Leica Digital M8

[DonLashier]

Originally Posted by Ken_Tanaka

So I wonder how much the M8 will expand Leica's rangefinder market since the Ms are largely manual cameras/lenses (in an auto everything age)

I may be old fashioned but after shooting everything manual for 40 years I gave it a shot with my Canon and am back to manual except for focus, and with a rangefinder even that would be a non-issue except for sports.

Price is an issue for me but only because I no longer have any Leica mount glass so the total would be quite a bite.

- DL

[Edmond_Terakopian]

Just when I was quite content with my Canon setup, the M8 comes along and on paper its a lot better than I anticipated! Hmmm!
Anyone got any links to images taken with the camera??

Edmond

[DavidBabcock]

I guess for me the real downside (not realistic though as I would never be putting this amount of money into more M stuff) is the 1.3 factor.

I am still with Nikon and am comfortable with the 1.5 aspect of things in that the 17-35, a 50 and a 85 or 80-200 work well with what I do, but if I was using all fixed focal length lenses, it still bugs me that a 35 is not 35 etc etc--I say this in the angle of observing someone or a situation and "seeing" it knowing that with a given lens, you could seamlessly bring a body to your eye and frame what you are "seeing".

Not sure if I'm expressing myself properly here, but as someone who did a lot of street photography, mostly with FM's and FM2's, but a bit with M bodies, I could live easily with a 35mm (most favoritie lens), a 50 or 85/90 for closeups, and a 24 or 20 for being really "in" the situation. I by no means discount modern zooms like my fav 17-35, which is incredibly flexible, but getting back to the M aspect here, it would really bug me that you have to rethink ingrained "eyeviewing" of a given lens, especially given that this is the whole thing with shooting with a rangefinder--discrete, not shooting like a bloody machine gun, with previsualizing being even more important given the nature of how it shoots (not autofocus, many frames/second, you know what I mean).

just some thoughts when I saw the M8 info
cheers

[Jamie_Roberts]

David,

I think, actually, that the rangefinder lines inside the viewfinder include the crop factor on the M8... and they're bringing out an incredibly compact f 2.8 Elmarit 28 mm to do "35 mm duty." For a lot of shots, I'm thinking I'm going to set that thing on f 4 - 5.6, use the hypfocal marks and just shoot shoot shoot.

But I agree it's a pain messing with FOV though--it really is. Thanks to the 1ds2, I'm very used to full frame, and the wider you go the less you get in terms of DOF control. However, the difference between shooting 28 cropped and 35 ff shouldn't be very much at all. And the new 35 ASPH Summicron is also outstanding as a normal lens.

It's a wee bit worse on the DMR / R9, where I'd love to be able to use the newer version 50 Summilux as a "50 FOV" though I shouldn't really even complain. The R version 28 Elmarit and, especially, the oldish, even by Leica standards, 35 Summilux are truly outstanding lenses.

But they're not as good as the 50, which is exceptional--right up there with the 100 ASPH macro (which is quite interesting as a 135 FOV crop).

[DavidBabcock]

yeah, I did read that the lines automatically go to the 1.3 changed positions, and the new 28 2.8 looks about as small or thereabouts as the old 35 f2. I mention these points all really from an armchair point of view, I would of course love to use an M8 with a 21, a 28 and 50 and would adapt fairly easily and be happy as a clam in the quiet situations that would favor a rangefinder, but lets face it, I would have to become seriously wealthy before putting well over 10k into a niche bunch of equipment. All the best to those who can actually use these in their work, I too am curious to see how the files compare to other established bodies.

cheers

[Jamie_Roberts]

Yep--it's all arm-chair commentary at this point. The only photos that were posted were taken down very quickly. However, people I respect (in other words, who know pro digital) who have gotten to work with the prototype M8s (final firmware isn't ready yet, evidently) have been mostly very, very pleased with them.

But even based on the image quality of the DMR (that is, the 16 bit-ness of the image), if the low-light image quality is there in the M8, then Leica will have a real winner, I think.

While a lot of pros don't like rangefinders, to me they're fantastic for events, especially where people see you coming with a 1ds2 and get their best (worst) smile ready, if you know what I mean.

[PhilipKach]

Originally Posted by Jamie_Roberts

While a lot of pros don't like rangefinders, to me they're fantastic for events, especially where people see you coming with a 1ds2 and get their best (worst) smile ready, if you know what I mean.

Events and rangefinder cameras go hand in hand.

I will never forget one of my first experiences with professional digital SLR.

A quick personal history. For years I shot events with rangefinders or a Hasselblad. My first DSLR experience was non-professional with the Nikon D100. I liked it but chose the Canon 1D as my first DSLR for business use. I purchased it with several lenses including the 24-70mm f 2.8.

My first time out with the camera was still a non-business function to learn the beast. I took it to a church youth event with people I know. One young man saw the lens and said, "What are you planning just to shoot my nostrils!". He thought it was a long telephoto.

Leason learned. I still have use for the 24-70 but usually use primes in that range for events. Of course, I still have a body with the 70-200mm for telephoto use.

I sure hope the M8 works well. I would love to return to a rangefinder for events.

Philip