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Still Loving the M8


wilfredo

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Sounds like you shot jpegs right? Just try a good raw converter and you'll get excellent results at 640 iso.

 

I have never shot JPGs with the camera, aside from few DNG+JPG exceptions.

 

Or his exposures might be a little off. Higher iso's are generally less friendly imo to underexposure.

 

This is a much more likely cause, since I only use the 640 when the light is already running out, but the banding seems to happen even in half decent light with 640. It also seems that I can get away with one shot here and there, usually the first one, and the next ones look (more) awful.

 

The camera was repaired & had a CLA in Solms this spring.

 

I've always assumed the higher ISOs are a bit of a inside joke with the M8, just frustrates that with the dull 320s it gives me even less room to manoeuvre than film. I'll keep on shooting for the time being, but for the first time, I'll have to re-evaluate my journey with the M8.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I still love my MM crop :p

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Unless one wants to print big and/or crop heavily, the M8 still is hard to best.[/url]

 

Especially if you want to crop, the M8 is hard to beat!

 

The only other Leica M digital, challenging the M8 sensor in regards of detail and acuity, if cropping is necessary is the M Mono.

 

This is, why I prefer my M8.2 largely over the M9 for shooting motor sports on venues, where access is difficult and reach is an issue (given, that the light is sufficient, as in low light the M9 is superior of course).

 

I mostly get away with a 100 or 135mm lens and very little to no cropping with the M8 sensor, while I had to crop the mushy M9 files to the same crop size and end up with lower quality definition and detail.

 

Leica M8.2:

 

7444949488_9c7995d81d_c.jpg

Le Mans 24h 2012 - no.50 Larbre Competition - Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

 

In the large print, you can clearly see the eyes and facial expression of the driver - mind you, it is shot with a vintage Canon 100/2 lens (I prefer this for it's fast aperture wide open for shots at Le Mans in low light)!

 

7444948120_7e27abd16b_c.jpg

Le Mans 24h 2012 - no.43 Extreme Limite Aric - Norma MP2000 - Judd by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

 

Here as well, finest details are resolved with the M8 sensor, the M9 simply can't match (a few people on the forum here will argue that, but I doubt any of them saw the print comparisons between the two bodies, as I experimented with, when choosing which of the two is my prime body for long lens shooting.)

I am really excited, how the M Mono turns out at Le Mans - sadly I didn't have the opportunity, to have one at the 2012 75th anniversary of the race itself :(

 

For colour though, the M9 is of course the body to go with M lenses at the races (flickr only allows this shot @ 640px - next up is illegal to the strange forum rules of linked image sizes):

 

6724149321_6279490e00_z.jpg

Peugeot Sport Total - Peugeot 908 - 2011 Le Mans 24h - color version by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

 

Even after adding a Mono to the M8.2 and M9, I still keep the M8.2 as my daylight and long lens body. I have absolutely no reservation at all, to choose the M8.2 over the M9 or Mono, if it meets the purpose in good light (keeping ISO at max 320 for critical quality, otherwise at 640) and doesn't need an un-cropped frame.

 

I am one of the people around here, who has been very surprised about the strange decisions made, regarding the potential LCD failures by Leica recently (not to bring up this topic), and I think, I'd keep my M8.2 for it's unusual sensor even with a broken LCD and just shoot it.

 

As a funny detail: my M8.2 has a far superior built quality than both my M9 and the M Mono!

 

The M8.2 is worn due to a few years of intensive use but it's leatherette and all white paint markings look like new, while it has had absolutely zero technical defects.

The M9, while just a little older than a year has it's paint markings vanishing and has developed already two separate LCD failures in it's short lifetime.

 

The M Mono has a chrome quality far below any other chrome finish, I have seen from any camera manufacturer - after a little use of just a few weeks, the edges show already silvering/ rub marks, while I have seen also a few Mono samples with very sketchy work on the leatherette.

 

Long live the M8!

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Got my M8 one week ago, but I didn´t want to spend even more money for a thumbs-up or the like, so I bent a piece of blackened aluminium to a shape comforting my thumb to attach it to the back of the camera. But how to attach it?

Double sided tape for carpets wasn´t strong enough, but I remembered having bought last-generation velcro (3M) for no special purpose. That is supposed to temporaryglue even drilling machines to walls. It´s not black which bothers me a bit, but it holds very strong and is still detachable.

To hold the camera even better I sewed a part of a shoelace (should be black, I know) to the ring at the sides of the boby. Just big enough to be able to stick my middle finger through. And I still can attach a neckstrap or whatever to the cam without hurting the finish.

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Edited by echt.jut
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Welcome to the forum!

That's a neat idea on the home made Thumbs up, and the red strap will match the red dot :D

I've found that side of the half case is fine for me as far as an extra thumb rest.

Got used to it in time I guess.

Do post some results soon

Cheers

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For the longest time I dreaded the 1250 iso on my M8.2. But I have really begun to like the B&W that came from that iso setting, not quite film grain, but nice.

 

Recently I was a guest at a Harp concert, "Harps of Grace" here in my home town of Dayton Ohio and with my recent "New to me" Leitz 28mm f2.8 Elmarit I was knocked over with the images I got at iso 1250 in color. Images in full size far exceeds the 300K images here.

 

The ensemble loved the full set of images, these three were from the pre-concert tune up time. All were done with mixed available light.

 

Lee

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1,5 month with my NEW M8 - the sweetest time of my photo experience! I love the color of M8 shots and the B&W is driving me crazy. Leica is, probably, not the best option for the commercial photo, but for your soul...it's hard to find something better.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I must say, even when I love the M8, the M8 doesn't make it always easy. Just as I had figured to keep on going (there aren't very many good alternatives) with the M8, it decided to show symptoms of the 'centerfold' issue in good light and on consecutive shots.

 

My creativity is the kind that loves restrictions, but this is getting silly :rolleyes:

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Hello and happy new year! New member from Norway here. I love the "slow" way of shooting with rangefinders, manual focus... I seldom use my M2 these days, film scanning is a drag.. Can´t afford the M9, but then this nice M8 came up for sale at a good price from a seller I trust. Really happy with it so far.

 

 

Leica M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.4, ISO 640 @ f 1.4

8328496507_6c94cd215e.jpg

B&W by VidarFoto, on Flickr

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Echt.jut,

Welcome to the forum! I love this homemade " Thumbs Up" and would love one for myself. What I like about it is that it doesn't block the accessory shoe. What will it cost me for you to make me one and ship it to me in the United States? Send me a private message when you see my quick reply.

Thanks,

Russell

Edited by russell c. greenberg
I meant for echt.jut to receive this message.
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I bought a lightly used M8 anti-panda earlier in December and finally got to take it out on Saturday for it's first good walk-around. I used the 28mm Ultron f/2 exclusively for this outing. This camera just sings!

 

Here's a link to the album of a dozen or so shots I put up:

 

Leica M8: snaps from the first outing - a set on Flickr

 

I am really pleased!

 

8330652578_deab8c9d2f_z.jpg

L1003946a by chief1120, on Flickr

 

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L1003931a by chief1120, on Flickr

 

8329404801_4bd5ec8237_z.jpg

L1003857 by chief1120, on Flickr

Edited by hepcat
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Been using my M8 for a few months now! I hate it! And I love it! It have made me take better photos than before, but the image quality is honestly pretty bad, and its a camera that should be used for certain purposes. When I do that, I love it, when I try to take decent product photos in low light, I hate it :)

 

Still it creates some stunning shots for me!

 

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Its done by purpose actually, they where really dull and grey as shot :/

Most of them shot at ISO 640

 

I'm ofc very thankful for critic like this!

 

Here are the original JPG's, just with a slight increased contrast.

 

EDIT: Hmm... when looking at them with my wife, they are of course better, don't know what got in to me... Maybe I should just shoot in JPG, stop mess around with it, its just that I'm soo used to that before, and in my daily work. Maybe I should just point and shoot with the leica, and just use the images that the camera produces? :)

 

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Edited by pwrdesign
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PWRDESIGN, despite your self-criticism, your three pictures have considerable charm. Your pictures would delight many parents who make do with mobile phones or point-n-shoot compact cameras.

 

Why not resolve to learn and master raw processing this year? It is relatively simple to achieve satisfactory results and not too difficult to produce great results. I use Lightroom; enjoy doing so and never stop learning new ways of squeezing out even better quality.

 

Enjoy your M8. It will perform even better if you stop 'hating' it. :)

 

After Note: Looking at the last shot in Photoshop, I notice that you have focused just beyond the two figures. The chair seat is the sharpest point. This may be operator error which is easy to do; or your camera might need checking. I suggest you carry out some more tests with static subjects and use a tripod to eliminate camera shake. At least that will point to future remedies of focusing error.

Edited by wda
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