M8 is here!

[krimple]

Just got the M8 today, so I only had a few hours off and on with it (trying to work before the holiday).

A few first light pictures (nothing all that artsy, more captures of family and such):

M8 and CV 35 f/2.5 Pan II -- indoor with window light

M8 and ??? lens (I think the CV 28mm ultron, IIR)

M8 and CV 50mm Nokton

M8 and Leica 90mm Elmar F4 (oldie)

This camera is working great so far, albeit with the troubles people have been mentioning I'm keeping my eye out for dark clothing and magenta, shooting with bright lights in a dark scene in high ISO, etc. It's a good combination of the image quality of my 5D and the rangefinder process from my R-D1. I think at least one of those is going bye-bye.

Ken

 

[krimple]

Oh, one note: I ordered mine with an extra battery, and the extra battery came with it. So they are apparently available.

Ken

 

[Sailor Ted]

Wow have you ever seen images this sharp from you RD-1?

Congradulations!

 

[krimple]

Ted,

No, never in 20,000 shots. Must be that lack of an AA filter! However, I'm having some trouble with sharpness on the M8 on some shots--I'm of course not naive enough to say it's the camera, as I've only owned it for far less than 24 hours; it's more my learning curve. I'm probably shooting it with slow shutter speeds when I do manual shooting--I'm trying to shoot it like a film M. I really like seeing the exact speed it selects in Auto mode however.

I already don't miss the R-D1 and its' winder. Not that I have a problem with it, but the M8 feels better to shoot with already. And the shutter is quiet compared to it.

BTW, the best part of the R-D1 was Epson RAW--that utility got me far better quality B&W images than I ever got from Capture One, or Adobe.

Ken

 

[Sailor Ted]

Good to hear Ken!

Question:
Do you make prints from your images? I have a hunch that the M8 is in a league by itself in regard to print quality as it pertains to sharpness and dynamic range of color. It would be great to get some photogs (especially RD-1 photogs who also use modern DSLR's) to make some cursory comparisons and post their subjective findings.

 

[MarkM6]

It is the lenses... it has always been *the reason*.

 

[Sailor Ted]

So with the same lenses my RD-1s will make the same prints as if they were on an M8? Good to know as I have a LOT of lenses 🙄

 

[AusDLK]

>And the shutter is quiet compared to it.

Huh? The M8 sounds like a DSLR compared to the R-D1. It's horrible (when the reference is a film M, it's hideous ).

 

[jaapv]

>And the shutter is quiet compared to it.

Huh? The M8 sounds like a DSLR compared to the R-D1. It's horrible (when the reference is a film M, it's hideous ).

You must have had a faulty one. Mine is scarcely louder than my M6 and certainly more quiet than a RD1 ( I compared it to the donor Bessa).

 

[krimple]

I agree with Jaap. It's more of a "thunk" rather than a metallic "clack" on the R-D1. The M6 I have is a "snick" (to continue with the goofy sound analogies) and it is muffled.

I guess it's what you're used to. I think it's a reasonably good tradeoff as it isn't all that loud compared to some SLRs, and you get up to 1/8000th sec shutter speed and reliable shutter stops, and a stepless Auto mode.

I got a cheap quantaray auto flash tonight to get me through the holiday season and had it working pretty well. Does anyone have experience using a rather small TTL flash made for leica with bounce? I couldn't find one. (Not that I care too much about flash photography, but I'm exploring my options).

PS--anyone look closely at the EXIF data when you upload an M8 image to flicker? Wild things like a shutter speed of 8/2. What the heck? Anyway, not important to me but thought it was humorous.

Ken

 

[krimple]

Sailor Ted,

As for printing, I had a weird experience printing a picture that looked great on the monitor but came out ugly as sin on the paper tonight. I think maybe I had the wrong profile selected so I'll try again. I will at some point take a picture from the R-D1 and the M8 and print both and compare 'em, but only when I run out of things in the real world to photograph or get a good night's sleep this week. (Baby, et al).

Ken

 

[kbg32]

These images look great Ken.

Cheers!