Sean Reid's review of a pre-production upgraded M8

[charlesphoto99]

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I think the interesting thing will be to see if this initial upgrade is a success or failure for Leica. Of course they would probably never admit to the latter but if a second upgrade never materializes and a new camera instead you can bet it wasn't worth their while. I think they are clutching at straws to a degree in their business at the moment and are making it up as they go. No new lenses (besides the Summarits which I don't think are exactly flying off the shelves), no new accessories, no new compacts, they had to come up with something.

 

I think whether or not to do the upgrade has been beaten to death at this point. Do the upgrade if you have the money, time, and need. Don't do it if you don't have the money, time, or need. Personally, I have the need but neither the time or money. So no upgrade for me - at least for the near future. I also would want to wait until my original warranty expires next March as really the extended warranty is a large aspect of the price.

[Guest jimmy pro]

That sums it up nicely. The upgrade program is a great idea. This particular upgrade however is underwhelming for the amount of money involved, especially if your warranty isn't up.

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[ken_tanaka]

My personal solution when I need a truly silent shutter. It's a terrific little picture machine costing less than 1/3 the price of an M8 upgrade.

 

[sliversurger]

Sean,

 

Thanks again for your review on the upgrade. I think one birlliant marketing/ customer service Leica can do would be to hold Leica Days at various dealers with some modified M8's on hand for people to judge for themselves whether they would like the upgrade. If customers like what they've tested, the attending Leica reps can assist in preparing the upgrade orders for customers on-site.

 

Having first hand experience goes a long way to ward off those "i just received my upgraded M8 and it's not as quiet as i read on the internet! i want a refund!" comments which will inevitably surface.

 

John

[sean_reid]

"At weddings someone is always sniffing or coughing or clearing there throat so it's not as if a ceremony is ever dead silence. I covered a funeral once for a paper, there was enough wailing and crying to drown out a howitzer. Most of the weddings I've been to in the last twenty years, and I'm talking Catholic, the pro shot during the procession and even the ceremony itself, at moments where the priest paused, with a clacking SLR, and nobody got all bent out of shape."

 

Jimmy,

 

I'm not sure how many years you've been shooting weddings but, in the work I do for those clients, the quieter my camera can be, the better. And I've been at this for well over 20 years. Frankly, I find a lot of wedding photography coverage to be obnoxious, but we all have our own styles. Mine, *mine*, is to be as unnoticeable as I can be.

 

 

"Nah that's crap. All they have to do is delay the recocking until either you take your finger off the trigger or else push a seperate button, after you've had a chance to shove the camera under your jacket or guard it with your body, something to muffle the whirrrrr."

 

Who are you to say what's a legitimate solution or not? The delayed shutter cocking idea would be an awful idea for my work. Maybe you should consider that we don't all work the same way, have the same priorities, etc. I'd be happy to buy an M8 with manual shutter cocking. Different strokes for different folks.

[bill]

My personal solution when I need a truly silent shutter. It's a terrific little picture machine costing less than 1/3 the price of an M8 upgrade.

 

 

Nice thought, Ken, but how do you get over the woeful shutter lag? I tried to shoot some of the Chinese New Year celebrations with my G7, and I can honestly say that unless the G9 is much improved in that regard, it can only be used for "considered" photography.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[sean_reid]

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Thanks Sean,

 

I'm on the fence a little, although leaning towards the upgrade. If there is an image difference, though, I would definitely do it.

 

Thanks again,

 

steve

 

If there is, I doubt it will be significant.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

And another thing folks are ignoring (or maybe don't know). A new shutter in a Canon 1DS costs <$300, and that's tied in with the mirror mechanism so there's more work involved. $1800 for a new shutter and LCD glass is effin robbery, pure and simple. It's an effin pre-assembled mass-produced Japanese shutter, not some complicated handmade German clockwork. Ya there's the warranty. But unless yours is up, that's a waste.

 

Its a waste to *you*, JimmyPro, not a waste to *everyone*. Your experiences, priorities, etc. do not generalize to everyone else; they aren't global. If its not worth the money for you, don't do it - simple.

[ken_tanaka]

Nice thought, Ken, but how do you get over the woeful shutter lag? I tried to shoot some of the Chinese New Year celebrations with my G7, and I can honestly say that unless the G9 is much improved in that regard, it can only be used for "considered" photography.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Sometimes manually pre-focus / zone focus, much like you would with an M.

 

I do wish the shot-to-shot recycle time was snappier but it really has not been an issue for me. All cameras require considerations and compromises. In my experience (speaking as an owner of two M8s) the G9 presents far fewer such barriers and restrictions than an M8.

 

But I really do not want to hijack this thread on Sean's new articles. I was just being a wise guy. We can have a discussion about this topic elsewhere.

[bill]

Agreed, Ken. No problem.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[andybarton]

Sean,

 

Having first hand experience goes a long way to ward off those "i just received my upgraded M8 and it's not as quiet as i read on the internet! i want a refund!" comments which will inevitably surface.

 

John

 

And you think this will stop them?

[sean_reid]

Nice thought, Ken, but how do you get over the woeful shutter lag? I tried to shoot some of the Chinese New Year celebrations with my G7, and I can honestly say that unless the G9 is much improved in that regard, it can only be used for "considered" photography.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

The only way to get past shutter lag with the G9 is to use AF and pre-focus the camera. In manual focus, manual exposure, etc. the lag is 6/10 second. The G9 has some nice features but also some significant limitations (mostly having to do with the finder, manual focus, lack of step-zoom and shutter response). I do love the ISO dial and the built-in ND filter but, for me at least, it's no alternative to an M8 or a GR2. It is virtually silent, though.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[Guest jimmy pro]

Its a waste to *you*, JimmyPro, not a waste to *everyone*. Your experiences, priorities, etc. do not generalize to everyone else; they aren't global. If its not worth the money for you, don't do it - simple.

 

I said "Ya there's the warranty. But unless yours is up its a waste." Meaning that the new warranty that comes with the upgrade is a waste if you've still got original warranty left on your M8. The more you've got left the more it's a waste, the closer you are to when your warranty expires, the less it's a waste. Can't think of any way to say it so it's more understandable, but then again I don't ask people to pay for what I write

[sean_reid]

Jimmy,

 

You also wrote: "$1800 for a new shutter and LCD glass is effin robbery, pure and simple."

 

Again, that's in the eye of the beholder. I wish it were less too, and I wish the USD were stronger, but I don't know that'd I'd call $1200 Euros robbery. We've all got different ideas about what's worth spending money on and what isn't. Leica stuff is always expensive.

 

People may not pay you for what you write but, if you are a pro, they pay you for what you photograph. One way or another, professionals get paid for what they do.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[george_b]

What will be really interesting is to see how many of those posturing about the M8 upgrade, etc - go for the upgrade once they ge their email offer from Lieca.

[imported_peter_m]

My LC1 just got back from a sensor upgrade......

 

..... it was FREE :D

 

 

 

 

Just had to throw this in here

 

Peter

[Guest jimmy pro]

Jimmy,

 

You also wrote: "$1800 for a new shutter and LCD glass is effin robbery, pure and simple."

 

Again, that's in the eye of the beholder.

 

I'll bet there are more eyes would beholden it as robbery if you took the 2 year warranty extension out of the picture. A ways back, I don't remember who it was but someone on this forum was quoted $700 to replace the shutter in there M8 which Leica blamed them for messing up. Add another $200 for the LCD screen. That adds up to half what they want for the upgrade. You say that was a few months ago and the dollar has fallen? OK fine, let's add a whopping 20%. So now the cost should be $1080. Whichever way you figure it you're paying several hundred bucks for a CLA and warranty. If your warranty is expired or soon expires then it becomes a matter of whether you want/need the new shutter and LCD. If your warranty has time to go, then the upgrade is a ripoff and you can deny it till the cows come home but it's still a ripoff. I mean, if you really think the M8's so effin loud now you can't wait a year, that it'll make a big diff in your bottom line, then cool, sure your better off doing the upgrade now, but you got to realize your bending over and taking it up the tailpipe, even if you need it for busness.

[Guest jimmy pro]

What will be really interesting is to see how many of those posturing about the M8 upgrade, etc - go for the upgrade once they ge their email offer from Lieca.

 

You mean the offer to send my $1800 in March so Leica can earn interest on my money till August? That offer? Oh ya, that's gonna make me do a 180 fer sure LMAO!

[stunsworth]

You mean the offer to send my $1800 in March so Leica can earn interest on my money till August? That offer? Oh ya, that's gonna make me do a 180 fer sure LMAO!

 

So you're still undecided?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Guest guy_mancuso]

It's 1200 euros not 1800 dollars. The cost is in Euro's at 1200. What ever that converts too is what will be the cost when you put you CC down to pay for it. Can't control the US dollar that is out of our hands.