[Leica] MY first experience with an M8

[bd at bdcolenphoto.com (B. D. Colen)]

There was a demo from Leica USA  in the Harvard News Office this past week,
and I got a chance to shoot with it a bit -

General Impressions:

*Unquestionably an M - but for the noise level, which is markedly higher
than that of my Olympus E-1 DSLR, it looks and feels like an M in every
respect. Okay, an M after a big Thanksgiving dinner, but an M. Viewfinder is
a bright M viewfinder. A pleasure to hold and frame with.

*Menus - as deep as I went - are well thought out. There's some quirkiness
to the menus, and display system, but there is with every digital camera -
it's just a question of getting used to what you shoot with.

*The removable bottom plate is inane; there had to at least be a way to
hinge it. 

* Every time I thought about the total lack of dust and moisture sealing, I
had trouble breathing. I've always been very kind to, and careful of, my
photo equipment, but I couldn't begin to count the number of times they've
been in damp to wet, or dusty environments. With a film M, that's a big 'so
what;' with a digital camera, it can be 'so long.'

Image Impressions and related issues:

*Definitely like-level fine detail resolution - really outstanding. And now
for the bad news...

* Anything shot in low light - dark areas - and anything dark in images -
creates a magenta cast. No, they didn't send along IR cut filters for us,
but I don't consider being forced to use filters a fix for a real defect, I
consider it an insult to the intelligence of the would-be buyer.

*As Jim notes below, no color consistency - white balance consistency - from
image to image in the same scene.

*A general lack of contrast to RAW images - definitely flatter than the
scene itself.

*Painfully slow write speed.

*Unbelievably, painfully, slow card erase and format speeds.

Bottom Line - Cool looking and feeling, reminding me why I'd love to have a
digital M. But as a tool for making quality images, an unmitigated disaster
- particularly at price that's between about 1.9 and 6x that of cameras that
produce better images, and do it with consistency. Yes, it takes Leica M
lenses - but it does not produce Leica results with them.

Have a good month -

B. D.

P.S. Walt's fine.

> Jim Laurel writes in part:
> 
>> Well, despite my better judgement and the sage advice of some here,
>> B.D. not least, I decided to purchase an M8.
>> 
>> My experience so far has not been encouraging.  I seem to be
>> experiencing every M8 foible in the book in tests with my
>> Summicron 28 ASPH mounted.
> 
> Hi Jim,
> 
> It seems that people purchasing the M8 either get a digital camera that 
> they
> really love or a camera with problems.
> 
> I looked and handled an M8 with the new 28/2.8 lens at the local camera 
> store
> and walked away. Loved the new lens, but I view the M8 as the 1st version 
> of a
> computer of sorts. I've learned never buy version 1 of anything digital. 
> I'll
> look again in 4 to 6 months and stay away from the M8 at least, until then.
> 
> Greg J. Lorenzo
> Calgary, Alberta
> 
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