M8 worth it, Yay or Nay? A few of my thoughts...

[specular]

Trying to consider both sides. I'd be interested in the POV of others.

Yay: 😀
The M8 would probably pay for itself just like my Nikon D1X did in terms of film/processing costs if it proves to be a good performer.

The M8 kit will be smaller and lighter than the D1X kit a real plus,when traveling/touring/vacationing.

I prefer the image quality produced by my M6 and Summicron 50mm than from my D1X and the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4. I'm also quite happy with the performance of my Elmarit 90 and Sumilux 35mm ASPH, unless, for example, there are essential advantages I should know about (OK, autofocus maybe?) to lugging around one of the excellent 85mm SLR lenses and the like.

Since I've used an M6 I've lost interest in SLRs.


Nay: :bang:
I would prefer to not completely do without autofocus and long telephoto.

For $5,000 one can buy an Epson V750 scanner and a lot of film and processing if you have more time than money.

A film Leica travel kit can be lighter than a digital kit, especially if going digital means packing the laptop kit with all the chargers, cords, extra batteries and such.

I wouldn't think the M8 will be a satisfactory investment collectible unless digital cameras start going up in value.

I just scanned some old negatives form a 1969 trip to France. Turned out very good. As film scanners get better the scans of old film will get better up to some limit. However, it remains to be seen if an archived "digital negative" can be improved with future technology.

Are first versions of digital cameras long for the world?


Undecided: 😎

For a professional, is the M8 worth the expense? Is it a boon for business?

An M8 body is close to half the cost of a low end Hasselblad digital back.

 

[jlw]

If you shoot digital and prefer to use RFs, then the M8 makes sense. Whether it's "worth it" depends, as a recent President might have said, on what your definition of "it" is.

If you've got a spare $5000 in your camera budget right now -- and if you shoot digital and like RFs -- then yes, you probably should be thinking about putting in your order for an M8. If you really like the experience of working with your M6 and wish you could do your digital shooting the same way, the M8 has got your name all over it.

On the other hand, if you shoot digital and like RFs, but $5000 would be a really painful stretch for you, then I'd say no. For one thing, no camera is good enough to justify an amount of financial stress and worry that would impair your ability to enjoy your photography! Another point: As we've been discussing elsewhere, probably a significant number of people who bought Epson R-D 1s would rather have an M8 instead, and many of them will put up their R-D 1s for sale to help raise the cash. That means you probably can expect some good buys on used R-D 1s in the near future, which would be another way to enable yourself to shoot digital and use an RF.

Meanwhile, if you prefer the experience of shooting film for your rangefinder shooting (even some people who use digital SLRs feel this way) then you won't enjoy the M8 no matter how good a digital camera it is, and there's no point in spending your money on one.

Sometimes it helps to draw yourself a picture. You can visualize this as a "decision space" with two axes. Imagine that the vertical axis is how important it is for you to shoot digital, and the horizontal axis is how important it is for you to shoot with an RF (toward the left is "less important," and toward the right is "more important.")

If shooting digital and shooting RF both are a big deal, stick a pin in the upper-right corner of the graph and start pestering your dealer to get a deposit down on an M8. For most people, the decision point will be more of a cloudy boundary than a precise pinpoint, but you should be able to get a rough idea of where in the graph you'd fall; basically, the farther away you are from the top/right corner, the less an M8 will be a good investment for you. If you're high on the digital axis but stray to the left on the RF axis, it might make more sense for you to upgrade your digital SLR setup. If you're pretty far to the right on the RF scale but not very high up on the digital scale, keep your money in your pocket and save it to buy film/lenses/more film RF bodies.

 

[jim0266]

Just a way to work though this myself.... a few random thoughts...

-- I don't take enough photos, unfortunately, to make the argument that I will save money over film.

-- I mostly shoot with one or two bodies at a time with a 35 and 50. I do have a DSLR, and an SLR with a 28 and 50, a TLR and a Holga for the times any of these are better suited or I need to mix things up to stay interested. So as to your second point I'm not replacing a hulking DSLR as a mainstay. So, no benefit there.

-- For an "obsolete" camera, the Olympus E-1 produces a file that makes film-like images IMHO. I actually prefer color from a digital camera over what I get out of film. Part of that is my inability to get a color scan that really satisfies me and the crappy color negs I get from every processor I've tried. I can still produce B&W negs myself that need very little PS healing brush to clean up.

-- This may seem strange, but I see differently depending on whether I have B&W or color film loaded. Whenever I shoot digital I can't see easily in B&W. I know I can convert to B&W later I still like the look I get from real B&W film over digital converted to color or C-41 converted to B&W. With an M8 I'm locked into a forever color world and I've spent a year now trying to learn to love color.

-- I'm with you that SLR's are not as much fun with which to make images.

-- You still need a backup body. A few yeas ago I was on a trip shooting B&W in one M body and color in another. One body locked up on me and I had to finish the last week with one body.

-- I still want a FF solution for a digital M body.