Regrets having sold film M to finance M8?

[HuubL]

Any of you M8 buyers regretting of selling your M film body?

[Magnus]

I sold my M6 amongst a few other items to purchase the M8, am I sorry ? no I don't think so. Funily enough I didn't run into the magenta issue until I read about it and tried it out. I don't shoot people anyway, 99% are static subjects, the 1% is my 2 yr. old son whom never wears black anyway.
I can see the issue being a people photog, and I dislike the idea of having purchased a far from perfect camera, but as I mentioned it hasn't bothered me yet.
As for the other issues stated on the web, haven't run into these either, the images I have taken with the M8, appr. 1500 up until now are mostly OK, the screwed up ones are due to my own mistakes, not the camera's.

I'm confident Leica will fix the issue, no idea how or when and at what expense for I know nothing about digital technique but I guess it would have to be a hardware problem as oposed to a firmware update.

For leica though this is going to be a challenge, financially and operationaly. They will surely regret having put the M8 in the market so soon. I read that some US organization is allready busy filing a huge claim stating that Leica was aware of the problem and still going ahead with the distribution. These thing can really break a company up.
But all in all it's a good camera, it's a leica, certainly not worth the money, but as I said it's a leica, and I am beginning to get attached to it.

[HuubL]

Magnus, would this be answer 3 or 4?

[Magnus]

Hard to say, I still have my MP, I enjoy my M8 bitted am surely pee'd of about the current day Leica quality standards. I will use my M8 more and more and my MP less and less I guess, but will value them both.

One thing is for sure, if I would of known about these problems I would of waited with the purchase of the M8 until matters were solved, but things are as they are .....

Nobody else to blame but myself for wanting to jump on the first bus that went out. (and Mr. Reid the wedding photographer of course for reckomending the trip)

[Magnus]

Having said that though I cannot seems to show you where the problem lieas exactly.

Attached is a photo of three black items shot with an M8 and 28mm 2.8:

- the Leica bag made out of some sort of nondescript material
- An HP c100% cotton bag for the leather carrying case for my wifes laptop
- A black and brown poly-something second skin for my Mac Powerbook

all are black, not the same black but the pictures represent the actual shade of the blacks used.

I made multiple shot with different light variations but couldn't come up with anything magenta .....

Hmmm, hmmmm


bte the poly-thing second skin has a bit of "unblackishness" of it's own which the picture represents fully naturally.

[Bob Parsons]

Originally Posted by Magnus

Having said that though I cannot seems to show you where the problem lieas exactly.

Attached is a photo of three black items shot with an M8 and 28mm 2.8:
[snip]
I made multiple shot with different light variations but couldn't come up with anything magenta .....

Hmmm, hmmmm


bte the poly-thing second skin has a bit of "unblackishness" of it's own which the picture represents fully naturally.

The type of illumination makes a big difference where a camera's IR sensitivity is concerned. Tungsten incandescent cause the most problems followed by sunlight and then fluorescent.

Bob.

[Magnus]

I see your point Bob,

I will try later under various light sources

[ClayH]

Remember when we only worried about whether the pre-ASPH 35 lux flared worse than the ASPH 35 lux? Or whether the grain in HP-5 is mushier than Tri-X? Man, those were the days. Pretty simple problems compared to worrying about whether a black briefcase carried by a guy in a black raincoat will come out looking somewhat like real-life. Today we get to wonder whether the light bulb in the frame will have a green twin on the opposite side of the frame. Good old days......

[jody]

I predict that in ten years any mechanical M you own will be worth more than the Digital M8. Digital cameras will not hold up IMHO. I can buy a mechanical camera that is over 40 years old which still works and works well most of the time. In forty years will you be able to do that to any digital bought today. I have two broken digital cameras now. I still own two that work because I like them but I will never spend over 500 US on a camera that I may not get even ten years use out of. I don't own a Leica but if I had 3000 US to spare I would buy one from any of you on here who want to waste that on an M8.

[AShearer]

Originally Posted by Bob Parsons

The type of illumination makes a big difference where a camera's IR sensitivity is concerned. Tungsten incandescent cause the most problems followed by sunlight and then fluorescent.

Bob.

I was wondering if sunlight in fact made this problem appear. I can't make it show. The attached was taken in indirect sun.

The chair cushions have a black stripe, they are definitely synthetic. The umbrella was black when it was new, but has now faded to a color that does not exist in nature. It's dark gray, I guess.

[Magnus]

..fender man hey, whats the telecaster ?

Nice start too, one of my favorite finishes ...

[AShearer]

Originally Posted by Magnus

..fender man hey, whats the telecaster ?

Nice start too, one of my favorite finishes ...

Magnus;

It's actually a G&L ASAT. As you probably know, G&L was started by George Fullerton and Leo Fender after Fender was bought out by a big conglomerate. It's a fairly new one. I have an older Strat (pre buyout) and it's great too. The quality of these G&L's is superior even to the old Fenders.

[Gid]

Originally Posted by AShearer

Magnus;

It's actually a G&L ASAT. As you probably know, G&L was started by George Fullerton and Leo Fender after Fender was bought out by a big conglomerate. It's a fairly new one. I have an older Strat (pre buyout) and it's great too. The quality of these G&L's is superior even to the old Fenders.

Tom Anderson Classic is hard to beat.

[Magnus]

Been out of the music business for quite a while now (years and years and years) ... I got married! :-)

I will check this out, sounds good to me ...

Might be another investment possibility after I get my M8 refunded....

[jaapv]

I dind't sell my film M... It's just gathering dust.....

[Nachkebia]

jaapv : my film M would also gather dust if i were shooting flower macro shots

[Nachkebia]

Leica M8 - Real M (magenda)

[jaapv]

Originally Posted by Nachkebia

jaapv : my film M would also gather dust if i were shooting flower macro shots

Won't come to that for a while- I'm having too much fun using the M8 with less exotic lenses right now..

[Ben Z]

Can I add another choice to the poll? "Never Intended To Sell My Film Ms To Finance An M8 At Least Until Any Bugs The Early Adoptors Found Were Fixed Properly".

[Xmas]

I believe the English term is 'early adopters' the people who got a free issue Leitz cam (Leica) in '24 (was it) or a M5 (in '71 or whenever) some did not like them, some saw a new opp. The M5 was not liked at the time because it was bigger etc. some people did not like the view finder information.

The early cams or even M5s are collectors items now.

I like my M4-2 apart from having to stick black paper over the lettering. I dont like the later M6-M7 but it does not mean that other people did not buy them.

The 10m pixels may be enough for lots of people.

If the M8 does not sell well and is low volume then it will be like an M5 or original MP or one of the prototypes a collectors piece, eventually.

The early adopters may be extatic or annoyed or confused, but all that makes them is early adopters, other people buy when the model is cancelled to minimise the number of prototype and production bugs, e.g. the early IIIcs seem to have a poor build standard, but if you needed one in WWII that was it.

[Bas]

Originally Posted by ClayH

Remember when we only worried about whether the pre-ASPH 35 lux flared worse than the ASPH 35 lux? Or whether the grain in HP-5 is mushier than Tri-X? Man, those were the days. Pretty simple problems compared to worrying about whether a black briefcase carried by a guy in a black raincoat will come out looking somewhat like real-life. Today we get to wonder whether the light bulb in the frame will have a green twin on the opposite side of the frame. Good old days......

Oh yes... and we never thought if the colour was going to be real or not. It was a damn slide, it better renders real! (and if it's not real, it wasn't real for a roll, because the problem never was in the camera, was either on the film or on the process).

I'm 24 and I feel outdated... heck, what a life.

Cheers,
Sebastian.

[halabar]

Originally Posted by ClayH

Today we get to wonder whether the light bulb in the frame will have a green twin on the opposite side of the frame. ....

Has there been any determination on what is causing the green ghosting?... I know that with some Nikkors that there will be that kind of effect due to internal reflection off the sensor, to the back of a filter, and then captured again by the sensor. Is that what is happening in this case?...

[harry01562]

I would not consider selling any mechanical Leica's to buy a digital one. Also, will the M8 be a viable collectible?? There are certainly many digitals capable of competing with the M8, except in name, primarily. As to possible collector value, that remains to be seen. Any collection of digital cameras would have to end up composed of mostly/all shelf queens, IMHO. Circuit boards and microelectronics don't get repaired as easy as mechanical... long live my M3 !!

Harry

[Duncan Ross]

I think it is a racing certainty that the faulty first batch of M8s will not become collectables. It makes it even more bemusing that many users still want to keep them. Yet if theirs was the only one exhibiting the problems and everyone elses' worked properly they'd send theirs back immediately. Not a two-pipe problem, Watson.

[Ronald M]

It`s not anything black goes magenta. It is certain black materials that reflect ir light and the source has to have ir in it .

It is not a problem for 99% of pictures. Pity the wedding phog who has to fix 500 magenta tuxes a week though. He should inverst in the IR filter.

Then there are the banding and other issues.

The camera is fine for most of us, the others will have to get the fix.

I did a read a blog somewhere that Leica did know of the problem and had decided upon the IR filter long before the introduction. There is a design trade off in having the glass in front of the sensor very thin and not blocking IR completely. It has to do with wide lenses being able to get to the corners of the sensor with proper light. This is a rangefinder issue so we could use the existing lenses. The other solution would be hugh reflex camera retrofocus wides. So take your pick. That is why the problem does not crop up to the same extent with reflex cameras, but I understand it does happen.