Why I still use the M8 and do not have an M9

Reason is simple: I cannot get one. I orded at the end of last year and I'm still waiting and using my M8. To me, the biggest advantage is that you get to use "all" of your lenses. There are no lenses made for the M8, only for the M7, M6, etc. When you use those Leica lenses on the M8 you're giving up a significant portion of a very expensive lens. I want the whole lens back. Take a look at the thread up above from Josh, who showed what the 35mm Lux ASPH can do on the M9 in Europe. It's what the lenses were made for.
 
anu L ogy said:
According to Ken Rockwell, anyone who owns a half frame M8 is a fool!
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Well you know what they say about people who tell that all the others are fools ;)

btw half frame supposes a crop factor of two, so ..

and further I have gathered a nice set of lenses around the 1.33 crop, so I would have to change that if I would go full frame, but for now I don't want to change that, further I am in no need for (much) bigger files, and more battery drain etc........
 
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information conformity

by posting your thoughts and feelings in a thread where people share the same sentiments reinforces your stance.

neither faction can criticise your decision because everyone is feeling the same way. unless of course money is free flowing.

i would love to get an m9 but i rather use the money for vacations. then time passes by and camera hobby dies down... then on to new hobby.
 
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blimey said:
information conformity

by posting your thoughts and feelings in a thread where people share the same sentiments reinforces your stance.

neither faction can criticise your decision because everyone is feeling the same way. unless of course money is free flowing.
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So your recommendation is only to post when you disagree?
 
Like you, I don’t want to outlay the money for an M9, and I’m not too concerned by the crop factor. Someday, sure, if my M8 ceases to work (knock on wood that it’ll never happen), I’ll need a newer M, but it’s not something that I think about. As you point out, the M9 seems to have better high-ISO and better dynamic range—but, as a photographer, I’m certainly not too good for my M8!
 
larryk34 said:
When you use those Leica lenses on the M8 you're giving up a significant portion of a very expensive lens. I want the whole lens back. Take a look at the thread up above from Josh, who showed what the 35mm Lux ASPH can do on the M9 in Europe. It's what the lenses were made for.
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The shots from Josh are indeed nice, but many are clearly cropped (to square format, for instance), so citing this work to make a point about the M8's "giving up a significant portion of a very expensive lens" (versus the M9) doesn't make for a strong case.

Jeff
 
I'm using my M8 still because I just got it. And I just got it because the M9 has finally driven the prices down enough that I could approach one: probably the 30th ebay auction I've bid on that didn't soar past my limit...

I've used Nikon DSLRs for years, and can see that there's really nothing about the M8 that requires upgrading to the M9. It can produce some amazing images.
 
What Leica should have done is continue the M8 as a cheaper M digital model with improved high ISO. It is too bad they did not. The M8 could have been priced at $4,700 new and if you want full frame, 7K for the M9.
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Call me a synic but the chances of that happening were always zilch. Far to much potential money to be squeezed out of the M9 wanabees to go offering something that may actually be good value! :p
 
Having bought a user M8 a couple of weeks ago...

Aside from some simple point and shoots, I waited a long time to go digital. Frankly, until the past 1-2 years I thought most (not all) digital was pretty dismal. Worse, all the digital SLRs I played with are so darned complicated. 50,000 point AF / multi-dimensional evalu-logistical metering / super-time-warp AF....whatever.




With all the digital SLRs I spent so much time playing around with stupid functions I didn't need that I didn't spend enough time trying to take photos. Heck, at least 1/2 the time I got so frustrated with these digital computers trying to think for me, for a while I quit taking photos altogether for the better part of the past few years. I stuck my head in the sand and went away. The bad part was that I love photography and I truly missed it.

I totally blew off the M8, up until I saw a used one in a camera store. No AF, no multi-point anything, just manual and AE. I can use all of the lenses for the M2 my dad handed down to me 20 years ago. I talked to 2-3 guys shooting 8s and 9s. I checked out the images people were making with them online. I saw some digital prints. Holy crap! These M8/M9 things are good! Leica made a CAMERA, not just another $5000 hand-held gizmo-computer. I actually get to be a photographer again.

So I bought a user M8. As I posted elsewhere on the forum, aside from the full-frame sensor, there isn't anything on the 9 I can even remotely justify. To be truthful, I was really worried about the crop factor. So I bought a 28 and I actually can't believe how happy I am with the camera. Aside from having to think about lenses a little differently, I don't see the crop factor as a big deal at all. In fact, even when I eventually buy an M9 (or 10, or 11) I'll keep the 8 because of the crop factor for portraits and tele work.

Sure the 8 has its limitations. But who cares!! Its the first digital camera I've seen that let's me be the photographer. I could care less about paint vs chrome, leather vs vulcanite, or kinda-quiet vs really-really-reall quiet. Take your M8 out. Use the hell out of it. Beat it up. Send it back to Leica for a CLA as brassy as those old M4s we love to see photos of. Take photos!! LOTS of them. Photography is back!!
 
larryk34 said:
When you use those Leica lenses on the M8 you're giving up a significant portion of a very expensive lens.
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Sometimes that has a downside. Most of most lenses' aberrations are located in the area cropped away by the M8. On an M8 the optical differences between the latest ASPH and the older versions, or 3rd-party lenses, are much less evident than on an M9.
 
anu L ogy said:
According to Ken Rockwell, anyone who owns a half frame M8 is a fool!
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Maybe Mr Rockwell would like to buy me an M9 then ! It's very simple, some of us can't afford an M9, but can just about squeeze to a used M8. Are we therefore deemed to be a FOOL because of our lack of buying power ?
 
parigby said:
Maybe Mr Rockwell would like to buy me an M9 then ! It's very simple, some of us can't afford an M9, but can just about squeeze to a used M8. Are we therefore deemed to be a FOOL because of our lack of buying power ?
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Of course. Basic consumer capitalism. I'm a fool because I can't afford a new car every few years, to let it rust into worthlessness.

Stop using consumerist definitions and things start looking different...

Cheers,

R.
 
I remember starting a similar thread on Leica forum, 100 reasons to stay with the M8. On 09/09/09 I went to the M9 launch, tried it with my 35 Lux, and ... signed the order one minute after. I don't regret it a single minute, there are many ways justify staying with the M8, but the M9 is extraordinary and I enjoy it every day. If one is passionate and serious with M photography, upgrade. Life is short, money comes and goes, so rationalizing M8 vs M9 is just a loss of time (provided the purchase does not put you in financial trouble)
 
The M8, 3mo used with under 400clicks on it was $4500 less than an M9. That's why I bought one and use it. If I really like it, the money is in a CD for an M9. An unexpected bonus check, enough for the M8 and M9. When the CD matures, I'll make that decision.
 
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