m8.2 or a m9? In 2024?

[Godfrey]

The film and digital ISO standards are different enough that external meters often don’t work very well. The shutter lag is a problem. We can always hope for improvements in the M12.

Film and digital camera ISO standards may differ a little bit, but i have been using external meters with digital cameras for years, and never had any problems with exposure as a result. The biggest issue is that it's a little inconvenient to use a separate hand-held meter with a camera designed for quick hand-held use. A little ... Easy enough to do, just a bit inconvenient.

It's worth not over-exaggerating this kind of thing into a big issue.

G

 

[Freakscene]

Film and digital camera ISO standards may differ a little bit, but i have been using external meters with digital cameras for years, and never had any problems with exposure as a result. The biggest issue is that it's a little inconvenient to use a separate hand-held meter with a camera designed for quick hand-held use. A little ... Easy enough to do, just a bit inconvenient.

It's worth not over-exaggerating this kind of thing into a big issue.

I’ve tried it and it did not work at all for me. The main problem for me is that the amount that needs to be adjusted varies a lot depending on the contrast of the situation. But we have discussed before that our metering requirements are different.

 

[wlewisiii]

I'd rather get rid of shutter lag and use a Weston Master.

Not sure about one of those ... things.,. but I'll happily take a GE meter from pretty much the same era. The one I bought early in my photo career was dang good and easy to use. The one Wesson I looked at was just weird.

 

[Coldkennels]

Not sure about one of those ... things.,. [...] The one Wesson I looked at was just weird.

Despite keeping much the same design for decades, Westons vary a fair bit.

I think the III is the "peak" of the Weston line - good build quality, and a dial that is both incredibly informative but easier to parse than the muddled dial on the II. The later IV and V's mechanism to trap the needle in place is a liability, in my opinion. I've had to open a few to fix the mechanism when it gets stuck.

Also, based on my experience and conversations I've had on here before, it seems that UK-made ones are still likely to have good cells, but US-made ones apparently are more prone to total failure. Not sure what to make of that.

At any rate, I've always found them to be more reliable than any meter, regardless of the camera in use. They've always given me better exposures than the meters in my Fuji bodies, and I trust them a lot more than the meter in the M240 I picked up recently. The only catch is they're only really good down to a certain light level (usually about f/2 and 1/30 at 400ISO, whatever that translates to in EV).

 

[wlewisiii]

Despite keeping much the same design for decades, Westons vary a fair bit.

I think the III is the "peak" of the Weston line - good build quality, and a dial that is both incredibly informative but easier to parse than the muddled dial on the II. The later IV and V's mechanism to trap the needle in place is a liability, in my opinion. I've had to open a few to fix the mechanism when it gets stuck.

Also, based on my experience and conversations I've had on here before, it seems that UK-made ones are still likely to have good cells, but US-made ones apparently are more prone to total failure. Not sure what to make of that.

At any rate, I've always found them to be more reliable than any meter, regardless of the camera in use. They've always given me better exposures than the meters in my Fuji bodies, and I trust them a lot more than the meter in the M240 I picked up recently. The only catch is they're only really good down to a certain light level (usually about f/2 and 1/30 at 400ISO, whatever that translates to in EV).

Knowing the meter of the M 240, I'd simply say that is more that you are very comfortable with _THAT_ particular meter, not that it it is any better or worse than the excellent meter in the M 240. The sensor has real limits but the meter is better than the sensor in the case of the M 240 in my experience.

A person's workflow will make a world of difference...

 

[Coldkennels]

Knowing the meter of the M 240, I'd simply say that is more that you are very comfortable with _THAT_ particular meter, not that it it is any better or worse than the excellent meter in the M 240.

Okay, genuine question: how on earth do you have the M240's meter set up?

I've tried spot, multi-field, and centre-weighted options, and across all of them, I'm still finding the meter is easily confused by high-contrast scenes. I gave up on it entirely in a forest on a sunny day, for instance.

(Also, minor bugbear: it really frustrates me that there's no shutter speed readout or indication in the VF when you're in manual mode. That's caught me out a few times. I've actually put an external meter on top of the thing more than once just so I can meter and adjust the shutter speed without looking through the viewfinder to avoid this.)

 

[Freakscene]

Okay, genuine question: how on earth do you have the M240's meter set up?

I've tried spot, multi-field, and centre-weighted options, and across all of them, I'm still finding the meter is easily confused by high-contrast scenes. I gave up on it entirely in a forest on a sunny day, for instance.

(Also, minor bugbear: it really frustrates me that there's no shutter speed readout or indication in the VF when you're in manual mode. That's caught me out a few times. I've actually put an external meter on top of the thing more than once just so I can meter and adjust the shutter speed without looking through the viewfinder to avoid this.)

I just meter using the histogram or start with live view and the highlight alert turned on to see how much is out of range.

I still like the Pentax KiMono metering better than any Leica M digital.

 

[Godfrey]

I just meter using the histogram or start with live view and the highlight alert turned on to see how much is out of range.

I still like the Pentax KiMono metering better than any Leica M digital.

Whatever.

I've been using Leica M meters for decades and have never had a single problem with the exposures they recommend. They meter quite closely, in my experience, to what my Nikon FM/FM2/FE2/F3 metering was like. I never have the histogram or highlight alerts turned on ... I just read the metering indicator and shoot.

But what do I know? 😉

G

 

[Freakscene]

Whatever.

I've been using Leica M meters for decades and have never had a single problem with the exposures they recommend. They meter quite closely, in my experience, to what my Nikon FM/FM2/FE2/F3 metering was like. I never have the histogram or highlight alerts turned on ... I just read the metering indicator and shoot.

But what do I know? 😉

G

What I know is that my photos, and the light that I generally photograph in, look nothing like anything I have seen from you. Therein lies the difference.

After dusk. Very even light, easy, but for me also uncommon:


Hard daylight, 14+ stops reflectance range and that’s after I decided that the leftish upper dark area could just fall blank black. M11M hightlight weighted metering underexposed it, regular metering overexposed it. I kept taking photos of people coming through the gateway until I got one that was right. Luckily it was this nice, photogenic lady. This web size jpg does not show that it took a lot of fussing to make the raw file look good. This is just where I find myself:

 

[Freakscene]

And to the OP, if you just want a camera to mess around with, an M8 or M9 is fine. The files are beautiful, and the cameras are tactile and old-fashioned. Just buy whatever is cheapest, understanding that it has shortcomings and may have a limited life. But if you really are more interested in getting good photos, for the money, my view is that there are more capable and reliable cameras.

 

[Godfrey]

What I know is that my photos, and the light that I generally photograph in, look nothing like anything I have seen from you. Therein lies the difference.
...

What I post here and on my flickr site are fully rendered photographs that I like and that fit a particular oeuvre of graphic ideas. Probably best not to presume that you understand all of my photos and the light that they were taken in from my finished, rendered, graphic photographs...

Of course, it is true that my eye reads a scene and I tend to avoid bad lighting situations when I'm going to make a photograph, particularly when talking about my personal work. When I was shooting for pay, I had to deal with whatever the lighting was in those situations, good or bad: my metering techniques have not changed in forty+ years.

G

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I should get the camera today. I am very excited.

I will say Leica customer service has always been great to me. I emailed them asking if the little rubber eye cup is something I can buy and they responded in a day and are selling me one for 5 dollars. Pretty awesome. I did see the eye piece was missing on the m8.2.

Back when I bought an m-a I got into a bad car wreck and the camera was thrown from the vehicle. Leica customer service repaired it for free. and I know they did not have to do that.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

And to the OP, if you just want a camera to mess around with, an M8 or M9 is fine. The files are beautiful, and the cameras are tactile and old-fashioned. Just buy whatever is cheapest, understanding that it has shortcomings and may have a limited life. But if you really are more interested in getting good photos, for the money, my view is that there are more capable and reliable cameras.

yep I have plenty of cameras that can take "good photos" This will be more of a personal everyday camera. I shoot alot ALOT of film and get good consistant results with my medium format stuff. good enough for printing large stuff and showing in galleries. I usually shoot 645 or 6x6. but also another rangefinder blows me away just with the huge negitives and thats my fuji gw690 III. I have a gallery openeing at the end of the month actually and I have only one photo shot on digital. (with my mp240 that was sold) Most everything is framed 11x14 or bigger.

I will probably get something eles in the future too. Maybe a m10, m262, or m10r idk. I am not worried about it. I need to buy another 28mm lens though. I will get one soon. I already know I am going to miss having a summicron 28mm. Not sure witch lens I will go for. I like the elmarit v4 and v1 summicron. Not sure if I will like the elmarit asph 28mm v1 though.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Despite keeping much the same design for decades, Westons vary a fair bit.

I think the III is the "peak" of the Weston line - good build quality, and a dial that is both incredibly informative but easier to parse than the muddled dial on the II. The later IV and V's mechanism to trap the needle in place is a liability, in my opinion. I've had to open a few to fix the mechanism when it gets stuck.

Also, based on my experience and conversations I've had on here before, it seems that UK-made ones are still likely to have good cells, but US-made ones apparently are more prone to total failure. Not sure what to make of that.

At any rate, I've always found them to be more reliable than any meter, regardless of the camera in use. They've always given me better exposures than the meters in my Fuji bodies, and I trust them a lot more than the meter in the M240 I picked up recently. The only catch is they're only really good down to a certain light level (usually about f/2 and 1/30 at 400ISO, whatever that translates to in EV).

I love the basic sekonic flashmates. For film they are spot on every time. Mine seems to be a slight stop or half stop off over exposing on digital. but I know that and I compensate.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

aslo lets keep it civil up there in the thread.... Quit that D swinging contest. I am not here to put anybodys photography/art down and say its bad. I am not a fan of that kinda internet trol blehhh.

 

[Rayt]

I should get the camera today. I am very excited.

I will say Leica customer service has always been great to me. I emailed them asking if the little rubber eye cup is something I can buy and they responded in a day and are selling me one for 5 dollars. Pretty awesome. I did see the eye piece was missing on the m8.2.

Back when I bought an m-a I got into a bad car wreck and the camera was thrown from the vehicle. Leica customer service repaired it for free. and I know they did not have to do that.

Congratulations! I don’t usually shoot color and if I did then I too would consider an M8 or M9. I owned an M8.2 for a while and liked the colors from it. I don’t always use the uv/ir filters because some sizes are hard to find.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Congratulations! I don’t usually shoot color and if I did then I too would consider an M8 or M9. I owned an M8.2 for a while and liked the colors from it. I don’t always use the uv/ir filters because some sizes are hard to find.

Thanks!

Yeah I found that part out when I was trying to source a 43mm ir cut filters for my nikkor lenses. I still need to buy a 39mm one. Seems that B+W is the one to go with.

 

[wlewisiii]

Okay, genuine question: how on earth do you have the M240's meter set up?

I've tried spot, multi-field, and centre-weighted options, and across all of them, I'm still finding the meter is easily confused by high-contrast scenes. I gave up on it entirely in a forest on a sunny day, for instance.

(Also, minor bugbear: it really frustrates me that there's no shutter speed readout or indication in the VF when you're in manual mode. That's caught me out a few times. I've actually put an external meter on top of the thing more than once just so I can meter and adjust the shutter speed without looking through the viewfinder to avoid this.)

I have it set on classic and I meter using the focus spot as an aiming reference. It's a center weighted averaging system like many cameras and perhaps I'm used to it, but as long as I don't do something silly like meter off the sky when trying to take a photo of a ground scene, I don't have any issues.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

Alrighty got my camera. First impressions are I am loving it already. that m9 feel I remember is back. I always loved the Non led lit frame lines. I also really love the thickness of the m8/m9 cameras maybe even more than a film leica maybe. The frame counter and battery bar are somthing I wish they had incorperated on later m cameras too. I already snagged a few quick photos and really like the output. the dynamic range is not as terrible as I was thinking it would be. that is at least for the shadows.

It came with an aftermarket battery that died pretty quickly. It scared me because I went shooting but it died kinda suddenly. I did confirm the battery died though. but who knows when the last time that it was charged or how long it had been in the camera. I already purchased a leica one. I saw that Camera Store west had some in stock so I scooped one up. I also have another aftermarket one coming.


I have two amadeo adapters and I did file down the lug a little so this one does bring up the 35mm frame lines witch is nice. The 50mm lines do seem tighter because of the crop factor witch is kinda nice with glasses. the 35 lines are a little closer in too. I see this as sort of a benifit that I had not read on the m8.2 in my research. its almost like having the .58 finder on the m6. (I never had this one but tried a friends) I did have a m6ttl .85 for a while and liked that for the kinda opposite reasons over the .72 finder haha.


snapped a few shots already just plinking around. The black and whites are indeed very nice! these were both with my 50mm elmar M f2.8 ( 2007 version)

I was trying to get the people in the passing beam of light but I kinda missed. Just testing the camera though.

 

[Rayt]

Nice clean sensor! Congrats.