MrSlezak Posted February 22, 2007 Share #1 Posted February 22, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm interested in taking part in one of the M8 workshops Leica is putting on, but I can't tell if I have to have an M8 to take part or not. I fully plan on owning an M8 in the near future, but I don't have one yet. I see where they provide the laptop, such, but I don't see anything that talks about the need to have an M8 or not. Anyone have any idea? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 22, 2007 Posted February 22, 2007 Hi MrSlezak, Take a look here M8 Workshop question. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Venkman Posted February 22, 2007 Share #2 Posted February 22, 2007 In earlier Workshops in Germany, M8s and glass were provided to test out what you learned : But to be sure, I'd suggest that you contact them directly? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSlezak Posted February 23, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted February 23, 2007 I have mail in to them - once get a response I'll post... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
4season Posted February 23, 2007 Share #4 Posted February 23, 2007 At least for the Denver class, I was told that everyone is provided with an M8 and a MacBook / PowerBook Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggetzin Posted April 7, 2007 Share #5 Posted April 7, 2007 M 8's were provided in Chicago along with Macbooks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSlezak Posted April 15, 2007 Author Share #6 Posted April 15, 2007 Well to round out this thread, I didn’t ever get email back from CDI about needing my own M8 to take the class, but I went a head and signed up anyhow. I took the workshop today. Here’s a quick write up on it. Scott Geffert (of CDINY.com) was our instructor. He indicate he’s a graduate of RIT and works as a consultant for a number of museums, and mentioned The Metropolitan Museum of Art quite a bit. The workshop series for the M8 seemed to be something that Scott approached Leica with. The class is broken in to two main sections – the Camera and Capture One. There was a quick go around the room just to give name and little background on each participant and our group was just 13. The Leica regional reps (sorry, their names slipped my mind,) asked if any of us didn’t have cameras (there were three) and they quickly dropped off an M8 and lens on our desk next to the Mac Powerbooks and Scott started on the class. I think I was the only one who didn’t currently own a M-series body in the room so I was busy checking out the M8 during the first few slides that went over the some of the background on the camera. It has been a while since I had my M6, but the camera sure felt as if I had it in my hands. The camera I was loaned had the 35mm Summicron on it and it was a dream to play with. We walked feature by feature through the firmware menus to touch on each function in the camera then we more or less rolled over each function of the camera in some detail or another. I got to spend some time with the 75mm Summilux (and fell in love with it). Time flew by and we broke for lunch late. We were allowed to keep the loaner cameras during lunch and I went out to make it a shooting break and enjoyed the time with the camera immensely. If I had planned a head a little I could have come with my own SD card and kept my images but oh well. The second half of the class was really broken in to four parts; (a) computer basics for image work ( understanding the basics of color space © using the basics of Capture One (d) some printing tips. Color space seems to be one of Scott’s forte’s and he was able to change the depth of his answer to the level of the question asked – which was nice. This section of the class started off with doing a calibration of the laptop screen with an Eye-One adjustment tool then showing how to set both Photoshop & Capture One to match the settings of the calibration. We were running a bit late so we skipped the portion of the presentation designed to help folks figure out a naming structure for images/folders. We more or less skipped over the different ways to import images in to the computer (which I think was ok – at least no one seemed disappointed about it). A lot of time was spent on color space and trying to make sure we all know what was what there and how the camera, computer and printer all see things slightly differently unless a color space is defined. Once this was covered time was spent on showing some examples in Capture One and changing things. Scott walked us through some modifications on our own and then spent some times doing things while we watched. It was great while I was watching, but the proof of how much I retained will come later on when I try to apply something in the future. There was an Epson printer there Scott ran through an example starting with an image, modifying it and then doing a print to show us the end-to-end work flow. The class was a good intro to things, but I am not sure it would hold ‘repeat’ value to make it worth going to the same workshop again. However I’d consider another workshop sponsored by Leica or CDI. Scott was a nice enough instructor and really wanted to have people to think of computer/software as they would a Jobo processor; it is tool. The take away was to think of creating a picture with the camera and then just use software as a tool to fine tune, not as a form of manipulation/mutilation to generate the image. He continued to express a belief that the computer industry is necessary evil and they are continually taking control away from the photographer via more automation every upgrade, turning out software just for profit, etc… Scott was really good at making sure everyone’s questions were addressed at the level they were asked and trying to give everyone the time their comments/questions took. The class came with a bag of goodies -- Leica “tote” bag -- Current issue of LeicaWorld -- Leica “red dot” mouse pad -- Leica “red dot” key chain -- Leica ball point pen -- Leica lens cloth -- Capture One Trial version (with discount code to save $86 on an upgrade from LE to Pro) Scott burned us a CD with -- Workshop presentation -- Leica M8 manual, brochure, firmware update instructions and the flier mailed out by Leica -- Sample images used in the workshop -- No-IR ICC profile Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted April 15, 2007 Share #7 Posted April 15, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks for the update. The info I had seen made it look much more general and I had decided I probably wasn't interested. After your explanation, it looks as if it would be well worth while even if just for the intro to Capture One. --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
egibaud Posted April 15, 2007 Share #8 Posted April 15, 2007 Does anyone know about a workshop in Europe? language English, French or Spanish. Thanks, Eric Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted April 15, 2007 Share #9 Posted April 15, 2007 I attended the Portland workshop and I found the Capture One coverage probably the most informative part of the day. I found it helpful going through the use of input profiles (Leica std or No-IR), selecting the best curves for shadow detail and general basic C1 workflow. The section on some of the camera menu setup was useful in so far as selecting the most useful settings. The Leica rep was present and it was helpful having the chance to network and get some priority orders put in place directly (he seemed motivated to get me off Zeiss/CV glass!) I'm now looking forward to seeing a WATE and Tri-Elmar relatively soon. There were enough M8's and lenses for the entire class to play with if you didn't have your own. As mentioned by others each person had their own MacBook and eye-one calibrater to use during the day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carcam Posted April 15, 2007 Share #10 Posted April 15, 2007 MSlezaks review is accurate and represents what happend at my workshop also. Scott was very enthusiastic and full of worthwhile information. When he heard I had to leave early to catch a flight, he spent his lunch time going over important information that I would miss in the last hour that day. The only criticism I had couldn't really be helped- such a wide variety of baseline knowledge from the participants that we spent a lot of time going over basic questions from a few people that didn't have an M8 or even a digital camera and were taking this course to see if they wanted to get into digital photography or the M8. Scott was polite, answered everyones question no matter how basic and moved quickly on to the next topic. Ideally, I would love to have an intermediate or follow-up course because there is so much more good information on profiles, color management, post-processing, etc. that we just touched on and tips and techniques specific to the camera. Everyone agreed at all levels that it was a great course, time flew by and a bargain for all the info and time and effort it took to do this for us. Highly recommended. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arminw Posted April 15, 2007 Share #11 Posted April 15, 2007 Interesting how Leica supports apple by using and promoting their MacBooks when doing the Leica workshops! What exactly is Apple doing to help Leica support The DNG files in Aperture? Just a Thought !!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted April 15, 2007 Share #12 Posted April 15, 2007 Interesting how Leica supports apple by using and promoting their MacBooks when doing the Leica workshops! What exactly is Apple doing to help Leica support The DNG files in Aperture? Just a Thought !!! I think it's less a case of Leica promoting Apple as CDINY being Apple specialists and using the best platform for the photographer to go with the best in digital photography Scott Geffert was pretty open about his bias towards Apple and using the easiest to use platform. There was nothing on the workshop that couldn't have been achieved on a PC and this was noted. As regards DNG support in OS X 10.4.x ... well that's just irritating. I'm sure there's a cadre of M8 shooters in Cupertino who'll be pushing for Leica support behind the scenes too. The inability of Apple to support DNG properly is a major PIA not just for Leica support but also for lot's of other manufacturers products too (actually they do 'support' DNG but only with embedded RAWs that are on their native support list! Hopeless. Grrr!!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carcam Posted April 15, 2007 Share #13 Posted April 15, 2007 Interesting how Leica supports apple by using and promoting their MacBooks when doing the Leica workshops! What exactly is Apple doing to help Leica support The DNG files in Aperture? Just a Thought !!! Scott said Apple will eventually support DNG with Aperture. They are working on it now and even gave them all the Powerbooks so Apple is aware of Leica users. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSlezak Posted April 15, 2007 Author Share #14 Posted April 15, 2007 A few follow ups from the comments... -- Apple v Windows Scott generally seemed to downplay all OS' but really didn't think Microsoft had any ideas other than making money at the expense of customers. There was a comment made in my class that Apple seems to be losing its way as well, but doing it at a slower pace than Microsoft. -- Apple sponsorship Seemed that our class was sponsored by local store (Kenmore Camera - Kenmore Camera ). If Apple is making any sponsor ship they added no branding to the mix. The only logos that were present anywhere in the presentation were cdi & Leica's. The only reason we knew Kenmore had helped out was the local Leica rep pointed it out when we did the go around the room. Turned out there was one of the managers from Kenmore who was at the event to learn more about the camera & software. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidStone Posted April 15, 2007 Share #15 Posted April 15, 2007 Does anyone know about a workshop in Europe? language English, French or Spanish. Thanks, Eric This is what I'd like to know, too. The English version of Leica News, which promotes these workshops, assumes that anyone speaking English lives in North America. I happen to live in Denmark, so a workshop in New York is not exactly convenient. Germany would be fine, but I'd prefer the teaching language to be English, since my German is worse than rusty. And another complaint while I'm here. I sent off for my two free filters, and again I had to try to fit my Danish address (same format as German addresses) into the American system. It all comes out backwards, so I hope the postman gets the filters to me without too much trouble. I suppose this is an indication that the USA is a big market for Leica, so at least that's good news for the company. I can't find anything on workshops in Europe on the Leica website, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, or maybe they are listed in the German-language section? David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
losta Posted April 16, 2007 Share #16 Posted April 16, 2007 Thanks for the info. I'm going the the NY one in May. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted April 16, 2007 Share #17 Posted April 16, 2007 David, Eric-- I checked in the German site the equivalent of the place where the workshops are listed in the US site, but there's nothing there in any language. Looks as if they've already had all they're going to have for the moment. Only thing I could suggest is to call Solms and inquire about the matter. Good luck! --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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