[Leica] Back from the trip: some reflections on the M8

[photo at frozenlight.eu (Nathan Wajsman)]

This afternoon I returned to Alicante from my 2-week holiday in Poland  
and Germany. It is cold here today: when I landed, it was only  14 C,  
or in the high 50s for you Fahrenheit folks. But I will not complain;  
when we were taking off from D?sseldorf about 3 hours earlier, the  
temperature there was -12C. In general, I had not experienced above- 
freezing temperatures since leaving Alicante on December 23.

During the trip, I took about 1000 pictures with my new M8, some of  
which you have seen already, with more to come. I only had two lenses  
with me, the 35mm Summarit and the 50mm Summilux. Eighty percent of  
the time I used the 35mm, and it is magnificent. Being so limited in  
terms of focal length was annoying at times (in the narrow streets of  
Wroc?aw's old quarter I would really have liked something wider) but  
on the other hand it was good photographic discipline.

The M8 came through with flying colors. No errors, no hiccups, good  
battery life even though on many days it was being used outside for  
several hours in sub-freezing weather. I had a film body with me for  
backup but did not need to use it at any time. Last night I was  
walking around Dresden--not sure what the temperature was, but it was  
certainly below -10C, and there were no problems whatsoever, except  
that my ears got cold since I had no hat with me.

On returning, I found in my post the UV/IR filters for the two lenses  
I already have, so no more magenta from me. I also found the lens hood  
for the 50mm Summilux. After checking various online shops and finding  
that they were all asking in excess of 100 Euro for the original hood,  
I decided to get one from ebay seller HeavyStar. It is a screw-in  
Chinese imitation, but it is very well made, and the price (with  
shipping to Spain) was a grand $22. Highly recommended. Now when I put  
the 50 on the M8, I have a Zebra: black body, chrome lens, and black  
lens hood. But the picture quality will be unaffected.

Well, enough rambling. Time for another single malt and then on to the  
Chinese restaraurant for dinner (the rest of the family are still in  
Puerto Rico).

Nathan


Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com

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