M8 extravagance ?

dee

dee

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Not long now when a modest inheritance means that I can afford a Leica M8, probably with a couple of Voightlander lenses - and an adapter for my 50mm Elmars / Summitar and ex - USSR lenses . I 22, I 50, I 26, I 61 l/d , Jupiter 8 ...

I guess this is overkill if I don't use modern Leitz glass , and simply take pictures to ''calm '' an autistic anxiety ...

But I grew up with traditional metal cameras , and am loving the new excitement of creating '' magic slide shows '' with my Leicas , kiev , and Feds [ not to mention Zenit S ! ] .

it's such an indulgence - I guess if there were a sensibly priced traditional metal digital SLR , it would be OK - but a Leica , any Leica , has been an impossible dream ...

One aspect that I am certain about is that I will be using my new companion much more frequently as a window through which to distance and contain [ filter ] a chaotic world , but is that enough to ''justify '' wasting such a camera on someone confused by much of what photography is about ?

i certainly don't need a Leica to show off or anything - but , just picking it up was a joy . On the other hand people spend just as much on AV or cars , which is no more ''justified '' ...

Not the black chrome , though - my XD 7 did not grow old gracefully , unlike my black painted Leica II of 1933 ...

you guys are real dedicated photographers - what do you think ?
 
Digital - buy a £200 P&S first - they are great - Fuji, Canon, Nikon or Olympus or even Panasonic - you will use it all the time

Hopefully it will convince you that Digital is really fun
(from a dedicated film user - with lots of Nikon and Pentax SLRs plus a few digitals)

Nikon F, F2, F3, FA, F80, Spotmatic, S1a, MX, etc., etc., A1 -plus Oly 35SP, M3, M6, ll, lll, K100D, A640. etc.,

(I have yet to sucumbe to an M8 - just waiting for a CV digital Rangefinder)
 
It's tough to justify the cost on goods like the M8 or expensive guitars. I guess I would say that if the M8 itself brings you joy, and using it is the attempt to bring order and calm to your world, then I couldn't think of a better reason to buy one.
 
GEt the voigt 15 and and a 28 or 25 and a 50 a nice starter set up. Read reidreviews.com I have the voigt 15 and 50 nokton the 25 is very well regarded. If yuou are a low light maven the 28 1.9 voigt lens if notthe 25 f4 is a good fit. DaVID
 
morgan said:
It's tough to justify the cost on goods like the M8 or expensive guitars. I guess I would say that if the M8 itself brings you joy, and using it is the attempt to bring order and calm to your world, then I couldn't think of a better reason to buy one.
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Hear, hear!

That, or become a Buddhist monk and shed all your worldly possessions, including autistic anxieties. Ommmm.......
 
We are not all dedicated photographers. As such. We (mostly) are amateurs with a dedication coming and going with spare time available and the share 'lust' coming and going as well.

I think you should buy a M8. First of all; you want one. Secondly; no, it is not an overkill with the lenses you've got. Thirdly; Leica needs customers like you; who've got the cash. Just buy one and you will see that M8 is a camera that don't loose value in the same pace as most cheap point & shoot digitals you can by.
 
Thanks guys - tend to worry over what's '' right '', but I guess 25 or so USSR rejects and real Leicas would never be considered '' right '' by many people - the difference is that they were largely funded by e-bay sales of old 60s toys - invisible pay pal '' money '' - this will entail real money changing hands !

I have a Canon G2 digital - 'cos it looks like a real camera , but have been having dee ficulties adapting to later plastic auto focus 35mm SLRs [ Minolta 404 si ] let alone digital - my head is firmly set in the 50s and 60s ! But the canon is Ok ... but it does not feel so right !

Thanks for the advise about the voightlander lenses - I also have dee ficulty with zooms - I like to ''know '' what it's set to !

I think that I will pass on the monk idea - terrified of real guys , but you are fine in cyberspace !

You never know , I might be impoverished in a year or so , and will have to sell the lot ... but i guess I will have fun whilst it lasts !

dee-mented ?
 
As a good friend of mine used to say...

"To hell with the expense ... feed the cat another canary!"

:D
 
I'm in love with my M8, I know it's still the honeymoon phase, but it's everything I've wanted in a digital camera.

My dad still rolls his eyes at me and my purchase, but I've seen him playing with it...(Caught!)
 
morgan said:
It's tough to justify the cost on goods like the M8 or expensive guitars. I guess I would say that if the M8 itself brings you joy, and using it is the attempt to bring order and calm to your world, then I couldn't think of a better reason to buy one.
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Perhaps unlike most, I started with camera and lenses that leave, photographically speaking, nothing to be desired. I arrived at RFF to check out what users have to say about the M8. I get quite a lot of satisfaction out of my current digital kit----knowing that I'm getting images that are absolutely unhindered by my technology. No matter, though, the many pounds of Canon don't feel good in my hands, and they hurt my back.

So, as a trial, I've accumulated some nicely-recommended fixed-lens RFs. I already have a decent scanner. These RFs, none over $50, feel just right. For the first time in years, I never leave the house without grabbing a camera. Nice feeling.

But there's no way that they give me the quality I'm used to, and the overall workflow has those needless steps. I had thought I'd get a body on which to put some M or adapted lenses and try that out. But now I'm wondering if I want to just skip "stage two" and go directly to M8.

BTW, I own a Santa Cruz OM. No way do I need, make full use of, or deserve! that beautiful instrument. But after the initial gasp I've never regretted buying something for its enduring aesthetic value.
 
MartinL said:
Perhaps unlike most, I started with camera and lenses that leave, photographically speaking, nothing to be desired. I arrived at RFF to check out what users have to say about the M8. I get quite a lot of satisfaction out of my current digital kit----knowing that I'm getting images that are absolutely unhindered by my technology. No matter, though, the many pounds of Canon don't feel good in my hands, and they hurt my back.

So, as a trial, I've accumulated some nicely-recommended fixed-lens RFs. I already have a decent scanner. These RFs, none over $50, feel just right. For the first time in years, I never leave the house without grabbing a camera. Nice feeling.

But there's no way that they give me the quality I'm used to, and the overall workflow has those needless steps. I had thought I'd get a body on which to put some M or adapted lenses and try that out. But now I'm wondering if I want to just skip "stage two" and go directly to M8.

BTW, I own a Santa Cruz OM. No way do I need, make full use of, or deserve! that beautiful instrument. But after the initial gasp I've never regretted buying something for its enduring aesthetic value.
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I love a good OM, I have a OM28V and it's beautiful. Santa Cruz makes some fantastic guitars.
 
As a previous owner of an R-D1, I agree with Joe that you should check this camera out. It is everything you are desiring at a much lower price point. It takes M-series lenses and is very well built.

What an M8 gives you over an R-D1 is better resolution and a higher (still) build quality that only Leica can achieve. The focusing is more accurate on the M8 because the rangefinder has a significantly longer baseline. The sensor on the M8 has been designed to reduce vignetting inherent in rangefinder digitals because of the close lens to film plane distances.

But the R-D1 is still one hell of a camera, especially for the prices they are going for these days.

Tom
 
MartinL said:
BTW, I own a Santa Cruz OM. No way do I need, make full use of, or deserve! that beautiful instrument. But after the initial gasp I've never regretted buying something for its enduring aesthetic value.
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Santa Cruz makes some sweet guitars! I feel the same about my Gibson SG custom (a '61 RI with 3 pickups and aged hardware found used in a pawn shop). I've been playing for years, including some touring and recording, and been through many guitars. When you find the one, you know it. I still use some of my other stuff (mostly a tele, jag and a ric), but the SG is magic. I sold through the rest of my collection to fund some camera stuff. Doesn't mean I didn't love playing with anything else though.

I guess the point being Dee, that if the M8 feels right to you, go for it.
 
everyone might think that the m8 is really expensive, and it is, but I have seen a lot of people with canon 1dsmark2's and only one person with a m8. Seems like its just as easy to splurge tons of money on anyone else's gear besides leica. So in closing, if you like it, screw it, just get it.
 
I always wanted a Contax RTS II with all the lenses and flash guns etc , but no way could I afford it then - and I guess that in real terms of 20 ? years ago , the Leica M8 is now affordable !!
But there is buying with the head - Zorki 1 [ £ 50 ] and with the heart , Leica II [ £ 350 ], nickel 1933 ... and the wallet of course !!!
Frankly, the M8 is simply my photographic Mercedes SL - and a heck of a lot more affordable -
And this opportunity is not going to arise again.
It may not happen - things change overnight , but the dream rises above the dee's located dreamstate ...

If not , the consolation prize may be a used film Leica M ... or maybe not - I love my Leica II / IIIc / IIIf and my Red babies !!!

Thanks for your advise encouragement - it means a lot to someone outside the real world !

dee
 
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