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M8 freehand 1/8 & 1/15 shots?


johM8

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(sorry english, no native, but) we borrowed with my friend M8 for test shots, because we really really like pictures what seen taken with it. Those are plearue for eyes, colors, dynamic range, dont look so digital... etc, but few hours with M8, we found that it was really hard to take sharp pictures with .....1/8 &1/15, what I was used to took with M6, no problem?

 

need something to carry with and it's not Canon (current 1Ds MK II)

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I've found the M8 just fine for low shutter speed work (depending on my requirements for a photo), quite comparable to my M6. At 1/8 second with the M6, I regularly got good results with a 35mm lens---sometime great sharpness, but more often perfectly acceptable slight blur. The M8 seems similar to me, but the ability to zoom to 100 percent makes acceptable photos appear blurry.

 

Examine these shots in actual prints instead---you may find that many of them are as good as you recall from the M6.

 

--clyde

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Guest guy_mancuso

You also have to watch the shutter release. When i first got mine had the same issues because I was pushing down through the release. It's a three stage release 1st meter on 2nd meter lock, 3rd fire. Now hold it down to meter lock than squeeze to fire and much better results.

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and one of the biggest is that it doesn't cost to shoot a volley

a fine technique for hand held slow shutter speed shots is to set the camera on C and press the shutter for a volley of 3 or 4 shots

almost always the shots after the first are sharper

I don't use this often but have gotten some tack sharp photographs using this technique even with a 75 mm lens at 1/15 second

of course you can do this using film, but I found the waste inhibiting, even though in the scheme of things it isn't very much money

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I've noticed the same thing. Shutter speeds that worked perfectly with my Leica MP seem to be too long to handhold with the M8 even though I've added a soft release. I've found two causes for this. First, and I know this topic has been discussed to death: the shutter of the M8 just doesn't compare in "softness" to the shutter on the MP. Second, and this is a huge plus: the pictures that the M8 produces are just soooo critically sharp, that any softness, which we all accepted to see on film, just seems jarring to everybody now. Heck, that's why I sould my 75 summilux to get a 75 cron, because that charming soft glow that the lux produced just didn't work for me anymore.

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Guy I could never understand why they separate meter and lock out like that. It is almost useless set up on the R9, have they carried it through to the M8?

The reason is so you can get a meter reading from some other place in the image you are trying to capture and lock that reading. If you look you will see the meter stays on after you take your finger off the shutter release. If it locked the meter reading with the first press you would need to wait for the lock to come off before you could take another picture that had a totally different reading. First press is to turn the meter on, if it is off. Second stop is to lock in that reading. Third stop is the shutter release.

Seems correct to me and I like it the way it is.

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Guest guy_mancuso

It's interesting for me becuase i never shot the M's before so it's been a LONG time since I shot a mechnical release, all of mine in the last 15 years doing digital have been electronic releases, so Bernd your point does hit home on both cases for me the shutter release seems like a long throw to fire and is a bit harsh for me and yes we pixel peep like crazy because we can now. LOL

 

 

I mentioned this to the Leica folks at PMA is they shoud have made the grip with a forward release like the DMR is. Honestly the DMR is a ergonomic wonder in my book. That it has the best release i ever used along with the hand strap setup. i wish they copied the DMR a little more in this area. Honestly i can hand hold a shot with a 50 at a 1/2 second with the DMR even as big and heavy as it is but the ergonomics make that so balanced in your hand. The M8 is a tougher camera for me to hold , I am not that happy with the grip setup butafter all the years with a grip i can't shoot wihout one. I mentioned if they made a new hand grip that was closer to the body and the back side flattened better and copy the style of the DMR hand strap setup that they really would have a better hand grip, they liked the idea but will it evergo into production is another story but a change in the hand grip with a built in hand strap is something i would love to have

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The reason is so you can get a meter reading from some other place in the image you are trying to capture and lock that reading. If you look you will see the meter stays on after you take your finger off the shutter release.

 

You got an R9? The meter lock is below the detent. Actually the meter lock is in the middle of no where.

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Depends whether the camera has been in the sun too. If it is hot or cold changes teh feel of the shutter release. Sometimes it is .. well, sort of smooth, sometimes it is a beast. Worst release on any camera I have ever used. Which is why I was asking about the M8.

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I agree with Arthur Forrman above. I have found that when setting the M8 to C the second shot is the sharpest at slow shutter speeds. The obvious reason for this is that the shutter is already down when the camera fires.

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Guest stnami
we found that it was really hard to take sharp pictures with .....1/8 &1/15, what I was used to took with M6, no problem?

 

Remember one has to take in account the red ratsack brew number quota, which may result in a irregular flutter of the shutter

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(sorry english, no native, but) we borrowed with my friend M8 for test shots, because we really really like pictures what seen taken with it. Those are plearue for eyes, colors, dynamic range, dont look so digital... etc, but few hours with M8, we found that it was really hard to take sharp pictures with .....1/8 &1/15, what I was used to took with M6, no problem?

 

need something to carry with and it's not Canon (current 1Ds MK II)

When comparing, were you compensating for the longer equivalent focal lengths of the M8? You should compare a 50 on the M6 to a 35 on the M8, and so on.

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There was a nice thread a month or more ago about 1/8 second low light shots. Mark Prevette had the nicest examples of blondes in bars, and there were more examples. If I can find it, I will edit in the link. Using a soft touch, and squeezing with the middle, not the tip, of the trigger finger helps me quite a bit.

 

scott

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I've noticed the same thing. Shutter speeds that worked perfectly with my Leica MP seem to be too long to handhold with the M8 even though I've added a soft release. I've found two causes for this. First, and I know this topic has been discussed to death: the shutter of the M8 just doesn't compare in "softness" to the shutter on the MP. Second, and this is a huge plus: the pictures that the M8 produces are just soooo critically sharp, that any softness, which we all accepted to see on film, just seems jarring to everybody now. Heck, that's why I sould my 75 summilux to get a 75 cron, because that charming soft glow that the lux produced just didn't work for me anymore.

 

And thirdly, the field of view of the 75mm lens on an M8 is similar to that of a 100mm on the MP. :)

 

Bob.

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The reason is so you can get a meter reading from some other place in the image you are trying to capture and lock that reading. If you look you will see the meter stays on after you take your finger off the shutter release. If it locked the meter reading with the first press you would need to wait for the lock to come off before you could take another picture that had a totally different reading. First press is to turn the meter on, if it is off. Second stop is to lock in that reading. Third stop is the shutter release.

Seems correct to me and I like it the way it is.

 

The problem with the three stage release is that you don't need it!-every other digital camera, and every other film camera has a TWO stage release. The first press turns the camera on. If you hold DOWN it memorizes the setting. The above statement is incorrect- you don't expect the reading to stay locked UNLESS you hold the shutter down. So a light tap is all that is needed to wake the camera up. The second stage releases the shutter. Why on earth Leica added another redundant stage is beyond me.

 

A good example of a buttery smooth electro-mechanical release is on the old Canon F1-n. Two stage, a mechanical feel, very soft but definite release point.

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For some examples of handheld b/w shots at 1/15 and below, try this thread from January:

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/15135-how-slow-can-you-go-handheld.html

 

and I have one blurry wonder that I kinda like (CV15/4.5, 1/2 sec exposure) posted at

75447452.jpg.

 

Handheld, of course.

 

scott

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A soft release can also help. I keep losing mine -- they are easy to lose (see this post on the customer forum), but the cheapest ones also seem to be the best designed: convex shape from Tom Abrahamsson. The convex ones allow you to squeeze the release with a knuckle. He's out of town now but should be back in a week's time.

 

Wins me at least a half-stop and sometimes a stop handheld.

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