M8 and all things Leica

[spersky]

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I have been a die-hard Leica fan for quite a while now. I have mentioned in other posts my feelings about the M8 and my extreme disappoinment. I have lost faith in the company. Anyway, I few weeks ago I needed some Binoculars, and I know that Leica makes fantastic Binoculars. I looked at them and I looked at some other very high end binoculars. I think the pre M8 me would have bought the Leica Binoculars hands down, but I ended up with the other brands because I thought that they fit my eyes just a little bit better. Anyway, I still thought that Leica brand was awsome, and they where about $200.00 more money. I guess the Leica name brand which used to inspire awe into as the top quality that money can buy mean a little bit less to me after the fiasco of the M8.

 

I wonder if they will ever regain that name brand recognition as the "Best of the Best" in my humble opinion at least.

 

Regards,

Steve

[phovsho]

I don't know the specifics of your experience with the M8, but the M8 has rekindled my interest in photography and Leica more specifically. In the least 5 years I bought one new leica lens. In the last month I have bought an M8 and 2 lens, going on three.

 

I was a reluctant adopter of digital, but was finding film increasingly disappointing as an overal experience. It was the M8 which allowed me to get back into the hobby, in a way which leveraged all my existing lens etc.

 

I know Leica has had some brand damage over the last while, but they came through it very well IMHO. I have no complaints with my M8. I'm taking photos again and more than happy with the results - now if only I could find the leica of digital work flow...

 

Leica still means "best of the best" to me.

 

Murray

[harald_ludwig]

Hello Steve

I understand that someone could lost his trust into the Leica brand, as the guarantee for long lasting investment into high end quality of analoge photography.

 

However the M8 made it possible to me, to be translate the way of Leica photograpy into digital pictures. And I can tell you that I am much more satisfied with the digital results as I was with the analoge pictures.

 

So what I am also looking for is a better knowledge of the digital workflow. However a Leica Academy training in June should help me.

 

best regads

harald

[tjv]

Leica will never inspire awe in me again. I hate to say it but they really can't compete in terms of backup and support with the bigger companies. I mean, first I had three stuffed M8's and a lens that went back and forth to the factory for repairs and coding three times because they just couldn't get the job done right (simple clean and polish, no less!) and now having to wait many months for new lenses.

This is not to say I wouldn't buy Leica again or I don't think they are worth the hassle, I just mean to say the brand Leica holds no mystique for me anymore and I'm under no illusions that they build or give perfection of themselves. I like using Leica's. I can't stand looking through an SLR, especially one that feels like a space station.

 

Also, contrary to the above two posts, my M8 fiasco has given me a newfound dedication to film. I'm loving photography again because it seems I'm back to basics. And it's 100% Leica... Go figure.

[erl]

I guess the reason we all end up with different preferences regarding our cameras is related to why we don't all all end up with the same wife(husband). We simply have different tastes and expectations ...... thank goodness. I would hate to have to queue to use my camera or ..... !

 

Afterthought: I love my M8 and my .........

[delander †]

Digital technology has caused unprecedented upheaval for the makers of cameras and film. Canon has risen to the top, with Nikon tagging along in second place. Agfa and Polaroid have gone, it has been a nightmare for Kodak and Ilford and to a lesser extent Fuji. Konica and Minolta were absorbed into Sony, Olympus and Pentax keep going for the moment. Hasselblad succeeds at the top of the MF market but Mamiya is almost down and out.

 

Given this background and the relatively small size of Leica camera it is not unexpected that the first real digital Leicas would have a few bugs that could only be sorted out with the experience gained from real use in the market. The bugs are annoying but are being resolved. Leica listens to its customers and even communicates sometimes.

 

With the M8 Leica has done what Zeiss and Rollei have not. Surely taken in context Leica have, to date, done well.

 

I bought my M8 about 6 weeks ago when regular stock started appearing. I knew about the bugs but read the views of photographers whose work I liked as well as the doom and gloom merchants. Although I have not used a rangefinder since 1959 I fell straight into it. Like everyone else I have had to wait for lenses and filters. But that will change, give it a few months and they will be freely available. (PS note to myself: stop buying lenses).

 

And what about the experience of going to the shop, handling the camera and discussing your prospective purchase with someone who has been selling Leicas for years and actually has some in-depth knowledge of the product/system.

 

I wonder what effect the success of the M8 is having on Zeiss. They must surely have a digital Zeiss Ikon somewhere in the pipeline?

 

Jeff

[atufte]

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"After the fiasco with the M8" ??????

 

Let me first start by saying the Leica M8 is NOT a fiasco...

 

In the start ill admit i was a little disapointed with the "sudden" need

of using IR/Cut filters, but i soon forgot the filters was even there,

and after some fw upgrades, it's early child diseases like cyan

vignetting and so on is now history and the system works perfectly...

 

(a few things can still be better in further fw upgrades, but im sure

we will see even more improvements in software related usability...)

 

I can't see how this wonderful camera can be a fiasco, it delivers

the goods by all means, in the form of fantastic images which my

clients and myself are more than happy with, and i think if it was'nt

for the marked created megapixel race/hysteria i would be more than

happy with a couple of M8's "forever", but of course something new

and tempting will be introdused, and after a while my belowed M8 will

become a backup for something new, but i can live with that, hehe.. :-)

 

I have never been more happy with any camera EVER and i have

used the whole lot, at least the most of them:

 

Nikon DCS 760

Nikon D1

Nikon D100

Nikon D1X

Nikon D2X

Nikon D200

Nikon D2Xs

Kodak 14n

Kodak 14nx

Kodak SLRn

Canon 20D

Canon 5D

Canon 1Ds

Canon 1D MKII

Canon 1Ds MKII

 

and so on....

 

(I still use my D200 from time to time, but there is no doubt

which one both me and my clients prefer...)

[hankg]

Well the M8 may have been a fiasco for you but it certainly hasn't been a fiasco for Leica judging from the fact that they are selling everything they make now as fast as they can produce it. So obviously many, like me, are having a positive M8 experience, ortherwise the sales picture would be very different.

 

The Leica brand never held any mystique for me. I liked the M film camera's and used them but eventually dumped them for medium format for the higher quality as I started to do commercial work. When Canon produced the first digital camera that met my minimum quality standards and budget I went from Hasselblad and a Plaubel 670 to a Canon 1Ds. Now I'm using an M8 and am very happy with it. If something comes along in the furture that better fits my needs I'll use that instead, no matter who makes it. In the mean time the M8 suits me just fine, I much prefer the size, handling and image quality to the Canon it replaced and my experience with it up untill now has been excellent. The quality I was getting with medium format color film (for my application) in an M camera. That is an unbeatable combination in my book.

[farnz]

Steve,

 

Reading your post I was left wondering what its purpose was. It's a shame that you had a bad experience with the M8 but surely the rest of the Leica equipment you own or like cannot be affected by the M8?

 

For example, if your 75mm Summicron excelled in image quality and build before the M8's release then it must still excel mustn't it? It seems to me that your perception of Leica has changed rather than Leica, as a company, dropping its standards as your post seems to imply.

 

You say you've lost faith in the company and since you don't explain why I'll assume that you felt that Leica brought the M8 to market before it was ready, which might be a justified criticism.

 

But to me, Leica's reputation is founded on more than producing well-tested cameras; for example leading-edge design, manufacturing and engineering excellence and its determination to stand by its products and its customers.

 

And clearly Leica has recognised that the M8 needed further work and to its credit it has publicly accepted responsibility and immediately began to produce remedies at no cost to its customers. I suggest that few other brands would have equalled Leica's efforts and there are many quoted instances of its competition doing just the opposite.

 

So can decades of worthy reputation be undone in a moment by the release of a product that doesn't perform as expected? I don't think so and the M5 is witness to this. I hope that you recognise that Leica's reputation has been earned and that you regain your faith and continue to derive satisfaction and enjoyment from Leica products.

 

Pete.