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Is the M8 really a 'PRO' camera?


efftee

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Specifications, technical or otherwise, do not make it professional. Just because you are a pro, and use an M8, does not make it a professional camera too. The qualification is simply a matter of whether the M8 can be used profitably in jobs that pay. Perhaps that is an unfair question since it is not the gadget but the photographer who will eventually justify the charges but by and large, do you, would you, use an M8 in your work and find that by its merits qualify it as a pro camera according to the same standards as you would qualify a D3 or 5D MkII?

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I think that you have the question the wrong way around. I use a variety of cameras as a professional, but as I also know amateurs who use the same cameras, so all the cameras I use are clearly 'amateur' cameras :D.

 

Clearltywe can argue about definitions until we are blue in the face, but these don't alter the uses to which any cameras are put.

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Yawn - this poor horse has already been beaten to death in this forum...

What are you trying to get out of this?

Remember that life of a forum evolves ... some members leave, new ones come in. It is not before some have commented before that it should be despised with a yawn ;) Unless of course, you'd like to restrict this forum to a few dozens experts that have seen it all.

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Remember that life of a forum evolves ... some members leave, new ones come in. It is not before some have commented before that it should be despised with a yawn ;) Unless of course, you'd like to restrict this forum to a few dozens experts that have seen it all.

 

Didn't mean to be despising. Apologies if that's how it came across. Just couldn't see the purpose of the question and can definitely remember a similar thread going on again a couple of weeks ago... Perhaps a quick forum search could have provided efftee with the answers he was looking for;)

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If the definition of a pro camera is a camera that pros use and make money from using, then yes, it is.

 

Same thought as mine ... not an argument that worths much to discuss about...I add only that without the AND of the 2nd statement above ("make money from using") about any camera can be used for professional tasks... I have a friend, a journalist, that regularly uses a Canon P&S in his work... not to speak of auto-insurers, real estate brokers, field technicians... the immediateness of digital has made DISAPPEAR many "low content" photo tasks that previously were anyway carried on by professional photographers.

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What is the point of the question? One could argue that the Canon 5D II is not a pro camera whereas the Canon 1Ds III is. That is the product placement policy of Canon.

 

Everyone chooses their cameras according to their personal needs, wants and other criteria.

 

Jeff

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Didn't mean to be despising. Apologies if that's how it came across. Just couldn't see the purpose of the question and can definitely remember a similar thread going on again a couple of weeks ago... Perhaps a quick forum search could have provided efftee with the answers he was looking for;)

there are about 126 threads on "first lens" and 56 on "which bag" and luckily only one on "what shoes do you wear when shooting with the M8? :D

I think it is part of life of a forum even if I also find it frustrating sometimes to see the same ones again and again.

Despise wasn't meant to be strong, excuse my French ;)

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I know a pro who only uses Holga's. He makes money with it. So is it a pro camera??

I know lots of pro's who use cheap digital cameras ... in the low end Canon/ Nikon range and NOT even with L glas, because they can not afford more expensive camera's from their business point of view. What about these cameras???

The whole "Pro thinking" is in the amateurs' head.

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If the definition of a pro camera is a camera that pros use and make money from using, then yes, it is.

 

But Stephen, for the above statement you then have to define a pro!

 

The problem with many such questions as the one posed here is definition of various aspects of its query. In this case I would suggest that the definition is someone who make all their money from full-time professional photography. So asking whether an M8 is used by such a person would be more helpful. The questioner seems to suggest that even use by a pro may not make a camera a pro model - and I'd be tempted to agree - depending on whether it is used as a 'work' camera (with intent to make a profit) or otherwise.

 

At the end of the day its unlikely that any consensus can be achieved on such a question as there will be the inevitable claims and counter claims. Like any other camera the M8 is to each of us what we want it to be - I happen to make money from mine, so to me it is a working capital asset, or if you want a 'pro' camera, but then I've made money from many cameras which are low spec and cheap - used especially where they are likely to get trashed. Definitions are difficult.

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But Stephen, for the above statement you then have to define a pro!

 

I guess we need definitions of what a pro is, and what a pro camera is. Naturally we'd have a thread of several hundred posts and still not agree on either those <grin>.

 

For the record there's a least one full time pro on the forum - erl - who makes his living using M8s.

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Inverse argument: considering the exceptional quality of the lenses and the high quality of the images that one can (...) take with the M8, and considering the required investment it can only be ranked as a pro camera. This is independent of the fact that most M8 owners are (semi-)pro or amateur or collectors etc. i.e. do not make a living from photography.

 

But the question itself seems pointless, what does it prove or disprove? If an amateur carpenter buys a professional grade screwdriver, does the screwdriver then automatically become a "non-pro" tool? Or take a professional kitchen knife, oven, set of pans or whatever; the largest turnover is from the amateur cooks.

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But the question itself seems pointless, what does it prove or disprove? If an amateur carpenter buys a professional grade screwdriver, does the screwdriver then automatically become a "non-pro" tool? Or take a professional kitchen knife, oven, set of pans or whatever; the largest turnover is from the amateur cooks.

 

They are all 'tools for a job' at the end of the day. Generally something described as 'pro' quality will be more durable, not necessarily 'better' (then you need to define better).

 

Lots of pros use 'amatuer' spec cameras, and lots of amateurs use 'pro' spec cameras.

 

As you say, pointless question.

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If the definition of a pro camera is a camera that pros use and make money from using, then yes, it is.

 

Steve's answer makes sense. I use my M8, 5D, 5D2 and 1D2 for paid jobs. Ergo, they're pro cameras. However, I'm not sure if Corbis accepts M8 images - I've never bothered to check. I think there may be issues around resolution that means the M8's not accepted by some major photo agencies.

 

Anyone with experience on that.

 

Best

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I think there may be issues around resolution that means the M8's not accepted by some major photo agencies.

 

Anyone with experience on that.

 

Best

 

I've had M8 images accepted by major agencies - its content that matters most when all said and done.

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From Getty images....

 

If you are shooting on a 35mm digital camera it must an approved camera from this list: Canon EOS: 1D(Mk1,2&3), 1DS(Mk1,2,2n&3) 5D, 30D and 40D; Nikon: D2X, D2Xs, D3, D200, D300 and the Leica M8. All medium format backs (e.g. backs by Phase One and Leaf etc) produce sufficiently high quality images to be accepted by us.

 

(Damn, I can't sell images from my 'new' 20D)

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From Getty images....

 

If you are shooting on a 35mm digital camera it must an approved camera from this list: Canon EOS: 1D(Mk1,2&3), 1DS(Mk1,2,2n&3) 5D, 30D and 40D; Nikon: D2X, D2Xs, D3, D200, D300 and the Leica M8. All medium format backs (e.g. backs by Phase One and Leaf etc) produce sufficiently high quality images to be accepted by us.

 

(Damn, I can't sell images from my 'new' 20D)

 

If you are really bothered I'm sure that Exif data can be changed - IMHO the reasoning behind many Agencies' restrictions has a great deal more to do with their need to restrict too many enquiries, from all and sundry, rather than absolute technical considerations ;).

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