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New on the Forum, ponderings about the Leica M8


Hokum

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My photographic history, semi Pro photographer, mainly product and portraits, non Pro Wildlife photographer (award winning). From Canon D60->Olympus FT (Oly E-1 )->MFT Oly/Pana.


I picked up the M8 last year, as I've always wanted to try the "back to basics" approach of the M system cameras, and the M8 and the M9 probably are the closest to that.


Today I did a side by side with the GX8, and I must admit, it is a lovely tactile thing to use. The fact it doesn't have live view, or any new features I think IS a selling point of the camera. 

These are from last year, with the VM 28mm f2. 

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This was with out an IR filter, so the only things which seem a little off are the green leaves, otherwise I can't complain about the DR or rendering.

Not bad for a camera from the distant past. It certainly has the Kodak pop, like my E-1 (which I still own). 

About the only true negative, I can think of about the M8 are the Batteries and it seems to eat them (that could be due to old batteries though).

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Welcome to the forum.

Glad you're enjoying the M8, it's still capable of great images. Regarding the batteries, I've been using an aftermarket brand called Cameron Sino for a few years and they've given excellent service, at a very low price.

Ernst

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11 hours ago, Hokum said:

This was with out an IR filter, so the only things which seem a little off are the green leaves, otherwise I can't complain about the DR or rendering.

Not bad for a camera from the distant past. It certainly has the Kodak pop, like my E-1 (which I still own). 

About the only true negative, I can think of about the M8 are the Batteries and it seems to eat them (that could be due to old batteries though).

Welcome to the forum. Great pictures from an all time classic. The only thing I regret about the M8 is that it is not full frame. I love 50mm but all my 50mm lenses are a bit too tight on the M8. Love using the Summicron 40C on the M8! I also liked the Elmarit 28 ASPH on this one.

I never shoot without UV/IR filter unless in B&W, and even then images without filter in low light look less sharp. If you did not try the UV/IR filters yet, you will be amazed at how much better the colors are. I can even see the potential in the examples above.

Some people are disappointed about the ISO performance, but I use it as if it is loaded with ISO 160 film. Shoot RAW and under expose up to 3-4 stops if necessary. When corrected in PP it will give better results than shooting with ISO 1600.

Edited by dpitt
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These are from my walk on Sunday GX8 VS M8.

GX8 + Mitakon Speedmaster 17mm f 0.95

M8 + 21mm f2.8 ASPH

So approx 35mm on the GX8 and 28mm on M8 ish.


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GX8

M8

GX8

M8

My main take away is that when in portrait its easy to miss things at the bottom of the frame due to the lens. 

The colours (note again without an IR Cut filter) are actually nicer I feel on the M8, 

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12 hours ago, dpitt said:

Welcome to the forum. Great pictures from an all time classic. The only thing I regret about the M8 is that it is not full frame. I love 50mm but all my 50mm lenses are a bit too tight on the M8. Love using the Summicron 40C on the M8! I also liked the Elmarit 28 ASPH on this one.

I never shoot without UV/IR filter unless in B&W, and even then images without filter in low light look less sharp. If you did not try the UV/IR filters yet, you will be amazed at how much better the colors are. I can even see the potential in the examples above.

Some people are disappointed about the ISO performance, but I use it as if it is loaded with ISO 160 film. Shoot RAW and under expose up to 3-4 stops if necessary. When corrected in PP it will give better results than shooting with ISO 1600.

I just picked up the Leica 21mm f2.8 ASPH so I'll get a filter for that!

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41 minutes ago, Hokum said:

I just picked up the Leica 21mm f2.8 ASPH so I'll get a filter for that!

Good choice. I hope it is 6-bit coded? That will help with the vignetting and pink corners...

BTW I also have the GX8. It is mostly used for macro and tele stuff, with R lenses.

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13 hours ago, dpitt said:

...I love 50mm but all my 50mm lenses are a bit too tight on the M8. Love using the Summicron 40C on the M8...

Hi, Hokum, and wewlcome to the Forum.

I concur about with dpitt's comments (above) as to how well the 40mm f/l works with the M8. In my case I used a 40mm f1.4 Voigtlander Nokton and found them to be a superb pairing.

As far as the incoming 21mm ASPH is concerned; not having used one with my own (now sadly-departed) M8.2 I can't speak from personal experience but as the M8 has a crop sensor it could be that the vignetting and colour-shift in the corners will not be as bad as might be feared.

Looking forward to seeing any pics you may care to post once it has arrived.

Philip.

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A grey day lunch time stroll called for some B+W... with the 21mm

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Annoyed by this one, I just clipped the top of the building off.

Seems appropriate for The Black Cat Or should that be The Cat Black?

Sadly I couldn't wait for it to get darker, I had to head home from work...

ISO 640 looks fine to me...

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1 hour ago, Hokum said:

Sadly I couldn't wait for it to get darker, I had to head home from work...

ISO 640 looks fine to me...

Indeed, it looks fine on the web. Not sure for print... I always shoot at ISO 160 (RAW) and under expose by up to 3 stops. So in this case I would have set my shutter time to 1/30 and opened up my lens, and in PP I would bring up the shadows as much as needed. This sometimes even saves a stop. Even pushing 3 stops in PP gives better result than shooting at ISO 640 YMMV.

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3 hours ago, dpitt said:

Indeed, it looks fine on the web. Not sure for print... I always shoot at ISO 160 (RAW) and under expose by up to 3 stops. So in this case I would have set my shutter time to 1/30 and opened up my lens, and in PP I would bring up the shadows as much as needed. This sometimes even saves a stop. Even pushing 3 stops in PP gives better result than shooting at ISO 640 YMMV.

With only light denoising in Capture one 8 (yes 8 ) it looks like it would be fine up to about 8x11 inch prints, and I don't think it would be intrusive at double that at usual viewing distances. This isn't for poster size prints.

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100% crop

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@Hokum That is not bad at all, the noise looks almost like film, so it is kind of pleasing. I never used C1 much, and certainly am not a fan of the denoise in LR6 that I used mostly. My advice is still the same. If you get results like this without UV/IR filter (I think I can see it) and without using the M8 at base ISO, you should definitely try out the difference it can make. The better your PP app is the more your gain with this method.

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  • 4 weeks later...

A few from todays wanderings with the 21mm ASPH + Cut filter and M8.

Manchester Cathedral 

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ISO640

ISO320

A sunny day in Manchester so I had to get the camera out!

 

 

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