Contemplating M8 - clarification - assorted questions...

[frederics]

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Hi,

 

I'm a longtime M user considering an M8. I've been looking at old posts & have a few questions. Some mention that older lenses will not focus properly? The dealer I spoke with yesterday on the phone mentioned I would need to get a finder for the 35 summicron? I see the rangefinder is not as long on the M8 as with the analogue M's is this an issue with accurate focusing with the 75 1.4 shooting wide open? I have many lenses...Is the 6 bit coding absolutely necessary? Or is is only for shooting jpegs? i.e. if shooting raw is the coding of value. I'm assuming I'll need the filter from all the posts I've seen. Unfortunately, I have no local dealers, I would love to hear how the shutter sounds.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Frederic

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[Dan States]

You don't need a seperate finder for a 35. You should always shoot in RAW because the JPEG's from the M8 are not so hot. Coding is optional but makes life a lot easier when using lenses 35mm and wider. The white balance on the camera is iffy, so if you shoot RAW you have complete control at the printing stage.

 

The shutter sounds like a very quiet electric staple gun.

 

If you take the time to use it properly you can get amazing images with the M8. On the other hand, if Walmart does your printing you will get better results with a Fuji F31d.

 

I LOVE my M8. It's small, well built and uses the best lenses in the world.

 

best wishes

Dan

[adan]

1. Some lenses reveal focus shifts when stopped down with the M8 that were not generally noticed with film (the thickness of the film emulsions tended to minimize the effect) - Noctilux, 35 f/1.4 ASPH are the prime examples. I.E. the focus shifts were there in the design all along - but Tri-X @ 1600 tended to mask the errors.

 

2. M8 has a viewfinder for 35mm lenses built-in - dealer was talking through his hat (M8 has frames for 24/28/35/50/75/90 - effective fields of view (with the 1.33x crop) of 32/37/45/67/100/120).

 

3. M8 RF baseline is identical to previous Ms - but the viewfinder magnification is a bit lower (.68x vs. .72x) Combined with the narrow focusing tolerance of a digital sensor mentioned in (1) above, lenses above 50mm are noticeably more tricky to focus perfectly. I'll let 75 'lux users speak to that lens in particular. OTOH with care many of us have used even the 135 lenses (guestimating the framing) with reasonable success in focusing.

 

4. 6-bit coding is important for a) lenses wider than 50mm when using the external IR filters. Without the coding to correct, pictures show a noticeable green/cyan tinge in the corners, which increases the wider the lens is. For lenses 50 and longer the coding has minimal effect on image quality, and is primarily worthwhile only if you need the focal length recorded with the picture for future reference.

 

The coding is equally critical (or not) for either RAW or jpegs.

 

5. Filters are a must for color work, not really required for strict B&W. Infrared will affect blues, browns, greens and skin tones as well as blacks without the filters. Having said that, I shot 3-4,000 exposures before the filters and coding became available, and a lot of them were fine or easily correctible.

 

I guess I would summarize my experience as: with no coding, it is better to work without the filters and deal with the IR color shifts across the whole image as needed. If one IS using the filters, then lens coding is critical to fix the green corners, especially with a 21mm or wider (but others may choose to differ).

 

6. The shutter sounds definitely different than the rubber curtains of film Ms - not a whole lot louder, but a more crisp metallic click rather than the rubbery "thup", and of course includes the whirr of the motor drive. About equivalent to the quieter SLRs, or to a Contax G only slightly less "clinky".

[LichMD]

Any chance you could rent a M8 for a week?

This could help you decide if this camera is what you want.

It fits my needs with nary a concern.

Good Luck

[guywalder]

Frederic,

I concur with the above comments, with the exception of the shutter noise. Personally I find it pretty intrusive compared to a film M. In fact there are quieter SLRs available. I just did a quick comparison between a Nikon F6 and the M8, subjectively the F6 sounded quieter to my ears (ie shutter, mirror and film transport vs shutter and shutter re-cocking).

If its a worry, its very easy to check if you can get to a dealer.

[Shootist]

IMHO if whatever the shutter sounds like will stop you from buying a M8 then don't even bother looking. You've already made up your mind that the shutter noise just isn't right.

Wait for the M9/10 or 11.

It didn't seem to bother these folk, and I was sitting at the next table.

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[Guest tummydoc]

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IMHO if whatever the shutter sounds like will stop you from buying a M8 then don't even bother looking. You've already made up your mind that the shutter noise just isn't right.

Wait for the M9/10 or 11.

It didn't seem to bother these folk, and I was sitting at the next table.

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And here to "prove" how unobtrusive the M8 shutter is, we have.......a photo taken in a rib shack, right by the kitchen pass-through! ROFLMAO :D

[Shootist]

And here to "prove" how unobtrusive the M8 shutter is, we have.......a photo taken in a rib shack, right by the kitchen pass-through! ROFLMAO :D

Please post something you have shot with the M8, that is IF you own a M8.

[stunsworth]

Vinay, you really have _nothing_ to contribute other than snide sarcastic comments do you? I can't remember ever reading anything from you that either helped someone or was in anyway positive about anything or anyone. If you are a doctor as you claim in your user name I hope for your sake that none of your curious patients ever try Googling your details.

 

Since you admit to knowing little about photography I thought I'd illustrate what can be done in the field of candid photography with an M8. Here's a shot I took in a bar about 3 weeks ago. The bar was quiet with no music and no background sounds other than the conversations of the drinkers and diners. It was taken with a 50mm lens and this is the full frame. I've just checked and I have 11 frames of these two women. Neither of them showed any reaction to what I was doing.

 

 

 

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[andybarton]

On another well known forum, about a year ago, Vinay promised to buy not one, but two M8s.

 

I assume this hasn't happened yet. Amazing how one can speak with such authority.

 

[Shootist]

On another well known forum, about a year ago, Vinay promised to buy not one, but two M8s.

 

I assume this hasn't happened yet. Amazing how one can speak with such authority.

 

Then why doesn't someone on this site ban him. This is getting totally ridiculous.

All his posts are aimed at denigrating Leica and the M8, belittling other members and there posts and add nothing to any discussion of the M8.