Austrian Embassy, Washington,D.C.

[billh]

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I just came home, and have looked at the first four M8 images - this is ISO1250, with no noise reduction. I have to process the rest tomorrow.

[marknorton]

Nice, and was anyone disturbed by the shutter noise?

[billh]

Nice, and was anyone disturbed by the shutter noise?

 

In a word, no. It was like the old days when Leicas were required for certain settings because of the noise from the old Nikon Fs. I did choose my moments and did not make exposures during quiet passages - I think the motor advance is responsible for most of the sound from the camera. I was asked to photograph the last concert of a couple of older pianists last May

 

http://homepage.mac.com/billh96007/.Pictures/ShaunMay12Concert/Anne,-Joe,-5814.jpg

 

and I used the 1Ds2. It was incredibly intrusive. The M8 is in a different league. I took the M8, a 28f2.8ASPH, 35f1.4 ASPH, 50f1.4ASPH, APO75f2.0, and a Leica flash (which I did not use), in a small bag into which I would only have been able to fit the 1Ds2 with a 35 f1.4 lens - if that. The range/viewfinder seems brighter and more contrasty than my M7, and there is no glare issue. I did have some issues seeing the edges of the frame lines on occasion when they were over very brightly lighted areas, but overall this was not only a very easy camera to use, it was once again fun to make the photographs. The large monitor is helpful, and accurate (what you see appears to be the same as the information you will see when you open the file on your monitor). and the quick magnification dial is wonderful. I did use some very slow shutter speeds - they looked OK when I checked them on the monitor. It will be interesting to see them this morning.

 

My guess is a lot of SLRs will spend more time sitting on shelves once these sweet little cameras start making the rounds.

 

(By the way, my initial impressions of the 28f2.8 are that is an excellent lens which is silky smooth to focus, and really, really tiny - it is hard to overemphasize that point - I only bought it because the 28 f2.0 was not available, but now I think I will use it more than any of the others).