[Leica] Musings on the M8...

[kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour)]

thanks Tom... have fun on the trip. Steve


On Sep 23, 2006, at 11:00 PM, TTAbrahams@aol.com wrote:

>
> I  was just packing up the M8 for transport back to Solms and this  
> started me
>  thinking about what I thought about it. It is very M-like in  
> operation, to
> the  point that the right thumb is forever flailing around for an  
> advance lever
> and  every time I opened the baseplate I stopped myself "did I  
> rewind the
> film?" This  particular M8 cycled through Vancouver  and out-laying  
> areas for
> about a month and the consensus  seems  to be "how soon can I get  
> one" or " how
> can I raise the required $ 4800 for  one".
> In  2004 Epson lent me a RD-1 for an extended trial (3 months) and  
> this was
> my first  foray into the world of Pixels and JPEG/RAW. At the time  
> I thought
> the  experience was interesting, but not sufficiently so to buy the  
> camera.
> Another  two years have passed and even a confirmed Luddite like me  
> is getting
> more  interested. I do harbour a suspicion that Leica allotting one  
> of the M8 to
> me  for trying could be a way to establish a baseline "if Tom would  
> buy it we
> have  the design right".  In my opinion they have succeeded - the  
> M8 does feel
>  like a true M. The controls are simple enough and reasonably well  
> laid out.
> The  old "standards" like viewfinder, frame-lines, body-shape is  
> close enough
> to the  regular M and the digital part is easy enough to figure out  
> even
> without a  manual.
> The  M8 came along when I went out, but never alone. There was  
> always a M2 as
> a  companion and I found that I shot as much with the film based  
> camera as
> with the  M8. This could change when I get my own M8, but I know  
> that I would
> still use  film primarily. There is process you go through when you  
> shoot film,
> composition, exposure, processing and editing that I find changes  
> with the
> digital. The instant "recall" leads to many "corrective" pictures.  
> "Hmm, if  I
> move over there, would it look different or improve?" With film you  
> have to
> think more clearly and there is a "decisive moment" when to shoot.  
> With the M8
> there was many an indecisive moment instead! Part of this has to do  
> with my
> inexperience of this particular medium but part of it is inherent  
> in the
> process. You shoot and it is tempting to instantly look at the  
> image rather than
> continue to look at the scene, it is easy to lose the "flow".
> This  afternoon I had coffee with my friend Chris, he borrowed the  
> M8 for 3
> days and  brought some prints to show me. Extreme low light scenes  
> with 28/1,9
> and 35/1,2  lenses. The quality is amazing, it would be difficult  
> to duplicate
> the shots  with film and printing them would have been a nightmare.  
> The
> prints had a  smoothness to them that was disconcerting, at least  
> for someone used
> to TRI-X. They were unmanipulated prints - straight from a card, no
> photo-shop magic applied. They had the look of  XP-2 or Tmax C-41  
> prints,  with that
> long tonality and lack of grain.
> I  did add up what I shot over the time I had the M8; "keepers"  
> were about
> 130  shots which were transferred to a CD and during the same time  
> I shot about
> 55  rolls of film and looking at the negatives and marking the ones  
> that looks
>  interesting I ended up with about 150. About the same ratio and  
> yes, the CD
> is  more compact, but the film stuff can be filed away and I don?t  
> have to
> worry  about long term storage.
> I  am looking forward to "go digital", but there is no way I am  
> giving up on
> film.  At the moment there are more than 2 miles of film in the  
> freezer  and
> watching that print pop in the developer tray beats looking at a   
> computer
> screen anytime. I can see the M8 shine in "Hail Mary" situations.  
> The  dynamic
> range in low light is nothing short of amazing, the ability to  
> "push"  and
> "pull" at the touch of a button is another bonus and the fact that  
> it can  use
> lenses that have established performance parameters already on our  
> "regular"
> M-mount cameras. It is also a compact system, a M8/a M2 and  the  
> 21/35/50  kit
> that I use is smaller and faster than most of the DSLR's with their  
> HUGE  zoom
> lenses and camera bodies the size of SUV's.
> The  M8 is the first camera that got me interested in digital as a  
> picture
> taking  tool. With the RD-1 I never got the same feeling as with  
> the M8 - no
> fault of  the camera, just my perception at the time. Epson  
> deserves much credit
> for  it and it does have a film-advance lever and a rewind crank  
> (which is
> more  convenient to "chimp" with than the M8's buttons). Will the  
> M8 make me a
> better  photographer? Probably not, but as I mainly take pictures  
> for reasons
> only  known to me, it doesn't matter. Photography to me is a way of  
> enjoying
> myself  and the M camera's suits me for that. Hasselblad's,   
> Sinar's, Nikon's,
> etc. were tools  for working and I cant still loose  that feeling  
> that there is
> a client or even worse, an AD waiting to pounce upon  my efforts.  
> With the M
> it is for me, by me and if nobody but me ever see the  results that  
> is fine
> too.
> Now  it is off to that Pixel Party known as Photokina - somewhere  
> among the
> halls there will some black/white silver halides hiding for me to  
> fondle.
> Tri-X  and a M2/MP and maybe extend the loan of the M8 another  
> couple of days  for
> that low light stuff!
> Tom  A
> -------------------------
> Tom  Abrahamsson
> Vancouver, BC
> Canada
>  (http://www.rapidwinder.com/) rapidwinder.com
>
>
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