Leica NJ: Price Breakdown for M8 Upgrades

[TR3B]

$$$$$

$$$$$

For the price of a full upgrade.... buy a second M8.
That way if they both break, one is for hitting you in the ass on the way out and the other is for hitting you upside the head for buying one in the first place....and I own one to boot.

M8- Love it - big red stripes and all

Go like hell!

 

[swoop]

Do you know if the same prices would apply to the same/similar work being done on an M9?

Yeah, I think the full M9 to M9-P upgrade is around $2k. But everything about that is cosmetic. At least with the M8 upgrades you got a new quiet shutter and the framelines were made more accurate.

 

[Beemermark]

Forgetting price, how many other camera makers offer upgrades?

 

[Ben Z]

Forgetting price, how many other camera makers offer upgrades?

All of them. It's called buying the next model. It leaves you with the option of keeping the old one as a backup or sell it to defray part of the cost. It gets you an entire new camera with zero actuations, and in most cases, upgraded sensor/processor technology. With the possible exception of top-end pro DSLR's it's a lot more economical than Leica's upgrades, much of which is cosmetic and none of which brings any improvement in IQ. I say this from firsthand experience having upgraded my M8. And in the case of the M9, Leica omitted the sapphire LCD cover which, with significant fanfare and promotion on their part, had been made standard on the M8.2, and is now offering it as a costly upgrade, along with the silver-chrome finish which also had been a standard item on the M8 and 8.2. So much of the M9 "upgrade" is technically a "retrograde"

 

[dave lackey]

I'd rather use a M8 than a D800. That said, I would not do any unnecessary upgrades to a M8.

I have no use for a DSLR unless I want to do what a DSLR does better than an M body or even a compact digital. Specifically, if I need that crazy resolution, I would consider the D800 plus the cost of a new computer, and other related items like new lenses. If I need that kind of capability, I would be doing motorsports and sports photography again, which I grew to hate over the years and don't do it anymore. If I wanted super detailed portraits, I wouldn't be doing portraits of most people I know because they like soft portraits that don't show every blemish, pore and less than perfect make-up.

I would take the M8 in a heartbeat if I could. But that is just me. I like what Jaapv said...makes it worthwhile if I am going to keep it for awhile. I doubt you could sell it for much (any?) more than a standard M8 but you never know.

Fortunately, I am broke. If I wasn't, I would consider a $2000 D700 before the D800.

 

[Cyriljay]

I had my m8 shutter upgrade when it was broke down and it was the only option and now it is in great shape . Good and accurate frame lines and more silence.

When I had my M8 upgraded (shutter, sapphire, framelines) the cost was $1700. That was in the winter of 2009, right after I read a quote from Stefan Daniel saying that they were still waiting for technology to evolve solutions to the problems of a full-frame digital M. Half a year later the M9 was shipping to dealers. I waited until the summer of 2010 before getting an M9, and another couple months until I sold the M8u. It was in mint condition, low actuations, and still under the extended upgrade warranty. I got $500 over comparable non-upgraded M8's. So in my thinking, the upgrade was a waste of my money then, and it would be even more of a waste today. But that's just my own experience, not trying to talk anyone out of it if they really want it.