[Leica] report after M8 Leica Akademie

[firkin at ncable.net.au (Alastair Firkin)]

Thanks for the update David: When did they hint that all would be  
ready to roll?

On 05/10/2006, at 4:18, David Keenan wrote:

> I have several things to report after attending the M8 Leica Akademie
> session today in Wetzlar.
>
> These are things that I personally experienced and/or overheard.  
> Unlike one
> of my previous posts these are all (observed) facts and from a  
> sampling of
> (mostly) one camera only. No bitching or moaning herein...
>
> Leica is clear to point out that the firmware in the 20 or so  
> cameras in the
> room for the participants to use *was not final*.
>
> -- the rangefinder focus patch on my sample flared (like the pre- 
> fix M7 and
> M6 do); this was experienced (or at least recognized) by one other
> participant
>
> -- the open/close locking lever is on the opposite side of the  
> bottom plate
>
> -- the frame counter counted down and showed (1) but still allowed  
> me to
> take two more exposures before reporting (0)
>
> -- the (initially reporting full) battery was 1/4 full after  
> approximately
> 120 exposures with no chimping to speak of (I heard that the camera  
> normally
> achieves approximately 300 exposures on a full battery)
>
> -- my first edition Tri-Elmar worked perfectly on two cameras (this  
> after
> another?s second edition failed to reliably bring up the correct  
> frame lines
> on what may have been an earlier prototype the night before this Leica
> Akademie)
>
> -- the camera does not prevent the overwriting of already saved user
> settings with an "are you sure?" confirmation
>
> -- I exposed entirely in black and white mode but several people  
> experienced
> obvious white balance issues (Leica reps acknowledged this and were  
> assuring
> that this is being addressed)
>
> -- there was no visible vignetting in any of the images taken today  
> and few
> (if any) of the observed images were taken with 6-bit encoded  
> lenses (this
> suggests to me that 6-bit coding is not really necessary in most cases
> unless one simply wants the EXIF data to include the lens type)
>
> -- the resulting .DNG files were not readable by Adode Bridge nor  
> Photoshop
> CS2 v9.0.1 (although I was later shown PS CS2 v9.0.2 that did  
> appear to be
> able to open the files; I realize that the software on my laptop is an
> update or two behind but if I have to update then so may you...)
>
> -- there is a problem in Lightroom Public Beta 4 and black &  
> white .DNG
> files -- during the Import process the black & white images were  
> displayed
> in color upon completion of the import (Leica has a relationship  
> with Adode
> and hopefully this presumably Lightroom bug will be reported and fixed
> before the final release)
>
> # # #
>
> Personally I still have minor useability concerns about the M8  
> after today
> -- but overall the camera was a smash hit within the group at large  
> -- the
> first group of its kind -- average joe users hitting the streets to  
> use the
> M8.
>
> Dave.
> -- 
> My Photography: http://www.david-keenan.com
> My Blog: http://www.david-keenan.com/euroblog
>
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