My own M8 review!

[aniMal]

So, finally I can post this review!

What can I say? Spent some hours yesterday walking around with it - and it definitely feels somewhat the same as using another M. By that I mean the handling, and also that it is dead simple - so there is nothing to fiddle around too much with when it comes to menus and functions. So, in that way it feels like a GREAT relief for me at least! Not that I am not able to understand and use every feature of a modern DSLR, it is just that it is much more effective to use a few features fully than ever wondering what settings and extra trick would be best at a given time...

The real surprise came when I actually opened the files late at night... After some time with D200 + D300 I have gotten used to a certain look in the files, even with say a fixed 50 which should be sharp all the way. But this is radically different - there is a different inherent sharpness and contrast within details which is just GREAT! Got something to do with the optics of course, but also the simple fact that it is a rangefinder makes for huge differences with wides...

What about all the reported problems? Well, I used a CV 15 without any coding or filter. I can NOT see ANY vignetting - so how will it be after I do the coding and compensations in converting from raw?

The shutter is loud of course - during a social setting in the evening I omitted a few shots that I would not have hesitated taking with a film M. But other than that it does not bother me too much - after all it is a different camera than the other Ms, it is just BASED on the best of the M-system the way I see it.

So, my D300 goes up for sale even though I somehow need it in my daily work. I will dust off the D200, and then use the M8 whenever I can. I have some model shoots later today and tomorrow, which I will do with it. The weekend brings a course in studio lightning, and I will probably bring just the M8 to provoke people just a little... 😀

I hope I find a usb-cable for it, as I also would like to test using it for product shoots working directly on my laptop...

And on top of this I now have a camera that its upgradeable, which will have a certain value for years to come, AND which is fully digital!

Can I have another one, please? Will have to work my way through - but I WILL somehow!

 

[aniMal]

Oh - I forgot... I have heard people say that the files you normally get from an M8 are easy to upsample. I tried one with a lot of detail, and I had to boost it to 17 mpix before seeing ANY sign of it onscreen at least! Whenever I do anything like this on the files from my nikons, I can see it after a few 10% steps...

Another thing which is typical for Ms as I see it is that even on the first evening testing it, one of those moments presented itself, and I caught it like in old days with my M6... Will post it shortly!

 

[jaapv]

Glad you like it 🙂

 

[nightlight]

hi aniMal. Thanks for the review which only contributes to make some of us want an M8! 🙁

How did you find the handling of the body in general? How does it 'feel' compared to a good ol' M2 or M3?

clarel

 

[aniMal]

Sorry (but also happy) if I make others want one... Of course, I waited a long time even though I could have afforded it before - it IS a lot of money compared to other options that are not rangefinders...

The handling is just great. I would have wished that the self timer is not placed alongside S and C, and that is about it. Correction: the fact that the shutter scale is going the WRONG way is a MAJOR shift of course! Before when I was working intensely this was put down quite firmly in my own hardware and reflexes, and I suppose it will take some hundreds of working hours to completely turn this around... I would have paid quite a good sum to have it turned around, but the other option is possibly to sell off what I have got that is turning the old way and then work towards a second M8...

Besides this, it is of course a new and digital camera. So, there is no individuality in the shutter release and sound, and it probably does not smoothen with wear and servicing combines as say an old M2... To me it doesnt matter simply because it is SO much better than any DSLR I have tried - it is simply 90% the same as working with other Ms!

 

[jaapv]

The handling is fine, very much Leica-M like, although the thinner M3 body is more delicate to hold. The dial has been turning the other way since the M6 TTL. It synchronizes more logically with the exposure triangles in the VF that way.
The shutter release smoothes with use.

 

[Ben Z]

After some time with D200 + D300 I have gotten used to a certain look in the files, even with say a fixed 50 which should be sharp all the way. But this is radically different - there is a different inherent sharpness and contrast within details which is just GREAT!

I find the same thing compared to my 20D. After processing however, the resulting prints are not that vastly different.

I used a CV 15 without any coding or filter. I can NOT see ANY vignetting - so how will it be after I do the coding and compensations in converting from raw?

The filter is to filter out the infrared that causes the sensor to produce faulty colors. It's not only black synthetic fabrics. Green leaves can turn a sickly yellow, or even pink depending on the light. It causes the corners of wide angles to go reddish, which the coding compensates automatically, although there is software you can use to do it manually if you want to go to the bother. The IR filter will not increase the optical vignetting properties of lenses. The 15 performs amazingly well on the M8, especially considering I found it almost useless on the R-D1 due to vignetting.

The shutter is loud of course - during a social setting in the evening I omitted a few shots that I would not have hesitated taking with a film M.

I haven't found that to be the case at all. The shutter itself is very quiet, but the after-sound made by the winding motor is noticeable. To me it sounds similar to a Motorwinder-M on an M6. What I find is that the M8 is easily drowned out in normal conversation, and in total silence even an M4 will attract attention. Much more crucial to whether you're perceived as intrusive or not, in my experience, than the sound of the camera (within reason, a Nikon F3HP + MD4 could wake the dead) is the demeanor of the photographer.

 

[Keith]

I'm intrigued that people constantly ... and you Ben ... keep saying the M8 shutter is quiet. Mine seems to go off with a real 'whack!' I aknowledge that the recocking seems to constitute the main noise but mine (the actual shutter sound) still seems loud to me ... I reckon it's as loud as my D70! Perhaps my example is out of the ordinary?

 

[jaapv]

There is large variation between cameras it seems. See this thread. One poster measured a full 3Db difference.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica...ameras-have-different-shutter.html#post545914

 

[Ben Z]

I'm intrigued that people constantly ... and you Ben ... keep saying the M8 shutter is quiet. Mine seems to go off with a real 'whack!' I aknowledge that the recocking seems to constitute the main noise but mine (the actual shutter sound) still seems loud to me ... I reckon it's as loud as my D70! Perhaps my example is out of the ordinary?

My son has a D70 but honestly I don't remember what it sounds like and he lives 1100 miles away. My M8 shutter is definitely more muted than my Canon 20D, although that after-motor on the M8 is louder or maybe just lasts longer than the Canon. Hard to say. My M8 sounds almost exactly like my M6+winder. There is a little "whack" but it's awfully little.

Again, to me it's kind of moot, because the after-motor sound does attract attention, so if people are going to get annoyed, that's going to do it no matter how silent the shutter is. That's why I won't be rushing to upgrade to the new shutter. To me a much more useful upgrade would be the ability to delay the after-motor somehow, so that I could muffle the sound, like by putting the camera behind my back or under my arm or something.

 

[willie_901]

How much for the D300????

 

[aniMal]

So, back after a day shooting some pictures in a design-shop and in the studio.

Some interesting points added I see - will try to reply to some...

I do know what the IR-filter does, what I was impressed with was the vignetting at one hand, and that scenes without much IR turn out quite OK on the other hand. The 15 is useless at the RD-1 yes, it is totally different.

I realize that after proper processing there might not be too much of a difference from other files, but on the other hand a better starting point makes it easier to get there? And perhaps easier not getting "lost" in the editing?

Still I wonder (and will check out of course) how much this could have to do with NOT having an anti-alias filter...

The sound - I totally agree that it should be possible to choose to have a delay after the exposure itself. I can NOT understand why Leica has not chosen the same feature as on the first Hexar, where the motoring is delayed until after you lift the finger from the trigger in S-mode... This should also be part of a firmware-upgrade? It should be possible I believe - or is this hard-wired in some way???

Now, tomorrow is a busy day shooting 3 models in a range of clothes - looking forward to another day WITHOUT the DSLRs! ;-)