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Anyone think of buying M8 again?


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  • 2 years later...

I have recently bought and received an M8.2.  I was guided to it after watching a lot of YouTube footage about the camera and its sensor.  So I bought it for the sensor.  My other camera is a Sony A7M II with the Zeiss/Sony 55mm 1.8 and the Sony 24 - 240mm.  Both are good lenses.  But I like the M8.2 color.  The colors in the M8.2 seem softer to me than Kodachrome, more like Agfachrome but without the slight orange tint.

Next we come to maintenance.  The M8.2 is not what it cost me but what its value is.  Where am I going to find another digital with colors like this one?  The answer is only in another M8 or, preferably, and M8.2.  Then the question is how high a value do I place on the Leica itself?  Again, what other camera offers what this little guy offers?  So if I want to have the color qualities that the M8.2 has I will just have to pay what it costs to fix it should it fail.  If my local guy can do a CLA when it is needed I will take it to him.  Leica in NJ is in some sort of space warp, or so it seems in my communications with them, so repairs would be in der Heimat.  If Leitz in Germany cannot fix it then it is just another happy memory for me.  But from what I have read on this particular sub-forum, yes, all M8 fans, the camera seems just as rugged as the other Leicas.

Would I buy another?  Yes.  I may just keep an eye out for another as a donor camera.  It sounds prudent to me.  Just like a spare tire: better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.  This is a fine camera.  

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21 minutes ago, boojum said:

Where am I going to find another digital with colors like this one? 

Well, the Leica Digilux 2 has been renowned for its exceptional colours since its release a couple of years before the M8.  It's a Leica/Panasonic collaboration but don't let that put you off and its 28-90/2.0-2.4 Vario Summicron lens is simply one of the best Leica designs.  (If I could transpose the Vario Summicron lens onto another camera when my Digilux 2 eventually gets the recall to camera heaven then I would but, alas, it can't be done.)

There is a thread called Do Digilux 2 photos have distinctive look and, once you get past the opening back-and-forth dialogue, contains a wealth of D2 pictures that display the D2's colours.

I'm not suggesting that the colours are necessarily 'better' than the M8's because to my mind it's not a competition but they're certainly notable.

Pete.

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4 hours ago, farnz said:

Well, the Leica Digilux 2 has been renowned for its exceptional colours since its release a couple of years before the M8.  It's a Leica/Panasonic collaboration but don't let that put you off and its 28-90/2.0-2.4 Vario Summicron lens is simply one of the best Leica designs.  (If I could transpose the Vario Summicron lens onto another camera when my Digilux 2 eventually gets the recall to camera heaven then I would but, alas, it can't be done.)

There is a thread called Do Digilux 2 photos have distinctive look and, once you get past the opening back-and-forth dialogue, contains a wealth of D2 pictures that display the D2's colours.

I'm not suggesting that the colours are necessarily 'better' than the M8's because to my mind it's not a competition but they're certainly notable.

Pete.

I'm on here to learn and appreciate the heads-up.  The Digilux-2 is pretty cheap on eBay, < US$500 mostly, has that nice CCD sensor but it is tiny, ~half the M8/M8.2.  So when image detail is cranked in I'd guess the M8/M8.2 is unrivaled in this case.  For ~US$500 it is a lot of camera, though.

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I sold my M8 in order to buy the Leica Monochrom CCD, which has given me lots of satisfaction.  I find myself thinking about getting another M8, especially after going through some of my old photo files of photographs taken with that camera.  I bought the Monochrom CCD because I mostly do B&W, and I also shoot with a Sony A7R3.  My B&W files done with a CCD sensor remain my favorite.   I may just go for it and keep both M cameras.  I've held onto my D2. 

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New to the forum, I was looking into M8/M8.2 articles on the web and found the Leica Forum. I just received a silver M8.2 in very good condition with 1556 shutter accounting. Starting to test it in color with B&W IR/UV filter and B&W without it. I must say I am quite impressed by the file and especially the B&W ones. I came into Leica with the Q that I replaced with the Q2 and finally to the Step for an M Typ 262. The M8/M8.2 was a decision to get my hand on the CCD sensor that lots of Leica users talk about and I don’t regret it.

Please to read you.

Taken with 50mm Summilux. JPEG with no editing (will test DNGs in the next days)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/7/2018 at 4:17 PM, analog-digital said:

 

M-mono Mark I

I've done this comparison. M8 with 35/1.7 Ultron with Yellow filter and the M Monochrom with 28/2.8 Elmarit with Yellow filter.

I've had the M8 for 11 years now, the M Monochrom for 8 years.

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  • 1 month later...

I like very much the images that come out of my M8.2.  I am not a really good photographer.  I take photos to please myself.  So, if something were to happen to this M8.2 there is a good chance I would get another.  I have an M240 which is a lovely camera but just does not have the almost lithographic quality of the M8.2.  Yeah. I'd do it again.

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I received one yesterday. My first Leica. I have a Fuji GFX50r and an X-E2 but wanted to scratch an itch I've had for many years and saw the m8 as the sensible entry point into rangefinder photography along with the CCD sensor that I've read many good things about. From yesterday's brief play (Mainly due to a crappy old battery) I'm absolutely loving the feel of the files and the process in taking them.

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Costa, nice move.

I just don't believe that the battery coming with your M8 is "crappy".

Reading the other thread M8 battery for me it's normal behavior of M8 batteries which even new would do the same.

More than ten years ago (2007-2008) , when I took some pics in winter with M8, batteries (fully charged Leica 14464) died without notice after some tens of frames.

So over time I carried four or five 14464 when I used M8/M9, happily they share same batteries.

Have a long read here, non Leica batteries ...

more here

 

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3 hours ago, costa43 said:

Mainly due to a crappy old battery

The M8's electronics can be a bit fickle (compared with other cameras) and will often start to misbehave when the battery voltage starts to diminish as the battery discharges.  Unlike any other camera I've owned I'll always change the M8's battery for a freshly charged when I notice that the first battery bar has gone.  Since I've started doing that my M8's have behaved impeccably so your battery might not be as crappy as you think and it might be an M8 foible that's making it look that way.

Pete.

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3 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

Costa, nice move.

I just don't believe that the battery coming with your M8 is "crappy".

Reading the other thread M8 battery for me it's normal behavior of M8 batteries which even new would do the same.

More than ten years ago (2007-2008) , when I took some pics in winter with M8, batteries (fully charged Leica 14464) died without notice after some tens of frames.

So over time I carried four or five 14464 when I used M8/M9, happily they share same batteries.

Have a long read here, non Leica batteries ...

more here

 

It died on me today but I got 100 shots out of it which is encouraging and an increase on the 60 I got the other day. I think I'll buy two spares tomorrow. 

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2 hours ago, farnz said:

The M8's electronics can be a bit fickle (compared with other cameras) and will often start to misbehave when the battery voltage starts to diminish as the battery discharges.  Unlike any other camera I've owned I'll always change the M8's battery for a freshly charged when I notice that the first battery bar has gone.  Since I've started doing that my M8's have behaved impeccably so your battery might not be as crappy as you think and it might be an M8 foible that's making it look that way.

Pete.

Strangely the battery indicator never dropped. It always showed 3 bars then it died. About half an hour later it recovered for a couple of shots and died again. It seems to have it's own personality. The B&W files are exceptional so I think I can forgive it...

 

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3 minutes ago, costa43 said:

Strangely the battery indicator never dropped. It always showed 3 bars then it died. About half an hour later it recovered for a couple of shots and died again. It seems to have it's own personality. The B&W files are exceptional so I think I can forgive it...

 

In that case it sounds like the battery needs calibrating with the M8 so that the M8's meter will accurately read the battery's available capacity.  I don't have any OEM batteries so I've never needed to do it although from memory it's to do with running the battery completely flat in the camera (auto-power-off switched off and LCD showing a picture iirc) but others who have done it will assist I hope.

(Anybody ... ?)

Pete.

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50 minutes ago, farnz said:

In that case it sounds like the battery needs calibrating with the M8 so that the M8's meter will accurately read the battery's available capacity.  I don't have any OEM batteries so I've never needed to do it although from memory it's to do with running the battery completely flat in the camera (auto-power-off switched off and LCD showing a picture iirc) but others who have done it will assist I hope.

(Anybody ... ?)

Pete.

Thanks Pete. I'll read up on it. 

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Yes...

Auto-power-off switched off, and leave camera On overnight...don't need an image in playback the camera power will run flat anyway.  If you've just charged the battery and want to fully discharge I'd leave it longer, say 24 hours.

After battery is fully discharged, fully recharge with battery charger, insert into camera, and do the fully discharge method above.

I've reinvigorated a couple of batteries, and so have other people following this method. Don't forget to turn on again, the Auto-power-off, before using your camera.

If it doesn't work, then dispose properly, and buy another battery, preferably OEM. I have a couple OEM's which are more than 10 years old.

If you are just trying to recalibrate the battery-level meter to the copy Leica battery, you have to just run down the battery completely and then fully charge the battery before reinsertion.  I just carry a spare and use the battery until the camera stops working. Recharge, reuse and good to go with proper levels showing.

 

Good luck, hope my overexplanation helps...🙄

...

Edited by david strachan
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Here is what the manual says on the battery charging matter:

"• A new battery only reaches its full capacity after it has been fully charged and – by use in the camera - discharged again 2 or 3 times. This discharge procedure should be repeated every 25 cycles. To ensure a maximum service life of the battery, it should not be exposed to constant extremes of temperature (e.g. in a parked car in the summer or winter)."

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