Regrets having sold film M to finance M8?

[Bas]

Remember when we only worried about whether the pre-ASPH 35 lux flared worse than the ASPH 35 lux? Or whether the grain in HP-5 is mushier than Tri-X? Man, those were the days. Pretty simple problems compared to worrying about whether a black briefcase carried by a guy in a black raincoat will come out looking somewhat like real-life. Today we get to wonder whether the light bulb in the frame will have a green twin on the opposite side of the frame. Good old days......

Oh yes... and we never thought if the colour was going to be real or not. It was a damn slide, it better renders real! (and if it's not real, it wasn't real for a roll, because the problem never was in the camera, was either on the film or on the process).

I'm 24 and I feel outdated... heck, what a life.

Cheers,
Sebastian.

 

[halabar]

Today we get to wonder whether the light bulb in the frame will have a green twin on the opposite side of the frame. ....

Has there been any determination on what is causing the green ghosting?... I know that with some Nikkors that there will be that kind of effect due to internal reflection off the sensor, to the back of a filter, and then captured again by the sensor. Is that what is happening in this case?...

 

[harry01562]

I would not consider selling any mechanical Leica's to buy a digital one. Also, will the M8 be a viable collectible?? There are certainly many digitals capable of competing with the M8, except in name, primarily. As to possible collector value, that remains to be seen. Any collection of digital cameras would have to end up composed of mostly/all shelf queens, IMHO. Circuit boards and microelectronics don't get repaired as easy as mechanical... long live my M3 !!

Harry

 

[Duncan Ross]

I think it is a racing certainty that the faulty first batch of M8s will not become collectables. It makes it even more bemusing that many users still want to keep them. Yet if theirs was the only one exhibiting the problems and everyone elses' worked properly they'd send theirs back immediately. Not a two-pipe problem, Watson.

 

[Ronald M]

It`s not anything black goes magenta. It is certain black materials that reflect ir light and the source has to have ir in it .

It is not a problem for 99% of pictures. Pity the wedding phog who has to fix 500 magenta tuxes a week though. He should inverst in the IR filter.

Then there are the banding and other issues.

The camera is fine for most of us, the others will have to get the fix.

I did a read a blog somewhere that Leica did know of the problem and had decided upon the IR filter long before the introduction. There is a design trade off in having the glass in front of the sensor very thin and not blocking IR completely. It has to do with wide lenses being able to get to the corners of the sensor with proper light. This is a rangefinder issue so we could use the existing lenses. The other solution would be hugh reflex camera retrofocus wides. So take your pick. That is why the problem does not crop up to the same extent with reflex cameras, but I understand it does happen.

 

[Duncan Ross]

I quite agree Ronald. However it is highly likely that anyone selling their M8 in the future will be asked one question immediately: is it pre or post fix? And the value will reflect that.

BTW if a wedding photographer turned up at my wedding with a little rangefinder I would send him home for his Bronica. There's taking pictures and there's imparting authority! 🙂

 

[jaapv]

It`s not anything black goes magenta. It is certain black materials that reflect ir light and the source has to have ir in it .

It is not a problem for 99% of pictures. Pity the wedding phog who has to fix 500 magenta tuxes a week though. He should inverst in the IR filter.

Then there are the banding and other issues.

The camera is fine for most of us, the others will have to get the fix.

I did a read a blog somewhere that Leica did know of the problem and had decided upon the IR filter long before the introduction. There is a design trade off in having the glass in front of the sensor very thin and not blocking IR completely. It has to do with wide lenses being able to get to the corners of the sensor with proper light. This is a rangefinder issue so we could use the existing lenses. The other solution would be hugh reflex camera retrofocus wides. So take your pick. That is why the problem does not crop up to the same extent with reflex cameras, but I understand it does happen.

There are profiles for C1 now that nearly eliminate the magenta problem altogether.Just a question of time. The fix is likely to be software based.
Less understandable is that light-spill (it is not banding, that is a misnomer)
can be countered by a pol-filter. However that is almost certainly a firmware update for the timing of the sensor read-out.

Has there been any determination on what is causing the green ghosting?... I know that with some Nikkors that there will be that kind of effect due to internal reflection off the sensor, to the back of a filter, and then captured again by the sensor. Is that what is happening in this case?...

It is IR; a IR-cut filter will eliminate the problem.

 

[swoop]

I sold all of my Canon gear to help pay for my M8. And it was worth the trade. but I will never let go of my M7 for anything. I still have my M8, and I thought of selling it to help pay for the M9. but I figured it's more valuable as a backup than having the cash in the bank. And the M8 will hold its value for a long while.

 

[popeye]

Boy this is an old thread...

I was going to sell my M6 to pay off the M8, but after seeing John Cohen's book 'There Is No Eye' I'm having second thoughts about my not doing film anymore.

Yes it's a pain to soup (properly) and scan if I want to digitize (Coolscan 5000 ED sucks for B/W imho, maybe an 8000/9000 is better?) and trad printing is not an option for me at the moment. But the exact results cannot be duplicated to my liking and or aesthetic. That said working with pure digital files has it's own satisfaction and complexity. And doing both medias may be beyond my ability to manage (considering I'm a probably just a dilettante anyway...)

What's a person to do? Give up the hobby/art and collect butterflies?

 

[Phil_F_NM]

The option for us that did not sell our film M body wasn't there.

I'll never sell my M4.

Phil Forrest

 

[Doug]

I'm with Phil on this... Besides making me very sorry, selling my button-rewind M2 would not have contributed much to the M8 new cost anyway.

 

[popeye]

I'm with Phil on this... Besides making me very sorry, selling my button-rewind M2 would not have contributed much to the M8 new cost anyway.

But I don't see it listed in your sig now do I...

 

[Doug]

But I don't see it listed in your sig now do I...

My sig is trying to be modest. 😀

 

[Fujitsu]

Yes, I'll sell my M8 ASAP and go back to film

What I did.

Sucky colors, blackouts and crashes, battery dependance, crop factor... Thank you. Film was much more fun.

 

[johannielscom]

I sold:
D300
80-200/2.8D
135/2.0DC
28-70/2.4 Sigma
and accessories

to fund an M8.


:bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang::bang:

Sold the M8 and got a really sweet Leica M6 0.85 Classic in the deal, but boy do I miss that D300 with the 135/2.0 Defocus Control whenever I think of it.

 

[Arvay]

I sold M6 because I was offered a good price and I had ZI for film.
I supposed I will bring one more from abroad. And I had M8 already.
But I spent money for Canon 85L as it was cheaper than Summilux...

I miss M6 but I don't know why.

 

[Richard Marks]

I sold my film m knowing i could always get another. plenty of good second hand film bodies so no regrets at the time
had 3 good years with the m8
ditched it just before the m9 came out
now have m7/d700/ hasselblad 510cm
no regrets
as i have said many times as long as one looks after gear one can change without too much loss and consider any loss a charge for use
lifes too short to stick with the same gear forever

richard

 

[ampguy]

The 2 things that make me want to use the legacy cameras

The 2 things that make me want to use the legacy cameras

is that my K25/K64 rolls need to be processed by end of year, and Costco may quit C41, so ideally I'd like to use up that film in the fridge.

It's still a toss up though, what will last longer, the film, or the rewind mechanism of an M6 ... 😉

I sold M6 because I was offered a good price and I had ZI for film.
I supposed I will bring one more from abroad. And I had M8 already.
But I spent money for Canon 85L as it was cheaper than Summilux...

I miss M6 but I don't know why.

 

[Nelson Tan]

I'm selling my M7s and M8.2 to fund the M9 (which I already bought). Only had the M9 for a short time, but my initial impression is that the M9 wasn't that big an improvement to justify the huge premium over the M8.2.

 

[jaapv]

Huge premium? 😕There was just an 500 Euro price difference to everybodies amazement...