M8 new firmware release on 3 March

The delaying is a great feature. I have it in my Hexar AF in silent mode (btw. against the hexar the m8 is loud as a tank rolling by). After taking the photo you can take the camera down and release the shutter. Even if someone notices the sound they only see this guy looking innocently around with a camera in his hand.
 
All of us can thank Mr Carlo LECUIT and Tim form Leica Luxembourg.
These guys called the Chief of production at Leica in front of me to ask them if this update was possible. That happened about 2 months ago.
They are certainly not the only dealers who played a role in this but every voice contributes to the updates and improvements.
BTW Lecuit in Lux are really cool and friendly poeple and have a good service and professionalism.
 
photogdave said:
The discrete mode is a really great feature, seriously. It simply gives you another option. You can hold it in until conversation picks up, a car drives by, whatever. If you just let go of the shutter button like normal, the shutter advances like normal.
Also the M8.2, or upgraded M8 shutter is very quiet compared to the original.
It's hard to explain in words, but trust me, when you try it you'll see how good it is!
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Or until you have taken your camera away from your face, so your subject didnt notice you took a pic of their mug 😉
 
photogdave said:
Also the M8.2, or upgraded M8 shutter is very quiet compared to the original.
It's hard to explain in words, but trust me, when you try it you'll see how good it is!
Click to expand...

After long deliberation, I'm trying to shore up some cash for the upgrade. I did try out the M8.2, and I was immensely pleased at what a difference it makes. It's just as, if not quieter, than an M7. And that's without a case; it being in a case helps.
 
Can I upgrade to this firmware if I did not upgrade to the last one?

Can I upgrade to this firmware if I did not upgrade to the last one?

I did not update my M8 with the current firmware because I thought it was not necessary. Will I need to have this firmware upgrade to be ready for the new firmware or am I ok with what I have for this new firmware for March 3rd?
 
Well I certainly would not turn this down, but genuinely do not think that I have too much of a problem with the M8 shutter noise. Granted it is louder than a film M but its not exactly defenning. If I could chose one refinement, it would be the ability to set the focal length of lens used without having it 6 bit coded.

Lets wait and see.


Richard
 
I'm delighted that the discreet mode feature was possible to implement without electrical changes in the body. I'm not sure how this would benefit me, but the possibility is good. Further, it raises a bit the hope that menu-based lens ID coding may also be possible in firmware.
 
I had the opportunity to compare the shutter of my M8 with the shop's M8.2 the other day, where the difference was pretty noticeable. The discrete shutter was a lot quiter and with the single click and subsequent click later, breaks up the audible notion of a typical camera firing with consecutive clicks. I was reading a thread that said that the shutter upgrade on a standard M8 would not provide the reduced vibration as that of the 8.2. Is this true? My upgrade reservation should be coming up soon.
 
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LeicaMSeattle said:
I was reading a thread that said that the shutter upgrade on a standard M8 would not provide the reduced vibration as that of the 8.2. Is this true? My upgrade reservation should be coming up soon.
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I find the two to be the same (or at least from what I remember). It doesn't matter though as the difference was significant enough for me.
 
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LeicaMSeattle said:
I had the opportunity to compare the shutter of my M8 with the shop's M8.2 the other day, where the difference was pretty noticeable. The discrete shutter was a lot quiter and with the single click and subsequent click later, breaks up the audible notion of a typical camera firing with consecutive clicks. I was reading a thread that said that the shutter upgrade on a standard M8 would not provide the reduced vibration as that of the 8.2. Is this true? My upgrade reservation should be coming up soon.
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I also tried out an M8.2 (with the discreet feature disabled) to compare with my M8 side-by-side and noticed a large difference. I was assured that the upgraded M8 will be the same as the M8.2 (gets the same shutter). If there is added sound insulation in the M8.2 I'd think Leica would be pointing it out in their marketing. My main reason for getting the shutter upgrade (especially now that I could get the discreet mode with the old shutter) is because at an LHSA meeting Christian said the new shutter has lower spring tension and will last longer with less potential for problems. In the 1.5 years I've owned my M8 I've used 1/8000 and the 1/250 flash sync quite often, but I'm telling myself it's because they were there to be used, not because they're essential 😉 I'm sure I won't use the discreet mode often (not necessary for most of what I shoot, and taking it away from my eye to release between shots seems like would interfere with getting a lot of shots, but maybe I'm wrong). However at some level I feel like it's value-added to the cost of the upgrade.
 
I compared the sound of the M8-2 with a range of other units, and I could clearly sort them from the most noisy (1) to the more silent (7). Please note this is only a discrimination of my own ears and brain 🙂 It means that the sound I hear is mainly based on the feeling factor rather than on pure Wavelenght and Level.

1) M8 Classic
2) IIF and O-Series
3) MP
4) M3
5) IIIC
6) M8-2 (SHutter trigger only-No rewind included > Discreat mode ON)
7) M7

For me the M7 remains the king of the softest leica M, at high speeds above 1/60, and even more for the lowest speeds.
 
Discrete mode? So with a firmware upgrade, one person's M8 turns gold plated, someone else's turns in to a panda, another turns in to a safari, another turns in to an anti-panda, or titanium, or rhodium, or gets Luftwaffe markings, etc? 😉
 
Merkin said:
Discrete mode? So with a firmware upgrade, one person's M8 turns gold plated, someone else's turns in to a panda, another turns in to a safari, another turns in to an anti-panda, or titanium, or rhodium, or gets Luftwaffe markings, etc? 😉
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Yes. We didn't want to break the secret out in the open. It also adds autofocusing and a special collectible Nikon function which will turn it into a "Made in Occupied Japan" edition, if you do the right button sequence.
 
Doug said:
I'm delighted that the discreet mode feature was possible to implement without electrical changes in the body. I'm not sure how this would benefit me, but the possibility is good. Further, it raises a bit the hope that menu-based lens ID coding may also be possible in firmware.
Click to expand...

Menu based lens ID coding has always been, and continues to be possible. It's just that Leica have a vested interest in not adding this feature to the M8 as it:

(1) encourages people to buy coded Leica only lenses,
(2) encourages existing Leica lens owners to get their lenses coded for $$ by Leica,
(3) makes it a pain to use non-coded lenses by competitors like Zeiss/CV (see 1 & 2),
(4) and they like to nanny us under the guise that 'people will mis-code their lens and make mistakes' ... :bang: (although it's ok to do that with the WATE btw).

But as we all know, there are ways around this master plan. 😀
 
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If youre that worried about the density of the "click" its probably better you dont press the button in the first place;...........but then,if its free
 
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