M8.2

[jaapv]

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Supplying of IR filters

2006 recall

T2 upgrade

Smoother shutter button

Vast AWB improvements

Ironing out of most bugs

Unnoticed changes resulting in greater reliability, going by the posts on this forum over the years.

'8.2:

Silent shutter and all the little stuff we are discussing here.

That makes, as stated by ShyTot, a different camera.

And the nicest thing about it: There is no problem (other than financial) to get a 2006 camera into similar good nick.

I have a feeling the M8.2 will exert a strong pull on the left leg of quite a number of potential buyers sitting on the fence.

[sdai]

we don't have the detail from Leica of changes made to improve the product, nor what else they've been doing for the last two years. Reading the specs of a new BMW doesn't tell you what the driving experience is like, driving it does.

 

Exactly, that's why I was asking for a trade in program, I don't want/like the "upgrade".

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[andym911]

Jaap

without wanting to sound cynical, with the exception of the filters, which made the camera usable for color, all the rest is a firmware update right?

 

p.s I don't remember a formal 2006 recall and what is a T2 upgrade?

 

whatever, there are lots of people, myself included, that want Leica to move forward and make significant progress.

If this is all there is around the M, then Mr.Kaufmann's goal of attracting new customers is going to be tough.

 

andy

[Thomasru]

That makes, as stated by ShyTot, a different camera.

And the nicest thing about it: There is no problem (other than financial) to get a 2006 camera in similar good nick.

 

Wow yes:D am I glad I waited till the M8 had some time in use and the money I've saved will buy a NEW camera( after launch of course)

 

TomR

[jaapv]

Exactly, that's why I was asking for a trade in program, I don't want/like the "upgrade".

Isn't that trade-in program called e-bay? After all, it is considered a political advantage in American politics to put expensive goods like executive jets on e-bay...

[ShyTot]

What would those be then?

..apart from a debugged firmware upgrade I haven't seen anything. mine still sounds like a cannon going off;)

If the M8.2 spec is what has been mentioned then that's pretty underwhelming for 2 years work IMO.

andy

 

Andy, if we go back to the M8 launch, there was magenta clothing with no fix, poor power management, crap charger, crunchy shutter release, stripes and blobs, unresolved back-focus issues, weak power switch detents, cracking screens, card rejection, oil flicking off the shutter blades, crap service support ...... see the issues on lots of lists.

 

Some have definitely been addressed, even the silent shooting mode you're troubled with.

 

In two weeks time will this be the best tool for the job it's designed for ? IMO, yes.

Is it real progress? IMO, yes.

Would Canon/Nikon have moved faster ? IMO, yes, but they didn't move at all, it seems.

 

Two weeks to go.

[plasticman]

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I never saw any reason to go onto RD1 forums and try to point out to RD1 users that they were using a substandard product. "I am only posting this with the best interests of Epson in mind...."

 

Jaap - I see you've joined the people who think I'm around here just to annoy and you're reiterating exactly the same line as Terry. I personally don't see why this accusation has to become the point of any contribution I make to threads here or elsewhere - it's petty and meretricious, imho - an easy way to dismiss my contribution.

 

I'm making a serious point - as someone who has been and still is interested in owning a digital Leica. This differentiates me from your position on the RD1.

 

If you want to make a personal attack on me, however politely shrouded, please send me a PM - this way I can contribute to the general discussion without the forum getting cluttered with posts where I feel I have to defend myself.

 

Mani

[delander †]

Shytot already knows stuff we dont know, that's my guess,

 

 

Jeff

[jaapv]

Jaap

without wanting to sound cynical, with the exception of the filters, which made the camera usable for color, all the rest is a firmware update right?

 

p.s I don't remember a formal 2006 recall and what is a T2 upgrade?

 

whatever, there are lots of people, myself included, that want Leica to move forward and make significant progress.

If this is all there is around the M, then Mr.Kaufmann's goal of attracting new customers is going to be tough.

 

andy

 

There was a formal recall of the first 1500 cameras in December 2006 for high-Iso banding and the T2 upgrade is done on all 5000-series cameras that come into Solms to prevent Sudden Death, which is unheard of since.

There is a clear difference in shutter feel between recent or repaired cameras and new ones.

Significant progress as you see it can only come from progress in the sensor department and I believe Leica when they say there is nothing better on the market yet for RF use.

If you look at the most recent Canon specs you'll notice they have copied Leica's playing with microlenses only now (carefully sidestepping patents by making them more wideangle towards the corners instead of shifting them), and are gradually phasing out AA filters in the coming six years, so it can hardly be argued that Leica is obsolete.

[delander †]

Jaap - I see you've joined the people who think I'm around here just to annoy and you're reiterating exactly the same line as Terry. I personally don't see why this accusation has to become the point of any contribution I make to threads here or elsewhere - it's petty and meretricious, imho - an easy way to dismiss my contribution.

 

I'm making a serious point - as someone who has been and still is interested in owning a digital Leica. This differentiates me from your position on the RD1.

 

If you want to make a personal attack on me, however politely shrouded, please send me a PM - this way I can contribute to the general discussion without the forum getting cluttered with posts where I feel I have to defend myself.

 

Mani

 

The M8.2 may not have a different senosr but it promises to be quite a refinement over the original M8 which will put it even further up the scale compared to the RD1.

 

We all like new stuff, I expect that there will be quite a few here ready to trade in their existing M8 to get their hands on the new version.

 

Jeff

[sdai]

After all, it is considered a political advantage in American politics to put expensive goods like executive jets on e-bay...

 

You're right, Meg Whitman works for the McCain campaign. Most doctors and the LHSA gang vote for the Republicans too.

[jaapv]

Jaap - I see you've joined the people who think I'm around here just to annoy and you're reiterating exactly the same line as Terry. I personally don't see why this accusation has to become the point of any contribution I make to threads here or elsewhere - it's petty and meretricious, imho - an easy way to dismiss my contribution.

 

I'm making a serious point - as someone who has been and still is interested in owning a digital Leica. This differentiates me from your position on the RD1.

 

If you want to make a personal attack on me, however politely shrouded, please send me a PM - this way I can contribute to the general discussion without the forum getting cluttered with posts where I feel I have to defend myself.

 

Mani

 

Mani, it is the reiteration that is getting to me - To me it is simple. If I do not like a product I will not buy it. I may say so once or twice. But I don't think it contributes anything to keep posting the same negative value judgement. I have nothing against you as a person - you know that. So it is not an attack but an opinion.

[andym911]

Shy tot

 

I don't want to pursue this really...sure there have been improvements, but still a way to go in my opinion.

anyway look forward to photokina to 'kick the tyres' of the new stuff and hopefully be surprised.

 

until then

andy

[plasticman]

The M8.2 may not have a different senosr but it promises to be quite a refinement over the original M8 which will put it even further up the scale compared to the RD1.

 

We all like new stuff, I expect that there will be quite a few here ready to trade in their existing M8 to get their hands on the new version.

 

Jeff

 

Goodness me - why oh why did I even mention the RD1? Please ignore the RD1s reference in my original post above. I only mentioned it in passing because I fully expect it to break down within the next couple of years. I then hope there is something else for me to fit my Leica lenses to. This is not an RD1s vs M8 debate. And neither am I interested in "new stuff" for it's own sake.

 

But to me the M8.2 seems to be a repackaging of incremental upgrades - and I personally do not see the cameras flying off the shelves for the next four years (2012 being the date I think I remember at least one contributor here saying is the earliest conceivable time for an FF M9).

 

TGIF...

[plasticman]

Mani, it is the reiteration that is getting to me - To me it is simple. If I do not like a product I will not buy it. I may say so once or twice. But I don't think it contributes anything to keep posting the same negative value judgement.

 

Now this I don't understand - I've actually kept pretty much away from commenting here for at least the last month or so.

I was unrealistically(?) expecting more progress than this, and it didn't come.

 

My surprise was that the general consensus here seemed to be: 'hooray - no progress! My M8 doesn't need replacing!"

I fail to see how that will keep Leica afloat.

 

Anyway - I seriously don't want to bore you all, as it appears I bore Jaap, so I'll bow out again and see what photokina actually brings in a couple weeks.

[jaapv]

You're right, Meg Whitman works for the McCain campaign. Most doctors and the LHSA gang vote for the Republicans too.

Totally OT -expecting a PM from a mod any minute now-Without passing any judgment I never understood the tendency to vote for the conservative part of the political spectrum by the medical professions. There is very little inclination to increase funding in health services there. Guess where our incomes come from?

[Shootist]

You're right, Meg Whitman works for the McCain campaign. Most doctors and the LHSA gang vote for the Republicans too.

 

Please take whatever political view you have and GO TO a POLITICAL forum to post them, NOT on the Leica CAMERA forum.

[jaapv]

Yes sir!

[jaapv]

Now this I don't understand - I've actually kept pretty much away from commenting here for at least the last month or so.

I was unrealistically(?) expecting more progress than this, and it didn't come.

 

My surprise was that the general consensus here seemed to be: 'hooray - no progress! My M8 doesn't need replacing!"

I fail to see how that will keep Leica afloat.

 

Anyway - I seriously don't want to bore you all, as it appears I bore Jaap, so I'll bow out again and see what photokina actually brings in a couple weeks.

Not so much bored, but a slight sadness stemming from the conviction that you are doing yourself a disservice by being wrong.....

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Jamie Roberts]

Please take whatever political view you have and GO TO a POLITICAL forum to post them, NOT on the Leica CAMERA forum.

 

Unless your "political view" is one through a rangefinder, of course

 

@ Mani--I actually share your views here. Despite the progress made on the M8 itself, we'll need to wait and see just how much of the original experience is still there for a 2008 audience.

 

As I said before, they ought to be refining performance, and they may well be. No-one knows from this leak exactly what the M8.2 is, or is not, at this point