Six Hours with an M8

[rtaylor]

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I had a opportunity to use an M8 with production firmware at the recent Rockport MA Leica Seminar. I posted a detailed set of comments on the LUG and thought you might like to hear some of my impressions, too.

 

It feels like a Leica M from the first touch and operates so much like one that my right thumb went for the wind lever more than once. It's a bit lighter than the M7 and slightly thicker but in hand it felt so little different that I forgot about the differences almost at once. The three-position shutter release feels just like the one on my M7. The shutter sound is indeed like an M, but a bit sharper and might attract attention in a quiet environment.

 

One look through the viewfinder, which is remarkably bright, and you forget completely about it not being a full-frame camera. That the 50mm frame comes up when you put a lens on the camera with "35" on the barrel is irrelevant. You simply forget about it and use that lens as your "50.".

 

None of my lenses are coded, and they all worked well. I tried my 50 current Elmarit (extended of course), current Summicron 28mm ASPH, and the current 35 Summicron ASPH. I haven't spent enough time with the images yet to say much about vignetting but there was none obvious with any of the lenses I used with the subjects I shot.

 

I shot at ISO 160, 640 and 1250. Just never got around to trying 2500 for some reason but did see some images at that sensitivity from another user's files. On the computer screen, the chroma noise at 2500 was obvious and not really pleasant at 100% size but rather like some 3200 speed films I've used. Some treatment with Noise Ninja or its equivalent would probably be in order if it's bothersome in a print but I liked the fact that the images were really sharp even with the noise. At 1250, the noise wasn't bad at all. To my eye, the images are simply beautiful with all the detail and snap you expect from Leica lenses. Lots of detail, great sharpness, great contrast. Terrific!

 

Some quibbles and concerns: The on/off switch rotates around the shutter release and also selects single-shot, multiple-shot and self-timer modes. It's awfully easy to move it inadvertently. I accidentally took four or five pictures out of 138 in either the multiple-shot or self-timer modes. The sample I had tended to overexpose slightly with respect to the way I meter so I dialed in -1/3 stop correction and was happier with the results at all ISO levels. Deep reds tended to saturate and go magenta in some of my pictures. I was using PS CS to open the DNGs and don't know if the same thing would happen with Capture One. This may be operator error, or it might be built into the firmware, or the PS CS DNG converter. I just don't know.

 

The M8 is a great camera. I loved using it and hated giving it back, so I ordered one.

[pascal_meheut]

Deep reds tended to saturate and go magenta in some of my pictures. I was using PS CS to open the DNGs and don't know if the same thing would happen with Capture One. This may be operator error, or it might be built into the firmware, or the PS CS DNG converter. I just don't know.

 

PS CS sucks when it comes to Leica DNG conversion. This is well known. Colors are ok with C1.

Thanks for the report.

[baloo]

Deep reds tended to saturate and go magenta in some of my pictures. I was using PS CS to open the DNGs and don't know if the same thing would happen with Capture One.

Hi!

 

me too I’ve noticed the same thing about the red and I was working with Capture, as for the rest it is just great

[marknorton]

That the 50mm frame comes up when you put a lens on the camera with "35" on the barrel is irrelevant. You simply forget about it and use that lens as your "50.".

 

Don't understand your comment. When you put a 35mm lens on the camera, the 24/35 frame comes up, not the 50mm frame. The frames are correct for the lens mounted and their size is adjusted to take account of the crop factor and viewfinder magnification.

 

What delivery time is your dealer quoting?

[Stan Raucher]

Thanks for the report. What version firmware was installed? If you didn't note the version while you were shooting, you can find it by looking at the dng file info using Bridge or PSCS2 - it should be in the advanced info under PDF Properties.

 

If Sean is reading this thread, I'm also interested in learning what firmware version is installed on his M8.

 

Cheers,

 

Stan

[rtaylor]

Don't understand your comment. When you put a 35mm lens on the camera, the 24/35 frame comes up, not the 50mm frame. The frames are correct for the lens mounted and their size is adjusted to take account of the crop factor and viewfinder magnification.

 

What delivery time is your dealer quoting?

 

Right. I should have said "what looks like a 50mm frame." It's the 24/35 frame that appears. November delivery quoted. I hope it's true.

[rtaylor]

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Thanks for the report. What version firmware was installed?

 

Version 1.06

[marknorton]

Either Leica really do have that pre-built stock of cameras for November delivery or there's going to be people disappointed. I've seen a number of 50 day capacity which, assuming there are no bottlenecks corresponds to 1000 a month.

[canlogic]

Rep from Leica at the demo here said he had been speaking to the head guy for North America the day before and was told that everything was on schedule for delivery the 3rd week of November and even thought it might be a bit before that. He said that after the initial delivery delears should be getting shipments every couple of weeks but couldn't say how many.