Two Recent Shoots With The M8 (read did not dissapoint)

Nice pictures!

I was looking through your site and came across the shots of Flava Flav & what looks like Zack de la Rocha from Rock the Bells? Very nice work, are those all M8? Cause if they are, you're making me think twice about it..
 
The shots aren't exactly a ringing endorsement for the M8 in terms of sharpness or tonal range. But since evidently the results are exactly what you (and the client) wanted, they do show off its potential as an expressive tool.

One of the things I'm growing to suspect about photography is that making conventionally good pictures isn't all that difficult, and making lousy pictures is all too easy... but making good "lousy" pictures is a real challenge. A singer once told me that singing slightly but consistently off-key (the way Jo Stafford used to do in her "Darlene Edwards" comedy albums) is much, much harder than either singing "correctly" or badly, and this seems to be the same kind of challenge.

You and your M8 seem to have done a great job here of making good "lousy" pictures!
 
I love them both - to me they're much better than good lousy shots - they have a lot of character. Love your fashion portfolio too. Really well done - thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks all for the kind words.

Even if they are good 'lousy' shots...

The photos on my website are shot with a combination of nikon digital gear and leica (m6 and m8)

ps. the flavor flav portrait was taken with my m6 and a pre asph 50mm summilux.

I posted these galleries becuase when I was considering the purchase of an m8 all i could find were shots taken of brick walls or focus charts. once in a while i could find a shot of a human being, but often they were nothing to write home about.

The m8 allows me to take photos in ways that the m6 did. But without having to go to the lab and wait for scans. (a good thing)
 
kinok1 said:
Thanks all for the kind words.

Even if they are good 'lousy' shots...

The photos on my website are shot with a combination of nikon digital gear and leica (m6 and m8)

ps. the flavor flav portrait was taken with my m6 and a pre asph 50mm summilux.

I posted these galleries becuase when I was considering the purchase of an m8 all i could find were shots taken of brick walls or focus charts. once in a while i could find a shot of a human being, but often they were nothing to write home about.

The m8 allows me to take photos in ways that the m6 did. But without having to go to the lab and wait for scans. (a good thing)
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Maybe a bit off topic, or not... :)

And don't you get a bit put off by the shutter clunking and camera vibration?

Everytime I pick up my M3 (sold the M6 in the meantime) I get nostalgic...

My experience (well, I have the camera for only 4 months, so take this with a very big grain of salt!) with the M8 is strange: I don't "enjoy" very much the process of taking the photos, just like I do with the M3 (or M6!), or even the Konica Hexar AF or the EPson RD1s. But when I download the pictures to the PC, I really "enjoy" the results :).

And if I get really down to what bothers me on the M8, I would say it's the noise of the shutter (it's not only loud, it's strange!) and handling. Even with a Luigi case, handling is worse than the M3 or what I remember from the M6. And everytime I review a picture, I get to put some fingerprints on the viewfinder window (after a while, I have to wipe it or I won't be able to focus).

I'm not bashing the M8, I know it's me who will have to change (why the hell do I review photos?). But until now, I can't really say that the M8 enables me to make photos just like the ones I used to with the M6 or the M3. It still puts herself too much in the way.

The net result is that I'm making a lot of tecnically excelent photos but a bit disconnected from reality. I have been wandering through some 150 B&W "old" rolls I got scanned and I feel surprised with the degree of "immersion" on the scene some of them show. I'm not able to do that with the M8, yet, still thinking too much about the camera, I guess :(

And another strange thing is that the pattern of the photos is different between film and digital: on film, I tend to have a series of photos on the same subject, usualy while moving a little or wating for some expression, or whatelse. On the M8, I tend to get either very tight sequences (no winding lever to operate, more speed shooting) or disconnected photos (probably LCD peeking to check focus, exposure, whatever).

That explains, from my side, why my M8 photos tend to be of the "brick wall" variety (although I haven't posted any) and your excellent work and post just made me take conscience of that.

And that I really have to trust the exposure and the focus on the M8 and forget about reviewing. Thanks!! :)
 
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JVR - Turn off the 'auto review' function. there is no reason to keep checking the LCD. Shoot the m8 the same as you would any other film camera. Hell, I even turn off the auto review on my nikons. Just drains the battery faster, and gets in the way of the task at hand. Shooting.

SiteMistic - Come on. Cut me some slack. Most of those shots are in focus. I completely get your sarcasm, and the point is taken. But not everything has to be in focus, to be focused. I shot the model for no other reason than she has a tears book full of high end fashion imagery, cold, clean (in focus), etc...her reps needed something to soften her down, to in fact give her personality, or at least show she has one. If you go to my website, you can see under the 'photo books' section the complete photo story i did with her.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. its nice to talk about the m8 and not refer to mtf graphs.
 
shadowfox said:
Cool pictures, not sure it's because of the M8 ;)
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I would almost say, "Cool pictures, in spite of the M8!" :angel:

kinok1: yeah, I know. I always used my Epson with the LCD down. But the M8 overexposed a little (or so I thought), and sometimes I get a bit of shake because of the fast shutter, and... :rolleyes: I guess I'll just trust it.
 
kinok1 said:
Thanks all for the kind words.

Even if they are good 'lousy' shots...

The photos on my website are shot with a combination of nikon digital gear and leica (m6 and m8)

ps. the flavor flav portrait was taken with my m6 and a pre asph 50mm summilux.

I posted these galleries becuase when I was considering the purchase of an m8 all i could find were shots taken of brick walls or focus charts. once in a while i could find a shot of a human being, but often they were nothing to write home about.

The M8 allows me to take photos in ways that the m6 did. But without having to go to the lab and wait for scans. (a good thing)
Click to expand...

I really love this shots, and i think this kind of shooting makes the M8 shine, i think the M8 it's way better suited for B&W work than at least any other Dslr/Drf i have ever tried, and belive me, i have worked with the most of them, and let's just say i'm done looking for what i need :)

Here are some more M8 shot's with no brick walls or test charts :)

www.alexandertufte.com

Happy New Year
 
I must be like sitemistic. I don't get what is so great about eyes closed or nearly closed, high contrast with little tonal range out of focus images. I don't care whether something is in fashion or not. It takes a lot more effort to get that sharp focused with the right DOF and broad tonal range image. Especially if the subject is moving. I know it's different strokes for different folks but my G7 will do that without trying.
 
kinok1 said:
Here are links to a few selects from two recent shoots with the m8.
In both circumstances.
The clients could not have been more pleased.
l
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The photos are interesting enough, but not memorable and not technically striking. I agree with Sitemistic's implication that they lean toward the cliche (a particular hazzard of street-like photos.)

But I'm not persuaded that every photo has to stand on its uniquely creative or technical merits. Some photos are subordinate to other motives such as the need to document, a client's tastes, or the needs of a job. Such purposes don't excuse bad photography, but knowing them adds important context for viewing. Note, that I'm also aware that this view differs from more absolutist, even Platonic, standards that others hold.

Please say some more about the nature of the shoots, and why the clients (also the subjects?) were pleased. Providing this kind of context is important for understanding both these particular photos and the merits of the camera.
 
Thats right. its not the camera. its the photographer.

I just thought some of the fine folks who scan this forum might like to see some shots taken with the m8 in a little bit of a different context. slightly different subjects. thats all.

oh...and in case anyone is wondering. im selling my m8 and leica glass, gonna pick me up a canon g7.

Happy new year all.
 
I just picked up my M8 from Calumet, and it feels wonderful in my hand! I've only been fiddling with it for about an hour or so... The images it will produce will no doubt be great - but...

I'm disappointed in how loud the shutter is! It's even louder than my DSLR's! I love the feel of the camera, but one of the biggest reason I use a RF is because they are such discreet tools.

All - please don't flame me - I'm truly on the fence... How are people getting by with the M8 as a discreet RF tool? Size seems to be the major benefit over my DSLR's, but lacking a quiet shutter. I just don't know.

...I'm thinking of returning it. It's not just loud, it's piercingly loud. KaPOW, bzzzzt.

Why??


-D

jvr said:
Maybe a bit off topic, or not... :)

And don't you get a bit put off by the shutter clunking and camera vibration?

I would say it's the noise of the shutter (it's not only loud, it's strange!) and handling. Even with a Luigi case, handling is worse than the M3 or what I remember from the M6. And everytime I review a picture, I get to put some fingerprints on the viewfinder window (after a while, I have to wipe it or I won't be able to focus).
Click to expand...
 
I find the M8 is about as loud as my SLR, but I've been around some newer issues of mid-end SLRs that are impressively quiet. It's not "piercingly loud" to my ears, but it is different----which could be as much an advantage as disadvantage. It's really an empirical question, and someone should (has? where?) probably measured the db of different shutters.

Personally, the shutter noise is a small factor, well behind my physical size, the loud RIIIIP! of the velcro on my bag, and rolling lens caps. Handling is beautiful. IMO, it is discreet, and I am not interested in stealth.
 
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