My new M8u

[johnalex141r]

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I should add that the new firmware has improved the M9 significantly, but I still find the M8 - in M8u guise - a very satisying camera to use.

 

Mark; this is interesting. My original M8 is in for shutter repair (dropped off at the LeicaBoutique mentioned earlier in this thread last Saturday) and had wondered about maybe upgrading the shutter.

 

The store did have an M9, but I did not really look at it - enough fun with the M8 when it is running ok.

 

In your opinion - and I realize it is an opinion - would you have the shutter upgraded on an original M8 if it was in for repair anyway, or just save the pennies for an M9? (no quotes for repair/replacement recieved yet for my M8, of course)

 

Just asking...

 

JohnS.

[wattsy]

I often think I was a bit hasty in selling both my M8 bodies. I often miss the combination of M8 and 35 Summicron - it's a non-flashy set-up which worked well for me for most uses. The M9 and 50 Summilux has better image quality but is far less ergonomically satisfying - the lens is heavier, the camera less well balanced (for me) and the lens focus is not as silky smooth as the 35 Summicron. Acquiring a 50 Summarit or Summicron is probably the answer but I'm not in the mood for buying (or selling) any more lenses. I'm also not convinced that I need 18MP for much of what I shoot (especially personal stuff). 18MP just means more hard drive space is taken up and post processing and retouching is a little slower. More trivially, I also miss the utilitarian colder finish of the black chrome I had on the M8.

[wilfredo]

Jeff

 

I like the M9 IQ but the issue I have with it is not knowing whether it is ready to shoot. You cannot tell looking at the camera whether it is sleeping or active and I've missed a number of shots while the camera wakes from its slumbers.

 

It's down to the deleted top panel LCD. The M8 LCD was hardly a masterpiece but at least it allows you to confirm the camera is awake. Leica could have enhanced it to provide more information in a more readable form in the M9 where pointless cost cutting saw it dispensed with.

 

Then there's the return to plastic LCD cover which adds a bloom to the images compared to the sapphire glass.

 

You raise a valid point. The top panel LCD should have never been eliminated, and a return to the plastic LCD cover instead of keeping the sapphire glass was a disappointment. That was a turn-off for me. However, financially - for corporate Leica - it has been a good strategy to cheapen the M9. They saved a ton of money, and people are lining up to buy it anyway. In a sense, Leica has been rewarded for cutting corners, but if they had competition from another company making a FF digital M, I suspect they would not have taken that route. The M8 lives!

[wilfredo]

I often think I was a bit hasty in selling both my M8 bodies. I often miss the combination of M8 and 35 Summicron - it's a non-flashy set-up which worked well for me for most uses. The M9 and 50 Summilux has better image quality but is far less ergonomically satisfying - the lens is heavier, the camera less well balanced (for me) and the lens focus is not as silky smooth as the 35 Summicron. Acquiring a 50 Summarit or Summicron is probably the answer but I'm not in the mood for buying (or selling) any more lenses. I'm also not convinced that I need 18MP for much of what I shoot (especially personal stuff). 18MP just means more hard drive space is taken up and post processing and retouching is a little slower. More trivially, I also miss the utilitarian colder finish of the black chrome I had on the M8.

 

I hear you about the M8 and 35mm combo, it's what I most use but having said that, I am in the market to purchase a 50mm Summilux ASPH to use with my M8 (it will replace my former 50mm Hexanon which I recently sold).

[wattsy]

I hear you about the M8 and 35mm combo, it's what I most use but having said that, I am in the market to purchase a 50mm Summilux ASPH to use with my M8 (it will replace my former 50mm Hexanon which I recently sold).

 

Ergonomics aside (which are often personal considerations) the 50 Summilux is a superb lens. That said, it only really shines on a full frame camera - especially a film one. On the M8, you are essentially cropping away half the negative.

[wilfredo]

Ergonomics aside (which are often personal considerations) the 50 Summilux is a superb lens. That said, it only really shines on a full frame camera - especially a film one. On the M8, you are essentially cropping away half the negative.

 

I've heard this before but many using it on their M8's swear by it. Most of the shots I've seen with the M8 Summilux ASPH combo live up to the reputation of this lens. Perhaps you can get more milleage out of the lens on a FF frame but to say it only really shines on a FF is stretching it a bit. Can't the same be said just about any lens?