observations

[John Camp]

Not really a problem, but in Sean Reid's review, he suggests that the Leica hand grip (or a hand grip of some kind) might be useful. After walking around my yard with the M8, I agree -- if your fingertips tend to be a little oily or sweaty, and if you have a large lens on it (I had the Nocti) you could easily drop the camera. The grip seems a little less secure that the M7 -- the grip material is much less pebbly, much finer-grained, than my M7 or the R-D1 (which are very similar.) I wonder if wiping the grip down with alcohol would make a difference? Maybe there's some kind of mold release or something on the M8 grip?

Not that it needs mentioning, but this is another vote for the accuracy of the Reid reports.

Use note -- add one -- The Leica strap is marginally okay, but not as good as my usual UP straps. I decided to put an UP strap on, because of the slipperiness problem, and found that if you want to use the Leica strap-end hardware, you have to cut the strap (because the ends are sewn together.) I did, no problem, except now I don't have a Leica strap.

Use note -- add 3-- Does anybody have trouble with frame lines? I seem to be getting about 10 percent more picture than I expect, using the 50, anyway. I had three upright dock poles spaced probably six feet apart, that I shot from some way away, with the proper frame line running right down the end pole -- but I got all three poles in the picture, with quite a bit to spare. Does that sound okay?
(If I'd ever bothered to figure out hwo to do it, I'd upload a photo so you could look at it.)

JC

 

[stevenrk]

Use note -- add 3-- Does anybody have trouble with frame lines? I seem to be getting about 10 percent more picture than I expect, using the 50, anyway.

JC

John, more so/different than with your film Ms?

 

[Ben Z]

if your fingertips tend to be a little oily or sweaty, and if you have a large lens on it (I had the Nocti) you could easily drop the camera.

I though that's what straps are there for

I wonder if wiping the grip down with alcohol would make a difference?

You could wear a rubber glove on your right hand, or carry a pitcher's rosin bag in your pocket. But I do believe you'd be less likely to drop the camera if you stayed away from alcohol

Seriously, give it another six months and Aki Asahi, Cameraleather and probably even Leica will offer a choice of replacement body coverings. Maybe Leica had a lot of MP body covering material left over to use up.

Use note -- add 3-- Does anybody have trouble with frame lines? I seem to be getting about 10 percent more picture than I expect, using the 50, anyway.

That's been the way with all M Leicas since the beginning. The frames are calculated to show what the lens sees when it's racked out to the minimum focusing mark (there is loss of FOV there) so as not to cut anything off. If you are just now noticing it with the M8, it could be either it's your first M, or else with film you didn't remember the exact framing by the time you got the film developed (or it was cropped in printing by the lab to fit the standard paper sizes), With the M8 you see the discrepancy right away. That may be a good thing, in time you will learn to compose outside the frame lines at normal to long distances. That's what I've been doing for years as a slide shooter, and why I am totally ok using the M for landscape and travel photography.

 

[John Camp]

Ben Z,

Thanks for the note. With the M7, I thought of the framing as "generous," but because I haven't shot much with it (a couple of dozen rolls; I've had it for six months or so, shooting slides) and because it's hard to remember exactly where you put the frames, I didn't notice it so much. Now, you can stand in one place, put the frame on a vertical, and the auto-review pops up and you can see that perhaps 20% of the total picture is outside the frame lines (about 10%, roughly, on each side.)

The grip thing with the leather is not imaginary, or just inconvenient; it's somewhat of a problem. Unlike earlier Ms, the back of the camera is taken up by the multi--switch and the LCD, so you can't put your thumb in the middle of the camera. The multi-switch goes out almost to the curve on the back of the camera, and it leaves little room for a thumb on the back. You find yourself almost "pinching" it, rather than gripping it. And you really can't do a full-handed grip around the back, because of the LCD and the command buttons -- if you do a full-handed grip, you get hand oil all over the LCD panel. I've had my UPstrap on it for 24 hours, and I may try experimenting with the Gordy's handstrap again.

JC

 

[Woody Campbell]

. . . .

Use note -- add 3-- Does anybody have trouble with frame lines? I seem to be getting about 10 percent more picture than I expect, using the 50, anyway. I had three upright dock poles spaced probably six feet apart, that I shot from some way away, with the proper frame line running right down the end pole -- but I got all three poles in the picture, with quite a bit to spare. Does that sound okay?
(If I'd ever bothered to figure out hwo to do it, I'd upload a photo so you could look at it.)

JC

This issue is covered in the manual. The inside of the frame lines are accurate at closest focus. The outside of the frame lines is accurate at 4-6 feet. At infinity the image is larger by 4 frame line widths or so.

This is caused by the fact that magnification increases slightly as you focus closer. The frame lines do not change size to account for this.

 

[jaapv]

Quote:
Use note -- add 3-- Does anybody have trouble with frame lines? I seem to be getting about 10 percent more picture than I expect, using the 50, anyway.

That's been the way with all M Leicas since the beginning. The frames are calculated to show what the lens sees when it's racked out to the minimum focusing mark (there is loss of FOV there) so as not to cut anything off. If you are just now noticing it with the M8, it could be either it's your first M, or else with film you didn't remember the exact framing by the time you got the film developed (or it was cropped in printing by the lab to fit the standard paper sizes), With the M8 you see the discrepancy right away. That may be a good thing, in time you will learn to compose outside the frame lines at normal to long distances. That's what I've been doing for years as a slide shooter, and why I am totally ok using the M for landscape and travel photography.

I think, Ben, that we should start counting how often this one is going to be asked.

I think we are on #3 now