M8 doesnt work for me...

[colonel]

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Notice how many of the technically "in the know" guys are basically saying we have to accommodate the camera? Some of the world's greatest shots were made with Leica film cameras because the camera accommodated the photographer. Back when, lots of people thought Leica never belonged in the SLR market. I hope that isn't the case with digital. Why does Nikon make it so easy and Leica make it so hard?

 

don't want one ? don't buy one

most leica Mdigitial say that they take their best pictures with Leica. I know I do

 

No Nikon does not make it easy. Their cameras are heavy, the colours are insipid, excess automation is useless and gets in the way of taking shots, manual focus gets me pin sharp shots all the time. I find Leica is much easier to use.

 

[jaapv]

Notice how many of the technically "in the know" guys are basically saying we have to accommodate the camera? Some of the world's greatest shots were made with Leica film cameras because the camera accommodated the photographer. Back when, lots of people thought Leica never belonged in the SLR market. I hope that isn't the case with digital. Why does Nikon make it so easy and Leica make it so hard?

Hard? It depends whose brain you want to use - your own or that of the host of little engineers hidden inside the camera.

[menos I M6]

Notice how many of the technically "in the know" guys are basically saying we have to accommodate the camera? Some of the world's greatest shots were made with Leica film cameras because the camera accommodated the photographer. Back when, lots of people thought Leica never belonged in the SLR market. I hope that isn't the case with digital. Why does Nikon make it so easy and Leica make it so hard?

 

You misunderstood or at least write a misleading phrase. This is often an argument against using the Leica M, people argue, they are awkward to use and make things more difficult.

 

This is absolutely wrong - it's simply not true!

You have to learn, how to use a Leica M first! It has nothing to do with the often beaten "elitism" or "blind following" of collectors and users, but rather the simple fact, that for getting the intended use out of a simple tool, one first has to learn, how to use this tool.

 

It is very similar to the a simple device as a kitchen knife.

A learning chef could complain all day long, "yeah, but it's so difficult, to cut that cucumber!" and use a machine instead.

 

While shredding the cucumber, he could grin wide and say"Look ma, I can do 2 cucumbers / second (grin…)!"

 

Will the cut cucumber be the same? - Similar!

 

Will the customer in the restaurant recognize his use of technology vs. a knife? - Most probably not.

 

Will he develop his cooking skills onto another level, learning, to use a knife blindly, while entirely focussing the cucumber, cutting with the knife completely subconsciously? - Actually, he might well become a master of the kitchen knife and might enjoy the way to go there.

 

When I used a M the first weeks, I was dog slow, cursed the camera and looked back to the DSLR for it's perfect ergonomics (yeah sure ) and ease of use.

After using almost exclusively Leica M cameras now for a little over a year, picking up a D3 with just a fast prime lens feels like lifting a bus with a human interface attached, which constantly goes in the way.

The Leica M is the camera, that is fast, easy and always spot on, to work with.

 

It has limitations, which you precisely get to know and get to work around without thinking about it. Notice how many Leica users lack the critics of not being easy to shoot a moving subject in low light with a M? Simple - they don't complain about it, as they have learned, how to go a different route, to do it or even have acquired the skills, to be able to do it.

 

This is the principle of using a M vs an automated camera. Once you are over than mountain, you will just fly with it (and never look back).

[Shootist]

Thank you all for your insightful comments. I've always been satisfied with the JPEGS from the X1, E-PL1, and D300 so I have been reluctant to invest a lot of time in post-processing.

 

It sounds like I need to have DAG check out the lenses and include the body as well in order to be certain that focus is spot on.. and, learn to work well with RAW files. Perhaps, also, I should be more patient and concentrate on working with the M8 exclusively for a while.

 

Thanks again.

 

Personally I will never buy a camera that does not shoot/take/record RAW images. Using JPEG from any camera is like always using a Polaroid (No really chance to make my own decisions on how "I" want the image to look).

 

I have always graded all other cameras against my M8. I have not found any other camera, past or present, that gives me images I like more then the M8, and I've owned a few and used a few more including the M9.

[plasticman]

...the image quality just doesnt do it for me. I love my 50 summicron and 35 summicron on my E-PL1 but the images from the M8 always are a little soft... I just dont like them.... is it me or is it the M8? (

 

Aside from a general caution against using jpeg instead of RAW, this part caught my attention, particularly as I'd just been looking at the following images from the forthcoming LFI:

 

http://www.lfi-online.de/ceemes//base.php?webfile/show/4864//__noattachment__=1

http://www.lfi-online.de/ceemes//base.php?webfile/show/4866//__noattachment__=1

http://www.lfi-online.de/ceemes//base.php?webfile/show/4868//__noattachment__=1