Leica M8 in 2016, bad idea?

L

Landberg

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Hi!
I have been shooting with film Leica Ms for a long time. I don't have the time or energy to shoot film any more. I bought the M-E/M9 new but ut had a lot of issuses so i replaced it with a Leica X2 while looking for a new camera.

I liked the files on the M9, but it was to expensive and under my 6 months with it it was in germany for repair 2 times.

So now i'm thinking of a cheap M8, they are like €800-1000 in Sweden. I shoot only at ISO 400 and black and white. Is the camera crap, honestly?

How is the M8 standing against the M9 at ISO 400 and under?

Any other thoughts?

Thank you!
 
If you can live with the crop factor and the ISO limitations ... great choice in my opinion.
 
Yes I think that's right .... it's been a long time since I owned mine. Realistically there's not much point in going over 640 ... it gets pretty nasty after that!

The shutter takes some getting used to also ... like a damned staple gun! lol :D
 
I still have an M8u and for B&W especially its fantastic. Nothing wrong with the color files either but for monochrome it can't be beat IMO.

And yes the shutter sound is awful but I have never had an issue with the ISO or the crop factor. I think the M8 is a bargain in this market.
 
The M8 is a great camera; I don't have mine any more though. The shutter can be jarring. There is a work-around as I recall. Click and keep shutter depressed, the wind on noise occurs when one allows the shutter release to return to original position. Can be helpful... Ultimately, the noise didn't matter to me.... But it probably will sound a bit loud, especially compared to todays digital offerings..

One other thing, you probably know. For color, you'll need the UV-IR lens filter. For black and white the lens filter absence is a real plus....
 
The M8 is still a fine camera and I use mine regularly. The shutter noise is not that bad especially if you set it to discrete (there are a lot of very much louder cameras) - it is just louder than a film M. If you can get hold of an M8.2 then the shutter noise is similar to a film M when set to discrete - I had one but sold it - don't ask why :bang: Anything up to ISO 640 (actually true 800) is fine and you can shoot beyond with care (there are lots of resources about how to get the best out of the sensor but some are more trouble than they're worth IMO). Don't shoot jpegs - they are not the best - and don't forget the crop factor - this has never bothered me as I have a 35mm permanently mounted on my M8 for a 50mm equivalent view.

Good luck with your decision.
 
  • Pick up a high quality IR filter
  • Use raw and never exceed ISO 640 [1,2]
  • Enjoy :)

[1] The M8 ISO electronic amplification changes above ISO 640.

[2] When the light level requires ISO 640, it will be important to maximize exposure. This means you intentionally overexpose unimportant highlights. This improves the IQ in shadow regions. The slower the shutter time and, or the wider the aperture (at IS0 640), the better the shadow regions will look. Should the rendered image looks too dark just increase the global brightness (exposure slider). In low light, when exposure is not maximized (at ISO 640) the symptom is banding in shadow regions. When exposure is maximized, people report you can push IS0 640 raw files by one stop. When all the highlight regions are important, it still pays to maximize exposure. But pushing the brightness during rendering could result in visible banding in shadow regions.
 
The M8 is the perfect match to my M9. The 33% crop becomes useful as this reduces the number of lenses needed in the camera bag when traveling. I may have with me a 28mm lens and a 50mm lens.
with the M9: 28mm and 50mm
with the M8: 37mm and 67mm

I am covered this way with only two lenses. The M8 has a shorter buffer time than the M9, so it is more suited for quick back to back photos. There is also the known advantage for B&W IR sensitive images.

I use RAW and set ISO to ISO160 most of the time.
 
Landberg said:
Wow, is it worse than the M9?
Click to expand...


From what I recall, I found the shutters sounding about the same among my M8, M8-upgraded (1/4000 shutter), and M9 (since sold). The M8 gets a "discreet" shutter mode with the latest firmware upgrade, which delays the shutter recock until you release the shutter button.
 
I've had an M8 since they first came out. As pointed out earlier, setting the shutter mode to discrete muffles the sound somewhat. There is also a good workaround for the ISO issue. It was first suggested in the Leica forum and works well - set the ISO to 160 and the compensation to -3. It gives the equivalent of 1250 without the digital 'grain' issues. As suggested earlier, shoot RAW only, especially if you ever plan to use the files in color. Mine still works well and it's always in the bag when I take the film Ms out just in case I need a color shot. For the price, it's a great digital choice for M lenses.
 
Such a civil opinion regarding the M8 :) If you look somewhere else you might find stupid arguments, that your camera will definitely be rubish in short time because the display will fail and can't be replaced or that you can't take colour photos with it.
I had one for many years, it took great photos but looking back it was too limited as main camera for all purposes (iso capability, crop factor when shooting wide-angle, 10MP leaves no cropping option). If this is no limitation for you, just go for it and have fun.
 
I had one, I sold it, when I bought my M9, and bought it again when .....

I had one, I sold it, when I bought my M9, and bought it again when .....

When I sent my M9 for sensor replacement (3 months), I bought another M8.u. Which I still have and will not sell. Wonderful camera. Here with the Elmar 90/4 rigid.




Esomeliae by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr
 
Landberg said:
Hi!
I shoot only at ISO 400 and black and white. Is the camera crap, honestly?

How is the M8 standing against the M9 at ISO 400 and under?
Click to expand...

To me, at 400 and below the M8 is great, as are most CCD based cameras from that era. I found that at 640+ you start to see sensor and technology limitations from the time, and have to accept compromises. I treat the M8 as a cropped M4 with Tri-X or 400 slide film--little to no latitude in color, and pushable in black and white to ASA 800.

Since you had an M9, as an image quality comparison why not take some of your M9 images and crop them about 65% to see what the M8 will give you (I find the M9 essentially being a full frame M8--just my opinion).
 
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