[Leica] M8 B&W questions

[RicCarter]

I LOVE shooting my M8 with an old first gen rigid Summicron 50. Seems to perfectly tame the “digital” look.

It’s also fun for infrared play.

Why you’d want to lose the safety of the RAW escapes me though.

ric



> On Feb 15, 2022, at 10:10 AM, Jean-Michel Mertz via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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
> 
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