M8 or M8.2

C

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I am considering taking the plunge an buying a digital M. If I want to recoup the most on my ( M8) purchase once the M9 comes into production, which M8 do I go for now? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
That's a really good question. I don't know the answer, but I think there are at least two factors. First, the difference (if any?) between the cost:resale ratio for the M8.2 compared to the M8. Second, the difference (if any?) in terms of market demand (i.e., how fast it will sell, without regard to price, as long as the price is a reasonable market price).
 
Crazy to speculate about this honestly. There is no M9 yet. If/when it comes we have no idea as to it's price. The m8.2 has no IQ benigits to the M8. If you are buying a camera to shoot IQ, handling, and price should be your primary considerations. If you are worries about future resale. Pay less now for an M8 and potentially lose less later from your smaller investment.
 
With cameras as with cars, if depreciation is an issue, it pays to buy used, but with a Leica-sponsored warranty, eg an official demo (since nobody else can fix an M8 at this juncture). There are far more used M8's than M8.2's at this point. However if you prefer the features of the M8.2 (softer shutter, larger framelines, harder LCD screen) and would want to have an M8 upgraded, I think getting an M8.2 demo from the get go would probably be economically more sensible. Also my gut says that there are other internal improvements in the 8.2 that are the culmination of running improvements made throughout the product run of the M8 (but that's just an educated guess on my part). Under no circumstances would I (speaking personally) pay full price for a new M8 or M8.2 right now if I planned on trading it for an M9.
 
I'd go for the least expensive used M8 you can find that works properly. The depreciation on a new camera is steepest after initial purchase and the launch of the M9, whenever that is, would prompt a further fall if you're thinking of a brand new M8 or 8.2 currently.

The oldest and cheapest M8's would be in a different segment of the market as they wouldn't be competing with the M9 and therefore impacted less in comparison to newer or better condition ones.
 
I think pre-owned M8 is the way to go if you are thinking about M9 (or whatever it will be called)...
 
You'll almost certainly see the highest percentage return on a second-hand M8.

You'll also get a better, nicer-to-use camera with a new M8.2.

The comparison is a bit apples-to-oranges. Which is worth more to you, and how much is it worth? I'd be surprised to see an M9 before photokina 2010, with delivery in 2011, and it might not even be that soon. How much is it worth to you to have the quieter shutter, better framelines, etc., for a couple of years or more?

Tashi delek,

R.
 
I would not buy any of them. I realize after buying the M8 and then the -2 that I mostly travel to areas where the sensor is highly exposed to dust, a major problem for me.
At the end I feel much happier with any other film M with which changing the lens in the middle of a dust storm is no problem. Secondly I hardly print any digital file and spend only a second on the screen to watch each photograph. At third, what will my electronic files become in a few years from now ?
The M8 or M8-2 are excellent cameras but still have the digital drawbacks.
 
goodtimes said:
At third, what will my electronic files become in a few years from now ?
The M8 or M8-2 are excellent cameras but still have the digital drawbacks.
Click to expand...

I have .tif and .jpg files from my Olympus 1.2MP digital I shot back in 1999, when I was using a 486/33 running Windows 3.1 and (I think) an imaging editor called LivePix, that are just as readable on my current PC with Photoshop as they were the day I shot them. It doesn't really look like the long-term un-readability of digital image files is panning out to be the doomsday affair the anti-digital folks were moaning about back then, so I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I also have several boxes of slides that were accidentally left in the garage back then, which are now ruined by humidity and mold beyond any hope of scanning and resurrecting.

With no local outlet for b&w or slide film, and only a couple places selling a very limited amount of ISO 400 print film, and no place within 40 miles to process them (other than drugstore/Costco/Walmart and I've had horrible results from them), today for me it's the "film drawbacks" that weigh most heavily.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Gosh! A whole decade ago!

Then I think back to my 5-1/4 inch floppies from the 80s...

And my 35mm negs from the 60s...

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

Floppies should only be used to transport data, never to store data. Although I doubt anyone uses them any more.

I store digital data on HDDs, 2 x mirrored 1TB drives. Copying the data to another form of storage is a matter of a few clicks and then letting it do its stuff for a few minutes.

I still have all my work from school / college from the early 90s - it's been very simple to keep copying the data to newer, bigger HDDs.
 
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