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M8 Firmware 2.004


dfarkas

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It may be...I could convince myself, but then... I did no direct before/after comparisons. It seems to be rather better...My 2500image & 100% crop:

 

Jaap:

 

What did you process the file with? I noticed that C1 seems to be better and if you dial down the noise reduction a bit from the C1 default, it looks even better.

 

Robert

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Guest guy_mancuso

C1 is much better at noise for the M8 than anything else i have tried in the past, I would not know about this current firmware though and doubt anything was done with it in this area. I threw every other program off my computer.

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C1 is much better at noise for the M8 than anything else i have tried in the past, I would not know about this current firmware though and doubt anything was done with it in this area. I threw every other program off my computer.

 

I agree. The collaboration between Leica and Phase One shows in how the M8 DNG files are handled. The noise supression is very good. If I am going to convert to B&W then I would use Aperture with the Nik plugins such as Silver Efex and Color Efex.

 

Simon

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This is a nice upgrade, discreet advance, I guess. But if I could just post one more gripe. I own two M8s, an MP and an M4. I have a good deal of money invested in my Leicas and my lenses. So here I am shooting a personal project in Maine and in my bag? My MP. I have to confess that the M8 shutter noise is so off putting, discreet or otherwise, that I hesitate to pick it up. Every shutter release just makes my teeth grind. My M8s are the only cameras I would take for an assignment. They are great. But, discreet? Never. And somehow, I can't stomach the idea that I should pay to have Leica "fix their mistake." So, throw me a bone. Give me an opportunity to wait a few seconds before my released shutter is not discreet. In the mean time, given a chance, I will grab my MP, load 36 exposures of firmware, and quietly go about my job. Enjoy.

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Darn! - and I lose my high-speed internet today (Feb. 28 - newspaper finally folded - cleaning out my desk now!)

 

Let's see - at 9 minutes per megabyte download time.......

 

Anyone want to help a leisure-class (i.e. unemployed, freelance, whatever) photographer by sending a 2.004 CARE package on a CD? (PM me)

 

...after 405 or so posts later, only 3 or 4 mentioned Andy's job loss....all blah blah blah, mine, mine, mine, etc...how sad.

 

 

.

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This is a nice upgrade, discreet advance, I guess. But if I could just post one more gripe. I own two M8s, an MP and an M4. I have a good deal of money invested in my Leicas and my lenses. So here I am shooting a personal project in Maine and in my bag? My MP. I have to confess that the M8 shutter noise is so off putting, discreet or otherwise, that I hesitate to pick it up. Every shutter release just makes my teeth grind. My M8s are the only cameras I would take for an assignment. They are great. But, discreet? Never. And somehow, I can't stomach the idea that I should pay to have Leica "fix their mistake." So, throw me a bone. Give me an opportunity to wait a few seconds before my released shutter is not discreet. In the mean time, given a chance, I will grab my MP, load 36 exposures of firmware, and quietly go about my job. Enjoy.

 

Yes the latest M8 upgraded with new firmware is NOT as quiet as my MP, but I have to contradict you here and say that now that I have done the upgrade on my M8 and downloaded the new firmware I am very glad I did it and very grateful to Leica for listening to user's requests and delivering, this is quite an improvement. And this is quite an achievement for such a small company to preserve such high quality investment as ours (by the way I do not know about you but my biggest investment is not in camera bodies... I think your lenses work well on either M4, MP... M8 or whatever, a very safe investment compared to whatever others have come up with)

 

And yes I will still shoot with my MP, not just because it is indeed still the quietest, but also because while I enjoy the M8 a lot I also enjoy shooting film, for a number of reasons with are not necessary negative against the M8. To me it a different way of taking the shot all together, a different way of thinking about the final result (mostly because there is no screen to check the results right away), but I know this is mostly in my head, in my way of processing the light with a bunch of tools. The tools have their limits but I sure am glad when these tools are simply getting better and the limits have been pushed further.

 

Enough talking, enjoy taking photos. Cheers :D

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I downloaded the firmware and I did not notice any change to my camera. I checked out to see if it did actually load into the camera and it said that it did. Any help? Thanks.

 

If you were expecting the discreet mode you need to turn it on... look at your menu for the new option called "Advance" (It is the very last menu option)... choose standard or discreet... :D

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This thread is too large for my available time so I hope I am not repeating anything here.

 

Rather than 'delve' into menus (ugh!) to change discreet/normal, select discreet and switch from single shot to continuous using the lever surrounding the release. Single will give you discreet, continuous will give you normal. Much faster if you need to change urgently.

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This thread is too large for my available time so I hope I am not repeating anything here.

 

Rather than 'delve' into menus (ugh!) to change discreet/normal, select discreet and switch from single shot to continuous using the lever surrounding the release. Single will give you discreet, continuous will give you normal. Much faster if you need to change urgently.

 

On my M8, if you do that and accidently actually invoke the continuous function, you get a "shutter failure" system report. Could be just my camera? YMMV.

I'll try it again later 'cause it's a great idea. :)

 

Regards

Mike

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Just did the FW update on both my M8. No problems. I do like the delayed shutter cocking because it shortens the duration of the sound at the moment the picture is taken. In single shot mode (99% for me) I'll probably use it all the time.

 

As I have 2 cameras I thought I could now notice a difference in the shutter sounds, one definitely seemed quieter that the other, but I then realised that the variation was really the result of different shutter speeds.

 

I dont know what the M8.2 manual advises and perhaps that does not apply to the M8 anyway, but I dont think that having set discreet shutter mode that I would go back and forth betweeen continuous and single shot. I would probably turn discreet shutter off in the menu. I did not see any FW release notes concerning this behaviour?

 

Jeff

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I installed v.2.004 yesterday evening and tried the discrete mode on my M8. I am pleased that Leica listened and decided to implement this (as well as all the other free improvements that have been added in the course of time like SDHC, white balance etc.), BUT for me the delayed recocking makes no sense except in some limited cases like at a (classical) concert or PhD defence.

 

For me the main disadvantage is that I find I can shoot much faster with the standard mode than with discrete. In many cases with fast moving events I like to be able to shoot 2-3 shots within a few seconds. The delayed rewind slows the repeat rate down substantially, by a factor 2 or so.

 

The C-mode is not an alternative for me as I find the camera less "predictable" and also the C-mode seems to be more prone to give processor crashes. I try to "squeeze" the shutter release rather than "fast push" which allows up to 1/4 second handheld without too many problems (even 1 second can work but with lower hit rate), but if I do that in the C-mode I get a second exposure usually just when I did not want it.

 

No-one else with that objection or am I unique? :D

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