[Leica] EOS out of running; now R8 vs. M - wife has spoken

["Zeissler, Mitch" <mzeissle@gcipoa.gannett.com>]

All...

What a difference a couple weekends make!  1) I got the film back from
our recent vacation and was able to get it all scanned.  2) My wife and
I also had a low level [below the radar] discussion about SLR glass and
photo wants.

When I broached the subject of new SLR glass, she was very specific
about what she would like to see if I pursued that direction.  Leica and
nothing else, as close to what we get with the M glass as possible [I
*KNEW* that would make Mark Rabiner happy!].

When I scanned the images we captured using the longer lenses [90mm M
and 135mm M glass vs. old 70-210mm Vivitar SLR, new 35-135mm ASPH Sigma
SLR, and Canon G1 digital glass], the Leica glass won hands down.  The
Leica images were all much clearer, sharper and haze/flare free.  

The wide-angle shots were all with Voigtländer glass and were pretty
decent [crisp, good contrast and detail], except for *any* with direct
light source lens flare.  The lens flare from the 21mm Voigtländer is
the worst I have ever seen and contains very strange artifacting.  I'll
post some examples after I am finished processing everything.  All of my
Voigtländer lenses are going to be replaced by Leica glass shortly.

At this time I am ruminating about the next step in the decision
process: R8 vs. M.  I am considering the R8 with the 35-70mm f/4.0 Elmar
and the 70-180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit.  I am also considering the following
M glass: 75mm f/1.4, 90mm f/2.0 APO ASPH, and the 135mm f/3.4 APO.

How do these R zooms stand up to the M primes in terms of wide open
image quality?  This is how I like to shoot for the majority of the time
and will figure greatly in my final choice.  The SLR configuration would
also address some desires I have for different shooting [macro, long
telephoto, etc.], but much of my shooting these days is wide-angle to
90mm.

Any light you can shed on this is greatly appreciated, as I am
completely in the dark concerning R gear.  I realize I give up a lot by
not going with Canon, but if it keeps my wife in my court, I'll gladly
compromise.  ;-)

Thanks in advance!

/Mitch Zeissler
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