No New M9 but M8-2 - Leica Announcement

[Tom Diaz]

Bugger now I see the similarity .. I also had a Linn Sondek, together with a Naim 42/110 (upgraded to 42.5 ha ha) amp and or course a pair or Linn Kans .. ya ya ya .. it just goes to show once a sucker always a sucker.

But sad as it may be .. I saw the difference.

I also just got the e.mail with the Upgrade Offer .. well I'll take the firmware upgrade .. and decide later about being without my camera .. becuase all those Linn and Naim upgrade were dealer jobs and not sending it away.

Bon Chance.

Yes, I got the email too. As I said, it could be a forgery, but we shall soon know, if Leica does actually announce this at PMMA tomorrow.

I can wait till then. So far, the best evidence of its authencity is that it describes a fairly modest set of features. I think an internet legend on this subject would be promising something more ridiculous.

 

[splitimageview]

There is a post on Leica User Forum about the new firmware from a beta tester; supposedly AWB is fixed.

I wonder if they will circulate upgraded M8s in the March time frame, so people can actually hear the new shutter, before getting in line for an August upgrade...

 

[etrigan63]

The new firmware won't be out till Friday 2/1. I will forward your question to Guy Mancuso who is meeting with Leica this weekend.

 

[Tuolumne]

Tuolumne, so they have decided that $2,000 upgrades every year are more profitable than selling new cameras. That would make some sense. But, still, only if you had no plans for a successor to the M8.

SM,
But they do have plans for a succesor to the M8. It's just that it will fit in an M8 body. It's genius, I tell you, pure genius! (Really. No joke.)

/T

 

[rxmd]

It's like leasing a camera.

 

[Tuolumne]

BTW, one thing not mentioned is changing the film speed dial. If memory serves me correctly the film speed dial on the M8 has 8000 on it for the 1/8000th speed setting. I assume this downgrade of top shutter speed to 1/4000th would require replacing the original dial with one that had only 1/4000th as its top speed. Of course, I assume one could fix this in firmware alone and have the 1/8000th speed setting the same as 1/4000th. But such a kludge does not seem fitting for the luxury image of the camera. So, there must be a new film speed dial in the works. Just imagine the possibilities for collectors!

/T

 

[tomasis]

Congratulations, Leica! It was smart move!

When I puzzled by relatively low price by M8 compared to M7 ($4000 vs $5500), I think I understand better that Leica M bodies are not easy, cheap to produce. So they from Leica, prefer to upgrade M8 instead without losing much of "buying and building material" like VF, brass etc.

Some complain about shutter time. 4000th is actually 4x faster than fastest shutter of M3. If we can live with those film cameras, we can also do with M8.

Come on.. I think that some people are truly injuried by Canon DSLR mentality. I'm glad that I kept of that mental illness when I did got rid of my last DSLR camera 🙂

6mpx of rd1 is alot a lot

 

[jbf]

This is a great idea indeed.


If and when the price of older m8's come down I'm buying one if i ever have the cash.


This is how digital cameras _should_ have been done. A sustainable digital camera. Not one that gets thrown away and send to the landfills of china, where it's hevy metals end up in the ecosystem.

Bravo.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Fascinating.

It seems I was indeed wrong in my earlier post. But, as I say, companies do not tell journalists everything, and they can change their minds.

Off to Solms (with my M8) as soon as I can!

I'll now need to find one of my smaller and more palatable hats to eat...

Cheers,

R.

 

[kevin m]

<listens for the sound of naysayers eating their words>

<listens for some sign of irony awareness from someone who used "petulant knee-jerk hissy fit" in his post berating the manners of another forum member.>


😉

😀

 

[BillP]

Fred, wording like "state of the art forever" doesn't seem Leica like. But, who knows.

Have to say these words bother me too. I work for a large American corporate. We dare not say anything without a tortuously long and involved "Safe Harbor (sic) Statement" preceding it.

This type of hyperbole wouldn't get past the legal boys. Might it be a liberal translation from the original German?

Regards,

Bill

 

[photogdave]

This type of hyperbole wouldn't get past the legal boys. Might it be a liberal translation from the original German?

This sounds plausible. Also IIRC other announcements such as the original M8 hardware upgrade, when the camera had to be returned to Solms, and the offer of free IR cut filters were emailed out to registered M8 users before any official press releases.

 

[BillP]

<listens for some sign of irony awareness from someone who used "petulant knee-jerk hissy fit" in his post berating the manners of another forum member.>


😉

😀

Please quote me accurately.

Regards,

Bill

 

[BillP]

This sounds plausible. Also IIRC other announcements such as the original M8 hardware upgrade, when the camera had to be returned to Solms, and the offer of free IR cut filters were emailed out to registered M8 users before any official press releases.

Yes. It isn't the first time that Leica have told their customers before bothering to tell the press or industry "insiders".

Regards,

Bill

 

[jbf]

hah wouldnt it be funny if it was indeed a huge hoax? hm... in any case hopefully its not.

 

[photogdave]

It's an amazing promise to M8 users. Your children and grandchildren can keep that M8 "state of the art forever."

I agree. Pretty cool!

 

[xihalife]

I feel kind of cheated, but I guess what can I expect after paying 4000 euros for a camera. The Leica email doesn't even mention the price. It just says "we would be honored it you were one of the first to upgrade". I just bought M8 so I feel a little weird having to pay 1200 euros for getting it "upgraded" with features that I never needed.

There have been things that I am not happy with, like the noise in high ISO settings, but I wasn't bothered by the shutter noise. I am somewhat bothered by the low quality LCD screen which is quite small and has near-zero viewing angle, but for some reason Leica feels that putting an expensive saphire glass cover will make it ok.

If they would say that the sensor has been upgraded (or the high ISO performance enhanced otherwise), I might feel the upgrade makes sense... in fact, if they were saying that the LCD display is replaced with a high quality LCD display, and THEN covered by unscratchable glass, I might feel it makes sense.

Now I'll need to weigh between buying a Canon 40D to upgrade my 400D, or buying the Leica upgrade to ... umm well, let's say get an extended warranty...

Fortunately they didn't make the firmware upgrades available for upgraded cameras only.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Has anyone started a poll yet?

M8 Owners. Will you upgrade?

 

[aizan]

i like the sound of "perpetual upgrade system". it suggests there will not be an m9, but rather a future upgrade to a full frame sensor.

one thing's for certain: i won't be buying an m8 for another year and a half.

 

[rxmd]

I feel kind of cheated, but I guess what can I expect after paying 4000 euros for a camera. The Leica email doesn't even mention the price. It just says "we would be honored it you were one of the first to upgrade". I just bought M8 so I feel a little weird having to pay 1200 euros for getting it "upgraded" with features that I never needed.

Who said you have to get it upgraded? Is somebody threatening you with a 2x4 if you don't upgrade? "Ennemmin upgradaa kuin turpaansa ottaa"?

You don't need the features, so you don't spend 1200 euros. It's as easy as that.

Philipp