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Christmas gift from Leica?

epand56

By epand56
in Leica M8 / Leica M8.2

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Photon42

Photon42

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Will leica give us poor, M8 second class users a new fat and juicy firmware for Christmas?

Maybe with some of the features of the M9? Any insider trading out there?

It would be time...

 

I'd certainly feel poorer, if I had paid for the M9 :D

 

OK - the lens menu would be nice, but then I tend to permanently code my lenses anyway.

 

Cheers

Ivo

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ho_co

ho_co

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Enrico, the M8 is out of production. Any firmware update for it will be a maintenance release with no new features.

 

We've already got a far more capable camera than the M8 was originally, but according to the LuLa interview with Stephan Daniel, there's no way to put features of the M9 into the M8.

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tbarker13

tbarker13

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Enrico, the M8 is out of production. Any firmware update for it will be a maintenance release with no new features.

 

We've already got a far more capable camera than the M8 was originally, but according to the LuLa interview with Stephan Daniel, there's no way to put features of the M9 into the M8.

 

No offense intended, Howard. But I'm not sure I follow your line of reasoning about us having a far more capable camera than the M8 was originally. I've owned one since day one and I can't say mine does any more today than it did in the beginning. They've tossed in a couple updates (auto ISO and delayed shutter cocking), but those items fall well short of making the camera "far more capable."

 

Surely Stephan Daniel didn't actually claim there "is no way" to put features of the M9 into the M8? That would seem to be pretty dishonest. Probably what he meant to say was that the company does not WANT to invest the time or money into such an endeavor. Obviously you can't put a full frame sensor in the M8. But given that the company has managed to include a few other changes to the M8, there is no way I'm going to believe the camera's firmware cannot be edited to give it manual lens selection or even the ability to assign a different function to the silly "protect" button.

 

There's a world of difference between "can't" and "won't."

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viramati

viramati

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email from leica a few weeks back

 

I take on board what you are saying, however I can only report to you what our Director of Product Management in Germany tells me. Let’s hope at least some of the new M9 features will be backwards compatible with the M8/8.2.

The upgrades to the Panasonic LX-3 will be available for the D-LUX 4 in due course, and downloadable from the Leica website. Although I understand these are only improvements to existing camera functions.

 

Kind regards

 

Nobby Clark

Photographic Consultant

 

Leica Camera Ltd / Davy Avenue / Knowlhill / Milton Keynes MK5 8LB / UK

 

--------------------

David Sampson Photography

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sfokevin

sfokevin

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Will leica give us poor, M8 second class users a new fat and juicy firmware for Christmas?

Maybe with some of the features of the M9? Any insider trading out there?

It would be time...

 

Sadly as you say we are now 2nd in line... And there is presently a clamor building in the M9 forum demanding Leica issue a M9 firmware update to fix all the casting, WB, lens recognition, review blackout... ... ... ...

 

So much for the nice winning out over the naughty....

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brill64

brill64

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i believe leica will come up with something for m8/m8.2 owners because they said in 2008 something along the lines that the m8 would be kept upgradeable and and useable and not become defunct. we've always had to wait a long time for these but they came out eventually. nobody expected the discreet mode update for the m8 when the m8.2 came out, for example..

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ho_co

ho_co

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Tim--

Check the video yourself. I was glad to see such upfront explanation from Stephan.

 

M8 "cannot" get manual lens selection; not enough processing power, I think, and definitely not enough room on board for the lens read-out tables. Manual lens selection was IIRC one of the main reasons for the introductions of the M9.

 

 

You and I will disagree over 'much more capable.' When I bought the M8, it had thoroughly erratic AWB and accepted only SD cards or 4GB hybrid (neither SD nor SDHC) versions, only manual ISO.

 

People were clamoring for a quieter camera, and Leica gave us two routes to that, one of them free through firmware.

 

 

What you seem to be saying is, "Well, those changes aren't what I wanted, and until it gets manual lens choice, no matter what I get, it still won't be 'more capable.'" :(

Edited by ho_co
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ho_co

ho_co

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... The upgrades to the Panasonic LX-3 will be available for the D-LUX 4 in due course, and downloadable from the Leica website. Although I understand these are only improvements to existing camera functions....

 

Now that's interesting, since the Panasonic offers some altogether new functions like 1:1 aspect ratio, white-balance bracketing and 'lens resume.'

 

I hope Clark is wrong about Leica only adding the extensions to existing functions.

 

Obviously, D-Lux 4 won't get the ability to add text to photos, since that requires Panasonic's software for extraction. But aside from that, I would think Leica would transfer the whole set. :(

 

Thanks for the titillation! :)

Edited by ho_co
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tbarker13

tbarker13

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Posted

 

What you seem to be saying is, "Well, those changes aren't what I wanted, and until it gets manual lens choice, no matter what I get, it still won't be 'more capable.'" :(

 

Not at all. I really don't care if the camera has manual lens selection or not. But I know a lot of users do want it. I'll admit, though, I'd love the ability to assign some other function to the ill-conceived "protect" button.

 

A bigger issue for me is the notion (and I really don't mean to blaming this notion on you) that Leica is through with the M8. I'm not saying they should be providing updates 5 or 10 years from now - but we are talking about a $5,000 camera that's been out of production for less than a year. It still deserves some attention.

 

I guess we'll disagree on this, but I'm just not buying the explanation that the M8's processor has been taxed to its limits. Rather, I think it's a case of the company choosing to spend its resources and time on other endeavors.

 

Heck, maybe other M8 users don't really care. I certainly can't speak for them. But I believe a small niche company like Leica should set itself apart through superior customer service and support for its products.

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epand56

epand56

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I'm not saying they should be providing updates 5 or 10 years from now - but we are talking about a $5,000 camera that's been out of production for less than a year. It still deserves some attention.

 

It would be extremely surprising, from a quoted company like the Laica Camera AG, if this should not happen. I suppose that ANY serious company would deserve a serious attention on those customers owning the last model before the new one. We are not talking of a 20 yo camera here, we are talking of what was the state of the art just a couple months ago.

I'm sure there are much more M8 users out there that deserve Leica attentions than those now having an M9. So I EXPECT an interesting new firmware.

Or my interest in Leica would be no more as it is today.

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TimF

TimF

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A bigger issue for me is the notion (and I really don't mean to blaming this notion on you) that Leica is through with the M8. I'm not saying they should be providing updates 5 or 10 years from now - but we are talking about a $5,000 camera that's been out of production for less than a year. It still deserves some attention.

How many firmware updates did Canon (as an example) provide for the £7000 1Ds after it's replacement by the Mk II? As I recall, from being a former owner, a big fat zero. The same is true for all manufacturers, so why is it Leica gets it in the neck all the time when others don't seem to? :p

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sfokevin

sfokevin

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How many firmware updates did Canon (as an example) provide for the £7000 1Ds after it's replacement by the Mk II? As I recall, from being a former owner, a big fat zero. The same is true for all manufacturers, so why is it Leica gets it in the neck all the time when others don't seem to? :p

 

I believe that in v2.002 of this thread there was talk of a little statement that Leica PUT IN WRITING that gave potential BUYERS the impression that Leica might continue to support the M8 for more than a few days after they stopped making them...

 

...Leaves the room quietly to go take some photographs...

Edited by sfokevin
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epand56

epand56

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I believe that in v2.002 of this thread there was talk of a little statement that Leica PUT IN WRITING that gave potential BUYERS the impression that Leica might continue to support the M8 for more than a few days after they stopped making them...

 

...Leaves the room quietly to go take some photographs...

 

Bkk, I'm still going on taking pictures, almost every day and maybe several times a day (according with doctor's advice :D).

Nevertheless I'd love to know that Saint-Leica is still thinking of me and the other sons of a lesser god users as if we were still alive. That's all.

I'm aleady being kicked in the ass by Apple for not having upgraded to Intel, should Leica AG behave the same, this would bore me quite a lot :cool:.

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TimF

TimF

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I believe that in v2.002 of this thread there was talk of a little statement that Leica PUT IN WRITING that gave potential BUYERS the impression that Leica might continue to support the M8 for more than a few days after they stopped making them...

 

...Leaves the room quietly to go take some photographs...

For sure, as Jaap says, adding new lenses for existing (and new, come to that) M8 users is good, and to be expected.

 

However, Leica's priority has to be to sell the M9, not to give M8 users an effectively free crop frame version of the camera. That might be harsh, but the survival long term of the company dictates it.

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sfokevin

sfokevin

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However, Leica's priority has to be to sell the M9, not to give M8 users an effectively free crop frame version of the camera. That might be harsh, but the survival long term of the company dictates it.

 

So it looks like we all just have to settle for a lump of coal...

Edited by sfokevin
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