hofrench Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share #21 Posted June 25, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks for those links, Charles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 25, 2007 Posted June 25, 2007 Hi hofrench, Take a look here Dante Stella on the M8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wattsy Posted June 25, 2007 Share #22 Posted June 25, 2007 I thought it was a pretty fair and quite incisive article. A country mile ahead of Reichmann's rubbish. Indeed. Reichman's site (essentially a blog) has become so self-absorbed in recent times it is now almost unreadable. Stella has a quiet passion for rangefinders and other esoteric camera stuff that stops well short of the kind of gear worship that you find elsewhere. His observations and 'reviews' are usually well worth a read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted June 25, 2007 Share #23 Posted June 25, 2007 Interesting take on the M8, enjoyed reading it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hofrench Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share #24 Posted June 25, 2007 Thanks very much for those links! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
norm_snyder Posted June 26, 2007 Share #25 Posted June 26, 2007 The link to the Dante Stella review was well worth perusing. I agree that Reichman's site has become rather too self promotional and self involved, whereas when I first encountered it, it was a source of some good information. Now, it seems more involved with promoting spots on the next trip somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 26, 2007 Share #26 Posted June 26, 2007 He has the collapsible lenses part wrong; both the macro-90 and Elmar-M 50 are stellar perfomers on the M8. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted June 26, 2007 Share #27 Posted June 26, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) He has the collapsible lenses part wrong; both the macro-90 and Elmar-M 50 are stellar perfomers on the M8. Jaap, He may have taken Leica's word for it that the Elmar-M did not fit (so why have they made coded ones?) and I suspect did not try it. Having a couple of older LTM Elmars, which have failed to impress (one pre-war uncoated, one post-war black dial coated), I was skeptical as to the performance of the latest model. As you know, after some very gentle persuasion from you, I got one and now, I too have become a big fan of the 50 Elmar. It may not be quite as sharp or contrasty as my 35 Biogon but it is not a million miles behind. It makes a great combination with the M8, with its tiny physical size and ease of focusing. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Marks Posted June 26, 2007 Share #28 Posted June 26, 2007 After a week of heavy shooting in NYC, the one comment of Dante's that really resonates is the difficulty of quickly setting exposure compensation with the M8. The Epson RD-1 has this one right, I think, in comparison. The control is a quick manual adjustment on the top plate. Now, I would be the first to admit that after a year, I still don't understand how to work the exposure compensation on my 5D . . . so getting it right is not something camera manufacturers all do well. But it is odd that one of digital's main advantages -- that is, being able to review your exposure immediately and compensate for any problems -- is not more well thought through in terms of picture-making workflow on more cameras. It should be a top-level, one motion adjustment. Full stop. I have always enjoyed Dante's writings -- you may not agree with him, but I always felt when I was reading that I was belly up to the bar next to a fellow photo geek who was pleased to spend hours considering the relative merits of generally overlooked photo gear. Incidentally, the M8 performed flawlessly in NYC -- while at the Metropolitan museum, I actually saw two other photographers slouching around with theirs . . . one with two strapped to his neck. Ben Marks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted June 26, 2007 Share #29 Posted June 26, 2007 After a week of heavy shooting in NYC, the one comment of Dante's that really resonates is the difficulty of quickly setting exposure compensation with the M8. The Epson RD-1 has this one right, I think, in comparison. The control is a quick manual adjustment on the top plate. Now, I would be the first to admit that after a year, I still don't understand how to work the exposure compensation on my 5D . . . so getting it right is not something camera manufacturers all do well. But it is odd that one of digital's main advantages -- that is, being able to review your exposure immediately and compensate for any problems -- is not more well thought through in terms of picture-making workflow on more cameras. It should be a top-level, one motion adjustment. Full stop. Ben Marks Ben, I believe Leica have been requested to put a quick access to EV compensation on either the wheel or the arrows, for the next firmware update. I agree it needs changing. The Digilux 2 was better, with instant access. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 26, 2007 Share #30 Posted June 26, 2007 I think, Ben,that Leica, deep down, expects photographers to use manual for exposure compensation. It is certainly a lot faster to use the "M6 way" by going by the little red triangles than to take the camera from your eye to press some buttons. Using AE lock on dark or light parts of the subject works very practically as well. Having said that, it should not be too hard to implement easier EV compensation - and ISO change. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sirvine Posted June 26, 2007 Share #31 Posted June 26, 2007 It sure was convenient on the R-D1s to just dial exposure comp up and down from the auto-exposure position. Auto-exposure was also locked, and ISO was adjusted by pulling the exposure dial up and twisting. I don't know how Leica missed such simple, common-sense implementations. It's not like I'm asking for face recognition or autofocus here! Even my Canon 300D has easier exposure comp than the M8. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 26, 2007 Share #32 Posted June 26, 2007 It sure was convenient on the R-D1s to just dial exposure comp up and down from the auto-exposure position. Auto-exposure was also locked, and ISO was adjusted by pulling the exposure dial up and twisting. I don't know how Leica missed such simple, common-sense implementations. It's not like I'm asking for face recognition or autofocus here! Even my Canon 300D has easier exposure comp than the M8. Yes Sol-that is the classic solution. Lets look at the bright side, it is easier to switch the layout in an electronic system than the mechanical one on the RD1. I'm sure Leica will come up with something on the next firmware. (or at least I hope so). For now I hardly ever use AE, which is fine by me, but I am aware others think otherwise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted June 26, 2007 Share #33 Posted June 26, 2007 I wrote about this issue in my first review of the M8 (Sept. 2006) and proposed a set of specific changes in firmware that could make the EV, ISO and WB settings much more accessible. I've discussed this with them on several occasions and the changes may be implemented in a future fw release. I'd urge that all M8 owners, who would value this kind of improvement, send a polite e-mail to Leica indicating their interest in faster/better access for these key controls. We discussed this on the forum last fall but other, more pressing issues, understandably, took precedence. Now maybe its time to revisit this. The squeeky wheels get the grease. The more owners they hear from, the higher this may move up their priority list. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted June 26, 2007 Share #34 Posted June 26, 2007 I still don't understand how to work the exposure compensation on my 5D Setting exposure compensation on the 5D and other EOS cameras is a model of speed and simplicity. In any automatic mode, press the shutter half way and dial the back wheel. Each click of the wheel is 1/3 stop. Watch the the setting move in the viewfinder. No need to look at a menu and no need to remove the camera from your eye. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 26, 2007 Share #35 Posted June 26, 2007 Thanks. I've been using EOS DSLR's since 2002 and this is the first time it has been explained to me in language I can understand. The manual, you see, has been translated from Japanese to English and from English to Dutch, both times by a translator who clearly doesn't know which end of the camera a lens is mounted on... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted June 26, 2007 Share #36 Posted June 26, 2007 Setting exposure compensation on the 5D and other EOS cameras is a model of speed and simplicity. In any automatic mode, press the shutter half way and dial the back wheel. Each click of the wheel is 1/3 stop. Watch the the setting move in the viewfinder. No need to look at a menu and no need to remove the camera from your eye. On the other hand - I received my Expodisk yesterday. As we know it is very easy and quick to set manual WB on the M8. The demo videos are done using a variety of Canon DSLR's. If I had to go through all that button pushing to set manual WB every time, I think I would soon give up and return to the press the button and hope of AWB. Leica did get some things right on their menu system. However, I shall take up Sean's suggestion and send them a polite email on EV and ISO adjustment (well only if my Noctilux, promised for later this week or early next, comes back right this time, otherwise not so polite). Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Marks Posted June 26, 2007 Share #37 Posted June 26, 2007 Hear, hear. I too was using the Expodisk for the first time in NYC on the same trip and found setting manual WB to be fairly easy -- certainly less time than trying color corrections at home on Photoshop/Lightroom. I will take Sean's suggestion and send a polite e-mail to Solms regarding exposure compensation. The files are just awesome. The C/V 15mm did great things with the Brooklyn Bridge - no lens detection on (couldn't get my order into Mr. Milch in time -- in fact it is still sitting on my desk. . .). My father has a fascination with that bridge and I have a set of large, matte prints in mind for him. With the 15, you really get a sense of being in the "web" of John A. Roebling & Sons' iron cabling. Also used the 24 Asph. Oy, what a lens. Funny story: so I have made a date with friends of my brother's to photograph them and their young son in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I dutifully remove the batteries from my M8, RD-1 and 5D the night before to charge them (you already sense the punchline coming, no?). I have three bags of gear and a tripod on a fold up hand-truck which I muscle onto the subway, up and down stairs and out to Brooklyn from Manhattan. I get to the shoot and pull out the 5D with a 90 Elmar on it. Hmm . . . it won't turn on. That's odd. Open the battery compartment . . .DOH. No battery. Useless hunk of plastic and glass. In fact one whole bag of useless gear. Leica and Epson with a 50 1.4 Asph and 90/2.8 Tele Elmarit saved the day. What's the moral of this story? Always take a backup camera or two along. Actually, I had planned on using the M8 so it wasn't technically a back-up, but you know what I mean. And the Expo disk? I have superb pix of a red-headed two-year old to prove that it does what it is supposed to. Greens seem a little dull, though . . . hmm. Still, overall an excellent time. Zlatkob - I'm stunned. I'm going to try that out tonight and if it works on the 5D, we have to figure out a way for me to buy you a beer. Ben Marks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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