New forum for Leica M8 / Digital M

MP Guy · 06-02-2006

With more and more talk of the upcoming Leica digital rangefinder M8 I thought it would be a good idea to have a forum just for it. Now both Epson and Leica fall under a parant forum of Digital Rangefinder cameras.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/foru...php?forumid=68

rvaubel · 06-02-2006

Jorge
This new forum is a real milestone for the RF forum . Finally more than ONE digital rangefinder to lust after.

Rex

John Camp · 06-02-2006

Extremely excellent.

JC

jlw · 06-02-2006

And we can be treated to four months of detailed discussions about a camera that nobody will have seen or used!

Bob Parsons · 06-02-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw

And we can be treated to four months of detailed discussions about a camera that nobody will have seen or used!

Hopefully a LHSA member who attends their next meeting/workshop in Solms will spill the beans before then.

It's reported using an M8 is on the agenda.

Bob.

ywenz · 06-02-2006

It's almost surreal to see a link to Leica M8 / Digital Leica M on the forum main page..

akptc · 06-02-2006

Just curious - does this overwhelming hunger for the digital Leica rangefinder mean that film IS finally dead ? (

)

MP Guy · 06-02-2006

no. I plan on shooting both film and digital. one with mp one with m8. I will take both with me whenever i head into the woods. perfect backup and sometimes digital isnt always the best option.

Jamie123 · 06-03-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by akptc

Just curious - does this overwhelming hunger for the digital Leica rangefinder mean that film IS finally dead ? (

)

YES!

Please send all your film Leica M's to me and I'll dispose of them with no charge!

PM or e-mail me and I'll tell you my address

akptc · 06-03-2006

Would it be safe to assume that M8's design is expected to support capturing higher quality images than the R-D1?

jlw · 06-03-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by akptc

Would it be safe to assume that M8's design is expected to support capturing higher quality images than the R-D1?

Previously-discussed specs indicate a 10-megapixel sensor vs. the R-D 1's 6-megapixel sensor. While higher pixel count does NOT necessarily equate to "higher quality" (contrary to all the marketing hype you read in the digicam world) it would mean the ability to make larger prints at the SAME level of quality.

Other than that, we basically don't know much of anything (yet) about the design of the M8's innards...

akptc · 06-03-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw

... Other than that, we basically don't know much of anything (yet) about the design of the M8's innards...

The reason I ask is I've been gearing up to get the R-D1 as a "for keeps" digital rangefinder but since the annoucement of the M8 I wonder if maybe I should wait a bit and see how they compare in handling and performance.

hth · 06-03-2006

Well, given the fact that some major film makers are jacking up the prices of film, it has started to worry me, slightly. But I just placed an order for some 50 more rolls of Konica film, so I guess I will keep using film for quite some time as my fridge and freezer are well stocked now.

I think the market for digital RFs will get more interesting when/if a third maker enters it.

/Håkan

Quote:

Originally Posted by akptc

Just curious - does this overwhelming hunger for the digital Leica rangefinder mean that film IS finally dead ? (

)

Mark Norton · 06-03-2006

I think it's a given that Leica can only justify the M8 at the $5k price level if it produces - with Leica M glass - cutting edge image quality, not just resolution but colour depth, noise levels and so on. The R-D1 is a fine camera and has much Leica-ness about it, but I expect the Leica to go a stage beyond. The viewfinder of an M6, for example, is rather better than that of an R-D1.

Once the M8 is out at $5k, we'll look at the R-D1 at $2k and think that it can more than hold its own at the price level. I love mine, it's a keeper even though the M8 is the must-buy of the year for me.

ghost · 06-03-2006

i'm betting on canon pulling their prototype rf system out of mothballs.

lamemoria · 06-03-2006

AM I right about this: folks are actually preordering an item they have never seen, tested, or even read the complete specs for ( that is, who is making the internal hardware, etc.--Panasonic?). Wow--Bourdieu and Benjamin were right-- late capitalism and photography did rise together:}

Don't get me wrong, I am going to buy an M8--I'm just going to wait until after you all send in complaints to Leica and they debug the first production. Or maybe I will wait until Pansonic makes the same camera for thousands less ( can you say DMC-LX1). To be honest though, I just bought my M7 and cannot afford to buy something my Panasonic LXI seems to be doing just fine.

ghost · 06-03-2006

it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it.

MP Guy · 06-04-2006

With help from everyone, I hope to make this the number 1 resource for the M8. As soon as I have my M8 I will review it as well.

Nemo · 06-05-2006

Great idea Jorge.
Un abrazo.

sf · 06-05-2006

The digital Leica would be the only digital camera I would consider purchasing. . . .but only once they produce a full frame version because it would be tragic not to have reasonable use of all those lenses out there.

Mark Norton · 06-05-2006

I think you'll be waiting for a long time...

Paul T. · 06-05-2006

The problem is entirey about not having "reasonable use" from what I understand. It would be easy for Leica simply to put a bigger CCD fullframe chip in the camera.

The problem is the outer edges of the images would be unusable, because of extreme vignetting, due to the oblique angle at which the ligth ray hit the CCD sensors.

Mark Norton · 06-05-2006

I don't think it would be easy to use a full frame sensor for one second.

Aside from the fact that the sensor cost increases exponentially with size, there would be more data to process and store which would increase the memory and power requirements. This all adds to the size, cost and weight of the camera and people complaining it about the lack of FF would instead complain about the cost, if that isn't high enough already.

And that's before they try to address the image fall-off problems Paul refers to.

ywenz · 06-05-2006

why can't leica just reinvent physics to build the perfect M8? What good are they for if they can't even do that?

jaapv · 06-05-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by shutterflower

The digital Leica would be the only digital camera I would consider purchasing. . . .but only once they produce a full frame version because it would be tragic not to have reasonable use of all those lenses out there.

I think that the Canon marketing department has gotten to you.

They HAVE to produce a large format sensor as their extreme wideangles are not quite as good as the rest of their lens lineup. Leica will be introducing some new ultra-wides to go with the M8, and it will not prohibit one from using those great current lenses.