When asked why I use a Leica it is very easy to answer. I only shoot at f2.0 and only B&W and no other camera can match.

qulity
weight

it accepts only 2 G memory cards
digital wallets like Epson cant read the leica's raw
buttery life
price

i was a canon man for about 5 years and before that i used a nikon. a few months ago i decided to buy the leica M8 fo 2 reasons: 1) i was tierd of carrying all this weight 2) i loved the results of the leica.
the leica M8 is certainley not a camera for those who want easy life ,everything is manuel including the focus and the wB setting but once you see the results there is no way back to canon/nikon. the quality and sharpness of the pictures is really amazing
i found that adding the uv/iR filter has'nt affected the quality and the great colours. The shutter is a bit noisy and the buttery does not last as long as it does on a canon, but what are these all in cmparison to the fantastic quality.
what can i say i fell in love with this camera and at list for me it is bye bye canon

impressive image quality
well built
in general, good ergonomics
combination of fully-manual operation and instant feedback dramatically increases reliability of shooting.
quieter and less obtrusive than most SLRs

unusable exposure compensation
drains battery if not turned off
dim frame lines
louder than other M-series bodies
requires an accessory IR-Cut filter for color work

Leica M8 is a unique product and should be treated as such. Like any other M series camera, it is not for everyone. I have been asked on may occasions whether it was the best digital camera in the world. Of course it is not. M8 merely is a camera body that provides digital access to Leiz and M-compatible Zeiss lenses. It is a rangefinder, and it carries all strong qualities as well as limitations of the breed.
There are quite a few good things that cam be said about M8, but not everything is as imacculately wonderful as Leica claimed.
I have a chrome version, and it is one of the first 1500. Leica issued a recall on these cameras because they all have the same issues that are completely fixed in later runs. Therefore I am not going to discuss them here.
M8 is a bit thicker and heavier than M6. It handles similarly, but is much more loud (thanks to a new vertically travelling metal shutter). Also, there is no winder, and the shutter is cocked automatically. I really do not like this, because at least half of the noise associated with releasing the shutter is due to its motorized transport. Besides, manual cock-up would save some battery life.
Rangefinder frame lines seem to be noticeably dimmer than on M6. Combined with a lower viewfinder magnification, it makes focusing more difficult, especially in low light. The lines are not precise, but it depends on a lens used. I found that only an original M3 2/35 summicron with goggles aligns with the framelines perfectly (goggles make the viewfinder even wider, and 50mm frame lines become 35mm) All other lenses seem to provide at least 5% larger field of view than frame lines suggest.
Compared with Epson RD-1, M8 delivers much higher image quality. It is not just resolution, which is almost twice as high. Digital noise of M8 sensor is much more film like, and tonal gradations with the same lenses seems to be better.
I do not shoot JPEGs partly because RAW mode is a part of my workflow since 2001, partly because M8 has a real problem with WB in low light. DNG format is an industry standard, and it was smart to implement it in this camera. The only problem, Adobe Camera RAW 3.5 and lower and a current beta version of Adobe Lightroom do not fully understand an embedded M8 color profile and render all images with a heavy magenta cast, if the profile is not manually ignored during conversion. So, one really needs ACR 3.6 or higher (Photoshot CS3 beta has ACR 4.0) to get rid of this annoying problem.
M8 is rather quick. It has instant response and zero wake-up time. I found, however, that pressing a shutter when the camera is in sleep mode gives a corrupted image with series of strange vertical lines streaming down from the middle of the top of the picture. However, it may be one of the issues that will be resolved with a promised free recall.
A real design blooper, in my opinion, is a compensation feature accessible only vie a menu. In fact, it is so inconvenient that I prefer shooting in a fully manual mode. Aperture priority is of limited utility to me because exposure compensation cannot be done without taking your eye from the viewfinder. Also, I am not sure if this is a characteristic of my camera only, but compensation must be set to at least -1EV in all instances to avoid overexposure. In manual mode, the light meter seems to be working just fine, though.
LCD screen is large and of a good quality. Preview images first appear pixelized, and it takes about a second to render a high-quality preview and apply a color profile. I find it strange. This is a minor issua, but something definitely below current standards.
Navigation through images is a breeze. Menus and settings are easy and intuitive. Rotating wheel as a zoom tool is a brilliant idea.
Battery life is adequate, although I have never managed to squeeze more than 200 shots from it. Moreover, the camera seems to drain power if it is left switched on. On a few occasions I forgot switching it off and put in a bag. Next morning it was dead until the battery was recharged.
The battery is small and compact, but the charger is bulky and heavy. In fact, it is roughly the same size as the camera body. Considering what M8 is built for (street photography, journalism), they could do better.
M8 has a limited number of ISO presets: 160. 320. 640. 1250. 2500. While it is OK in most cases, I wish the ISO range starded from 50 and had 500 and 800.
Interestingly, color rendition heavily depends upon a lens used. In my experience, the best colors come out of 1.4/35 Summicron (last non-aspheric version) and a 2.8/28 Zeiss Biogon ZM. Vintage 1.4/50 Summilux and 2/90 Summicron give somewhat colder and less saturated colors.
In an attempt to make the best use of lens quality and resolving power, Leica fitted M8 with a very thin IR-cut filter. Well, perhaps a bit too thin. As a result, some black-colored synthetic fabrics and occasionally black hair turn out magenta tinted. This tint is not software correctable (not in-camera, anyway) Leica came up with quite a high-tech solution and stunned everybody with its generousity by promising all M8 owners two screw-on IR-cut filters of their choice. If you shoot Leica, you know that most lenses are of different barrel diameters, so two filters will not cover all possible camera-lens combinations. Moreover, for some lenses (at least two of mine) Leica does not offer free filters.
To sum up, M8 is a very capable camera. It is quick and easy to use, but a new owner certainly should expect a steep learning curve that is quite slippery at times. Nevertheless, the camera is reliable enough to be used professionally.

Customer Service

Leica has always been famous with its level of customer service. They handle the recall with courtesy. All M8 owners affected by the recall received a letter of apology from Leica CEO and a voucher for a 30% discount on Leica M lenses. Unfortunately, with a current USD/Euro exchange rate this discount does not seem to be very attractive for US photographers.

Similar Products Used:

Leica M3, M6
Leica Digital Modul R
Contax G2
Contax N Digital
Canon 1D/Ds Mark II

- Superb lenses
- The quality of DNG files
- Workmanship
- Traditional M-Leica feel and most of the controls.
- Clear and easy menus - no instructions needed.
- Fast shutter for "M-kind-of-a-Leica"

- Expensive
- I´d like too see ultra smooth ISO 50 instead of ISO 160 as lowest value
- JPG-files are not as good as they could be.
- IR-issue (also annoying with green fabrics and flower leaves in tungsten lightning)
- LC -display should really be constructed so that it could be tilted - even for cheking out the results. Now it is as useless in bright daylight as displays in other DSLR-cameras.

This is certainly camera for Leica-M users. Not only because of the outstanding lenses but mainly because how it makes you feel when using it. It brings the same joy into photography as M-series Leica does. But anyone not familiar M-series Leicas and who is considering buying one should try first with 2nd hand M6, M6TTL or M7 in oder to proof him/herself that M-Leica is the right kind of a camera to work with. For most people with long experience of modern SLR-multiautomat models, M8 can be quite a shock.

Menus are very easy to use. No instructions needed here. LC-dispaly shows a bit too light results so trust only histograms and adjust the monitor brightness to medium low or low (some problems in brigth sunlight will still occur). Play-mode could be faster. Info-button is fast to use and very useful but RGB-histogramdisplay is far too small.

The 1.33 crop makes it very easy to figure out the true usable angle of view of the lenses: 28 mm corresponds to previous 35 mm, 35 mm doest the job of 50 lens etc. It is very easy to remember and I believe that the new Elmarit-M 28 mm / 2.8 ASPH. will be very popular among the M8 users.

There is one thing, though. I´d like to see viefinder with 0.8x magnification instead of or as an alternative for current 0.68x. One has to use extra viewfinder anyway when using true wide angle lenses and larger magnification would help very much photographers who mostly like to use 50 mm / 1.4 ASPH. or 75 mm / 2.0 ASPH. lenses.

IR-issue is (was) a real problem. Hope that the next firmware and UV/IR-filters will solve the problem. (I have firmware 1.09 - no UV/IR-filters yet)

Shutter is relatively quiet, It hasn`t the same luxury sound that mechanical models, but on the other hand it is very fast when needed. Camera works well with studio flash units and at least few years old Metz flash units. 2 sec. self-timer is very useful when using table-top or heavier tripods.

After all, it`s hard to imagine professional digital camera with interchangeable lenses which is easier to use.

Customer Service

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Similar Products Used:

Leica M4, M4-P M6TTL, Nikon D70, D2X, D200