Peter Stevens Posted December 13, 2006 Share #1 Posted December 13, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi Everyone, Just a short introduction from a professional photographer living and working in London, who today sold his black Leica M6 TTL. As Leica users you may understand that it's been a fairly traumatic day for me. The reason for joining this forum is because I plan to replace it with a Leica M8. Sadly the M6 was just not being used, as my professional work is now purely digital - Nikon D2X's with a full range of lenses. However, I have kept the following Leica lenses which I plan to use on the M8 - 28/2.8, 35/2 ASPH and 50/2. My previous Leica kit - a black M6 TTL was stolen in a burglary in 2000 - and replaced as new for old. This coincided with my professional work going digital and I'd now like to add an M8, particularly for low light/non-flash photography to make use of the tremendous lenses. My D2X's are very good up to 500/640 ISO, but 800 ISO and above noise becomes problematic. I've followed with interest the launch of the Leica M8 and it's various 'teething problems' and hope to use the advice given on this forum to be able to make best use of the M8. I'm very experienced with digital workflows, shooting only NEF/RAW files and converting using Adobe Camera Raw/Bridge/Photoshop CS2. I'm Mac based and happy to share any relevant experience with the forum. I'm NOT interested in owning a Leica and viewing it through the windows of a glass cabinet or hanging it round my neck like 'techno-jewellry'. This camera will have to earn its keep ! Best wishes, Pete S. London Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 13, 2006 Posted December 13, 2006 Hi Peter Stevens, Take a look here Introduction . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
grober Posted December 13, 2006 Share #2 Posted December 13, 2006 Welcome, Peter. Many of us whose living does not depend 100% on photography would love nothing more than to see pros like yourself making some or all of their income on the M8. I don't suspect this will happen any time soon but any added push you can add to the M8's future success as a product will be greedily noticed, applauded and enjoyed by the rest of the community. -g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted December 13, 2006 Share #3 Posted December 13, 2006 Hi Peter, welcome to the forum. I think that it's safe to say that most of the people here are Leica users rather than collectors. There are people here who's experience of Leicas - and photography for that matter - streches from newcomer to old codger. While we have out spats from time to time, it's fair to say that this is one of the friendliest and most knowledgable forums on the internet. Like yourself I'm waiting for my M8, which according to my dealer will be sometime in the new year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted December 13, 2006 Share #4 Posted December 13, 2006 Yes, welcome Peter, good to see another D2X user, this place is awash with Canon enthusiasts.the M8 is certainly showing promise, if I believe my dealer, I'll be getting my second one next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted December 13, 2006 Share #5 Posted December 13, 2006 Welcome Peter and from one Pro to another this is a great place to be . Folks here are the friendlist and most helpful around. There are several threads you need to read and just for the images alone besides the fun read the Yosemite thread and than there are many technical threads to read on functions, fixes and work arounds and such but enjoy yourself and welcome and look forward to interfacing with you. Last words the M8 Rocks:D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Stevens Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share #6 Posted December 13, 2006 Thanks Everyone, I do make 100% of my living from photography and hopefully I haven't lost the desire to take photos for my own enjoyment. What has happened with the move from film to digital is the chance to take an unobtrusive, quiet camera out for the day to shoot for ME. The Nikon D2X's are tremendous cameras for the majority of my professional work and today they've just been collected from servicing after shooting over 100,000 frames since February 2005. My Leica M6 was left neglected under my desk, to my eternal shame, and virtually unused. The release of the M8 will hopefully prove to be a useful addition to my photographic arsenal, particularly with low light situations where the Nikon's capabilities are restricted by f2.8 apertures and noise - both visual and aural. The 35/2 ASPH and 50/2 lenses give me an extra stop for low light and hopefully better overall quality than the Nikon 17-35/2.8 AFS or 28-70/2.8 AFS despite the slightly smaller pixel count. How long is the current delivery time in the UK for the M8 ? How much are Leica charging for 'coding' M lenses ? Are Leica supplying IR filters in different sizes ? Cheers, Pete S. London Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted December 13, 2006 Share #7 Posted December 13, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi Peter, I'm being told Jan/Feb by my dealer - Wilkinsons in Preston, but to be honest I don't think anyone is really sure how many cameras Leica is going to provide. The demand has been pretty high to say the least. The coding costs about £60 per lens, I'm sure Leica at Milton Keynes or someone else here can provide the exact cost. Don't know about the filters I'm afraid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Stevens Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share #8 Posted December 13, 2006 Hi Steve, Thanks for the information. If delivery times are that long I'd better get my order in soon. Do you think the delays are caused by changes and modifications to design and firmware by Leica or just that worldwide demand is far outstripping their manufacturing capabilities ? Cheers, Pete S. London Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted December 13, 2006 Share #9 Posted December 13, 2006 Are Leica supplying IR filters in different sizes ? Peter-- Can't speak for U.K., but in the US, Leica has said they will ship the two free filters to M8 owners during January, while the regular shipment of filters for dealers' shelves is due in February. Of course the filters were originally to have been available end of November, so take these predictions as predictions only. Do you think the delays are caused by changes and modifications to design and firmware by Leica or just that worldwide demand is far outstripping their manufacturing capabilities ? Both. Initial camera shipments had defects that were undiscovered during testing. Leica has called the initial cameras back for modification, so any new stock a dealer receives will have the corrections. For more (either marginally uninteresting or horrendous) details, see various threads on forum concerning "streaking," "green blobs," and "magenta cast." In addition, the initial appeal of the camera has been much greater than Leica expected, pulling people like you and me out of the closet. I don't have my M8 yet. Order and relax; you'll be happy when you get it. For reassurance, see also the thread http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/9022-30-x-40-inch-m8-prints.html. --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted December 13, 2006 Share #10 Posted December 13, 2006 Pete, I think it's demand. I ordered at the end of October/early November before the problems were acknowledged by Leica and was quoted that lead time. I rang the dealer at the weekend and was told it would still be next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Stevens Posted December 13, 2006 Author Share #11 Posted December 13, 2006 Thanks, I've read quite a few of the online reviews regarding the M8 and the various issues with pre-production models and early production samples. To be quite honest my initial thoughts were to leave it well alone. However, Leica have actually acknowledged there are problems and seem to be actively trying to find solutions. Given their recent financial crises and what seems to be a positive response to a product with some fairly obvious problems, I'm optimistic that by the time my M8 arrives it will be fully functional. They seem less likely to ignore customer requests for changes and modifications unlike Nikon, who are still encrypting their NEF (Nikon's proprietary RAW format Nikon Electronic Format) white balance information. I was an alpha tester for Adobe's Lightroom and would be very interested to use it to test the capabilities of the M8 DNG files. Does anyone know if Adobe Camera Raw needs updating to process the M8 DNG files or are they a 'standard' DNG ? Cheers, Pete S. London Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted December 13, 2006 Share #12 Posted December 13, 2006 I don't know about ACR, but I have been using Lightroom with my M8. The results have generally been very pleasing, but it occasionally has real problems with white balance. I have one DNG which I couldn't get to look right (magenta skin, but everything else fine) until I brought it into C1LE. I have posted this DNG to the Lightroom bug forum, so hopefully it will be fixed in the next version. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted December 13, 2006 Share #13 Posted December 13, 2006 Pete, the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw handles the RAW files from the M8. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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