The real cost of a digital M

You do not have to print your own... this can be outsourced.

I won't bother giving all the reasons why I prefer doing my own...too many to mention, concerning quality, efficiency and cost. But that was true in my darkroom days, too.

Jeff
 
Interesting, and maybe this is irrelevant to you.

But if you are moving from a film M to a digital M, you will also have savings. No film or development costs. These may be lower if you do it yourself, higher if you farm it out. In essence, you are trading operational costs (film M) for capital costs (digital M). Thus the total cost increase to depends not only on what you buy and how you use it, but how you used your film M.

Giorgio
 
Need a little help here to confirm what I have computed mentally but never stopped to write out line-items. With larger file sizes and software additions, there are obviously increased costs when considering managing the files as my computer will need upgrading for the larger files.

Here are some estimates. Please let me know where changes/additions need to be made:

The real cost of an M8:

1. Used Camera Body (Nice condition w/ batteries, charger, etc.) - $2200
2. Summilux 35 or 50 mm Lens - $2000-$4000 (depending on version)
3. New desktop computer (large enough Hard Drives/RAM) - ????
(This is an item that needs to be quite fast and high performance...specs?)
4. Upgrades/New Software? I currently run PS2.
5. Printer- Not necessary.
6. Backup?
7. Processing time...this is going to be huge and expensive.

What else needs to be considered when eventually going to an M8 besides the camera body and lens?:angel:

1. Recommend looking for a M8.2 with batteries, charger, etc. ~ $3000.00
2. I believe you are spot on with price range or a Summilux. ~ 2 to 4K
3. Recommend Apple: $2117.00
27 inch monitor
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
2TB Serial ATA Drive
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Apple extended warranty
Apple one on one training (1 year)
4. Aperature ($199.00) with NIK Complete Collection Suite ($299.00)
5. Backup (Time machine software on Mac included) 2 TB Hard Drive: $150.00
6. Processing Time is dependent. When viewing the photographs that you take, my experience, is that you only process a subset of the total. Downloading from the camera/SD Card is minimal effort and time. The amount of time you spend to reach a finished product is variable. You build up skills and shortcuts over time.


Hope that is of some help, but it is realistic for me.
 
1. Recommend looking for a M8.2 with batteries, charger, etc. ~ $3000.00
2. I believe you are spot on with price range or a Summilux. ~ 2 to 4K
3. Recommend Apple: $2117.00
27 inch monitor
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
2TB Serial ATA Drive
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Apple extended warranty
Apple one on one training (1 year)
4. Aperature ($199.00) with NIK Complete Collection Suite ($299.00)
5. Backup (Time machine software on Mac included) 2 TB Hard Drive: $150.00
6. Processing Time is dependent. When viewing the photographs that you take, my experience, is that you only process a subset of the total. Downloading from the camera/SD Card is minimal effort and time. The amount of time you spend to reach a finished product is variable. You build up skills and shortcuts over time.


Hope that is of some help, but it is realistic for me.

Yes, very helpful. Thank you for that well-considered response!:)
 
I think a printer is necessary. How else are you going to display your photos. Families don't gather around a computer screen on the holidays.
 
I think a printer is necessary. How else are you going to display your photos. Families don't gather around a computer screen on the holidays.

Not necessary. I do photo documentaries in book form. Any prints I need, I send out for professional printing.

BTDT...not worth the cost or my time.:angel:
 
This should be that if you like to emulate the look of B&W film, this could be useful. Outside of that, it isn't necessary.

If you wish to emulate film take a look at "Exposure 3" from Alien Skin Software. It does both B&W and colour emulation. I use both, and find E3 is better than SEP2 for film emulation (Exposure 4 will be released soon and looks even better).
 
If you wish to emulate film take a look at "Exposure 3" from Alien Skin Software. It does both B&W and colour emulation. I use both, and find E3 is better than SEP2 for film emulation (Exposure 4 will be released soon and looks even better).

No, I was just making a point. I don't wish to emulate film.
 
I think a printer is necessary. How else are you going to display your photos. Families don't gather around a computer screen on the holidays.

Two options, one is have it commercially printed (if Costco is an option you can get the colour profiles for the devices at the location you shop at). The other is to use an iPad (I used this option over the holidays and found it works really well).
 
Two options, one is have it commercially printed (if Costco is an option you can get the colour profiles for the devices at the location you shop at). The other is to use an iPad (I used this option over the holidays and found it works really well).

Ah, yes...the Ipad is also an option but not necessary for this part of my business plan.:angel:
 
Do not overestimate the pc power you will need to edit your files.
"27 inch monitor
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
2TB Serial ATA Drive
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5"
for $2k

would be a waste of money imho, every pc for let's say $800 will be enough.
I use a laptop with a dual core, 2gb ram and a fairly low power graphic card and i can easily handle the raw files of my k10d with 10Mpx. A desktop pc for $800 will be much more powerfull, add a screen bigger than 22" and your good to go
 
I don't really get the argument that a digital workflow needs to be backed up when a film one doesn't. First if you are scanning film, it's the same situation. Second, if you plan on grabbing your negative collection in a house fire, you have your priorities a bit messed up.
My point is, slides or negatives are a crappy backup, digital is easier, and I say that as a 100% film shooter.
 
I don't really get the argument that a digital workflow needs to be backed up when a film one doesn't. First if you are scanning film, it's the same situation. Second, if you plan on grabbing your negative collection in a house fire, you have your priorities a bit messed up.
My point is, slides or negatives are a crappy backup, digital is easier, and I say that as a 100% film shooter.

I agree, I have none of my negs backed up I don't know where half of them are, its easy do a quick backup of digi. I buy a couple of external hard drives a year thats it. The only off-site backup I do is for work and all that is is a gmail account.
 
Leica M8 - $2,500
Memory cards - 4 8GB's. Pretty cheap so I like to have several
Extra battery $125 Need at least one and rotate them
Thumbs Up - Not necessary but I really like using it
Case - ($40 - not Leica brand but same style) I use a Neoprene case so I can store it in my messenger bag with lens attached
Lens - Leica lenses would be great but thus far I have purchases a used Zeiss 35 2.8 ($700) and a new CV 28 1.9 ($800). Love both lenses but the Zeiss more than CV.
Strap - Personally I didnt like the Leica strap and use a Domke
Lens coder - ($20-$40)If you dont buy a coded lens you can code it manually without the fancy coder but I bought one of those. It was overpriced IMO for what it is but it did make it a lot easier to code the lenses
Filters - ($120)
Computer - $900 IBUYPOWER or similar nonname brand (e.g. not Dell, etc.)
Backup - Buy a desktop PC and load several hard drives into it. Good hard drives are still cheap and internal ones are typically cheaper than an external. I have three hard drives that work great (1 for the operating system and software, 1 for data, 1 for backup)... and another external drive for backup of the backup.

I agree with not overestimating your PC requirements. I had an IBUYPOWER desktop PC built for me (didnt have the time to build my own - they sell laptops too) for $900 and it is more than powerful enough for high end graphic games and working with M8 Raw files. It was built with 4GB of RAM and a graphic card 1 gen behind the latest so it was cheaper. Buying a desktop allowed me to upgrade over time as well. Very easy to install new video cards, power supply, RAM, extra hard drives,etc. Apples are nice but not necessary.
 
Hard disks are still up in price, not the best time to build array right now if it can be postponed. One disk is another story.
 
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