[Leica] M8 Price

[red735i at earthlink.net (Frank Filippone)]

M-Yes.  The M8 dropped to half in roughly 3 years.  It settled there, to
this date.
P+S Digital, I have no idea.  ( I actually doubt it.. anything Digital drops
like a rock whenever anything new comes around)

The M8 is an anomaly.... other than a $7K M9 ( or used $5.5K), nothing else
will directly create a quality digital image from a M lens.  If you do not
have an extra few thousand doing nothing, it is the only game in town.*  

It was deemed a loser right away when first it was noted that it had a
sensor less than 24x36.  The M9 sensor just took its life away as many many
pros and well-off amateurs instantly migrated to it.  A major reason the
last M8 cameras sold off cheap, IMO.

If your "eye" is a WA eye, then the M8 is a bit of a pain... you must
purchase WA lenses to get the field of view you are used to. Buying new
lenses, especially WA lenses, is expensive.   Partially for this reason, I
think that completely aside from the sensor, the M8 was given a short life.


Of course, there is the Menu issue... the M8 will not allow you to select
your lens for incorporation into FW and image manipulation or EXIF data.
The M9 will, and therefore has many more legacy lenses to choose from.  Yet
another "issue".

Last, you have the nifty M8 UV/IR filter issue.....  It is really not so
bad, as B+W filters run in the $40-75 range... and if you dedicate a filter
to a lens, the additional cost is not too high.  But it was another nail in
the M8's coffin.

I can not afford an M9.  So I shoot an M8.  It is purely financial.  I have
learned how to get around most issues at moderate ( and personally
affordable) cost.

Noting that M9 used prices have reached the $5.5K level, what will happen
with the used and new prices when the M10 gets here?  Let's all hope for
$4K.  

Maybe I and others can swing that..... 

* (Yes, I know about the Epson and various lens adapters for 4/3,
micro-whatever, etc. I refer only to Leica made products)

Frank Filippone
Red735i at earthlink.net


So the M8 has dropped by about half in price since it was introduced.  Is
that the worst performance by any Leica body?