Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2022/02/15

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Subject: [Leica] M8 B&W questions
From: j2m46 at hotmail.fr (Jean-Michel Mertz)
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2022 15:10:30 +0000

Dear Luggers,
I bought an M8 back in 2010. I've used it ever since for colour photography, 
shooting in raw and then developing my pictures in Lightroom. I think this 
camera produces great pictures despite its basic flaws - its infrared 
sensitivity and the 1.33 crop factor. In fact the lens you choose helps a 
lot ! (I use a summicron 35 on a daily basis).

Now there's a good number of photographers who have come to realize that 
this camera also produces fairly good B&W pictures. Some even compare them 
to pictures taken with the M Monochrom. My point here is not the conversion 
we all do from raw files to B&W, thanks to LR, PS, etc. I'd like to know 
what your opinion is on shooting direct JPEG files in B&W and then 
developing the pictures for example in Silver E. I've seen some really 
smashing JPEG + SE pictures. Of course, you can't have large prints. Of 
course, you won't have the possibility to resort to your raw files in colour 
should you need to work on details.

I've recently done a few pictures with my M8 + a 1949 Elmar 50, 3.5. It's 
(almost) like shooting film. I mean, I get the same thrill. The pictures 
have a nostalgic quality I miss when shooting colour and then converting the 
files to B&W. And having a look at the LCD display is, after all, a good way 
to assess the picture - a bit faster than darkroom work !

Is the M8 the "poor man's monochrom" ?

Thanks for your answers and any advice that might help me get the most (the 
best !) out of my M8 !

JM


Replies: Reply from hlritter at bex.net (Howard Ritter) ([Leica] M8 B&W questions)
Reply from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] M8 B&W questions)
Reply from cartersxrd at gmail.com (RicCarter) ([Leica] M8 B&W questions)