I took a lot of great pictures for www.drywallabilene.com using this SLR. It was fantastic and very useful!

Nothing at all.

You have a good content! Thanks Online Application

none so far

We are a very satisfied customer. M8 is a big help to our business since we can take quality photos that we post on our social media accounts. :)

None so far.

we would like to invite you into our world. Pressure washing

none so far

Pittsburgh Kitchen Hood Cleaners owes a lot to this item. it made a good photography unit.

a bit traditional

The camera has a few things that underwhelmed me minutes out of the box. The mode switch is of poor quality and makes the camera seem cheap and poorly built. - spray foam insulation contractors

None . .

well built, in general, good ergonomics combination of fully-manual operation and instant feedback dramatically increases the reliability of shooting.

None so far. https://www.phillyfoundationrepair.com/waterproofing-philadelphia-pa.html

Great build quality
Can use most Leica lenses
Forces you to think about the picture being taken.
Pleasure to use in the field
Great control placement
Simple but effect menu structure

Cost
1.3 form factor
Snapshot mode that is virtually useless in practice
No recent firmware updates since 2.005 (this needs a firmware update)

I have Leica M cameras (M5, M6ttl, and M7) that were sitting in my closet unused since I had decided to make the switch to digital. Recently, I was debating which camera to upgrade to. Was it to be the new Nikon D7000 (but I have the D300) or the Canon 5dMarkII. In reviewing this decision, I looked back on my recent experiences with digital photography and found myself feeling that I was no longer a photographer but a point-and-shoot picture taker (many of the critical decisions had been taken out of my hands). Consequently, I decided to buy a warranted used Mint chrome Leica M8.2 from Tamarkin. In the past two weeks, I have taken a number of shots ranging from a butterfly exhibit in Grand Rapids to snow scenery in Flint. I have noticed that the camera has forced me to think differently about photography and the results show in the pictures. I find that I take fewer but there are a higher percentage of good shows.

The M8.2 forces the photographer to become more aware of what they want from he picture. It is the essence of focus -- it only does digital pictures. It does not do video; it does not do in camera effects; it has no settings for scenery or night time photography. It forces the photographer to think.

Overall, the camer is very well-built. It is solid. It is also beautiful. It uses nearly lens that Leica has made for the m mount. Being a rangefinder, it requires a different approach to photography. It is not as fast (the bottleneck is no longer the camera but the photographer). It is one of the purest expressions of minimalism that I have ever seen in a camera. There is very little excess in this camera in terms of features and menus. Nearly every menu is only two levels deep.

In the field, it is silent (but not as silent as the M7). My camera has a slight tendency to overexpose (which required me to change the settings). It is also small and light weight. It is also a pleasure to use. This is a hard trait to quantitatively assess but it just feels right in the hands. Controls are where they should be and everything makes senses.

There are some problems with the camera (aside from the need to use IR filters). The camera offers a snapshot mode that, while theoretically attractive, has been very poorly implemented. For example, once you pick S, you are given a fixed set of options -- one of which is that the camera will only store JPG images. The jpg images are okay -- nothing great. The real power of the camera lies in its RAW files which are phenomenal. Yet, I cannot change the settings for S so that I can store both jpg and raw -- this does not make sense.

The 1.3 factor also does not help. For the price, it would have been nice if this sensor was a full frame.

Finally, it would be nice if Leica offered a firmware update whereby:

1. you could see the battery life on the LCD screen.
2. you could set the lenses manually rather than relying on the six bit coding system used.

Overall, a great camera -- but at a price.

Customer Service

No experience to date.

Similar Products Used:

Given that this is a digital rangefinder, there are really no other products like it. Yet, current cameras owned:

Nikon D700
Nikon D300
Nikon D5000
Nikon D90

Canon 7D
Canon 5D

Leica M5
Leica M6ttl
Leica M7

M camera
Sensor
Fun to use
Flexible
Did I say it's an M camera!?
Upgradeable
It's a Leica

IR filter issue - solvable
Coding issue - solvable
Change in feel from film M
Price

You're all probably are aware of this cameras week points and the controversies surrounding it. A digital Leica M camera in itself is a controversy!

As an avid M6 user who prints and develops his own B&W and C41 film, choosing to try the M8 seemed counter intuitive in some ways. However finding time in my life to do things the old fashion way has become a problem. I convinced myself early on that there was no point in thinking about digital unless it was the M8. Leica M series cameras changed me as a photographer, I wasn't about to throw that away.

The camera has a few things that underwhelmed me minutes out of the box. The mode switch is of poor quality and makes the camera seem cheap and poorly built. How Leica thought this was not worth a redesign I don't know. The camera, slightly bigger than a film M seems strangely hollow feeling. This camera is not as solid as a film M, but over all it is as well built. I guess it's just not as dense with metal.

The IR filter issue isn't an issue anymore, do yourself a favor and decide it won't be an issue before you buy. Get the filters and get over it. Lens coding of old Leica lenses and third party lenses is a must in my book. I don't want weird colour shifts in the corner of my pics when using IR filters. Price in the Coder kit before you buy, another issue solved.

So was that worth all the effort? Oh, yes, it, certainly, was. It's weird the feeling of using an M camera but having the flexibility of digital. For a start you don't keep looking at the LCD, because your brain is telling you it's an M. You take shots you wouldn't normally, but all the time it feels like your film M.. only you can see the pictures when you get home! The cameras features, Aperture priority etc, auto WB, Auto ISO.. these things take the M experience to a whole new level. This camera is a hell of a lot of fun! The shutter sounds different, a little hollow, but after a day or two I actually really like it. It's the sound of me having a good time and it's not intrusive.

So after all this fun what are the pictures like? Sharp, film like, beautiful, I really thought my fun first outing was going to end in mediocrity because after all this is digital right.. wrong.. well, it is digital but it's the most film like digital I've seen! The images are so sharp, so rich, so flexible, it really has its own quality. In short this thing delivers the goods and is a joy to use to boot, dare I say it even more so than a film M, just because of the flexibility.

I'm over the moon with this camera, it feels pro, I know pro's use it, and what it delivers is so pro!! Forget the megapixel count, it's more than enough.

Buy this M. Stop wasting smaller amounts of money on lesser cameras. This camera is an M for life... do I sound in love... I am.. that's not happened since I got my M6 and I've had cameras of every format since then.. always kept the M6. Now I can go out, come back and be satisfied and get on with other things.

It's weird but some how all this cameras little qwerks make it even more lovable, even more personal somehow.. it has bags of character and it will make you happy. Though at first you may find some conflict.. but in my book, that's how all the best friendships begin.

Customer Service

Superb. You get a little area on Leica's website all to yourself with news, updates and info about things to do with your little M!

Similar Products Used:

M6
DSLR

Small, and quiet

Low light capabilities, poorly laid out controls, expensive, no fast wide angle lenses, short buffer

I've spent most of the past year photographing in Iraq with an M8. I'm a long-time Leica user but I'm not a fan of the M8. It has locked up on me repeatedly and has terrible low-light capability. If you've got money to burn and are shooting in daylight, and don't mind RAW processing, this camera could be for you. If you're a working photojournalist, stay away from it.

I have an extensive review here:

http://web.mac.com/kamberm/Leica_M8_Field_Test,_Iraq/Page_1.html

Similar Products Used:

Canon 1Ds, Canon 5D