Fallen back in love with the M8

taffy

taffy

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Dec 13, 2004
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I've had this camera for over 8 years now and I can't say I've ever been happy with it. I was always thinking about it's limitations. I borrowed a friend's Leica Q to see if that was for me but I found myself missing the rangefinder experience. I dusted off the M8 and took it on a family trip and I'm now having the "where have you been all my life??" feeling shooting it.

Maybe it's because I have a kid now and I love photographing him. Maybe I've also truly understood that in order to get the best out of it, you have to shoot in conditions that bring out it's best, or that I've discovered how amazing my ZM lens is!

Now my thought are around, "Please M8 shutter, don't die." :)

PS
I think I have become a ZM believer after only owning one lens. On the hunt for the C-Biogon 35 LOL

M8 + ZM 25 Biogon

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That first pic is superb!

My 35mm biogon just about lives on my old RD1 and would be equally good n the M8 I would think. :)

edit .. and I understand what you mean about the rekindled relationship. I am going through the same thing with my RD1s which sat in the cupboard unused for years until fairly recently.
 
Great shots, I did a lot of my learning to photograph with the M8, which I use much less these days. Love it for b/w and appreciate the ability to use for near infrared photography with a dark red filter. Give it a try some time!
 
Keith said:
That first pic is superb!

My 35mm biogon just about lives on my old RD1 and would be equally good n the M8 I would think. :)

edit .. and I understand what you mean about the rekindled relationship. I am going through the same thing with my RD1s which sat in the cupboard unused for years until fairly recently.
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Thanks Keith. I think a lot of part of this is getting older and not having time to read all the new gear reviews. When the M8 shines, it shines so I’ve been so obsessed with shooting in good light (for everything else, there’s the iPhone) and worst case, I have a lot of grainy / noisy photos of my toddler :)

Cheers

PS
A few hours after reading your reply, the on of the local camera shops told me they had a deal on a used ZM 35 C-Biogon (a rare find where I live) so I jumped on it. Sweet little lens!

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Last edited:
jamin-b said:
Great shots, I did a lot of my learning to photograph with the M8, which I use much less these days. Love it for b/w and appreciate the ability to use for near infrared photography with a dark red filter. Give it a try some time!
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Hi, I will try shooting with a dark red filter since it won’t be too hard to find or too expensive to buy :)

I shoot the M8 in B/W JPEG + DNG. Truthfully most often I’d like to see a B/W image and capture it with the M8. My digital post production skills need a lot of work but I think the M8 helps me a lot on that area.

Enjoy the M8 :)

Cheers


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To me Q is more limiting than M8.
I'm finding M8 pictures to be no different from M-E. If I would not have M-E I would still keep M8.
No any other cameras are made like M8. Even M10. M8 is like M2/3/4.

Leica was replacing shutters recently. But no screens left.

And to be honest, both pictures are good!
 
Ko.Fe. said:
To me Q is more limiting than M8.
I'm finding M8 pictures to be no different from M-E. If I would not have M-E I would still keep M8.
No any other cameras are made like M8. Even M10. M8 is like M2/3/4.

Leica was replacing shutters recently. But no screens left.

And to be honest, both pictures are good!
Click to expand...

Thanks for you kind words on the photos. I love the M8 and a few years ago I cracked the LCD and Leica said they couldn't repair it. I'm glad it had some form of screen protector (plastic albeit) that is literally holding the LCD glass together. Because of cost and nostalgia, I'll probably be using this until it stops working :)

Cheers
 
People loved to hate the M8 because it their idea of a perfect digital camera, but I routinely print 17 x 25 inches from the files. I also think that its B&W images taken without an IR cut filter have superior tonal qualities to my M9.
 
I'm right there with you Taffy. I recently picked up an M8 in a trade, and then sold that one to buy an M8.2 in the span of about 3 months. I had one years and years ago and really had troubles with it. I think it was purely an expectation thing more than a problem with the camera. So now, I just make sure that I shoot at 160 (320 max). The M8 just feels great and works amazingly well for the times/tasks I use it for. I've also started playing around with its infrared abilities, which makes this camera even more special for my collection of toys. I'm back in love with this thing, and it only took me 7-8 years to realize it. Glad I'm not the only one!

And +1 on those photos! Great shots!
 
raid said:
What Helen said! :cool:

My M8 is still one of my two most used cameras.
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I believe your glowing reviews / thoughts on this camera is what made me buy it several years ago. I have you to thank :)


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View Range said:
People loved to hate the M8 because it their idea of a perfect digital camera, but I routinely print 17 x 25 inches from the files. I also think that its B&W images taken without an IR cut filter have superior tonal qualities to my M9.
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Spot on. That’s how I felt with it until this year. Pushing it past it’s comfort zone thinking “it should be able to do this and that because it costs so much”.

I’m very eager to print some photos :)


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slantface said:
I'm right there with you Taffy. I recently picked up an M8 in a trade, and then sold that one to buy an M8.2 in the span of about 3 months. I had one years and years ago and really had troubles with it. I think it was purely an expectation thing more than a problem with the camera. So now, I just make sure that I shoot at 160 (320 max). The M8 just feels great and works amazingly well for the times/tasks I use it for. I've also started playing around with its infrared abilities, which makes this camera even more special for my collection of toys. I'm back in love with this thing, and it only took me 7-8 years to realize it. Glad I'm not the only one!

And +1 on those photos! Great shots!
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Thanks a lot! Back then I was in such a hurry to get better as a photographer and was always confused between “is it me or do I not have the right tools?”. Now that I’m older and I compare myself less against the talent of others, I’m really enjoying the learning process and the mistakes / discoveries along the way. The mindset has now shifted to enjoying the thought of having several more years to learn and get better.

I suppose that’s also why this camera is now so enjoyable.


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Lovely photos!
After reading your post I finally took the plunge and bought an M8 again. I'd always regretted selling mine when I bought my M-E which now needs a new sensor. I took the plunge on a used M8 a few days ago and fell right back in love with the digital M experience.
Keep enjoying your M8 - and share some more of your wonderful photos with us please!
 
taffy said:
I believe your glowing reviews / thoughts on this camera is what made me buy it several years ago. I have you to thank :)


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Thanks. :D

I have also noticed that the M8 sensor behaves much better than the M9 sensor with the ultrawide Hologon 16/8. It is most likely not just the effect of cropping but also something related to the sensor cover.
 
raid said:
...the M8 sensor behaves much better than the M9 sensor with the ultrawide Hologon 16/8. It is most likely not just the effect of cropping but also something related to the sensor cover.
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That's very possible, Raid, as the M8 cover glass is slightly thinner, 0.5mm vs the M9 about 0.2mm thicker. It's occurred to me that using the 0.5mm glass for the larger M9 sensor cover could risk breakage.

FWIW I am still using my silver M8u, a very nice camera... :)
 
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