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Dare I take an M8 test drive?


andybarton

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This is my test drive at Leo's in Vancouver with my 50mm Noct. I have placed my order.

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This M8 thing has really become a cult! ;) lol

 

Oh...it's BEEN a cult....

 

Conrad, your DMR work speaks for itself. And Andy, your recent efforts are impressive as well.

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Andy,

 

No big deal just taking a test drive. Bring an SD card and compare the files to your DMR. There is no way that they will hold up. Then try the ISO 640 or 1250, I'm sure that the DMR will be better still. Oh, those M lenses are just not as good as the R lenses either. ;):D

 

For 24 to 90 use, I think the M8 is really tough to beat. Macro & tele should stay with the DMR.

 

Best,

 

Ray

 

PS. I hope your wallet is ready!!!

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Conrad.

 

"Although clearly not on par with the file quality of the DMR,"

 

Thank you. You have just saved me about five grand.

 

I will buy you a slap up dinner, next time you're in Liverpool (2008 is a good year, btw...)

 

:)

 

Yes, except as another DMR owner, I respectfully disagree that the M8 doesn't measure up to the DMR... So I guess I get the kick up the backside when I cross the pond :)

 

In other words, it's not my experience that the M8 files don't hold up at all.

 

YMMV, IMO (though I just saw Ray's response.... LOL!!)

 

@ Andy--what? You mean you haven't taken a test drive already?! :D

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Guest guy_mancuso

Well have to say i love them both very much but after 10 day tour with both camera's on sight there is just not much difference and my back felt pretty damn well after all day with the M8's just ask Woody, David and Roger we all love them and some of the R glass is wonderfull but there so close in quality it is really a tough call. let's face a few facts there both Kodak CCD sensors without AA filters and both 10 mpx . On paper there is no difference but my take is the DMR maybe a touch smoother in tonal range but the M glass is sharper and the real difference really maybe 16 vs 8 bit and that is were i believe the smoother file comes from. but hell i would be happy with either or both systems. Had them both and really at the end of the day there still the best 2 camera's in the business IMHO. They both still carry the Leica nameplate and leica glass, not much can touch that fact

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With ALL the positive things I said about the M8, it's funny to see what most of you zeroed in on. Sorry guys, I am not buying into this cultish thing. True 16 bit vs. 8 bit is indeed the key, smoother tonality IS better, get over it. :D

 

Cheers,

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With ALL the positive things I said about the M8, it's funny to see what most of you zeroed in on. Sorry guys, I am not buying into this cultish thing. True 16 bit vs. 8 bit is indeed the key, smoother tonality IS better, get over it. :D

 

Cheers,

my understanding is the M8's ADC captures at the higher bit depth & the DNG it produces is then processed in camera to the lower bit depth

this produces a file that is very smooth & deep, yet still compact

an elegant & advanced engineering decision on the part of Jenoptik/Kodak/Leica, IMHO

the results from the M8 are hard to dispute

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Guest guy_mancuso

Arthur i don't disagree and i don't know the real science behind it but from my visual prespective the DMR seems a touch better on tone but also this can be not accurate either because there is more micro contrast with the M so the sharper look may take away from the smoother look of the DMR. Hard to explain what i see but overall it is very slight indeed

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With ALL the positive things I said about the M8, it's funny to see what most of you zeroed in on. Sorry guys, I am not buying into this cultish thing. True 16 bit vs. 8 bit is indeed the key, smoother tonality IS better, get over it. :D

 

Cheers,

 

The M8 cult or the DMR cult? Or could it be that they aren't actually cults, just preferences and affinities? I would prefer that the M8 files stayed at 16-bit (assuming the processor/memory could keep up) if only to give the DNG files more reach in the highlights. I find the tonality of the M8's files to be very much to my taste but then taste is individual.

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The M8 cult or the DMR cult? Or could it be that they aren't actually cults, just preferences and affinities? I would prefer that the M8 files stayed at 16-bit (assuming the processor/memory could keep up) if only to give the DNG files more reach in the highlights. I find the tonality of the M8's files to be very much to my taste but then taste is individual.

 

I also think it's also about how one shoots, Sean.

 

And for the way I shoot--which is almost never (by choice) in the noonday sun and all-too-rarely in the studio, the tonality of the M8 *in the shadows* kicks the stuff out of the tonality of the DMR ;)

 

Why? Because once you start to reach an effective sensor amplification of around ISO 800 as a limit, the DMR files are, well, terrible. At least, that's the way *I* think of it.

 

IOW--dynamic range is bounded by noise, and the M8 has *at least* a stop, perhaps two--better noise characteristics.

 

The M8 is also a tougher file to process, partly due to the profiling--or lack thereof--in a lot of solutions. Many of the RAW converters (especially the Adobe ones) clamp it down *considerably* in terms of saturation and colour, it seems.

 

So it's far *easier* to get a "touch" smoother midtones from the DMR under completely controlled conditions :D

 

As a consequence of, IMO, the noise characteristics, the DMR has nearly NO headroom at all; but I do love the way it blows highlights ;) The M8 has more to play with--even with compression--but clips differently, in not so "film-like" a fashion.

 

However, both of them are better than other 12bpp cameras in these edge conditions, again, IMO.

 

Yeah, I'm not even going to get into the science of this--this is just the way I've thought through the results and differences I see between the 5d, the m8, the DMR and the 1ds2. Since all of them use Leica glass, that's not much of a variable. I'm just comparing my own 16 * 20 and a Lambda prints.

 

In that sense, the M8 is just a really tough file to beat, believe me; colour consistency and handling on the DMR is better though "out of the box" (but we all knew that).

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I also think it's also about how one shoots, Sean.

 

So it's far *easier* to get a "touch" smoother midtones from the DMR under completely controlled conditions :D

 

 

Oh, please! I almost never shoot under controlled conditions so that one cannot be used with respect to the results produced with the DMR. :D

 

Anyway, I'm having a bit of a laugh at the exense of my M8 bretherens because they seem to really get their panties in a knot anytime they perceive that something less than perfect is said about their tool. ;)

 

Cheers,

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More important to my photographic needs than the apparently subtle -- or at least debatable -- file differences, is the camera itself. When portability, stealth and convenience are significant considerations, the M8 is the clear winner. (But both cameras get first prize in my book.)

 

Larry

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Oh, please! I almost never shoot under controlled conditions so that one cannot be used with respect to the results produced with the DMR. :D

 

Anyway, I'm having a bit of a laugh at the exense of my M8 bretherens because they seem to really get their panties in a knot anytime they perceive that something less than perfect is said about their tool. ;)

 

Cheers,

 

Your work is fabulous, and I know it's not controlled (though you're very good at seeing and controlling the effects). But from the site, anyway, it ain't dark by half compared to the closets I often shoot in (Ok, the candlelit shot is great, and dark, and I know it's on the Web, but it doesn't look like a lot of shadow detail to me. Not that that would make a better picture!)

 

And I'm your DMR brother too :) So there you go. And I love it too... but it has its endearing flaws as well, not the least of which is the difficulty of available light imagery with the noise levels of the DMR--colour and luminance--especially when that available light is tungsten. Shudder. ';)

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Jamie - Thanks for your kind words. Here is another one for you by candlelight, I think shadow details are readily available here. R8/DMR 35mm f/2 Summicron-R, 400 ISO, C1 Pro.

 

Cheers,

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