Harry Lime
Practitioner
http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/m8/
By now everyone has probably heard about it.
Several small improvements. More accurate framelines etc.
Still no weathersealing, which is ridiculous for a digital camera with this price tag.
But boy is it expensive.
I would have preferred the M8 over my D700, but here in the UK they are almost 2.5 times the cost (1699 vs 3999 pounds).
I really don't get where Leica is going with this pricing strategy. Even the new lenses are off the scale expensive. The Noctilux has never been a mainstream lens, but 6250 pounds is insane, even for an exotic.
The bottom line is that unless you are very well off or somehow can land a job that will pay for this gear, it is out of reach for the vast majority of people who would otherwise buy it.
On a personal level it is a sad development. The M series is my main camera and for a lot of my work I vastly prefer it over an SLR. As a photographer I 'grew up' with the M.
Leicas have never been cheap. I saved quite a while for my first one and while it was a stretch, it was feasible. Later when I got a real job, I even purchased some of my gear new. Still, not painless, but doable.
But Leica's new pricing direction has shut a large portion of their loyal and potential customers out of the system. For many the only option is to pick one up second hand, which takes some of the edge off the price, but certainly does not contribute to Leica's bottom line.
By now everyone has probably heard about it.
Several small improvements. More accurate framelines etc.
Still no weathersealing, which is ridiculous for a digital camera with this price tag.
But boy is it expensive.
I would have preferred the M8 over my D700, but here in the UK they are almost 2.5 times the cost (1699 vs 3999 pounds).
I really don't get where Leica is going with this pricing strategy. Even the new lenses are off the scale expensive. The Noctilux has never been a mainstream lens, but 6250 pounds is insane, even for an exotic.
The bottom line is that unless you are very well off or somehow can land a job that will pay for this gear, it is out of reach for the vast majority of people who would otherwise buy it.
On a personal level it is a sad development. The M series is my main camera and for a lot of my work I vastly prefer it over an SLR. As a photographer I 'grew up' with the M.
Leicas have never been cheap. I saved quite a while for my first one and while it was a stretch, it was feasible. Later when I got a real job, I even purchased some of my gear new. Still, not painless, but doable.
But Leica's new pricing direction has shut a large portion of their loyal and potential customers out of the system. For many the only option is to pick one up second hand, which takes some of the edge off the price, but certainly does not contribute to Leica's bottom line.
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