Digital cameras wear out?

[Perspectics]

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...Mud

 

Dear Mud,

 

I was in the same situation as you about a year ago. In my posting http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/34838-m8-novice-story-findings-samples.html#post364412 I described my criteria and decision process. Today I can say that the decision for the M8 was a great one as it delivered exactly what I wanted. But...should you want a fast sports camera, or a point&shoot-autofocus-thingi, forget about the M8.

 

Regarding your "investment protection" question, this is my take on the ridiculuous megapixel discussion: "Funny that the Megapixels did not make it into my must-have list, no? Seriously, the M8 delivers 300dpi prints bigger than A3, and it will do so in 30 years. You can discus pixel size, dynamic range, resolution and so on, but today a digital print beats any film print hands down resolution wise and that’s just good enough for my needs. Always."

 

Anyway, you are facing a rather philosophical decision and any answer based on a feature- & facts-sheet will fail as it leaves the important part out of consideration: The rangefinder. Just a closing word on the expected lifespan of the M8 - there is nothing that cannot be replaced. Leica keeps parts in stock almost forever and as Jaap pointed out, batteries could be replaced even if no original would be available anymore. Mark Norton showed in his thread "anatomy of the M8" that all parts in the M8 are very high quality standard parts, in contrast to all the special stuff in a C or N that you can only get at C or N.

 

Oh - and welcome to the forum !!!

[mud]

Thank you!

 

You have answered my main concern, will the Leica M8 last more then a few years, I am at this moment in time exactly where you were a year ago, watching all the Cameralab reviews and reading everything I can about Canon/Nikon/Leica, mp means nothing to me, the same goes with live view, anti shake and all the other bells and whistles for me its about the quality of the tool, the images it produces ease of use and simplicity. I want to be able to focus on taking the picture rather then scrolling through menus and options that I don't understand or will never use.

I am constantly amazed with what I see when looking at photo's taken with a Leica. Hopefully it is everything I hope it to be

 

Thanks for the quick response it and great post.

 

Mud

[tlorini]

Digilux 2 and 3 both use the same battery. Ebay is also filled with aftermarket batteries for these cameras. Maybe not as good as genuine Leica batteries, but dirt cheap and better than ditching your Digilux because of battery unavailability.

[Raymond Tam]

Pete -

 

Doesn't the D3 take the same battery as the D2?

 

I presume so the only difference is the mAH meaning

D2 is 1400 mAH D3 is 1500 mAH because the D3 draw

more current than D2.

Rgds

Ray

[haroldp]

Rechargeable batteries such as L-ion or NIMH generaly have a finite number of times they can be recharged (typically 500-1000), even if there is no 'memory effect'. You can greatly increase battery life by using two of them, and swapping / recharging each when it is almost empty. If you use only one, there will be a tendency to not let it get too low and to 'top up' for fear of running out, which wears it out much sooner.

 

It also helps when putting them away for some time to charge them so they do not go into 'deep discharge' which harms them chemically.

 

For the next few years at least the 'marketable life' of any new digicam is much less than the battery availability due to obsolescence and our desire for the 'best'.

 

Nikon, Canon, and Olympus continue to use the same or compatible batteries in continuing series of cameras ( D70,D80,D200, D300 all use enel-3 (e) series which are upward compatible ),.

 

The best answer would be to go back to AA's . The latest NIMH versions have high capacity and will hold a charge for over 1 year. In the past, proffessional camnera would only use AA's because of their availability.

 

The Canon S5is uses AA's, which is a great feature.

 

Any ' number of shots' is based on shutter life and has nothing to do with film or digital. As a pro many years ago, I had a steady stream of lenses in for shutter replacement. While modern shitters in high end cameras ( such as M8 or Nikin / Canon DSLR ) are probably better than the old ones, one generally did not shoot film as profligately as digital.

 

100,000 frames of film would cost about $ 15,000 with development, and no printing, so the cost of a shutter was insignificant ( about $ 100 ).

 

I hope this is helpful ... Harold

[farnz]

... While modern shitters in high end cameras ( such as M8 or Nikin / Canon DSLR ) are probably better than the old ones, one generally did not shoot film as profligately as digital. ...

That's a most unfortunate typo, Harold.

 

... but high end cameras are obviously better 'equipped' than I'd thought ...

 

Pete.

[wparsonsgisnet]

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It appears that the general rules are:

 

1. batteries suck (this is not limited to digicams) -- only storage batteries (cars and the like) seem to work, and

 

2. owners wear out.

 

When we consider the cost of the razor blades (computers, software, hard disks, filters, bags, and on and on including *constant* upgrades and tuning), the camera was cheap.

 

I bot my PSCS (and CS2 and CS3...) via an educational discount, but when I add the cost of more than 1 dozen books about PS to this, ouch!

 

And the bride keeps asking my why I'm always sitting at the computer!

 

Regards,