New M8 user

[Richard Marks]

Olsen

My posting actually referred to £3,000 not $3,00!! Anyway,
You need to get Capture 1 LE which comes with the camera up and running. Your images will get even better. Do the rough adjustments to sharpenning , white ballance and exposure and then convert them to TIFF files and fine tune in photo shop.
regarding the 1.10 update, leica have not actually said much other than that it provides some correction for colour shift at the edges of the frame when an IR filter is in use with lenses wider than 35mm. So when you have your IR filter on, with lens detection enabled, you can make corrections for the IR filter.

Things are going to get even better when you have got used to the RAW capture sofware.

Best wishes

Richard Marks

 

[Robert]

Olsen,
I think the best thing is to use the Leica and not compare it with other cameras. Like all the other M cameras these are specialist cameras completely different to most other cameras and have to be regarded as such.
Robert

 

[Robert]

I just got my new M8 last night.
The outer box and the way everything is packed is pure class.
The camera is a real beauty.
All I did last night was to admire it and order a Leicatime case and two SD cards.
I will insure it tonight with E and L.
I hope to start taking photos tomorrow night when the SD cards arrive.
The camera is a pure work of art and I hope it will inspire me to be a better photographer.
The only thing I might do is to cover the M8 and Leica logos to make it discrete.

 

[Olsen]

I just got my new M8 last night.
The outer box and the way everything is packed is pure class.

The camera is a real beauty.

The camera is a pure work of art and I hope it will inspire me to be a better photographer.

This is very well put and indeed true.

As mentioned: the M8 has the Leica magic and aura, - and class. - It is something about it. A true inspiration. I am going on a business trip to Finland next week and will bring my M8 along. I have been working so late lately that I have had little chance to bringing it out in the daylight.

 

[cnguyen]

What up Olsen - One thread you knocked Leica M8 and the next thread you praised it 😕
you are not waffling are you ? like we say it here in the US

Anyway to my experience Canon files take more post processing to make them look good. My m8 pics are "naturally" sharp straight out of the camera, slightly level them and that's it.
Enjoy the M8 !🙂

 

[espressogeek]

I would love to see some landscape or city scape pictures with that tri-elemar. One day I might get another M8.

 

[Olsen]

Here is one cityscape. Singapore seen from my room at Conrad Hotel, eastwards towards Changi Airport. Tri Elmar at 16 mm which shows a cut similar to a 21 mm due to the crop factor.

 

[Olsen]

What up Olsen - One thread you knocked Leica M8 and the next thread you praised it 😕
you are not waffling are you ? like we say it here in the US

Anyway to my experience Canon files take more post processing to make them look good. My m8 pics are "naturally" sharp straight out of the camera, slightly level them and that's it.
Enjoy the M8 !🙂

... with a little use and experience I find that it is indeed better. I am also playing around with the tuning of it. Actually; I prerer the Canon look of the files, when it comes to it. Sure, as I first stated; it is less time consuming to have the files sharpened up right out of the camera. But it is better to sharpen up in PS, I have found out.

Below you will see a comparison of crops from both M8 and 1Ds II (the largest) as the files look 'standard' right out of the box. No extra sharpening. Still the Canon is better to sharpen up in PS. I think I rather switch off any sharpening in the M8 as well and rather do sharpening in PS. I would like to hear others on this too.

 

[rsl]

Olsen, The highlights in the second shot are so blown out that it's a little hard to tell what's going on. Both need some curves work.

 

[louisb]

I don't own an M8 but I wish I did (and I think I will before the year is out).

I am a recent R-D1 owner and the move back to rangefinder photography, for the subjects that interest me has been a dramatically good one (you can check that out in my gallery).

I feel very sad when I pick up my Nikon D80 kit. I really love that camera and its lenses. But for some reason I just can't get as excited about taking photographs with it as with the rangefinder. I also resent having so much weight to take pictures compared to the lithe and lightweight profile of a rangefinder.

The rangefinder makes me work at a slower and more thoughtful pace. I have even unearthed my Weston hand held meter to take the time to double check my exposures. The Leica glass, especially the 50 cron does make my Nikon glass look a tad tired (and I'm truly surprised that I can notice a difference).

Anyway, just my two cents (or 2P).

LouisB

 

[Richard Marks]

... with a little use and experience I find that it is indeed better. I am also playing around with the tuning of it. Actually; I prerer the Canon look of the files, when it comes to it. Sure, as I first stated; it is less time consuming to have the files sharpened up right out of the camera. But it is better to sharpen up in PS, I have found out.

Below you will see a comparison of crops from both M8 and 1Ds II (the largest) as the files look 'standard' right out of the box. No extra sharpening. Still the Canon is better to sharpen up in PS. I think I rather switch off any sharpening in the M8 as well and rather do sharpening in PS. I would like to hear others on this too.

Dear Olsen
You have got to get into shooting RAW with the M8 and converting in the supplied capture 1 LE software. This bypasses any in camera sharpenning. Capture 1 has 2 different ranges of sharpenning (soft and standard) and it gives a lot of control. You can also bypass the noise reduction signals and for a clean image this produces even more detail.
best wishes
Richard

 

[Olsen]

Dear Olsen
You have got to get into shooting RAW with the M8 and converting in the supplied capture 1 LE software. This bypasses any in camera sharpenning. Capture 1 has 2 different ranges of sharpenning (soft and standard) and it gives a lot of control. You can also bypass the noise reduction signals and for a clean image this produces even more detail.
best wishes
Richard

I shoot RAW all the time. The purpose of these pictures was to show what comes 'right out of the box' of these cameras. Any manilulation from my side could be regarded as biased, I thought.

I prefer to do the sharpening in PS. I have less than a week of experience with Capture One, but thought of doing the sharpening in PS even with the M8 (as I do with the 1Ds II and even scanned film from my Nikon Coolscan 8000). Since these pictures I have turned off the in-camera sharpening on the M8.

 

[sirius]

Incidentally I was reading in digital slr photography that there are problems with the new Fuji S5 pro's face recognition system. Under certain conditions it seems to focus on breasts instead.

Ha ha! Whoa, now that's an intelligent camera!

 

[Richard Marks]

Ha ha! Whoa, now that's an intelligent camera!

Yes I think its been designed for glamour / fashion applications! I wonder what else it might home in on!!