MP vs M8

[jlunigspn]

I have been using the M3 for a few years along with a Canon 20D. I have been looking at the M8 for a while, but after reading a number of forums, it seems as though people are always sending their cameras back to Leica for repairs. Call me crazy, but if you spend $5500.00 on anything, don't you plan on having it work all the time. The problem with my M3 is that you are limited in the sizes of lenses you can use without adding a viewfinder, and I have to use a handheld light meter. So I have been looking at the MP and wait until after the Photo show in the Fall, and see what Leica does to the M8. What do people think about the MP? Thanks

 

[Alex Krasotkin]

My personal choice is M7. Great camera, which never let you down!

 

[nightlight]

Sounds like you are comparing 2 different things, I suppose it comes down to what you're most comfortable with, film or digital?

 

[jlunigspn]

I like using both film and the computer. I have the work flow, Mac Pro, Aperture 2.0, Photoshop. I want to use a smaller digital camera, it is such a pain traveling around with a big Canon, 1-3 lenses. I love the 20D, but because of its size I have been using my M3 more and more. The problem that I have is the question, is it crazy to be using more and more film, and invest in the MP, in the year 2008. On the other hand, because the way digital cameras are moving, will the M8 be replaced in another 12-18 months? I look at my M3 that has been working great since my Dad bought it new in 1960, and I think that the MP could last me as long. Thanks

 

[Ben Z]

I have been using the M3 for a few years along with a Canon 20D. I have been looking at the M8 for a while, but after reading a number of forums, it seems as though people are always sending their cameras back to Leica for repairs. Call me crazy, but if you spend $5500.00 on anything, don't you plan on having it work all the time.

That's the plan for a $5500 camera...or a $55,000 car, but as we all know, stuff happens. My M8 has been trouble-free thus far, if it breaks down, I'll just utter a curse word and pull out my DLux-3 and keep shooting. It's not going to ruin a trip for me, because photography is something I do when I travel, not the other way around. Those are my priorities and my personality. If I was the kind who couldn't stop from getting high bloodpressure and an ulcer when my M8 breaks down, I wouldn't have bought it.

I also have a 20D, and found that it plus a few lenses, stuffed into a large enough bag to hold it, gets oppressive after carrying it around more than an hour. So it just doesn't work for me as a travel camera. The M8 does. Sure I wish it had been <$2K. Sure I wish it didn't have such a spotty reliability record. But things are what they are.

As to getting an MP, all I can say is that I had one. Nice camera, yes. But I paid $2K for mine as a demo, back before the monumentous price increases. And yet, I sold it and bought two M6's and never missed the MP. I would not pay $3500 for one today, when there are so many great used Leicas out there that have the same framelines, which seems to be what you find frustrating about the M3. Indeed, I had and sold a nice M3 for exactly that reason.

 

[kshapero]

I just picked up a Leica IIIa, circa 1937, so I guess I am really going backwards. I think it is what ever gives you joy and inspires you to be a better photographer. I can not justify $5k for a camera but then a few years ago i could not justify $1k so who knows? Go with your gut. Don't worry about the film vs. digital issue.

 

[Roger Hicks]

No repairs to my M8 since I got it in October 06...

Cheers,

R.

 

[kshapero]

Somehow if I were buying my very last camera I would just pick the MP. I have no idea why, but I guess digital has "planned obsolescence" stamped into my mind by the industry. is that fair to the M8?

 

[aizan]

i would hold out on getting a drf at this time. things move quickly in the digital world, even if it seems to crawl along for some people, and there will probably be a far more advanced drf available before leica gets around to upgrading the m8.

 

[kshapero]

i would hold out on getting a drf at this time. things move quickly in the digital world, even if it seems to crawl along for some people, and there will probably be a far more advanced drf available before leica gets around to upgrading the m8.

from your mouth to God's ears. or something like that. the sooner the better but I am not holding my breath.

 

[jaapv]

i would hold out on getting a drf at this time. things move quickly in the digital world, even if it seems to crawl along for some people, and there will probably be a far more advanced drf available before leica gets around to upgrading the m8.

And then there will be more advanced in the future still...ad infinitum . The M8 is as good as it gets for a DRF now. Don't miss any more shots because of pie in the sky.It is very hard to get decent photographs using vapourware.

 

[jaapv]

Somehow if I were buying my very last camera I would just pick the MP. I have no idea why, but I guess digital has "planned obsolescence" stamped into my mind by the industry. is that fair to the M8?

Not quite- there are those that claim the M8 was obsolete before it was introduced.😛

 

[aizan]

digital shmigital. it's not like all of a sudden you can't take pictures with film. 😀

 

[Bill Blackwell]

... I have been looking at the M8 for a while, but after reading a number of forums, it seems as though people are always sending their cameras back to Leica for repairs. Call me crazy, but if you spend $5500.00 on anything, don't you plan on having it work all the time... What do people think about the MP?

MP vs M8 ~ Apple vs Orange

The first thing you need to do is decide if you want to go digital or stay with film.

Be that as it may…

You would think that an expensive product such as Leica would be trouble-free out-of-the-box, but you would be wrong.

Some months ago I returned my (purchased new) 75mm Summicron with severe lens separation. I was told it was something that rarely happens these days - it was repaired under warranty. Some of my other (twelve in all) Leica lenses have been re-lubed because of sticky or uneven focusing (this, however, is very common with newer Leica lenses).

My first M8 (purchased through Leica's refurb program about a year ago) had a myriad of issues before Leica replaced it with a brand new one. But the new M8 had a misaligned RF, which was adjusted for no charge. Since all that (and waiting six weeks) the replacement has operated trouble free, but it does not see heavy use.

A few years prior, my LHSA MP had a sticky shutter, which was repaired under Passport. At about the same time I purchased a new M7 that had the non-MP finder; Leica upgraded it for no charge and it was trouble free until I sold it just a few months ago.

After each "event" was solved I was very happy with my Leica product. But also beware that unless you have a top notch Leica dealer like Tony Rose (Popflash) quarterbacking these issues for you it can be a nightmare experience.

As it was, in each instance, all I had to do was wait.

So what do I think about the MP? Nice camera, but it is simply a retagged, rebadged M6 classic.

 

[tmfabian]

And then there will be more advanced in the future still...ad infinitum . The M8 is as good as it gets for a DRF now. Don't miss any more shots because of pie in the sky.It is very hard to get decent photographs using vapourware.

Perfectly said jaapv. Like all things electronic, there are going to be those that slip through the cracks not ready for use. I just bought a nice 42 inch lcd screen tv that had two rows of dead pixels out of the box, but just like leica would do for defective merchandise, the company replaced it. Regardless of price or how high and mighty we think we are in creating electronics, we ain't.

Waiting for the latest and greatest will only have you waiting again hoping something better than that comes out soon. If you want it, buy it, use it....i mean really use it....use it till the paint comes off and the shutter won't fire anymore, then buy the latest and greatest when that happens.

 

[JWW]

I have a MP but with the M8 that I bought (trouble free) in January 2007 I hardly use it anymore. I use the M8 for everyday shooting, great images, digital convenience, and no processing costs. I use the MP and M3 off and on just for the fun of it and different look on film. One disadvantage with the MP/M3 that I run into is that with the M8 and 1/8000 shutter it's real easy to take wide open shots in daytime with my noctilux or 75mm lux to get the great bokeh (w/o needing ND filters).

Jan

 

[Austerby]

The MP is a wonderful camera that combines everything you like about the M3 with solutions to all of its limitations - principally viewfinder coverage and internal exposure meter, otherwise they're not terribly different though perhaps the MP is more like an M2 with a built-in meter.

I'm cautious about reading too much into the frequent posts about M8 problems needing fixing. It's the nature of these forums that bad experiences are reported and thereby have a higher profile than do the silent majority of good experiences. If the product was inherently flawed then there would have been more product recalls than there have been. These reports would not put me off buying an M8 if I wanted one.

I've not used an M8 so cannot comment on it, but it is clearly very different from a film M in so many ways. I would like a digital M but am content to wait to see what else Leica and other manufacturers produce as I don't need an M8 at this time. I personally doubt that the Epson RDS and Leica M8 are going to be the only digital rangefinders produced.

If you are happy with film then certainly consider an MP. I did and am very pleased with my decision.

 

[usccharles]

i have both MP and M8. i love my M8, but until a 'full-frame' digital M shows up, i will always be using my MP. some lenses just need to be taken at full-frame to fully enjoy what the lens was made for, especially wide open lenses like the 50/1 and 75/1.4, IMO.

i use the M8 with the 28/2 cron as my travel companion. but when i'm back home, i use the MP.

buy both. its the best combination 🙂

 

[Richard Marks]

I have been using the M3 for a few years along with a Canon 20D. I have been looking at the M8 for a while, but after reading a number of forums, it seems as though people are always sending their cameras back to Leica for repairs. Call me crazy, but if you spend $5500.00 on anything, don't you plan on having it work all the time. The problem with my M3 is that you are limited in the sizes of lenses you can use without adding a viewfinder, and I have to use a handheld light meter. So I have been looking at the MP and wait until after the Photo show in the Fall, and see what Leica does to the M8. What do people think about the MP? Thanks

An MP is for film
An M8 is digital
Do you want to shoot digital or film?
Chosse the medium then chose the camera.
Sorted
next please

Richard