Things the M8 does right

[jaapv]

There are plenty of threads to grumble, complain, weep or plainly bash the M8
Let's keep this one for the positives.
My first contribution:

I am utterly amazed. My practice has daylight grade fluorescent lighting with UV added. With any other digital camera it turns bluish-green.
So I tried the M8: With the "fluorescent" setting: psychedelic blue.😱
With AWB: absolutely correct colour rendering. I held the display against the dark blue vinyl of the chair: identical. And I thought I had another grumble to add..😱

 

[madmaxmedia]

Just a question- when WB setting is chosen with digicams, do they simply 'lock on' to some preset color temperature defined by the camera maker?

So the absolute value for 'fluorescent' or 'daytime' may vary from camera to camera. So with your particular setup, whether a camera gets the right color with 'fluorescent' WB is sort of luck of the draw, right? There is no judgement being made by the camera as to color temp in this case. (or maybe there is, that is what I'm wondering about.)

(I'm not questioning your excellent results at all, this more of a technical question.)

 

[sf]

One thing it does right: looks good. It REALLY looks good.

 

[ywenz]

mad: jaap's saying the AWB was able to match the white point in a room with flourescent lighting. That's cool, but we also know the AWB does horrible with incadescent lighting.

One thing it does right: looks good. It REALLY looks good.

A great accessory to wear when walking around the art museums

 

[madmaxmedia]

Oops, my reading comprehension is poor. I thought jaap said that manually selecting WB gave a great result. Okay, go Leica!!! 🙂

 

[jaapv]

I just walked out the door to test the fill-flash function. Not bad at all 🙂

 

[lxlim]

Yes, but what really surprised me, was that AWB gave a result that was ABSOLUTELY accurate. In blues, in greys and all other colours.

Thanks Jaap. Did you shoot several different views to get a variety of shots? The AWB may have gotten it right first time but consistency may be an issue.

Alex

 

[AShearer]

Yes, but what really surprised me, was that AWB gave a result that was ABSOLUTELY accurate. In blues, in greys and all other colours.

So far, I am seeing the same result. Auto WB works well. Unlike my Nikons where normally a better result is obtained with manual settings, I say normally, because it's not always true. The AutoWB on Nikon is good, but not great.

I do wish there was an easier way to get to ISO and WB settings on the Leica

Finally: I really like the simple exposure Lock on the M8. Hold the shutter release down a touch further and lock the exposure. This may not be new to those with M7's but it is to me. I like it.

This is a two button function on the Nikon and Canon typically you have to hold the shutter release down to meter, then push a AE lock button somewhere.

AS

 

[jaapv]

Thanks Jaap. Did you shoot several different views to get a variety of shots? The AWB may have gotten it right first time but consistency may be an issue.

Alex

It was consistent.

 

[lxlim]

Thanks, appreciate that.


alex

 

[summilux]

the M8's body provides the blue print for the next film based M body, motor built in, 1/8000 seconds, possible film data encoding, a la Nikon F6, both aperture and shutter speed display in the viewfinder, timer etc, a Leica Hexar RF equivalent, i think there is still some market for it, not big, but some. M7 mark II? M9?

 

[jaapv]

I like the possibility of moving around on the picture when it is blown up on the LCD and checking the histogram for exposure in different parts of the photograph.

 

[Socke]

I like the possibility of moving around on the picture when it is blown up on the LCD and checking the histogram for exposure in different parts of the photograph.

Chimping done right 🙂

Ok, couldn't resist, but that sounds like a very good idea.

 

[John Camp]

I think mine is broken. Nothing I can do will get the flash to pop up.

JC

 

[jaapv]

The flash control with the SF24D flash is very precise and practical.

 

[fgianni]

Yes, but what really surprised me, was that AWB gave a result that was ABSOLUTELY accurate. In blues, in greys and all other colours.

Some high end DSLRs have an external white balance sensor and they tend to get the AWB right more often than low end DSLRs, maybe the M8 has a similar solution in place.