[Leica] M8 High ISO performance

[bd at bdcolenphoto.com (B. D. Colen)]

The reality, Howard, is that if you put virtually any digital camera on a
tripod, using the self-timer, with the shutter open for a sufficient period
of time to provide an evenly lit, properly exposed image, noise is unlikely
to be an issue. But who shoots that way in the real world?


On 10/26/06 9:28 PM, "Howard Cummer" <cummer@netvigator.com> wrote:

> Hello Luggers,
> I don't subscribe to Sean Reid's pay for view review website. I do
> respect the quality of Sean's reviews which are posted on http://
> www.luminous-landscape.com/ - in fact I provided him with some of the
> RAW files that he used to review the picture quality of the RD 1.
> That said, I have used the preproduction M8 that Leica passed to Tom
> A for assessment and I also attended the Leica Akademi in Wetzlar
> after the LHSA meeting. It is hard to comment on Sean's report beyond
> the interpretation provided by BD but my own experience with the
> camera is that IS0 2500 produces blotchy colour in very low light
> which needs a lot of post processing. But, turn the ISO down to
> 1250,  use the self timer and set the camera on something steady,
> open those Leica M lenses wide open, and something quite wonderful
> happens. You have an image with great clarity, good contrast, and
> very little noise. I took some pictures in the Wetzlar Dom in this
> fashion and at the Akademi when we turned them into Grayscale and
> looked at the grain they were virtually without grain. So, putting my
> money where my mouth is, I have sold my Canon 5D (best CMOS on the
> market no doubt - but a dust collector such that Canon gave me
> coupons for additional free cleanings) and I have sold my RD 1 (with
> seller's remorse I confess. We should all be grateful forever to
> Epson for having produced the RD 1 - thus forcing Leica to produce
> the M8 in the (almost) timely fashion that is was done). I am
> certain, based on my own experience, that when the M8 is sold with
> finalized software it is going to produce spectacularly good images.
> I stress that in my case both my cameras used early (and imperfect)
> software. Perhaps someone with a subscription to Sean's site can fill
> us in on what model of 'ware his camera was using.
> Yours skeptically
> Howard (in Hong Kong)
> 
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