.2 with top shutter speed of 1/4000th. The M8.2 came out before the M9, and the M9 uses the same shutter.
I've had my M8 for almost 14 years now. No shutter problems, I prefer the higher speed for shooting fast lenses wide-open. Easier to test them on the M8 instead of the M9 for this reason. I use a Leica half-case on the M8 and M9, which dampens the shutter noise.

 

[Doug]

My chrome finish M8 got the later 1/4000 shutter and the frameline change but not the saphire screen upgrade. The camera was bought used in Jan 2008 and got the upgrades a year later. In Mar 2008 I added a black-finish M8, as it's common for me to buy a second sample of something I like. This black one was sold in 2001 through PopFlash after 13 years of use. Both these M8 have had column fault service.

FWIW, regarding the loud shutter on the original M8, Leica had this to say in the description...

Silent and Discreet:
In order to achieve a silent advance of the shutter, a rubberized silencing friction wheel was placed in the first gear step. The power is transmitted over a cam the entire length of the tension arm. This makes for a very silent noise from the motorized tension of the shutter.

(this doesn't address the exposure actuation, apparently just refers to the retensioning. But!)

 

[mnutzer]

I kept both and got an M10.

When opening the cupboard with already too many cameras from the last decades, I remind myself that I can take pictures only with a single camera in front of my eye at a time.