should I sell all my Nikon stuff to buy an M8?

[AbbeyPhoto]

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I use both Nikon and Leica, sometimes there is a crossover but mostly its the Nikons for professional work and the Leica for me. I love full frame on my D3, but only because it has a large pixel size which gives low noise (which is also why the M9 is ruined for me by having 18Mp - way too many). I also love my M8, and I don't even notice the crop factor.

 

If the D2h does what you need then get another one, there's no need to upgrade unless you need to, I have a surplus factory reconditioned one that will be on eBay shortly - a camera doesn't stop being good just because something better has come along. Then sell your M6 and buy an M8, the D2h / M8 combination will cover most eventualities - when you need autofocus or high speed use the Nikon. The D2h was a great camera and the focussing in low light is still better than the D3 in my opinion, but the M8 is my all time favourite camera.

[crbirchenhall]

I have cashed in cameras I was not using only to regret it later - I recently replaced the silver M6TTL I cashed in last year - it sits happily next to the M8.2. Strangely I find I like a 50mm and 90mm on the M8 despite, maybe due to the crop factor. The problem I have with the M8 is the 6-bit coding for wides.

 

Sounds like your D2H is a problem rather than the Nikon system. You could get a S/H D300 and wait until S/H M9s start to appear! DSLRs can have their uses.

[menos I M6]

After a really intense hands on since yesterday on my second hand M8.2, I must say one thing:

 

Do not sell a Nikon DSLR system for a Leica M8, if you are accustomed to the qualities of the Nikon system!

 

The M8 is a very fine and interesting camera, but due to its quirks, I don't even see me selling off my EPSON R-D1.

Even the very first digital rangefinder runs circles around the Leica M8, when it comes to shooting low light! Pushed ISO 3200 files from the R-D1 look better than some M8 files @ ISO 1250 !!!

 

The M8 buffer fills really, really quick, when shooting RAW in an intense scene. Actually so quick, that shooting a film M feels liberating (you might not get to properly exposed and handholded 2 frames/ sec, but you don't hit the buffer after a few frames of those).

 

I see qualities in the M8.2, I am really excited about. I see very useful qualities though in my R-D1 and the remaining D3 from the Nikon gear, that I sold off.

 

One thing alone, you might think of, when dumping your D2 is:

 

Do you stay at home, when it is raining outside, or do you take a rain jacket, the D2 and a weather sealed lens to shoot?

 

After the stories, I read about the weather proofness of digital Leica M, I really won't risk a drop with these cameras.

 

Don't sell your Nikon gear - keep a SLR in range and your favorite lens or two - you won't regret it.

[AbbeyPhoto]

I've never seen an Epson RD1 so I can't comment on that. The buffer issue is only a problem if you're shooting fast continuous action, in which case a Leica (any Leica) is the wrong tool for the job. As to low light, yes it's not up to the current Nikon range (which I use daily) but it's no worse than the D2H. Anyway, there's more to life than low light.

[brianv]

I had my D1 out in the Blizzard yesterday, the M8 out in it before that. And the F3HP today. I would not sell any of them in favor of the other. The D1 has all the pixels required for an 8x10, at 200DPI. The M8- 4x better. And the F3HP? Need I say more.

 

The OP has a busted D2H. It can be replaced for a couple of hundred $'s for one that works, and with a camera with at least 2x the 4 megapixels of the D2H. What I do not get is the 1.5x crop factor in the Nikon being Okay, but the 1.3x crop in the M8 being a problem. I personally find the 1.3x crop factor in the M8 being much less of an issue than the 1.5x crop in the D1. I use the Nikon E3 with its Full-frame optics and less megapixels more than the D1. For work- mostly technical photography, a pair of Nikon D1x's bought new when they were first announced..

 

So, if crop factor is an issue: the D700 is the cheapest, modern camera that will take the OP's lenses. The M9 is out of reach. The OP does not seem to like the M8. Being a Nikon user for almost 40 years, with 60 or so Nikon cameras and 100 or so Nikon lenses, I just cannot understand how someone cannot like the M8.

[lct]

...What I do not get is the 1.5x crop factor in the Nikon being Okay, but the 1.3x crop in the M8 being a problem...

50mm lenses are either too short or too long with 1.3x where they make perfect 75mm lenses with 1.5x. Also 2 lenses (28 + 50) cover most of my needs with 1.5x. I would need 3 lenses or a 60mm lens with 1.3x. Let alone the filters/coding issues of the M8.

[brianv]

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My 5.8cm F1.4 Nikkor-S is about the same FOV as the 50mm lens on the M8. Figure that prints, slides, and scans are about a 1.1x crop factor on a 35mm negative or slide.

 

It makes a nice "loose" portrait focal length. Nikon also brought back the 58mm focal length for their Noct-Nikkor.

 

I guess it is what you are used to. I use many 50mm lenses quite a bit with RF cameras, always had loose framing on a film camera as the RF lenses do not focus as close as an SLR lens. The 1.3x crop factor gets it in tighter. On the Nikon DX format, the 50's are too tight for my taste. I end up using a 35mm FL lens instead. Ultimately, I will get an M9. Prices on M8's are too good to pass up, and I'll let early adopters shake it out for me. I did enough "early Adopting" with DSLR's in the early 90s. Kodak DCS200ir, circa 1993; Nikon E3 circa 1998; Nikon D1x Jan 2002. All of them still are operational. I hope the M8 keeps going for the next 20 years, like the Kodak has.

 

Will add- With the Nikon DX, I can usually find a focal length that does what I want. Start at 20mm and end at 1000mm. I was never big on wide-angle lenses.

[lct]

...With the Nikon DX, I can usually find a focal length that does what I want....

So do i. No problem with 1.5x or full frame generally. 1.3x or 4/3 do not make it for me.