[Leica] just a little help from my friends

[pklein at threshinc.com (Peter Klein)]

Hi, Pablo!  I have owned an M8 since 2007, and shot with film Ms for 
years before that.  I've been looking at all the newer digital M 
cameras, and have played with them and seen files from all of them.

Used M8 cameras are now selling for as low as $1200-$1500 U.S.  The M8 
is still a good camera that takes Leica lenses.  At ISO 640 (really 800) 
the M8 gives technically better images than Tri-X film at ISO 800 (but 
film is sometimes more beautiful).  At ISO 160 (200), the overall 
picture quality beats all but the best DLSRs IMHO.  The shutter issue 
with early models has been fixed--Leica replaced the ones that failed.  
So the shutter of any particular camera today is just a matter of luck 
and statistics.

The problem with the M8 is that Leica may be run out of electronic parts 
to fix them.  They can no longer replace the LCD display. If the LDC 
fails, or develops a brownish circular "coffee stain," Leica will give 
the original owner credit for the M8's value towards a newer camera.  I 
don't know about second and third owners.  The "coffee stain" does not 
impair the camera, it just makes "chimping" a little harder. The 
shutters should be good if you don't have bad luck--some people have 
40,000 or more actuations and they work fine.  I wouldn't buy a used M8 
with over 50,000 shots, but if I needed one, I might buy one that had 
about than 10,000 shots.

Other issues with the M8:

1. You need UV/IR cut filters for all your lenses.
2. Each of your lenses becomes about one "notch" longer in magnification 
(I use a 35mm as a "normal" lens on the M8, I use a 50mm on a film M).
3. There is no way to manually enter focal length in a menu, so lenses 
of 28mm and under must be coded or they will have cyan color shifts and 
vignetting near the edges of the frame. This is not an issue for B&W.
4. The shutter release is "notchy" and rough, not smooth like a film M, 
and the shutter sound is loud compared to film M cameras.
5. The top acceptable ISO (in my opinion) for color is 640. For B&W, 
sometimes 1250 is OK, and sometimes it is not.

The M9 solves issues #1-3.  #4 is still a problem. The top ISO is 1/3 to 
1 stop better, depending on who you believe and what your standards 
are.  I didn't upgrade to the M9 because I didn't think the upgrade was 
worth another $5,000.  Others have upgraded and are very happy. For some 
reason, I like B&W out of the M8 better than the M9--it seems sharper.

The M Monochrom is essentialy an M9 with a B&W-only sensor.  In terms of 
grain, ISO 10,000 is like pushed Tri-X, ISO 5,000 is like Tri-X. Below 
that is like Delta 100 or better. Since there is no Bayer pattern 
interpolation of colored pixels, there is increased acutance, and no 
smearing of noise, so the "grain" is tight.  The files are very 
flexible--you can do a lot of "dodging and burning" and curve 
adjustment. If you shoot mostly B&W, the MM will probably make you very 
happy. If you like to shoot color, or like to use color channel 
adjustments to act like colored "filters" when converting to B&W, you 
may not be happy.

The M240 brings the M sensor up to the standard of current DSLRs with 
CMOS sensors. ISO 3200 color is good. The basic files now look a little 
more like Canon/Nikon. But the lenses are still the lenses.  The shutter 
release is smoother than the previous digital Ms, and the shutter is 
quieter. The RF is a bit better and easier to focus. Live view makes it 
possible to use R lenses (and other SLR lenses), and to focus very fast 
lenses directly off the sensor, with the typical problems of Live view 
with manual diaphragm and manual focus.  But it is still an M, and most 
people who get one love it. A few people complain about the colors and 
have gone back to the M9, but most are happy. Like every digital M 
released, the color profiles for the various RAW converters change over 
the next year or two, so every digital M is sort of in beta testing 
until it is obsolete.  :-)

Hope this helps.

--Peter



 > A film M2/3/4/5/6/7?
 > And what if I got a used M8 ?
 > Is that of shutter actuations an issue?
 >
 > Cheers
 >
 > Sent from my iPhone
 >
 > > On Apr 14, 2014, at 5:01 PM, John McMaster <john at mcmaster.co.nz> 
wrote:
 > >
 > > There is nothing like them ;-)
 > >
 > > john