Very happy new M8 owner

[Gawain Hewitt]

Firstly the news on the M9 has got me as interested and excited as anyone. However I have noticed a lot of comment on how dissapointing the M8 was, and figured there was space for a counter opinion. I completely understand that the M8 had many teething problems at launch, but as someone who bought a brand new M8 in June, I can report that it is now a stable, reliable and a great camera.
I paid £1999 new including cash back and I imagine there will be other good deals imminently.
So if you're considering an M8, it is no longer a dissapointing camera, on the contrary it is fantastic.
Oh and the added benefit of getting great performance from the sweet spot of CV lenses.
M8 - the Everyman choice!

 

[rxmd]

Oh no! How can you be happy with a camera that will be completely obsolete (OBSOLETE!) when the successor model will be presented tomorrow, literally! 😉

 

[peterm1]

Oh no! How can you be happy with a camera that will be completely obsolete (OBSOLETE!) when the successor model will be presented tomorrow, literally!

Oh come on - surely you cannot be serious. Are you honestly SO addicted to gear that only the very latest and greatest can satisfy your needs. I sincerely hope you are joking. Why p*ss in this fellows coffee cup....if he is happy with the acquisition, then he is happy, it is not up to people here to take the gloss off that.

 

[rfrangefinder]

i think rxmd's comments were meant ironically🙂

i fully endorse what gawain said. exactly my own experience. the m8 produces great quality files with cv and leica lenses. my favourite camera.

 

[user237428934]

Oh come on - surely you cannot be serious. Are you honestly SO addicted to gear that only the very latest and greatest can satisfy your needs. I sincerely hope you are joking. Why p*ss in this fellows coffee cup....if he is happy with the acquisition, then he is happy, it is not up to people here to take the gloss off that.

Are you serious? I am sure that rxmd just forgot the smiley after his post.

 

[rxmd]

Acutally I was joking. I guess since he already stated that he doesn't agree wit the sentiment that only the latest and greatest is in any way acceptable he'd be in a position to take my post as tongue-in-cheek. 🙂

 

[Bobfrance]

I bought an ex-demo M8 this summer and am far more happy with it than I ever expected to be. So much so that I am wondering how and when I can get an M9.

Previously I would never have considered paying such a large amount of money for a camera had I not bought the M8 first and experienced how good it really is.

No rush to upgrade though me and my M8 are having a very nice time together. 🙂

YMMV

 

[samoksner]

Oh come on - surely you cannot be serious. Are you honestly SO addicted to gear that only the very latest and greatest can satisfy your needs. I sincerely hope you are joking. Why p*ss in this fellows coffee cup....if he is happy with the acquisition, then he is happy, it is not up to people here to take the gloss off that.

He was obviously being facetious, hence the "oh no!"

The M8 is no less good or bad a camera because something else has, or will be announced. It's one of the choices if one is interested in a digital rangefinder with moderate crop factor.

 

[Gawain Hewitt]

Oh no! How can you be happy with a camera that will be completely obsolete (OBSOLETE!) when the successor model will be presented tomorrow, literally! 😉

A combination of meditation, yoga, chanting and a strict vegan diet do it for me 😉

What a lot happens in 40 mins, wrote the post on my phone on the train into London, cycled across the city to my office and now plenty of action!

I got my fingers burnt a lot with early adopting in Pro Audio kit, and now as a policy buy the last generation of technology once it's very stable and had many firmware upgrades. I value reliability very highly.

Still very keen to see what the M9 can do. As people elsewhere have stated, this would seem to suggest that Leica has a prosperous future, which is good for everyone who has invested in their kit, whether on film, P&S, S2, M8(.2) or M9.

G

 

[sakkapop]

Gawain: £1,999, where did you get it from? quite a good price for a new copy.

 

[droichead]

I bought an ex-demo M8 this summer and am far more happy with it than I ever expected to be. So much so that I am wondering how and when I can get an M9.

Previously I would never have considered paying such a large amount of money for a camera had I not bought the M8 first and experienced how good it really is.

No rush to upgrade though me and my M8 are having a very nice time together. 🙂

YMMV

Well, first of all hi to everyone in this forum as this is my first post. I also bought an M8.2 ex demo with a reduced price around a month ago and I do agree with this thread.

Coming from a 5DII this was my first rangefinder and I basically did it due to the fact that travelling with the 5D and few lenses can be quite unconfortable in terms of weight and required room in your hand luggage. Now after few days with a M8.2 and a couple of Zeiss lenses (Biogon 35/2.8 and Sonnar 50/1.4) as a test I must say that I am complretely delighted.

Funnily enought, lately I find very difficult go back and shoot with the 5D, and even when I do so now I find myself going always to manual mode (both Aperture-speed and focus 😎).

I might go to the M9 at some point in the future but certainly no regrets in terms of getting an M8.2, as an amateur photographer with no previous experience in Rangefinder cameras I firmly believe it was the right move. My major complaint with the M8 (particularly coming from the 5DII) is the poor high ISO performence. If the M9 addresses this point this will be the main reason to me to get one, so I will wait to see some reviews in this regard.


Again, Hi to everyone in the forum being this my first post after several moths reading and learning from all of you.

 

[Gawain Hewitt]

Gawain: £1,999, where did you get it from? quite a good price for a new copy.

Jacobs in June. They had a deal where it was £2499, and Leica offered £500 cashback during June. The Jacobs deal was meant to continue running, but they pulled it suddenly, luckily I had already reserved one at that price and I think I got the last one. Another Leica dealer told me that Leica were unhappy with Jacobs selling them at this price, which apparently was just cost at the time. So Jacobs now sell for £2899 with no rebate...

I imagine there will be some good M8 deals soon though to clear stock for the M9.

G

 

[OurManInTangier]

I use my M8 alot and am rather fond of it, though high ISO performance could indeed be improved. I will not rush, and have no need to rush, into buying an M9. Once we find out what's good and what's not so good, what gets upgraded/fixed etc then I'll look into it.

Glad to hear you got a good deal on it, no wonder you're happy!

 

[rustysheepdog]

I have an M8 which I bought in May this year to supplement my M2. I enjoy using it and it does everything it's supposed to. I don't waste time moaning about things it can't do because they were never designed-in, nor am I bothered about any issues that existed when it first came out and have been fixed. I've lived long enough to know that you don't ever buy something new and radical when it first comes out. Leica genuflectors should recall that the folk from Wetzlar have a history of changing the latest models fairly quickly to put right design shortcomings.

The 'crop-frame' issue is no problem for me either. If you want a station waggon you don't buy a 2-seat coupe, do you? My 24mm is now my "35mm" and my 35mm is now my "50mm", no worries there at all.

I'm not going to buy an "M9" (yes, Im one of those who won't REALLY believe it until it actually appears in the flesh) because 1/ I'm happy with what I've got and 2/ if it's going to cost around £4.5/£5k I can't afford. If I had that much to spend on gear, I'd buy some more lenses and take a nice trip where I could use them.

I like my M8. As for retained financial value, I see it in the same way as my summer holiday - money spent and all gone, instant and total depreciation. But I have the memories from the holiday and the M8 in my hand, which seems like a good deal to me.

 

[abumac]

I heard from secret sources that tomorrow 09/09/09 at 09:09 am ET all M8s will stop working ... so order your M9 now!

 

[rustysheepdog]

I heard from secret sources that tomorrow 09/09/09 at 09:09 am ET all M8s will stop working ... so order your M9 now!

Thanks for Hot Tip - I hope it came from one of those reliable sources which have given us all the M9 info. No worries for me though - I'm going to put mine in one of those lead-lined filmshield bags to keep the de-activation signal out !😉

 

[rxmd]

Honestly. The big news is a full frame sensor. Sure it's nice, but I see no reason to spend that kind of coin for it. I'll just shoot film instead.

You can turn that into a slogan: "I get my full frame sensors bulk at $3."

 

[JNewell]

Totally agree. I was shocked at how good, and how much of an improvement in image quality, the M8 is compared to film Ms, which I've been using since 1972. The M9 may be great(er) - I hope it is - but I didn't toss my M3 when the M5 came out.

I bought an ex-demo M8 this summer and am far more happy with it than I ever expected to be. So much so that I am wondering how and when I can get an M9.

Previously I would never have considered paying such a large amount of money for a camera had I not bought the M8 first and experienced how good it really is.

No rush to upgrade though me and my M8 are having a very nice time together. 🙂

YMMV

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

If I can afford one sometime next year, I might well get myself a used M8. We will see if I like it better than the R-D1...perhaps not.

 

[PURWO]

I heard from secret sources that tomorrow 09/09/09 at 09:09 am ET all M8s will stop working ... so order your M9 now!

hahahahah? how about asia time?