Have a M6, Recently Purchased a D-Lux 2, & Now Thinking About a M8

[rick123]

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Hi everyone!

I just returned from my first long trip using my new D-Lux 2. The camera is amazing! The size allowing easy portability, the aluminum construction, the quality Leica lens, & of course the immediate gratification of digital photography are joyous. Now I am looking at my beautiful M6 & wondering if I should keep it or make the jump to the upcoming M8. My only lens is the Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 - so I am not "married" to the M. Since it is not ASPH, is it worth 6-bit coding? Do you think the M8 will be as well-built and long-lasting as my M6? Should I think about an R instead? Or should I just be glad to have my D-Lux 2? Thanks!

[pekem]

Hi everyone!

? Do you think the M8 will be as well-built and long-lasting as my M6? Should I think about an R instead? Or should I just be glad to have my D-Lux 2? Thanks!

An M8 may well be "well-built" but I can't imagine that it will be as long lasting as your M6 or indeed any earlier M model. I personally worry that the M8, like all other digital offerings from all manufacturers, will not be coveted by anyone after three or four years.

I well remember paying over £350 for a 1.3 m.p Olympus about 5 years ago which I was lucky to sell for £100 two years later. Two years before I bought the Olympus, I bought an M6.

Today I have a superb M6 and a Digilux 2, which I like very much, but do not expect to still have it in a few years time. I will have the M6 which I still enjoy just holding, and from time to time, running a roll of film through.

I can imagine still having, and using, the M6 in twenty years time but I can't imagine how many D2, M8 replacements I will have bought and used in the next twenty years.

[rick123]

Thanks! Any other thoughts?

[biglouis]

My experience might be worth relating. I've come back to photography in a semi-serious way because of digital photography. It is just so amazingly convenient to shoot then almost immediately develop in the comfort of your own PC. It has also helped me progress as I can rush out into the garden, photograph something, develop it in CS2 or Lightbox, see my mistakes and immediately go out and repeat the process until I get it right.

 

The D-LUX 2 is an amazing instrument being a great combination of size, lens quality and pixel count. At 8MP I can't really see any advantage to going to 10MP. I can honestly say the 8MP has made a vast difference over my previous camera which was 4MP. I always wanted a leica lens, so having (albeit a Leicasonic) one is a great advantage and I think it is what makes the D-LUX 2 so special.

 

As my new found interest has grown I did wonder if I should get a 'M' or an 'R' because I do envy the range of lenses available but each time I do the mental evaluation in my head I come back to the same conclusion that for my level of interest and time, digital is the only way to go.

 

Of course, when I retire, which is anytime in the next ten years I may change my mind and have the time to go back to print film photography (of course, by then there may no longer be such a thing as camera film!).

 

And if I win the lottery there is always the prospect of a DMR.

 

LouisB

[rick123]

Thanks for the great insight! Yes indeed, I can relate. Digital photography (namely, my D-Lux 2) does indeed have me excited about photography all over again! I just feel guilty for not using my M6 & 1 lens for it anymore. Hence the reason for wondering if I should refit the lens and consider the M8.

[ho_co]

I just feel guilty for not using my M6 & 1 lens for it anymore. Hence the reason for wondering if I should refit the lens and consider the M8.

Rick--

Remember, the 50 Summilux doesn't require the zebra coding to work on the M8. I have the same lens and intend to see its results before deciding whether to have the 6-bit code applied.

 

With the R lenses, Leica recommends that a person definitely have the ROM installed for high-speed lenses and for wide-angles. The probable reason is that these are the types most liable to vignetting. My guess is that the same will apply to the M8 and its lenses.

 

The 50/1.4 is therefore a lens that would be on the recommended list for installing the digital ID code, but remember, with CS2 there's a simple slider to remove vignetting when it's a problem. So you might want to wait till you shoot the lens with the M8 before deciding to have the code installed.

 

Just an opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it!

 

--HC

[Timhl]

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I do not share the pessimism about the lifetime of the Digilux 2.

Since 2 years, I have one, and I am still amazed of what it can do.

To operate it has now become intuitive. I don´t need more pixels.

I am happy with the EWF. The lens is great.

I see no reason why it would not be my companion in a number of years.

[rick123]

Thanks for your input!

After using the D-Lux 2, and having complete control of the photographic process from picture taking to "developing", I am "hooked" on Leica digital photography! As much as I treasure my M6, not being able to develop the color slides can be very frustrating.

[peter55]

I pay a very small amount to have my film developed. Then a few hours later I scan the film negatives into my computer. The files produce the best images I have ever seen. I can print the ones I want. My film scanner also works with trannies, so now I'm scanning them too.

 

You can do the same so keep yor M6.

 

Eventually I may develope my own negatives and slides. The chemisty is safe and not that difficult. So then I can shoot the film and an hour later view the digitized image.

 

You can do the same so please keep your M6 and Summilux.

 

Remember you still have the D-Lux 2 for the real instant gradification with minimal effort.

But I feel that the M6 and Summilux used as above will produce your treasures.

[rick123]

Great point - thanks!

But is a scanned photo (developed by a lab of varying expertise) as good as a digital photo? Does eliminating the developing variable in film processing give the digital route an advantage?

[pekem]

I do not share the pessimism about the lifetime of the Digilux 2.

Since 2 years, I have one, and I am still amazed of what it can do.

To operate it has now become intuitive. I don´t need more pixels.

I am happy with the EWF. The lens is great.

I see no reason why it would not be my companion in a number of years.

I too would be pleased to be able to use my D2 in the years to come but we have to be realistic. Manufacturers warranties rarely extend beyond three years and on this forum, in other threads,we can read daily of the technical glitches associated with digital equipment and the remedies offered by users to overcome them. It is all very well being told that the camera is being replaced for a new one by Leica when it has been returned to the factory for repair under warranty but quite a different matter if the warranty has expired. It seems that the best that can be expected is an offer to replace a defective model with an upgrade at a substantial discount.

I suspect that an M6 will be serviceble for many years to come but I am not persuaded that the same is true of my D2.

[sfage]

Great point - thanks!

But is a scanned photo (developed by a lab of varying expertise) as good as a digital photo? Does eliminating the developing variable in film processing give the digital route an advantage?

 

 

No, certainly not. I am an abstract/industrial art photo guy. I can't trust the guys at the lab to give me what I want. When they look at the print I just had them do, they either look at it upside down, or on its side! How can I expect them to get my colours right if they don't even know which way IS UP?!!!

 

I just picked up the Epson 2400 and V700.

 

Fabulous.

 

Here's the scanner in action:

 

Acid (Left) | terminus1525.ca

 

Acid (right) | terminus1525.ca

 

The Next One Will Be Over Water | terminus1525.ca

[rick123]

Thank you all for your expert advice!

[modschiedler]

Isn’t the question rather what kind of photos you would like to make, Rick? If, for instance, you have been a lover of selective DOF or of shooting at available light when using your M6 – then go for the M8. The D-Lux 2 with its tiny sensor and its considerable noise from ISO 200 isn’t more than a nice handy toy no matter how many MP

[rick123]

True!

Any thoughts on how the older Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 compares with the newer ASPH lens?

[ho_co]

Any thoughts on how the older Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 compares with the newer ASPH lens?

I use the older 50/1.4 and am very happy with it. But it is a very old design, and the new one is its superior in just about every aspect.

 

See for example the review by Erwin Puts at http://www.imx.nl/photosite/leica/mseries/SummiluxASPH/s14-50.html.

 

This is the first time ever that an f/1.4 lens has been as good optically as an f/2.

 

The only down side is that Leica's new designs are so much contrastier that some working photographers (Sean Reid in some cases) prefer to use the older lenses on bright-sun, contrasty days.

 

--HC

[rick123]

Great reference!

Thank you

[leicapfile]

I'm not certain that the M8 will have short life (e.g. 3-4 years). On the flip side, I'd be surprised if it was still going strong after 46 years like my M3. After all, the M8 is going to be an all electric camera.

 

The technological curve for digital equipment has beem almost logrithmic over the past years, but my sense is its falling off to be more linear in nature.

 

I would hold off on the M8 for now. Primarily because photography is not my profession, and the idea of any 'crop factor' is foreign to me.

 

Hopefully my D2 will hold out till Leica figures out how to go digital FF in an M. At that time I'd probably spring for the M8 (ver 2), and not worry about the D2.

 

Best,

 

Jerry

[Sandokan]

Fact of Life: All men have pe*** envy!

 

Like when a 50mm f1.4 Asph comes out - we start to think about replacing our

non-asherical lens. Once the M8P or M8.2 (with an increase in pixels) comes out, we will

start to think about upgrading ...

 

That is why I went film - I can easily put in the newest high performance film into any of

my cameras - including my A1

 

Get the M8 - I am sure it will be superb, but keep the M6 and you will need a 35mm to

give you a standard lens and your 50mm will act like a short tele.

 

As said earlier, that is my opinion and is worth every penny you paid for it.

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[phybron]

Isn’t the question rather what kind of photos you would like to make, Rick? If, for instance, you have been a lover of selective DOF or of shooting at available light when using your M6 – then go for the M8. The D-Lux 2 with its tiny sensor and its considerable noise from ISO 200 isn’t more than a nice handy toy no matter how many MP

This is one of the reasons I'm now seriously considering selling my Digilux 2. I know the sensor isn't as small as a D-Lux 2 but it's still pretty limiting for selective DOF. I've recently bought an old Canon QL17 and have a Jobo film developing kit on the way so I'm sort of going a bit backwards, from digital to film, but I think it'll help me improve in the long run.

 

The Digilux 2 is limited by it's sensor size more than anything else I find, as I imagine the D-Lux 2 is. And it's just a bit too big to take everywhere, whereas my QL17, and any M camera, is pocketable. The D2 has been great and given me an interest in photography that I never had before, but I sadly think it's time to sell it now. Maybe one day I'll get a digital M, but for now there's nothing quite like the D2 available.

 

I know you're talking about the D-Lux 2, but I thought this might be vaguely relevant. Plus I'm still trying to make up my mind.