tried an m8 today...

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went out looking for a filter and another bag...no success with the bag but am likin' those think tank bags a bit more now that i have seen them up close and personal. bought a filter for the incoming 50/1.1.

talking with some of the guys at the counter and asked to play with the m8 while we chatted. felt very nice, not all that 'fat', maybe cause i'm used to camera with a grip?, not sure.
the advance isn't all that noisy...what? are people shooting only in monasteries these days? no one would hear it on the street.

talking to a large format photographer who just bought an m9 which he seems to really like. says he has printed up to 16x20 and so far is happy with the results.

biggest problem is it's brand new and costs over 4k cdn., the m9 goes for about 10k cdn.
apparently, canada does not have a distributor any more and we have to get all our leica gear from the american distributor...fun.
 
Beware of the filters when shooting it side by side with C-41 loaded film cameras, Joe! Drove me nuts enough to sell the M8 and get an M6 in return. I did not like the purple reflection off the filters either, like shining a flash light at your subject when aiming the camera in sunlight.

YMMV, ofcourse.
 
i was 'just looking'...if i were to buy, it would be a good used one from here, most likely.

but today was just tire kicking i'm afarid.

the bags seemed well made but they don't carry the full line. my domke 5xb holds the 2 rd1 cameras with the big 28 and 35 but it could be a touch wider to faciliate easier entrance and egress.
 
It's funny how the M8 suddednly became a better camera when the M9 was released. I too could never understand much of the criticism. I guess many of the forum whiners went somewhere else on 9-9-09.

Maybe you could get to NYC and find a good used M8 at a great price.
 
zeitz said:
It's funny how the M8 suddednly became a better camera when the M9 was released. I too could never understand much of the criticism. I guess many of the forum whiners went somewhere else on 9-9-09.

Maybe you could get to NYC and find a good used M8 at a great price.
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why are you editorializing in my thread?

i have never knocked the m8, the m8.2 or the m9...i just can't afford them, plus i'm quite happy with my rd1 kit.

i may get snarly at times but whining is not my style.
 
Yes, far too few places to "try" a Leica before buying in Canada. None in Ottawa. One in Montreal. So I buy all my Leica stuff on-line, and frankly, save a lot of money that way.

But, do wish sometimes that I could "try" before buying.

Vick
 
If the M9 had not come along, I'd be plenty happy with my M8, warts and all. It takes fine pictures and is a pleasure in the hand.

I think the noise factor comes in when people are comparing it to a film M. With a film M, you take your picture and and this is a tiny little "plock" sound and eventually there is the ratcheting sound of the film being advanced, but you decided when that film advance/shutter re-cock sound happens whereas with a digital, it makes the tiny "plock" then a comparatively thunderous whir of the shutter being reset. Granted, you can control this in discrete mode, but straight off, I think this is where the sound difference lives. I'm looking forward to mine coming back from Leica some day.
 
Joe, it's okay to like the m8, m9. Just admit it. 😀
The price is coming down on m8,m8.2, even the m9 (saw 3 used sub-6k$ m9s sold in the last two weeks). The "cheap" m9 isn't too far away, hopefully.
 
tbarker13 said:
It's just a matter of time Joe....I just feel it.
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hard to say.

the rd1 is a great image maker.
only 6 mp but size is not that key a factor really, the most deciding factors, i would think, are noise and dynamic range of the sensor.
noise isn't a big concern for me, the rd1 handles that well and the reality is that i mostly shoot at 200, indoors at 400 and rarely any higher...and now i have a brace of high speed demons to help in that area.
dynamic range is another thing and from what i have read, the m8/9 has the edge there.
how many folks looking at my images would be aware of the dynamic range in an image is questionable...i hardly notice as i tend to look at the whole image and not just the technical aspects of it. at a proper viewing distance a viewer would not notice any of the concerns we talk about on this forum.
 
biggest problem is it's brand new and costs over 4k cdn., the m9 goes for about 10k cdn.
apparently, canada does not have a distributor any more and we have to get all our leica gear from the american distributor...fun.
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Yikes. Last time I was in there was a used one at Leo's in Vancouver for about half that much. Better shop around 😉
 
Interesting, the M9s are $10,000 NZD in NZ, which is around $7500 Canadian. If the M9s sell for $10,000 Canadian Dollars in Canada, importing seems like a good way to make some savings methinks.
 
i recall the first time i had an M8 in hand, out in a camera shop in the palo alto area. i was doomed; i knew it then. but, as some have mentioned, you can get a much better price than that.

TTP bags: they are nice, solid and well designed--but even the urban disguise ones aren't very disguised ... well unless you want to look like you're carrying around an expensive laptop instead of an expensive camera. however, of course, camera bags are a personal thing ...
 
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