Obligatory first day with M8 thread

[charlesphoto99]

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Well, after months of "trolling" (hah) this forum I finally have a black M8 courtesy of Sean at Camera West (who's selling them on ebay btw with day of purchase send off).

 

To my eye everything I shot seemed soft, so I spent a confusing, frustrating couple of hours today with an allen key doing you know what. Not sure if it's that much better at this point. The lens with the all around best focus seems to be the 28mm Summicron; the 24 next, and the 21 pre asph. Both my 35 asph summilux and 50 pre asph summilux backfocus starting around f4 - no amount of twiddling with the allen key seems to make a bit of difference. The 90 APO I'm not sure where that stands. The 135's getting sold.

 

All the lenses seem best wider open and at closer/medium range focusing - infinity seems unsharp with all, once again no matter how I twiddle the rf adjustment knob. I feel like maybe I'm doing something wrong, or maybe the files just need more sharpening? Maybe I'm expecting too much? I feel I do need to use it in the real world a bit more but out of the box everything seemed universally unsharp. I might try my local repair shop as well and see what they say. I really don't want to orphan it to Leica just yet.

 

Any Seattle members with experience adjusting their rangefinder?

 

Beyond that I love this camera. I do feel a bit sorry for people who have never shot with an M7 (or the M3) as it doesn't have quite the "play" those cameras do. The shutter release isn't as smooth, the viewfinder a bit more cluttered, and of course the shutter louder. But of course in a month or two those things will all seem normal. The dynamic range kicks ass and having speeds faster than 1/1000th is a long time coming. I think I will stick to longer lenses on the Nikon (for digital at least) and wider on the Leica. I sure like the look of that WATE.....

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[photolandscape]

It all sounds like deja vu all over again. Hi, I live near you, in Portland. Got my M8 from Camera West on 12/29. I had the same back-focus problems, and wound up sending the camera to NJ, and they in turn sent it to Solms. In retrospect, I have no idea why they sent it abroad, as I would think they could have easily done the repair domestically.

 

After 7 weeks, the camera arrived back at my place. I have used it a lot since then, and am happy to report that the focus issue is a thing of the past. Getting beautiful shots with my new 28mm Elmarit asph, a 90mm Elmarit, and a 15mm CV that I really like a lot (and the fact that I got it for $265 used doesn't hurt.)

 

I hope you can get the RF situation worked out. I come from a Nikon, and more recently, a Canon 1Ds digital background. The files I get right, straight off the M8, are significantly better in terms of color, sharpness, contrast than anything I ever shot with my Canon equipment, and I certainly like being more discreet, less imposing, and not hauling a huge, heavy brick all over the place.

 

Good luck. As the saying goes, "This too will pass (like the proverbial kidney stone."

[grantray]

I think you might have to send her off. I know- not the words you want to read, but when you write "more sharpening," I read "adjustment issue." The M8 files barely need sharpening as it is. And infinity unsharp? Your newborn needs an adjustment surgery. Maybe the guys at your repair shop are badasses and can fix the problem in-house, as I would guess that you're right and the camera needs a rangefinder realignment.

 

-grant

 

I feel like maybe I'm doing something wrong, or maybe the files just need more sharpening? Maybe I'm expecting too much? I feel I do need to use it in the real world a bit more but out of the box everything seemed universally unsharp. I might try my local repair shop as well and see what they say. I really don't want to orphan it to Leica just yet.

[charlesphoto99]

Yes, I think it's off Leica. I'm calling the dealer today to see what he thinks. I was really hoping that I wouldn't be one of the unfortunate. It's a lot of money for me at the moment, and I'm a working pro, so I hate it when a piece of gear is away for so long.

 

And I've used a .58 M for the past 10 years so I know it's not me, (or the lenses) esp when the 24 isn't sharp, outside, at 5.6, medium distance focus (this right out of the box).

 

Dang!

[robertwright]

I have said it before and I'll say it again, if you received a camera that is defective out of the box and it is within your dealer's return period, return it for exchange, period. There is no reason that a camera that you have had for a few days minimum should go for repair when there is lots of stock now of M8's. I don't see that you are on the hook for the repair time when it should have worked out of the box. If this were a commodity consumer item that you bought from Best Buy what would you do? I don't see how this is different. Just my opinion.

[roberth]

I would not have fiddled with any adjustments, I feel that doing that blows your warrantly and return options. You shoudl have sent it back straight away.

[thpeters]

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It is sad to read that there more M8 with backfocus problems, but from the other hand I am glad that I am not the only one with that problem and I hope that Leica "cameras defective out the box from day 1" is willing to give a replacement instead of waiting for several weeks or maybe longer to have it back.

My 2 cents.

 

Theo

[charlesphoto99]

Thank you, those were all valid answers. Of course, I'm an impatient sort (and hate spending money on shipping) and have managed to get it to focus pretty damn good after all, even the notorious 35 Lux. Turns out one of my lenses is a dud on the M8 (pre-asph 50mm) and I'll either need to get it shimmed or sell and move up to an asph.

 

Yes, this might be fiddling with the warranty, but it's a very simple adjustment (sort of) and I doubt anyone at Leica would notice one way or the other unless you managed to really be a fumble fingers. One esteemed member on here with two bodies and close associations with Leica honchos talks about now carrying an allen wrench and adjusting it on photo shoots even.

 

I think back focus to a degree is endemic with digital and can be even more pronounced with the Leica due to it's tight tolerances and radical design re the lens to sensor depth. I have problems with it on my D200, and it tends to be a lens to lens issue, even after sending it back under warranty. I also think digital, with the smaller sensor esp, is way more demanding than film.

 

Anyway, at this point I'm happy with the focus, the camera is otherwise functioning great (which makes me hesitate to trade for another possible problem and even another possible rangefinder out of calibration) and I think it smartest to run it awhile to see if any battery problems, etc crop up and if so have everything done at one time.

 

My local dealer (whom I didn't buy from for sales tax reasons) said he has had quite a few M8s go back for rangefinder calibration. Must be something not right in the system.

[jaapv]

I doubt that Leica would void a warrantee over adjusting infinity on the RF. Leica customers have been doing that since 1928.

[charlesphoto99]

Yeah, and digital just makes it that much easier and the improvement to a hex key instead of a slot. Maybe they anticipated the need to make more adjustments.

 

I also think it's a case of "Don't ask, don't tell." Do you know if the warranty on the M8 is a passport type like with the M7? In other words if you can send them the pieces they'll repair or replace? A bit surprised to find it was only two year warranty vs the 5 with the M7.