marknorton Posted September 16, 2006 Share #1 Posted September 16, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) One minor thing I'm mystified about is that the pictures of the camera we have seen so far do not carry the certification labels anywhere you see on all electronic goods. These cannot be sold in Europe, for example, without going through a certification process including Electro-Magnetic Compatability (EMC) testing and the "CE" mark certifies a bunch of things about the product, similar to the "UL" mark used in the US. Even Apple iPods sold in Europe have "CE" laser etched into the chrome back. In the same way that pictures of new cars tend not to have licence plates in the promo literature, these labels spoil the design appearance of the camera and I've been musing where they will appear on the M8. I'm not familiar enough with the regulations to know whether they have to be visible from the outside (they're not with mobile phones, for example) but I'm pretty certain they cannot be on a removeable part, so that will suggest Leica will put the label inside the camera. Another excellent reason then to have a removeable base plate - to keep all this bureaucratic, regulatory stuff out of sight. What the eye can't see, the heart won't grieve over, as they say. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 16, 2006 Posted September 16, 2006 Hi marknorton, Take a look here Where's the Label?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
marknorton Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share #2 Posted September 16, 2006 After going hunting, this picture from DPR shows the short of shaped recess where such a label would go - where the card symbol currently it; seems likely the card graphic will either be on the label or moved. Two other points of interest. The bare unpainted brass end might be nice to show off its heritage as Sean suggests in his review but it also has the important function of maintaining grounding continuity to stop the camera radiating high frequency signals through the base. In effect, the continuous metal case forms a Faraday cage to keep the energy in. For exactly the same reasons, you can see a small bump on the baseplate and a corresponding hole in the base of the camera. This will likely be an interlock switch to prevent the camera being used with the baseplate removed which could otherwise cause interference. Nothing to stop you jamming the switch on with a piece of gum, though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share #3 Posted September 16, 2006 Well, I was wrong, The missing label has shown up on the exterior of the base plate in Erwin's review of the camera, looks pretty awful, IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted September 18, 2006 Share #4 Posted September 18, 2006 And I think the 'bump' in the baseplate is the tripod socket, with a hollow in the body to make room for it. I'm a little upset about the location of the tripod socket. It was always peculiar at the end, but allowed you to change film without unmounting the camera from the tripod (although I never did that). But now you lose that advantage, but still don't get the tripod socket on the lens axis. Maybe Leica will sell a panorama adapter as Rollei did for their TLR's. If not Leica, someone will! --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimF Posted September 18, 2006 Share #5 Posted September 18, 2006 Well, I was wrong, The missing label has shown up on the exterior of the base plate in Erwin's review of the camera, looks pretty awful, IMHO. So peel it off. Its just a plastic strip like you get on any new M body. Sheesh! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share #6 Posted September 18, 2006 You know, Tim, I might just do that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth_c Posted September 18, 2006 Share #7 Posted September 18, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well, I was wrong, The missing label has shown up on the exterior of the base plate in Erwin's review of the camera, looks pretty awful, IMHO. Does it really bother you? A camera is for taking pictures with. Just think, the whole camera could be full of all those stickers you get on Digital P&S's..."USB 2", "10MP", etc, etc, etc... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share #8 Posted September 18, 2006 It does, actually, but then I'm like that. Makes the camera look more like an appliance than a finely crafted tool. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth_c Posted September 18, 2006 Share #9 Posted September 18, 2006 Mark, I don't entirely disagree. But, it is a legal requirement and at least its on the baseplate...whose existance I still can't entirely comprehend! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share #10 Posted September 18, 2006 Another reason to buy the grip... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted September 18, 2006 Share #11 Posted September 18, 2006 I'm a little upset about the location of the tripod socket. It was always peculiar at the end, but allowed you to change film without unmounting the camera from the tripod (although I never did that). But now you lose that advantage, but still don't get the tripod socket on the lens axis. --HC 1. Why in the world lug around a tripod for anything less than a 4x5? Geez, I'm paying $4800 for a compact light camera instead of a Canon 1D - and then multiplying the weight by 10x? 2. With 80 RAW shots on a 4GB SD card, what are the odds the card will need changing while the camera is on the tripod? How many interesting pictures can be made in one place of something sitting still enough to USE a tripod? Sorry - I'm just joshing to some extent - but most of the time when I go to use my tripod, it take me half an hour to find it. It's always been 9 months since the previous time I used it. I WILL be interested to see how long it takes me to get used to the fact that the latch for the bottom plate is now on the "wrong" end - I usually hold the camera with my right hand and turn the latch with my left - not anymore! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share #12 Posted September 18, 2006 Andy, where do you get the 80 shots on a 4GB card from - I thought they were about 10Mb compressed which makes it 400... Does make you wonder why they swapped ends with the latch - presumably to do with the space taken up by the battery...might be to do with the space taken up by the battery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchell Posted September 18, 2006 Share #13 Posted September 18, 2006 I'm with you Mark. It looks ugly. I'll take it off. Hopefully it's not on the grip. I admit it, I've never removed the plastic from my M6 baseplate. I thought it'd come off eventually, but it's lasted through treks, snow, cold, and lots of tripod work. Best, Mitchell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share #14 Posted September 18, 2006 This is of course a pre-production camera so hopefully they are working on a better solution, but you can see the regs label is stuck on first, then the plastic and it's not even flat on the underside. Looks a mess. Seriously, I think it's important that we voice our gripes about the thing. Leica are monitoring this web-site and feedback to them is useful and might just influence things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 18, 2006 Share #15 Posted September 18, 2006 Two other points of interest. The bare unpainted brass end might be nice to show off its heritage as Sean suggests in his review Actually, it was Phil Askey who made that comment. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 18, 2006 Share #16 Posted September 18, 2006 And I think the 'bump' in the baseplate is the tripod socket, with a hollow in the body to make room for it. I'm a little upset about the location of the tripod socket. It was always peculiar at the end, but allowed you to change film without unmounting the camera from the tripod (although I never did that). But now you lose that advantage, but still don't get the tripod socket on the lens axis. Maybe Leica will sell a panorama adapter as Rollei did for their TLR's. If not Leica, someone will! --HC You can leave the M8 baseplate on the tripod and remove the camera from the plate if you like. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 18, 2006 Share #17 Posted September 18, 2006 Andy, where do you get the 80 shots on a 4GB card from - I thought they were about 10Mb compressed which makes it 400... Does make you wonder why they swapped ends with the latch - presumably to do with the space taken up by the battery...might be to do with the space taken up by the battery. I did the math in my review (based on actually filling up cards) and I think it was about 380 RAW files for 4GB. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share #18 Posted September 18, 2006 Maybe Andy just dropped the 3 by mistake... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted September 18, 2006 Share #19 Posted September 18, 2006 Naw - just poor math at 3 a.m. - plus I thought I was getting 20 Mbyte .dngs from the DMR. Didn't realize the M8 files were smaller - that's great! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 18, 2006 Share #20 Posted September 18, 2006 Naw - just poor math at 3 a.m. - plus I thought I was getting 20 Mbyte .dngs from the DMR. Didn't realize the M8 files were smaller - that's great! Hi Andy, Didn't you see that section in my review? Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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