What is the Overall Best Value in Digital Rangefinders?

[Kwesi]

... well it looks like Epson got it right with the very first Digital RF ever made, even all these years later Leica are struggling to make one we think is of equal value ... imagine if Cosina and Epson were to take what we've learned in the meantime and add a modern sensor in a new version of the RD1

Nah! We RFFers are just a bunch of old fogies who like old cameras 🙂

 

[airfrogusmc]

Like I said earlier the best overall value is the equipment that matches your vision and the way you work.

 

[Kwesi]

Like I said earlier the best overall value is the equipment that matches your vision and the way you work.

Agreed! For me that's the M240.
your work with the Monochrom always strikes a chord within me.

 

[Sparrow]

Nah! We RFFers are just a bunch of old fogies who like old cameras 🙂

... it's its fogieness that makes the RD1 such a marvel

 

[rbelyell]

lots of votes as of this post and my measley 6mp rd1 is running even with the m9. guess i made a decent choice...had enough money left over to buy a 21 elmarit, 75 summarit, the tiny leica type 112 and a few nice dinners. love my rd1. i find myself reaching for it more and more and leaving the excellent rx1 behind. more to photography than mp's, no?

 

[uhoh7]

I'm not sure why some can't separate "value" from "results."

or see the connection

In fact the whole idea to start with is rather asinine. If we want to talk about results, any $200 point and shoot can do 95% of what any Leica M(x) can do in decent light. Let's not kid ourselves here. The soccer mom with a Nikon D3200 has more technical image quality and value in her camera than an M8 or M9, if all we compare things to are the "results," given a constant photographer.

Right. You don't really like digital RFs at all. Oh well. 🙂

 

[Corran]

Way to totally misunderstand and misrepresent everything I said. Reading comprehension, try it.

 

[uhoh7]

Way to totally misunderstand and misrepresent everything I said. Reading comprehension, try it.

well, we know you have no respect for the M8, and:

To be frank, I have hardly shot my M9.

So...there is some other digi rangefinder you like enough to use?

hey, you are not the only one, lot's of people don't like them LOL

 

[Corran]

Apparently you still don't get it. Whatever...

 

[f16sunshine]

If you two wish to get a room out of view... go for it
Otherwise, please quit arguing within the thread. Thanks

 

[Cyriljay]

The M8 remains a great camera. I make use of the 33% crop factor when I use side by side the M8 and M9 on trips. This doubles for me the choices of focal lengths with half the number of lenses.

Exactly as raid Says....

I think the M8 is best value: it has it's limitations, particularly around ISO, but delivers wonderful files and image quality, especially in monochrome. It's so good that I've not found its successors to offer substantive improvements for me so I've stuck with it.

On a simple price/image capability measure it has to provide the best ratio, in my opinion at least.

Only the limitation in M8 the crop factor sucks sometimes....
:bang:

 

[ramosa]

Despite the plummeting price of the M240, that can't be the right answer. I'll go with the M9 ...

 

[nightfly]

Best value? The one that gets you the images you want so you stop thinking about the camera and equipment and take more photos.

I experienced this when I stopped messing around with various "poor man's Leica" fixed lens RFs and smallish SLRs and just got an M4-P. Would have spent less money buying the right tool to start with particularly if I figured in the time spent researching "alternatives".

Similar experience with the M9. it just works and I love the quality of the images out of the camera, which seem curiously absent from this discussion. Don't need a lot of post to get me where I want to be. Nothing to learn. Bought used no manual, put on lens, started shooting. First few times my thumb went for the rewind lever.

Less time dicking around in Lightroom = more value to me.

 

[Ronald M]

There are no value digital RF cameras. M8 is crop sensor and may develop the screen problem. Leica will offer an upgrade for a price you will not want to pay.

M9 has sensor corrosion which appears mostly in hi humidity conditions. So far they are willing to repair free. Future ??

M is expensive and best long term solution.

Epson may or may not be good and repair is a big question.

ME is same as M9

You need to pay a lot of $ to get in the game. Digital Leicas all will have longish term repairability/parts problems. Their solution will be for you to pay for an upgrade.

Budget digital is Nikon D3300, D5500, D7200, D610. All these will take very good photos with much less investment but are not RF cameras.

There is no reason to buy Leica unless you already have lenses and they are modern and coded so they focus properly. Old lenses may need to be recalibrate.

 

[Lss]

There is no reason to buy Leica unless you already have lenses and they are modern and coded so they focus properly.

What works for you is a much more important consideration than owning some lenses and buying something to stick them onto.

 

[jchfriis]

There are no value digital RF cameras. M8 is crop sensor and may develop the screen problem. Leica will offer an upgrade for a price you will not want to pay.

M9 has sensor corrosion which appears mostly in hi humidity conditions. So far they are willing to repair free. Future ??

M is expensive and best long term solution.

Epson may or may not be good and repair is a big question.

ME is same as M9

You need to pay a lot of $ to get in the game. Digital Leicas all will have longish term repairability/parts problems. Their solution will be for you to pay for an upgrade.

Budget digital is Nikon D3300, D5500, D7200, D610. All these will take very good photos with much less investment but are not RF cameras.

There is no reason to buy Leica unless you already have lenses and they are modern and coded so they focus properly. Old lenses may need to be recalibrate.

I had a couple of Leica lenses from my film days and bought a M8 when that came out. Never had a problem with it and it is still my favorite camera. In a burst of GAS I wanted full frame and bought a M-E. The improvement for me was so little that I sold that and kept the M8. As the price for a M8 is relatively low today, I would say that is the best value if you like rangefinders.

And by the way, coding the lenses or not has nothing to do with focusing.

 

[seakayaker1]

I loved my M8.2 and at times I wish I kept it. The M9 is a camera I intended to keep until it died a natural death. Unfortunately the sensor issue had my camera in the repair show in 2013 and again in 2015.

I made the decision to go for the Leica M-P since Leica offered a $4200.00 credit for the used M9. So for me I find that the Leica M-P digital rangefinder offered the best value since I received a credit value of about 67 percent of the original price I paid for the four plus year old M9.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Considering "all variables" for a totally absolute answer for Infinity and Beyond, I think the only answer is "none of the above. ever." Nikon included.

I know: mortal sin ever.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

... well it looks like Epson got it right with the very first Digital RF ever made, even all these years later Leica are struggling to make one we think is of equal value ... imagine if Cosina and Epson were to take what we've learned in the meantime and add a modern sensor in a new version of the RD1

The problem with Epson as a brand is that they are the antonym of Reliability --Customer Service included.

I think that Cosina is smart to stick to the lens-churning business rather than floating a new camera that is never going to please 100% of the market.

It's a perpetual game of "what have you done for me lately" and "you missed this spot on the corner, ffs". Did I type "game"? Exercise in futility, meants I.

If you specialize, the people on the outside will ridicule you for not being everything, or at least 99% of everything --"everything" meaning, of course, a specific set of subjective criteria.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, long rant short, that it's impossible to be Goldilocks' artisanal porridge to all Papa Bears and Mama Bears that are happy with microwaveable ramen soup.

 

[Lss]

I think that Cosina is smart to stick to the lens-churning business rather than floating a new camera that is never going to please 100% of the market.

Their lenses do not please 100% of the market.