Trying out the Leica R8

I've had a chance to scan and edit my shots from R8. Very impressed with it and the R glass. The 100mm macro is a beautiful lens, and the Summicron 50 is no slouch. How are the 28mm Elmarit or 35mm Elmarit? The 35 Summicron seems out of my price range for now.

A few of my favorites

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Mudman said:
I've had a chance to scan and edit my shots from R8. Very impressed with it and the R glass. The 100mm macro is a beautiful lens, and the Summicron 50 is no slouch. How are the 28mm Elmarit or 35mm Elmarit? The 35 Summicron seems out of my price range for now.
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The 28 Elmarit v.II is their best 28 in the run. While not up to the performance of the latest M 28 Elmarit ASPH or Zeiss ZF 28 f/1.4, it has a wonderful rendering and in its time, probably the best 28 of the era.

The last version of the 35 Summicron can be found for ~$1k whereas the 28 Elmarit II for somewhere between $1600-1800. The 28 Elmarit v.I is nowhere near the performance of the v.II. Save your pfennig for the v.II.

Hard to find.
 
f.hayek said:
The 28 Elmarit v.II is their best 28 in the run. While not up to the performance of the latest M 28 Elmarit ASPH or Zeiss ZF 28 f/1.4, it has a wonderful rendering and in its time, probably the best 28 of the era.

The last version of the 35 Summicron can be found for ~$1k whereas the 28 Elmarit II for somewhere between $1600-1800. The 28 Elmarit v.I is nowhere near the performance of the v.II. Save your pfennig for the v.II.

Hard to find.
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Sadly if I'm spending that much on a lens, it will be for my M. The R is fun, but the M pays the bills.
 
One thing I've found annoying about the R8 is the mode dial, specifically that it includes "off".

Rather than constantly turning the dial from off to on, I would prefer to leave the dial on the mode I use most, typically aperture priority, and have a separate switch for off.

Even if I leave the mode at A and the camera does shut off automatically after a while, conceivably it could be activated inadvertently by light pressure on the release.

Otherwise, an excellently designed camera.
 
Mudman said:
Huss is that the Nikon D850 as a scanner?
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Great. So was the D750 before it, and the Z7 after. Only difference is the file sizes.
Pretty much lots of digicams are great. What matters is shoot in RAW, use negativelabpro.com to convert.
 
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Can’t wait to see the film shots from this week! Baby Seamus made his debut. The 100mm macro worked great on the M(240) as well.
 
Ebay rant. Found a 35mm Elmarit R for a good price. Showed up with the front element separating :(. Why wouldn't someone add that description??

Hunt continues for a wide to complete the system
 
the mode dial problem was solved on the R9 with a locking button, something which other makers might copy on each of their many controls


p.
 
ph. said:
the mode dial problem was solved on the R9 with a locking button, something which other makers might copy on each of their many controls


p.
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I don't think so. I have the R8 and there R9 and it is still very annoying as all that does is prevent it from moving unless it is pushed.
Both cameras should have had an on/off switch separate from the mode dial.
As they both are, if you turn the camera off, you need to rotate that dial away from your shooting setting to Off. So when you turn it back on, you every time need to rotate it to back where you were.

All would have been solved if they just had a separate on/off switch. Like pretty much every other AE camera out there. Even my M7 has a separate on/off switch from the mode/shutter speed dial.
 
Thinking about the R8's controls, a few other things now appear disappointing.

* As I mentioned many posts above, I'd like to leave the mode dial set at a particular mode (e.g. A) and have a separate on/off switch. I think the on/off switch is best to have on the back. These changes eliminate frequent movement of the mode switch.

* The exposure compensation switch would make more logical sense at the front of the shutter speed dial, where the meter mode switch is now. I find the exposure compensation switch near the eyepiece as awkward: it's too close to your face and you need to move your left hand (supporting the lens) to reach the switch.

* Based on the above, the metering mode switch could be moved from in front of the shutter speed dial to in front of the mode dial.
 
I just hunted down a wide! I found a like new 28mm v1 from B&H. Would still like a 35mm, but I tend to think 28 and 50 more than 35. I'll have to test it on my M, I've heard mixed reviews of it.
 
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