[Leica] FS: M8 (isn't it time to try a digital Leica?)

[jbmmllug at jbm.org (Jeff Moore)]

For sale: M8 body, asking $2000.00

Do you crave the historical cachet of a low-serial-number M8 body
(31005xx) but the operational characteristics of a late-production M8?
 Well, this may be your camera - I was an early adopter, so
essentially all the major internal systems were replaced over time to
deal with M8 teething problems, with the result that this camera has
the new... whatever was replaced to fix the old "green blob" problem;
a major circuit board was updated when the camera's older systems
proved allergic to a firmware update;  and most recently the shutter
assembly was replaced, all by the loving hands of Leica NJ.

I'd be using it still, had I not been able to scrape together M9
money;  that's what I'm using now.  But this camera has always made
lovely photos, at least within the comfortable ISO range for M8s and
after the green blob issue was fixed early in its career.

There's just one remaining quirk, and the reason I'm asking what I
believe to be below current market value for an M8: when the camera
came back from the last visit to Leica, the rangefinder was a bit
misaligned, such that the focusing images are a bit off vertically,
and focus isn't perfectly accurate with fast lenses close up.  I'd
intended to send it back to have that fixed and then sell for several
hundred more, but as I've noticed myself not getting around to that, I
thought I'd shave a few hundred off the asking price based on the
assumption that the next owner would incur some inconvenience and
perhaps cost to get that adjusted, and see if someone else wanted to
take responsibility.

To try to characterize the magnitude of the errors: the vertical
misalignment is a bit distracting if you're trying to focus on some
small object, but invisible if you're focusing on something which
forms a vertical line when you're holding the camera in landscape
orientation.  The distance incorrectness is such that the focus of a
50mm Summilux ASPH wide open at closest focus distance will be
noticeably off when you look at the pictures, but I don't see a
problem with a 35mm Biogon at f/2.  If you aren't as addicted to fast
lenses as I am, you might not even find the distance maladjustment
noticeable, although I expect anyone might find the vertical register
issue a bit annoying.

On the plus side, the shutter mechanism in this body has a smoother
mechanical feel than any of the the other, later M8s I've tried.
There's no rough metal-on-metal feel near actuation as found in some
other bodies.  It's as if some internal metal parts had been better
polished, kind of like a firearm which has had a good trigger job.

Some photos of this camera (taken with a DMR, of course) are here:

http://photos.bazbarfoo.com/Scratch/onTheBlock/M8/16742868_qHfNXL#1262934203_7B6Db9k

(While I'm not sure what the point is of being cagey about serial
numbers, I've obscured the last two digits of the S/N in the photos
and text of this email to avoid having a potential buyer for whom that
might be an issue freak out.)

On examining the camera to write this description I see one physical
detail which doesn't show up in the photos: there are some scuffs on
the plastic window over the rear electronic display which I hadn't
even noticed in use, but which can be seen with the display off and a
light shining obliquely across the surface.  I see no other issues
which don't show up in the photos: the glass parts look good, and the
black chrome has the patina of a body which has been held a lot, but
no obvious scrapes.

The camera is running firmware 2.005 (the latest, as of this writing).

This will include the box and the originally-included stuff (charger
with multiple plug adapters, strap, manual), and two batteries (the
original one which came with the camera, which no longer seems to hold
a full charge, so I'll leave it in as an emergency spare) and another
battery which seems to be working well).

Ideally, I'd love to sell this to someone in the NYC/NJ/Eastern-PA
area, so we could just meet and avoid shipping - and the buyer could
examine the camera and be sure to be satisfied with it before handing
over the money.

Failing that, I'd prefer to ship within the continental US.


 -Jeff M.