DonMateos Posted January 12, 2011 Share #1 Posted January 12, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi everybody. It's my first post here! Glad to share it with you! I just bought my first M8 from B&H, graded as 9. They described it as "8.2 upgraded" and I paid a little more due that, compared with regular M8 announced there. BUT: - The shutter stills noisier than a real M8.2 - Stills with the 8000 speed. - Stills with red dot and it's not vulcanite. So, what the upgrade is about? How to know that my M8 is really M8.2 Upgraded? Regards for you all, Wilson Mateos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Hi DonMateos, Take a look here Really Upgraded?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted January 12, 2011 Share #2 Posted January 12, 2011 An M8.2 cannot be upgraded, has a 4000 shutterspeed and various other stuff. It sounds like you have a non-upgraded M8 there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezc203 Posted January 12, 2011 Share #3 Posted January 12, 2011 The M8 Upgrade Program consist of THREE "upgrades" 1. Quieter Shutter to a max 1/4000 2. Sapphire Glass on the LCD 3. Frame-line adjustments The three options can be all upgrades, or only two, or only one. Thus, the likely hood is that your M8 has been upgraded in some fashion, but just not the shutter? That's my guess.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted January 12, 2011 Share #4 Posted January 12, 2011 Wilson-- As Eddie said, there are three 'upgrades' available for the M8: 1) Shutter: top speed becomes 1/4000 etc 2) LCD cover: original plastic is replaced with sapphire glass 3) Finder frames: original frames are replaced by tighter ones These three could be bought individually or as a set. 1) Your camera definitely doesn't have the new shutter since it shows a top speed of 1/8000. 2) Your camera may have the sapphire glass LCD cover. Way to tell: If it feels cool to the touch, it's the sapphire glass. (Mark Norton's suggestion.) 3) Your camera may have the tighter frames. Way to tell: focus on something at closest rangefinder-coupled focus distance; Frame carefully; take a picture. If the image you get has less in it than what you framed, you have the new frames. That is, the original M8 frameset was designed so that it would be accurate for the closest focus distance, capturing all that was seen in the brightline frame. As the camera is focused to a greater distance, it catches more and more around the framelines. The M8.2 frameset was designed to show the accurate field of view at 2 m. When you focus closer than that, there is less in the image than is shown in the frame; at distances greater than 2 m, increasingly more is captured outside the framelines. I hope that helps in figuring out what upgrades (if any) your camera has received. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMateos Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted January 12, 2011 OK to Framelines!!! Exactly as you described. Sapphire glass: OK, I felt cool but will check comparing with a M 8.2 of a friend. Well, looks like only shutter wasn't upgraded. Tks for help! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Murray-White Posted January 12, 2011 Share #6 Posted January 12, 2011 Hi Wilson, I think I bought a similar "upgraded" M8, albeit on eBay. au. And although I'm not any kind of expert about these matters I think the upgrading refers to some kind of firmware alteration that can arguably be expressed as correcting some of the more obvious faults of the M8 by making it perform more like an M8.2. That's how I understood it. Other people on the forum will know exactly what I'm talking about. Some people with this upgrade describe their cameras as M8u. u=upgrade All the best - Clive Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 12, 2011 Share #7 Posted January 12, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) That still doesn't make it an M8.2. If it was sold as an M8.2 that is misrepresentation. And there are no upgrades for the M8.2.... If it was sold as an M8 with some (unspecified) upgrades, that is something else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezc203 Posted January 13, 2011 Share #8 Posted January 13, 2011 Another way to check for sapphire glass is to take a key and just go to town. I hear the glass holds up better Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Murray-White Posted January 13, 2011 Share #9 Posted January 13, 2011 OP says, "I just bought my first M8 from B&H" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted January 13, 2011 Share #10 Posted January 13, 2011 Yeah, I was going to suggest that, but I'd rather sneak up on that by feeling it first. I think there's also a difference in the edge, but I'm not sure. Seems as if the sapphire is mounted a bit differently, either with a different bevel or with a different surround. The other thing--I don't know whether this would work--would be to contact Leica. Tell them your situation and ask if they can verify which upgrades were performed on the camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted January 13, 2011 Share #11 Posted January 13, 2011 ... If it was sold as an M8.2 that is misrepresentation. And there are no upgrades for the M8.2.... If it was sold as an M8 with some (unspecified) upgrades, that is something else. Sounds to me like a convenient mis-use of language. "Yeah, it's an M8 but it has the M8.2 upgrades." Meaningless, but it sounds good and may help close a sale. As Jaap says, upgraded M8's never become M8.2's, with different skin, black dot and idiot-mode LCD prompts. On the other hand, for me, the main change in the M8.2 was the slower, quieter, more flexible shutter. Others would doubtless differ on that. If it's not what you thought you were getting, Wilson, I'd call B&H and arrange an exchange or a refund. Under US law, you've got 30 days from date of a mail-order transaction for the dealer to make it right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted January 13, 2011 Share #12 Posted January 13, 2011 I agree that you have reason to complain with the seller... and is strange that an important Leica dealer doesn't put attention to details...typical Leica customers are a lot careful about, and, as clearly said before, M8.2 is a certain camera, M8 with some upgrades is another, period: even with "full" upgrade (and this is not the case) it is not a M8.2 nor "upgraded to 8.2". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
epand56 Posted January 13, 2011 Share #13 Posted January 13, 2011 even with "full" upgrade (and this is not the case) it is not a M8.2 nor "upgraded to 8.2". It's what someone on the Forum used to call some time ago, an M8.u where u stands for upgraded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wudai_e Posted January 13, 2011 Share #14 Posted January 13, 2011 It's kinda odd that B&H don't state which upgrade the camera had... if I were you, I'd go to them and ask for a clarification and if they are not the upgrades I paid money for, demand a refund. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Murray-White Posted January 13, 2011 Share #15 Posted January 13, 2011 Personally I can't see any reason to be even slightly upset, as I read it B&H used language that I would have understood and almost expected, I seem to remember also that the M8 firmware upgrade was intended to bring it more towards the M8.2 - so it is really a very small and largely sematic issue that we are discussing. Even Wilson describes his purchase as an M8. He also did not say that he paid M8.2 price for his M8 but just a little more than other M8s, my guess here is that was because it was near mint (at graded 9) + upgraded. These sorts of questions wouldn't arise if we were a little more thorough in our dealings with sales people - I always mean to get them to write down exactly what they are offering me but often forget! Clive - enjoy your reasonably priced M8u Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pklein Posted January 14, 2011 Share #16 Posted January 14, 2011 One could use the phrase "upgraded" to describe the M8 firmware upgrade that gave the original M8 the "discrete shutter" mode previously unique to the M8.2. It does sound like you got the upgraded framelines and saphire glass as well, so you did fine. Enjoy the camera. I'm very happy with my M8, which has not been upgraded except for the firmware. I'd like a queiter shutter, but not enough to spend the money required, given that my camera has been great in all respects. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted January 14, 2011 Share #17 Posted January 14, 2011 There is at least one major Leica US dealer that routinely advertises M8s with the three Leica M8 upgrades (shutter, screen and frame lines) as "Fully M8.2 Upgraded." I happened to be speaking with the owner and mentioned that this is not technically accurate since the M8.2 is different in other ways, especially the black version. These are part cosmetic (vulcanite, black dot, black paint) and part functional (S mode...for better or worse...and quicker ISO/EV dial change). I also wouldn't be surprised if there are some other hidden refinements, software or otherwise, though I'm told not. He said thanks and continues to advertise the same way. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyne Posted January 14, 2011 Share #18 Posted January 14, 2011 I don't know, maybe its buyer beware and all that. I went to the same dealer that had the M8 fully upgraded to M8.2 specs, and I understood what they meant because I did my homework on the M8, M8.2 and asked questions so knew what I was getting (I went with an original M8 not upgraded but in min++ condition... maybe call it an M8c (c for classic)). I even had a checklist (anal I know) so I wouldn't forget to ask the same questions at each dealer I called. The amount these cameras cost are a lot of money for me so I wouldn't blindly go in and buy something without knowing what it was but maybe that is just me. Not trying to be critical but buying something that says (M8 upgraded) and not know what the "upgrades" are seems kind of silly to me. How would you be able to compare the cost of that camera vs one sold at another vendor (or another M8 at the same vendor) for the same or different price? However, if you don't care to compare and ask what the upgrades were then don't be surprised if its not what you in your head thought it "should" be. Either way B&H has a good return policy and I bet you could return and get a refund. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardM8 Posted January 14, 2011 Share #19 Posted January 14, 2011 Have you talked to B&H for clarification since the start of this thread? I believe they are a well known & respected Leica dealer in the US. Might turn out to be more valuable than us rambling on in this thread... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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