bye bye M8, hello M3. But no Regrets.

[TJV]

Well, today I made up my mind and reinvested my M8 money into a near mint M3 with very mint early 50 Elmar and a new Noctilux, which is on order. It may seem strange to some, but I'm really glad I gave the digi M a shot and I still believe the next gen of MD's will live upto the film variants reputation. The things I missed most when shooting the M8 was wide coverage and the change in depth and perspective due to the 1.33x chip. That really got to me after a while. 50mm is my definate favourite lens and the Nocti will be a good low light campanion to my Summicron and Elmar. I really like the depth of field a 50 gives at F1. Some say it's the same as an 85 f1.2, but in reality I've found it to be distinctly different due to a less compressed rendering of background and foreground. I'm eager to see the results of this new combo!

[ForeverUnknown]

You made a great choice! I can only dream of a Noctilux....

[thomasw_]

yes i love the 5cm FL too; as well the noctilux is a dream of mine....glad to hear you are making it a reality!

The m3 is my favourite M. As well as a noctilux 50mm f1, i desire a summilux 50mm 1.4....then i will no longer want any leica film equipment.

[maddoc]

The Noctilux is a dream lens but my next lens will be a 50mm Summilux pre-asph. (Hopefully .... )

Since the M8 arrived there seem to be a renaissance of film Ms already. (As in my case ...) I was astonished about the increase of questions in Leica forum at dpreview about what is the best film M to start with. I won't buy a M8 in the near future, my R-D1s serves me well and costs less. But .... an addition to my M6 would be nice. I should have a look for an used MP ....

[jen729w]

This is very interesting - not only am I migrating very recently (Monday!) from digital to an MP, but digital M users are migrating to film M as well!

I know we represent the tiny minority of photographers. I know the major high street retail camera stores still shift thousands of digital P&S models for every film body sold ... but still, it's great to see.

When I was in the store trading in my 1D and lens kit for the MP on Monday, the place was packed. Heaving busy on a Monday afternoon, and this is a very film-orientated "serious" camera store. You have to know where it is: very minimal signage outside. They don't sell P&S cameras.

Anyway, I'm rambling to waste time on a Friday afternoon at work! I got my first Leica roll back today and there's enough shots in there that I'm happy with - I've never used a rangefinder before Monday, so five keepers out of an experimental roll of 36 is enough for me. I've cracked a beer, am waiting on someone else so we can go out for another, then I'll be out in Melbourne's beautiful early evening light to see what else I can snap. :-)

[maddoc]

My congrats to your MP and the first 5 keepers out of a roll !! I know the feeling very good I am still having a hard time to sell of my Nikon DSLR stuff here in Japan but .... never give up !

Now the best thing you can do is: forget about work, take your MP and a beer and happy shooting !! And show the results !

-Gabor

[TJV]

Thanks all, I'm really happy with the choice I've made. I've been shooting film M's for a while now and also have an M7. I sold two great cameras to help fund the M8, being an M3 and M6, but this new M3 really is something special. I'll try post some Noctilux shots when i've received the lens. I'm not holding my breath for that being in the next 8 weeks!


Tim

Post deleted by posters request

[Ronald M]

A good scanner will take of an M8 I never bought. Also have a fully equipped darkroom.

[BillBingham2]

Tim,

You made the right move. While I love digital for what it brings me (I have two darkrooms, one Mac, one PC, I do not have to pay for film and procesing of questionable shots, I can experiment all I want without spending more than a battery charge), IMHO, the cameras are not there yet.

The M8 pays too much homage to the design points of a digital P&S. It has way too many bells and whistles to be a true M. It has too many things to break. And quite frankly, its too big! Improve the robustness of the camera, dump the LCD. Improve the speed of storing pictures, shoot only RAW. Lower the cost of the camera, decrease the controls to ASA and Shutter speed.

Great move with the M3.

B2 (;->

[rover]

A move from the most recent Leica M to the most advanced.

I do secretly wish an M8 was a reasonable option for me financially, who doesn't, but there is nothing like an M3.

[Gabriel M.A.]

Originally Posted by TJV

Well, today I made up my mind and reinvested my M8 money into a near mint M3 with very mint early 50 Elmar and a new Noctilux, which is on order.

<snip>

The things I missed most when shooting the M8 was wide coverage and the change in depth and perspective due to the 1.33x chip. That really got to me after a while. 50mm is my definate favourite lens and the Nocti will be a good low light campanion to my Summicron and Elmar.

Due mainly to financial reasons, I think I'm about to embark on the same line of thought (sans the Noctilux, of course). I *really* like the M8. It is a very enjoyable camera. But there are only two things that nag me, which have nothing to do with the M8 itself, and more with "digital" photography as a whole, and one of them is what you mentioned above. Being absolutely broke realigns your ducks a completely different way, too.

Now, my question is...an M3? I love the M3, but I found it to "mess up" my previsualization and framing, for I'm used to the M6 and M2. You see, the magnification is closer to 1x, and for some reason my brain doesn't like that. I can use a Bessa-R with its 1x magnification, and an M6, but not the M3 and an M6. I can't explain it, it's bizarre.

Anyway, why not an MP3? I'm guessing it was the $$

[willie_901]

Originally Posted by TJV

The things I missed most when shooting the M8 was wide coverage and the change in depth and perspective due to the 1.33x chip. That really got to me after a while.

I'm struggling with this issue with respect to a commercial non-r.f. photography project involving interior photography. It seems to me residential interior photographs with a 17-40mm zoom should look better with a full-frame sensor than with a 1.6 crop sensor using a 10-20mm zoom.

Unfortunately I do not have access to the gear required to do any tests. Would you have time to share more about your experiences?

willie


p.s. I hope my question is not too OT.

[Leicabug]

M3 is a real classic, and Noctilux is the best. What a dream combo.

[Ben Z]

So far I'm still happy I resisted the temptation to buy an M8. Not being a pro, there's absolutely nothing mandating that I give up film at present. I got a refurb RD1 and a refurb Canon 20D and that's enough money for me to sink into digital right now. They let me shoot pix for my wife's family without the cost of film and processing that I used to have to bear (she'd never let me ask them for reimbursement). Otherwise I was satisfied with the slides from my Leicas before and I'm still satisfied with them. By the time they run out of film and all the labs are closed, I'm sure a Leica dealer will be happy to sell me an M8 and a pile of IR filters

[TJV]

Originally Posted by willie_901

I'm struggling with this issue with respect to a commercial non-r.f. photography project involving interior photography. It seems to me residential interior photographs with a 17-40mm zoom should look better with a full-frame sensor than with a 1.6 crop sensor using a 10-20mm zoom.

Unfortunately I do not have access to the gear required to do any tests. Would you have time to share more about your experiences?

willie

What I suspect you are talking about is how not just the depth of field is effected by using a wider lens on a cropped sensor, but also how wider lenses accentuate the forground and make the background receed strongly. Not to mention distortion. The best (if not most extreme) example of this is to get hold of something like a GR1 digital, which has something like an 8mm lens cropped to be a 28mm. Shoot a photo of a person so that they take up the full frame. Take note of how the proportions of things don't look correct. For some, this isn't a problem. If I were doing interior shots or product photography, I'd want as little distortion as poss. Because I choose to mainly shoot people It's not a massive problem but something to consider when composing. There's nothing worse than a photograph of a person sitting at a table for example taken with a wide lens, their hand extended out in front of them looking like the size of giants because the lens accentuates foreground objects. Of course this effect can be well utilised for creative reasons, that goes without saying.

Now, my question is...an M3? I love the M3, but I found it to "mess up" my previsualization and framing, for I'm used to the M6 and M2. You see, the magnification is closer to 1x, and for some reason my brain doesn't like that. I can use a Bessa-R with its 1x magnification, and an M6, but not the M3 and an M6. I can't explain it, it's bizarre

I know exactly what you're saying. I like the .85 or .72 finder more as I can see outside the frame lines than on the M3. You're right, money reasons dictated the choice of the M3, which cost about $1200US. To be honest, my reasoning for getting the M3 was that it's only time before I go digital again. Leica will surely bring out a good M9 or something that doesn't pi$$ me off. I figures it was smarted to invest in good glass than buy a new film body.

Rest assured though, I went through Leica's a la carte quite a few times before jumping to buy! Lizzard skin... one day!

[venchka]

Originally Posted by willie_901

I'm struggling with this issue with respect to a commercial non-r.f. photography project involving interior photography. It seems to me residential interior photographs with a 17-40mm zoom should look better with a full-frame sensor than with a 1.6 crop sensor using a 10-20mm zoom.

Unfortunately I do not have access to the gear required to do any tests. Would you have time to share more about your experiences?

willie


p.s. I hope my question is not too OT.

Willie,

I recently had an occasion to photograph a residential interior with a Canon 17-35 2.8 lens and film. I didn't record the actually focal lengths I used but I can say that I was almost always between 17mm and 20mm. My client was thrilled with the results. Would the images have looked the same with the 10-22 and 1.6 crop sensor? I don't have a clue. All I know is that I LOVE my 17-35 lens.

I hope this helps. Good luck!