Jump to content

Leica: Message to the customers of the LEICA M8


daniel

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 142
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Would you do the same Simon, Erl and others and would you be prepared to consider this solution as a definitive fix for the IR issues?

 

I'm old, LCT ... I no longer have the impulse rushing out my door (just) to make another purchase. But I'm seriously pondering over the idea of getting a MP3 which I've long lusted for - especially after seeing Marc's purple demonstrations. :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

No filters are a must have. I will send mine back if they dont announce in two weeks a permanent fix to the banding, blobbing, and IR issues. If I wanted an IR camera I would have bought the IR fuji s3.

I don't know where people are getting that these problems only affect them part of the time. If you do street photography at all, which is one of the m8's strong suits, then there is going to be banding all of the time because of all the gas discharge lights. I shot about 50 pictures tonight and most all of them have banding or blobbing. Its unusable for me in this condition.

Oh, and did i mention the CA in regular exposures or is that an artifact of no AA filter?

Link to post
Share on other sites

To be serious, the damage to Leica could be far worse than most of us has ever expected - I just came back from Frankfurt yesterday and only had some chance tonight to flip through the Japanese photo magazines I've received in the past few weeks.

 

In the November issue of Asahi Kamera, they featured an exclusive report on the M8 with sample photographs taken by the famed Japanese photographer Akagi Koichi using the 28 Elmarit ASPH. The nasty magenta cast is all over the place ...

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Well they cant recall all the cameras worldwide. So it is filter or software or it is nothing, for this generation of M digitals.

 

Recall all shipped M8s before a certain serial # and rework the hardware if necessary, why not? Leica should fully understand at what standard of IQ their customers are paying for. I'm patiently waiting.

 

With more than 1,000 shots taken, my observation is:

 

1) Auto White Balance - you can't rely on. I've resorted to input kelvin temp by my own judgement.

 

2) Inaccurate colour is everywhere, not only on black syn fibrics, but on other colored fabrics, skin tone as well. You can rely on.

 

3) light banding/treaking artifacts - common in night shots even at 640.

 

I believe it is a tough time for Leica. They ought be offer us the early purchasers some very thorough and generous rectification or they damage our hard earned brand.

 

Best

Matthew

 

I took the following night shots on the last day of our old Star Ferry Pier Central (to be closed and moved) last Friday nite. See the mirror reversal treak of the over exposured incand light bars... M8 are mean to be low light photojournalist tool, isn't it?

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you Simon.

Pascal, Guy, Marc and Ruben have already bought or decided to buy a couple of IR filters if i understand well.

Would you do the same Simon, Erl and others and would you be prepared to consider this solution as a definitive fix for the IR issues?

 

LCT, I want to have a properly working M8, but I seriously doubt that will be fully achieved by merely adding filters. There are other problems besides the magenta. If my dealer offered me an M8 today I think I would reneg. I need a definitive "statement of fix" from Leica to motivate me. Too much is at stake for me. I will not go DSLR which leaves me with the RD-1. The RD-1 is only a stop gap as far as I am concerned and I don't believe it is reliable enough. I would relegade it to backup duties for the M8. At present I am using film as a backup for the RD-1 and that is a very messy concept in workflow. Ugh! I would use all film but the cost does not allow me to compete cost wise.

 

Cheers,

Erl

Link to post
Share on other sites

Perhaps it's not a big news for all of you, but I wanted to post it. I talked for some time to my Leica dealer in Germany and he told me that leica stopped there shippend in Germany and they won't get any new ones until the problems are fixed and the camera is 100% there it should be.

 

Christopher

 

Perhaps Stefan Daniel can confirm that !!

 

Michiel

Link to post
Share on other sites

I as awaiting the M8 with more than a little anticipation, it had been on pre-order for a couple of months. I was just about ready to have “LEICA” tattooed on my forehead.

 

Then the issues with IR contamination, banding, green blobs and White Balance come up. Ok, I’ll see what Leica does. So far, I have yet to see any official communications from Leica that make me willing to put 12K down for the M8 and some killer lenses.

 

Had they done more than say buy IR cut filters and had it not become apparent they knew about the IR problem and still pushed a camera out which was supposed to embody the Leica tradition but can not render colors correctly, I might still be keeping my money on the table. But they didn’t.

 

This weekend I decided to not attempt to capture the joys of lost youth and my Leicas in the heady days of the ‘60’s. The old rational left brain said, “Get a second 5D body now. See what Canon does at PMA with the 1Ds. If it is good, sell the older 5D keep the new one and get a new 1Ds or a 1DsMkII if the price on the new one is out-off-sight. Use the rest of the Leica lens money to round out those under 200mm L primes and a RSS ball head and things needed for that. You know Canon and need to be working on stuff for shows and selling prints not playing David Douglas Duncan. If you see a use for an RF get an R-D1 refurbished from Epson and put some Cosina glass on it.”

 

So, I wait for March and will check back with Solms in 2008.

 

Right now the only place I can think of having a Leica tattoo would be on my left butt cheek saying, “Welcome Leica.” That’s how I feel they have treated their customer base.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you Simon.

Pascal, Guy, Marc and Ruben have already bought or decided to buy a couple of IR filters if i understand well.

Would you do the same Simon, Erl and others and would you be prepared to consider this solution as a definitive fix for the IR issues?

 

I have ordered some - for the lenses I would most likely use in a "magenta situation" But a definitive solution? Maybe- in combination with a software correction. But ask me again when I have tried them.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Matthew dont go posting shots like this, metered center weighted average and pass them off as representative or expect too much sympathy.

 

I know the camera has its issues, but God knows what the poor little thing was trying to achieve for you. More definition in the clouds?

 

Who are we going to blame for white balance?

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well they cant recall all the cameras worldwide. So it is filter or software or it is nothing, for this generation of M digitals.

 

What they could do is offer to replace the cameras with new ones as they become available. The dealers could coordinate with their customers to replace them. As far as the filter thing I would find that acceptable as long as they provide me with the filters for all the lenses that I had at time of purchase. I bought the camera with 2 lenses and another on order so they should give me filters for the three.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Re: "Purple Hissy fits" and the M8

1. Erl: Thanks for noticing that "purple hissy fits" refers to the widespread panic of the magenta madness (oops, can one say say "mad" now without upsetting the psychiatric crowd?) comments that almost took over this forum for a while.

 

3. I just received my M8 yesterday, despite the commotion. I've carefully read Sean Reid's reviews, and agree with him that pragmatic heads should prevail. I have no intention of returning my camera, and love most all the pix I've shot since yesterday.

So then, what you're saying is that one must choose between :o magenta madness:o and :( purple pragmatism:(

 

(there were originally three of the green grinning smilies here, but there seems to be a four smiley per post limit. Picture me grinning).

Link to post
Share on other sites

Matthew dont go posting shots like this, metered center weighted average and pass them off as representative or expect too much sympathy.

 

I know the camera has its issues, but God knows what the poor little thing was trying to achieve for you. More definition in the clouds?

 

Who are we going to blame for white balance?

 

[ATTACH]15142[/ATTACH]

 

Rob

 

Thanks for your comments. That is the last day of the ferry pier clock tower, so I just try some shots metered for the clock tower :o and I'm just fine with the WB of these shots.

 

Just want to show the horizontal mirror incand bars images due to overexposure.That's it.

 

Cheers

Matthew

Link to post
Share on other sites

So then, what you're saying is that one must choose between :o magenta madness:o and :( purple pragmatism:(

 

(there were originally three of the green grinning smilies here, but there seems to be a four smiley per post limit. Picture me grinning).

Joseph:

I'm afraid that I'm too yellow to respond.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Recall all shipped M8s before a certain serial # and rework the hardware if necessary, why not? Leica should fully understand at what standard of IQ their customers are paying for. I'm patiently waiting.

 

With more than 1,000 shots taken, my observation is:

 

1) Auto White Balance - you can't rely on. I've resorted to input kelvin temp by my own

I took the following night shots on the last day of our old Star Ferry Pier Central (to be closed and moved) last Friday nite. See the mirror reversal treak of the over exposured incand light bars... M8 are mean to be low light photojournalist tool, isn't it?

 

I am quoting your post just to connect it together with this. I am not disagreeing with you!

 

I wonder what folks see in this very similar photo:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites

While at it, I thought I would throw in one more. I'm wondering what you all see in these shots. I do not see any artifacts. But, I don't have the experience many of you do. I'm using a new iMac calibrated with Apple's in OS display calibration.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...