Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/11/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nathan, I guess I will also give some input on this. I took only my M8 on my recent 3 months in Europe (and the 3 months in the US), and it worked like a charm no hickups at all. As for lenses... I used my 21 Elmarit Asph (for 80% of the photos), with the 28 Elmarit Asph as the main WA's. The 28 is really nice if you want a compact camera lens combo, and it is really sharp. The 21 is also a great lens but a bit large compared to other 21's, but again really sharp. I also used my 50 and 90 for shooting, but not as much use as the WA's. I would love to get another M8 but after buying the DMR and a 180/3.4 APO she has put the brick wall up to buying any more photo equipment for the forseeable future. ;-) Gene -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Michael Hintlian <michael@hintlian.com> > > Nathan... > > I shot an M8 for well over a year before I chose to sell it...a > decision I knew I would regret but for reasons of pure economics and > professional requirement I went with it. The two lenses I used > exclusively with this camera were the 28/2 Leica and the new 21mm 4.5 > Zeiss (for M). The 21mm is petite and balances really well with the > Leica...it makes a better profile in the hand and on camera will > easily fit under a jacket. > > The 18 is big, it throws the balance of the camera waaaay off in my > opinion...I played with it enough to know while a really good lens it > wasn't for me. I would add in much of the conversation about 35mm > lens equivalents with the M8 chip needs to be taken with a grain of > salt. Its only an approximation...a 21mm lens is still a 21mm even > though it becomes "like" a 28 on an M8. So if 24mm is a favorite > focal length in 35mm, you may be happier with a 21mm vs. the 18. On > the M8 the 21 gives you a bit wider than a 28 (in 35mm terms) with > slightly deeper perspective. Its an amazingly good lens...as good as > any Leica lens I've used. The max aperture of f4.5 is not a real > handicap with the availability of higher ISO's in camera. > > As an editorial let me add that the M8 1250iso image quality is far > superior to any film, it just doesn't look like the equivalent Canon > camera file everyone compares the M8 to...like it or not Canon seems > to have become the tastemaker in this game. To my eye the Canon files > look plastic and much like TV...and I'm using 5D's for all my > commercial work...they're amazingly good for that but less useful for > personal work. Recently I traveled in Central America for a month > working on an immigration story, I carried only an M8 and two lenses > (and a Mac and 2 external h/d's in a backpack), the camera put up with > a lot of abuse and did not miss a beat. It was an amazingly useful > companion and I couldn't be happier with the results. > > And so I too will look for the right coincidence of income and > opportunity to get back into the M8 game...with what I know already > its an easy decision. > > Hope this helps. > > Best, > > Michael Hintlian > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information