M8 in North Wales

[jlancasterd]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The Cambrian Photography 'Photokina' day took place today - apart from the M8 the various other new Leica models were on view and available for handling. The latest Hasselblads were also on show.

 

Only one M8 body was available for inspection - black No.3100330 with firmware version 1.05. The Rep. advised those of us trying to resist the temptation to order one that when we cracked it might be best to opt for silver chrome rather than black if we then wanted quick delivery. Apparently the factory is producing 50:50 black and silver bodies and Leica UK has been persuaded to take 50:50 in its early deliveries despite black being much more popular than silver with British users. Hence silver bodies should be easier to come by. I'm not sure whether the preference for black also applies in the USA, but if it does the same advice would be valid.

 

Tha handling of he camera is every bit as good as others have already reported and the similarity of the control layout to that of the DMR makes for easy operation. I compared the noise of the shutter with that of an M7 and there is very little difference in the loudness - the M8 noise just lasts fractionally longer.

 

Unfortunately the Rep. didn't have any of the new lenses with him so I can't report on their handling (the camera was fitted with an f2 35mm Aspherical Summicron)

[EricC]

It was indeed an excellent day today at Cambrian.

Good to meet like minded enthusiasts.

 

It was great to handle the M8 at last.

I was there early enough to get to try my lenses out on it along with being able to use my own SD card and therefore keep the DNG's. None of my lenses are coded and even the shots from the Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 looked excellent, very little vignetting.

 

A big thank you to Mark at Cambrian for arranging todays showing of the M8 and the New Hasselblad, also especially for the coffee, biscuits and the bacon and egg barms. :-)