New user of M8

[isorgb]

Hi!

I have changed my Epson R-D1 to Leica M8.
I bought new M8 with 2-years warranty. Very good price was the reason! Now I am relaxed with warranty.

Some questions:
1. Which software will be optimal for M8 DNG files? I'm not afraid about noise, usually I prefer grainy look than clean. I have Lightroom and I'm looking for profile. Is possible film/slide simulation for M8? Do you have experience with profiles?

2. I have Ultron 28/1.9 + M adapter with "pencil code" 😉 I can set "coded lens" in menu or not. I don't understand where is difference?

3. SD card. What is best for Leica? I heard some time ago that some cards (Kingstone?) like to crash. Is it true?

Thanks, cheers
Slawek

 

[Lss]

2. I have Ultron 28/1.9 + M adapter with "pencil code" 😉 I can set "coded lens" in menu or not. I don't understand where is difference?

Do you have an IR cut filter for the lens? If not, get one. It will improve the colours which will otherwise suffer from IR light contamination. The IR cut filter will however cause a colour shift that is visible towards the corners of your images (depending on focal length, lens, etc.). In-camera processing can be applied when you use coded lenses and let the camera figure out which lens you are using. You can also use CornerFix software.

 

[user237428934]

Congratulation to your new camera.

1) There is no optimal software. Lightroom will work well, or Capture One, or Aperture or Adobe Camera Raw. First I used Capture One, then I used LR and finally switched to Aperture. All look a bit different in color. I was least content with LR in combination with the M8 regarding the colors.

2) I use coded+IR in the menu wether it's a coded lens or not. For coded lenses the camera applies some correction.

3) Only Sandisk cards for me. Never hat a problem with them. I don't need the fastest cards so I have a bunch of Ultra II (2GB and 4GB).

The next best investment is a 2nd battery.

Edit: and Lss is right - you should use the IR cut filters.

 

[isorgb]

Thank you very much.
I know that filter is "must have" for M8. I will contact with Leica dealer for IR filters.

I understand about software for DNG - you are right, this is subjective and I should choose myself. Even profile or film emulator.

Exactly! Battery!

 

[peterm1]

Just a tip. To transfer files to your computer, take the SD card out of the M8 and put it in a card reader connected to your PC. If you transfer directly from the M8, for some weird reason Windows reads the files as TIFFs not DNGs.

I use Lightroom and it works fine, but generally I only convert to high quality jpgs and then work on them more in Photoshop. (Depends on how you like to post process though and many just use LR.) I am a bit p*ssed with Leica that in a camera this expensive the best they can do is provide a piece of conversion software that is only trialware that lasts for afew weeks. Bloody cheek!

I generally use which ever SD cards I have on hand - most cameras use them these days. The M8 is bloody slow to write files anyway so why buy the most expensive super fastest cards, it really does not help so far as I cna see and you generally do not need more than 8 gig cards as its better to use a couple fo smaller rather than one large on for obvious reasons . Touch wood I have never had any problems.

Batteries are problematic. The genuine ones are hard to find and bloody expensive if you do manage to find them. In the end I found some moderate priced ones on eBay and bought those. (Did not like some of the stories told about the cheapest ones which had a reputaion for dying.) Just remember though when you use one of the aftermarket batteries you should completely drain them before recharging. If you do not follow this procedure, somehow the camera gets confused and is incapable of displaying the remaiing power. If you do lose that ability with any battery though, draining completely and recharging fixes it.

 

[isorgb]

OK, I noticed all your answer. Thank you!

First M8 and Ultron 28/1.9:

 

[tbarker13]

My best advice - if you like B&W - is to invest in Silver Efex Pro. 90-95 percent of my shooting ends up as B&W. That program is amazing.

 

[jarski]

My best advice - if you like B&W - is to invest in Silver Efex Pro.

second this. now after using Silver Efex a while, and looking my old B&W conversions done in Photoshop earlier, difference is noticeably better 🙂

 

[tomtofa]

Very nice picture. How do you like using the M8 compared to the R-D1?

There was an M8 profile for Lightroom floating around a few years ago - maybe check over at the Leica user Forum to see if the link is still there. Not sure if it is still needed with the current version of LR, though.

 

[isorgb]

Very nice picture. How do you like using the M8 compared to the R-D1?

I don't know 😉
Not enough time for comparison.
M8 is really faster (write to card) and buffer is bigger. 1.3 crop is better for me, 28mm lens is "wider".
I took only some pictures and I think that files are "richer" - colors, dynamic range. I think the M8 will give me more opportunities to work with RAW.

I don't know how IR filter works, when shoot through the strong light. I have not IR filter yet.
BUT! R-D1 sometimes show litlle magenta cast too.

B/W JPG from camera:

 

[peterm1]

"I took only some pictures and I think that files are "richer" - colors, dynamic range. I think the M8 will give me more opportunities to work with RAW."

One of the first things I noticed when I got my M8 about 6 months back is how rich the colors are by comparison with say my Nikon D200.

A few samples here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/life_in_shadows/sets/72157625130934544/

There is a lot of detail in the files too whether shot with Leica or Voigtlander glass.

I was processing some files this afternoon from a trip to Melbourne a few weeks ago and noticed it in a photo I took from the balcony of my hotel of the city skyline. The detail just seemed to keep going the more I zoomed in. I suppose it has to do with the M8's lack of AA filter or whatever.

 

[Keyne]

I am still amazed every time I look at a photo and see the rich detail the M8 captures. Also with the Zeiss lens they have a certain "look" to them that I couldn't get with other cameras (Micro4/3rds). I find that I like looking/gazing at the M8 photos more. The M8 is a great camera and I hope you enjoy yours.