Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/04/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]rangefinder adjustment should be relatively easy to do too, although I have never needed to do it on my Ms, I have done it on the RD-1 and the XPan. Takes just a few minutes.... Good luck with the sales. On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 2:24 AM, Jeff Moore <jbmmllug at jbm.org> wrote: > For sale: M8 body, asking $2000.00 > > Do you crave the historical cachet of a low-serial-number M8 body > (31005xx) but the operational characteristics of a late-production M8? > Well, this may be your camera - I was an early adopter, so > essentially all the major internal systems were replaced over time to > deal with M8 teething problems, with the result that this camera has > the new... whatever was replaced to fix the old "green blob" problem; > a major circuit board was updated when the camera's older systems > proved allergic to a firmware update; and most recently the shutter > assembly was replaced, all by the loving hands of Leica NJ. > > I'd be using it still, had I not been able to scrape together M9 > money; that's what I'm using now. But this camera has always made > lovely photos, at least within the comfortable ISO range for M8s and > after the green blob issue was fixed early in its career. > > There's just one remaining quirk, and the reason I'm asking what I > believe to be below current market value for an M8: when the camera > came back from the last visit to Leica, the rangefinder was a bit > misaligned, such that the focusing images are a bit off vertically, > and focus isn't perfectly accurate with fast lenses close up. I'd > intended to send it back to have that fixed and then sell for several > hundred more, but as I've noticed myself not getting around to that, I > thought I'd shave a few hundred off the asking price based on the > assumption that the next owner would incur some inconvenience and > perhaps cost to get that adjusted, and see if someone else wanted to > take responsibility. > > To try to characterize the magnitude of the errors: the vertical > misalignment is a bit distracting if you're trying to focus on some > small object, but invisible if you're focusing on something which > forms a vertical line when you're holding the camera in landscape > orientation. The distance incorrectness is such that the focus of a > 50mm Summilux ASPH wide open at closest focus distance will be > noticeably off when you look at the pictures, but I don't see a > problem with a 35mm Biogon at f/2. If you aren't as addicted to fast > lenses as I am, you might not even find the distance maladjustment > noticeable, although I expect anyone might find the vertical register > issue a bit annoying. > > On the plus side, the shutter mechanism in this body has a smoother > mechanical feel than any of the the other, later M8s I've tried. > There's no rough metal-on-metal feel near actuation as found in some > other bodies. It's as if some internal metal parts had been better > polished, kind of like a firearm which has had a good trigger job. > > Some photos of this camera (taken with a DMR, of course) are here: > > > http://photos.bazbarfoo.com/Scratch/onTheBlock/M8/16742868_qHfNXL#1262934203_7B6Db9k > > (While I'm not sure what the point is of being cagey about serial > numbers, I've obscured the last two digits of the S/N in the photos > and text of this email to avoid having a potential buyer for whom that > might be an issue freak out.) > > On examining the camera to write this description I see one physical > detail which doesn't show up in the photos: there are some scuffs on > the plastic window over the rear electronic display which I hadn't > even noticed in use, but which can be seen with the display off and a > light shining obliquely across the surface. I see no other issues > which don't show up in the photos: the glass parts look good, and the > black chrome has the patina of a body which has been held a lot, but > no obvious scrapes. > > The camera is running firmware 2.005 (the latest, as of this writing). > > This will include the box and the originally-included stuff (charger > with multiple plug adapters, strap, manual), and two batteries (the > original one which came with the camera, which no longer seems to hold > a full charge, so I'll leave it in as an emergency spare) and another > battery which seems to be working well). > > Ideally, I'd love to sell this to someone in the NYC/NJ/Eastern-PA > area, so we could just meet and avoid shipping - and the buyer could > examine the camera and be sure to be satisfied with it before handing > over the money. > > Failing that, I'd prefer to ship within the continental US. > > > -Jeff M. > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- // richard <http://www.imagecraft.com/> // icc blog: <http://imagecraft.com/blog/> // photo blog: <http://www.5pmlight.com> [ For technical support on ImageCraft products, please include all previous replies in your msgs. ]