What is it that draws you to a Digital M? Poll.

What is it that draws you to a Digital M? Poll.

  • Build quality (Metal instead of Plastic).

    Votes: 12 3.7%

  • Optics.

    Votes: 60 18.6%

  • Focussing method.

    Votes: 39 12.1%

  • The name.

    Votes: 3 0.9%

  • Image Quality.

    Votes: 44 13.7%

  • Makes me feel good and adds to my credibility as a photographer (in my mind at least).

    Votes: 7 2.2%

  • All the above.

    Votes: 75 23.3%

  • Other.

    Votes: 82 25.5%
  • Total voters
    322
  • Poll closed .
It's not so much that I am "drawn" to a digital rangefinder. It's just that if I want to continue using my Leica M lenses I HAVE to get a digital rangefinder. Let's face it--film is on the way out, and one day there won't be any. If I didn't get a digital rangefinder, my Leica glass would spend the rest of its life sitting on the shelf.
 
Other. A digital M - in my case an M8 - can go in the corner of the bag when I'm out shooting b&w film, just so I can have the digital/color option if I need it. If I'm shooting for work, I will use it for restricted circumstances. If I need one digital system to do everything that day, I'll take the Canon D1 and lenses. While you can shoot football, soccer, etc. with an M, the Canon is way easier.
 
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Can I say medical condition of my right hand (CTS) after using 14 years of computer?
A 5D2 with good glass go over 2KG very easy. But a M9+28/2.8A or 35/1.4pre-a just about 800grams.
 
1) tired of lugging around huge dslr
2) tired of dealing with hundreds of machinegunned photos (discipline would have also helped here)
3) it feels good
4) being a lazy gitt, film is too much hassle
5) good optics
6) seems that shooting with RF has helped my composition (tried with film&bessa first)
7) simple to operate, don't have to think about complicated menus or settings
8) it's like the Mac of photography, beautifully crafted and designed
9) good service and warranty
10) no every year body changing never ending improvement cycle (though discipline would help here also)

And those are just for the starters...

I know with discipline and rationalisation most of the things wouldn't be a problem with dslr either. One can easily buy good optics, don't have to use all complicated options etc.. but I tend to suffer from GAS from time to time, so it didn't work out that way. Also not using all the options in the big dslr made me feel I wasn't getting the best out of the system and so on.. Going with a digital M has helped me a lot with these. Though I admit I have a lust for M9, but luckily it will remain out of my reach for the next couple of more years.

But the biggest reason of all is that it makes me feel good and happy when shooting with the M8. For a hobbyist, that's what it's all about - being happy with your kit and the results!
 
jlindstrom pretty mouch sums it up for me.
wouldn't say no to a digital back for a F2.

Akk2... Did you try with a trackingball? Anything like the Logitech Trackman Marble? (no ad intended) It may help.
Regards
/Hans
 
You missed an important one - I've been using M cameras since 1972 and prefer digital - there is no choice. I got the very first M8 sold in the Netherlands and went to M 9 nearly two years ago.
 
With what I have already invested in Leica glass and 'M' mount lenses in general, there exists no other choice if i were to go digital. Even when I consider the price, it all becomes a wash really - my current (film-based) SLR systems are Nikon with all my lenses being AIS primes. So to even consider any Japanese DSLR path I'd need to replace my lenses from scratch as well, so I would still drop at least US$7K and end up with a system I don't prefer.

But this debate starts confusing issues as its not really about having an attraction to a digital M. Film vs digital is a separate debate from SLR vs Rangefinder, so if you have a preferred camera paradigm, the only answer is "I don't have any other choice for going digital!". If on the other hand you don't care too much about which camera paradigm then its very easy to seek alternatives and say "I wouldn't consider a digital M"
 
Roger Hicks said:
How about "Lack of Choice"?

And to those who can't see the appeal, how about 'lack of money'?

I prefer my 1972 Series III Land Rover to a Range Rover. If I could afford a new Range Rover every year, I might feel differently.

(Or of course I might not.)

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

Glad to find someone love the Leica and the LR. Ever been to Discoweb?...their site is down at this moment....
 
jsrockit said:
To me, it is the only true all manual digital camera.
Click to expand...

How is a dSLR with a manual lens any less of a "true all manual" camera than an M8 or M9? Both can be used in an all-manual fashion; both can be used in an aperture priority fashion. The dSLR will probably have better TTL metering; in any case, you can use an external meter. Even better, the dSLR will give you a good spot meter TTL, which you can use to more intelligently set your exposure.

There are all kinds of reasons I pick up my Zorki more often than my all-manual Canon AT-1, and were I to have an M9, the same would be true with it versus my 4/3 dSLR; but not because one is truly manual while the other is not.
 
How about a way to use all the Leica glass I have on digital.

I tried an M8 once and got damn fine pics though.
 
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Thomas-Paris said:
How is a dSLR with a manual lens any less of a "true all manual" camera than an M8 or M9? Both can be used in an all-manual fashion; both can be used in an aperture priority fashion. The dSLR will probably have better TTL metering; in any case, you can use an external meter. Even better, the dSLR will give you a good spot meter TTL, which you can use to more intelligently set your exposure..
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I believe I prefaced my opinion with... "to me." I do not like DSLRs.
 
Got my used M8 cheaper than I could a used MP
My 4 M3's needed a new sibling.
Easier to travel with an M8, then a film M, because of the hassle factor at airports.
Quick processing when spouse wants another cat picture.
Lack of a darkroom at home anymore, since I moved into an apt.
M8 has about the same sensor as the DMR which I used to copy film negatives.
I needed an excuse to buy some new M lenses.
 
for me -
rangefinder and leica (and zeiss and voightlander) lenses.
digital = convenient
picture quality
size - I used (still own) a 5D and all sorts of primes and zooms.
nostalgia
different way to shoot
forces me closer to the object

all very subjective, and I finally traded my M8, that did really everything I need better than required, for a M9 to get full frame. Maybe waste of money but it makes ME happy, and it's my money :)
 
Other.

It's the first and only RF that can match its film predecessors without any excuses or compromise.

.
 
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