Jump to content

M8 sightings


hyper67

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 48
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Andy, if I may, a few burning questions I can imagine most here want to know.....

 

What finish will be available, black painted/enamel or chrome or both? Black paint; Black chrome; Silver chrome, special editions will follow

What exactly will those black n white dots do? ?

What body covering will be available? same leatherette as current M or leather options via a la carte

Will al la carte be an option? yes

Will it have a red dot? yes, unless its a la carte, then its your choice

What type of battery will it take? a lithium ion to power the LCD, shooting will be possible when battery is dead, withouth the use of LCD

What sort of lugs will it use and will there be adequate strap rub protection?

Will it have that 'Leica feel'? yes

Will the LCD be reversible? no

Which way will the shutter dial turn? M7 style, MP style via a la carte

Will it have built in dioptre correction? no

What will the viewfinder be like? beautiful

Will the body be engraved or will markings be painted on? engraved, without engraving, a la carte option, personal evgraving also available

Will it have the old style Leica logo or new? new, a la carte, your choice

What sort of strap will come with it? a number of a la carte straps will be available

Which viewfinder frames will it have?0.58, 0.72, and 0.85 options, different frame sets will also be available

What will it smell like? Your first true love

Will the sensor be replaceable? no

What sort of frame counter will it have? Like the M

Where will the tripod socket be? on the bottom?

 

I could go on

Any more questions?

Link to post
Share on other sites

The only thing that Leica has to gain from such secrecy is a return of a little credibility lost in the release of the DMR. I seem to recall a short interval between announcement and release. ....Not blowing their horn too soon makes a little sense.

 

However, all sins will be forgiven if the camera is a true Leica.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What will it smell like?

 

Veering off into fondler territory here, James...

 

;)

 

As you say, there are loads of things that we don't know about the M8, but we won't find out before Photokina, either.

 

ha ha, threw that one in to see what reaction it might get, but I'm sure there was a thread on the old forum about how Leica M's had a unique smell......just trying to cover all bases.

 

I'm more than happy to wait a couple of months to find out the answers, but there will be endless speculation until then.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I just don't see a purpose to all this secretcy. I can understand why Leica does not want to comitt themselves to a release date or any specs which are in any degree uncertain, but other then that, what's the harm in releasing some information?

Link to post
Share on other sites

We understand that they don't want a repeat of the DMR experience where there were problems at the same time that the company was facing a financial crisis, but I do agree that a little more information from Leica would be welcome. Maybe they are delaying information until they can be quite certain it's going to be ready.

 

The other, more positive way of looking at it is that there may be something about the camera which will surprise us all, maybe even contradict what little has been said about it so far.

 

About the only "official" thing we know is about the lens coding, everything else is from magazine interviews or comments from "informed sources", some in the distant past by now departed executives which may or may not still apply.

 

Speaking of lens coding, the first batch of my lenses is back from being coded in Solms, so I should be able to post pictures of the different codings on Friday.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Mark, How long did it take to get your lenses coded ,from posting them off to receiving them back.The only reason I ask is I am thinking of sending off my 28 f2 and 75 f2 and I would not want to lose them for weeks/months in a backlog at Solms - its a shame that they could'nt tool up Milton Keynes to do the work in the UK , Matthew.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I sent them off on June 16 so it's been about 5 weeks. Sounds a lot but I think there's been an element of gearing up for the process. The second batch of lenses is waiting for the ring for an older lens (35mm f2, pre-ASPH) from their supplier. Interestingly, the first batch includes the 35mm f1.4 ASPH which seems to confirm the lens coding identifies the actual lens type, not just the focal length.

 

The service department is busy - based on the Service ID of work done in May and that of this new work, it looks like they are dealing with 800 service requests a week.

 

I think MK may be able to do the work - hardly complex - but three of my lenses needed other work so it made sense to send them all to Solms.

Link to post
Share on other sites

OK Mark, it is time to crank up your CAD software and plot the spots....LOL! The easy way out would be to place them on a flatbed scanner and push the button. The old fashion way would be to draw two concentric circles 51mm & 40.5mm, the try to remember where you put your protractor.....:-) Hope they get a good supply of the 35/2 mounts, because that one will be popular.

Bob

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the reply Mark, speaking to my local Leica Camera Dealer on the phone this morning he was telling me some more info that i have not read here .Firstly he says that Leica have had production samples of the M8 on test with a few Professionals since Feb/March this year,which means they have sorted out the mechanics of the camera and are now working on the firmware/software .Secondly he knows of more digital equipment and lenses to be annouced at Photokina but he is not allowed to say what .Lastly he advised me to wait for the M8 to appear before putting any deposits down ,as they have test M8s on loan they must have the factory tooled up ready for the final versions,so maybe the wait will not be to long after the annoucement, which he says will probably be 2 weeks before Photokina.

 

- Matthew

Link to post
Share on other sites

a little OT but.. i was at "maison du leica" in paris yesterday and the guy asked if i was looking for anything in particular. i replied jokingly "oui an m8". he said there will be many in october and he cant wait as he can't sell anything analogue in months.....b

Link to post
Share on other sites

a little OT but.. i was at "maison du leica" in paris yesterday and the guy asked if i was looking for anything in particular. i replied jokingly "oui an m8". he said there will be many in october and he cant wait as he can't sell anything analogue in months.....b

 

I wonder what Leica's quarterly/half yearly figures are looking like for the first 3/4 of this year.

 

Dire, I bet.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Andy: Ask and ye shall receive:

 

Spichtig's report on 2005/2006, July 6, 2006:

 

Leica Camera AG - Investor Relations - Financial Reports

 

Key paragraphs:

 

The unadjusted operative result was therefore –6.2 m Euro compared with –14.7 m Euro the year before. Due to interest and tax amounting to 3.0 m Euro there was a deficit for the Group result for the year of 9.2 m Euro compared with 18.1 m Euro in the previous year.

 

These figures for the turnover and result are much as expected and in some cases even

better than forecasted. We have fought hard to achieve this result – please remember the turbulence I mentioned. However, we are all aware that we are still a long way from being the company into which Leica Camera AG has to develop.

 

For the current business year we expect a small operative profit. Due to the burdens in the financial and tax result, however, our planning foresees a negative Group result again. I have already mentioned that we will not simply take this as given. In the management team we are working hard to achieve all the improvements possible. We know that only a positive result is a genuinely good achievement and this is therefore what we are aiming at. However, we can only set ourselves the concrete target of real profit for the following years.

 

We have got off to a good start in the new business year. The turnover of the first three

months is well over that of last year and in line with our own budgeting.

 

------------

 

He also mentions that the digital rangefinder (no official name yet) will give the company a "tail-wind" in 2006/2007 - i.e. lots of luvly cash-flow!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...