M8 Newbie Love

[mkendzierski]

I don't know how to put this but I'm sort of ruined.

Not in a terrible way but ever since I bought my M8, I've started reading everything I could get my hands on about digital photography...the basics...the not so basics...workflow, imaging & software tools, light metering, "filling the frame" and ....I'm having a trouble looking at a tree, person, landscape, building or setting the same way. Everything is new again.

I've always been interested in photography but since I upgraded from my (ahem) Canon Digital IS700 Elph things really haven't been the same. I only have a single lens for my M8 (Summicron 35mm 1:2 ASP) & I know understand why I'll probably be getting a larger wide angle & possibly a macro or telephoto lens in the near future. There is just so many options & things I want to shoot.

Damn this camera...I'm going to be poor soon.

Having gone from Unconscious Incompetence or "not knowing what I don't know" & graduated to Conscious Incompetence or "now knowing what I don't know," the process is even scarier but so much fun.

I'm having so much fun with this camera (and the new hobby of course) that it's really making me approach the world that i see different & challenging me to shoot as much as possible. It's so much fun & I'm extremely glad that this new creative outlet has a great support group in the means of this forum.

I've gotten some great advice so far form folks in the forum & I wanted to say thank you because that even makes me want to shoot more!

I've discovered the benefits of using a manual camera and putting my toe in the water of "Lightroom" & "Photoshop" will come next. I promise to post a link to some photos soon.

Thanks for the great advice everyone....and if anyone has any more advice they can throw my way....please do! I am still very new & anything that can help speed the process along the better!

-Mike

[stunsworth]

Don't rush into buying too many lenses too soon. The 35mm that you have is an excellent lens. Get used to that and then think about where you want to go next.

For what it's worth I use a 24mm with my 35mm and find them an excellent combination.

[nmurray]

Oh the pain and pleasure.

Also have new M8.

On the one hand -
Bizarre white balance. Sometimes. A large area of ferns
in shade turned out organge.

Wrong picture displayed on LCD.

90mm Elmarit has 8 inch backfocus at 6 feet.

10 minutes of panic while camera choked on 4 GB mem card.

Sensor is a dust magnet (to be fair I've had the same problem with Canon 5d).

Moire patterns.

On the other hand -
I can put on the 50 f2 Summicron and come back home with
the sharpest, cleanest, most impressive images I have ever taken
with a digital camera. That includes the Canon 5d.

I just came back from climbing over the rocks along the ocean at Halibut
point (Rockport,Ma,USA) and I sit looking with fascination at the pictures, even the
bad ones, because of the detail. The unfiltered sensor, despite the moire patterns,
lets the lens perform its function to an amazing degree.

Could just be my imagination but I think I am getting better results than I did with
film on the M6.

Raw files are the first I've seen that need so little, if any, sharpening. And they
allow as much processing latitude as the 5d. Maybe more.

It is also interesting that I have sort of rediscovered the basics of photography. I
put the M8 on manual and now happily ponder speed/aperture/DOF etc. before
taking the image.

This is like being in love with a woman that you know is going to be trouble, but
you can't help yourself. It's just too much fun.

Neil M.

[cme4brain]

[quote=mkendzierski;330974]I don't know how to put this but I'm sort of ruined.

Not in a terrible way but ever since I bought my M8, I've started reading everything I could get my hands on about digital photography...the basics...the not so basics...workflow, imaging & software tools, light metering, "filling the frame" and ....I'm having a trouble looking at a tree, person, landscape, building or setting the same way. Everything is new again.

I've always been interested in photography but since I upgraded from my (ahem) Canon Digital IS700 Elph things really haven't been the same. I only have a single lens for my M8 (Summicron 35mm 1:2 ASP) & I know understand why I'll probably be getting a larger wide angle & possibly a macro or telephoto lens in the near future. There is just so many options & things I want to shoot.

Damn this camera...I'm going to be poor soon.


Save yourself some big bucks and buy Voigtlander lenses, they are incredible buys for the money. Some of them can hardly be distinguished from Leica glass in real world photography! Subscribe to Sean Reids website for info. You can buy every lens Cosina Voigtlander makes for less than one Leica lens.

[wparsonsgisnet]

Mike, most here will recommend that you shoot raw. I happen to shoot both hi-res jpg and dng (raw) at the same time.

I use both C1 and PSCS3. There is a tutorial (instruction book) that goes with C1. It helps to get going.

If you plan to use PS, I *highly* recommend the book, "Real World Camera RAW," by Scott Fraser. He died recently and a new edition of the book is being brought out by a new author. There are editions of this book for CS, CS2, and CS3.

This is easily the most important book about digital photog in my library. I also recommend others about PS and digital photog.

Following a reading of Camera RAW, a membership on this Forum is the next best thing.

Congratulations and welcome. Be assured that the itch to acquire Leica glass will go away -- NOT.

[Artichoke]

the camera will grow on you
it is a wonderful tool which continues to amaze me the more I use it
my experience with it echoes much of what has been written about here, but unlike Neil M. who wrote twice about moire problems with his M8, I have been surprised at how little moire I have seen from mine
I think this may be due to my use of RAW & the excellent C1 processing which is tuned for the M8 ...I have seen very little moire from my M8 and certainly less than I had anticipated
for me moire is a minor M8 problem and less than I saw with my Fujifilm DSLRs

[nmurray]

I do always use raw file format.

If the upload works then here are a couple of
examples. The color moire in the wood pattern
is especially weird. I don't think I've seen that
sort of thing before.

Neil M

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by wparsonsgisnet

If you plan to use PS, I *highly* recommend the book, "Real World Camera RAW," by Scott Fraser. He died recently and a new edition of the book is being brought out by a new author. There are editions of this book for CS, CS2, and CS3.

Actually, it is Bruce (not Scott) Fraser. There are other Photoshop books written by Scott Kelby, which are also very good. Bruce Fraser was the one who recently died. Scott is still doing new books and Photoshop seminars.

[Artichoke]

Originally Posted by nmurray

I do always use raw file format.

If the upload works then here are a couple of
examples. The color moire in the wood pattern
is especially weird. I don't think I've seen that
sort of thing before.

Neil M

that is impressive moire and doubtless difficult to correct
I cannot say that I have ever seen this with C1
what converter did you use?

[Philinflash]

Originally Posted by nmurray

I do always use raw file format.

If the upload works then here are a couple of
examples. The color moire in the wood pattern
is especially weird. I don't think I've seen that
sort of thing before.

Neil M

Is that a insect screen in the window? That's the sort of thing that can produce moire patterns in the right light conditions.

Philip Kozloff