[Leica] Some time with an M8

[phamard at numericable.fr (Philippe Amard)]

Very fine series Wade - film-like quality really.

I enjoyed them all, no favourite then.
Congratulations and relief after your early problems.
Phileicangemix.


Wade Heninger wrote:

>So, post battery-troubles, I finally got to spend some quality time with my
>M8.  We were heading to Victoria for a bit of work and some family time, so
>I was excited to put the camera thru my normal paces...
>
>I popped in a 4 gig Transcend card, attached my TA soft release, charged all
>three batteries and mounted my trusty Summicron 50 (sans IR filter) and
>began shooting - on the ferry, on various walks, in the hotel, and at the
>various places we visited.
>
>So after about 800 exposures, I can state I'm quite happy with the camera.
>It works mostly like I had my M6 in hand, which is more than I can say for
>any other digital I've ever had.  I *love* having my summicron back pointing
>at the world and I love having an M in hand again.  I pretty much ignored
>everything except the shutter aperture and the ISO - what bliss.  It just
>feels right in my hand and I'm swooning - its so good to be back shooting an
>M after those awful DSLR monsters.  Good riddance (well for 90% of my
>shooting anyhow).
>
>Random observations in a quaint "stream of consciousness" fashion:
>
>I do find the shutter a bit different than the M6 - I like the old shutter
>sound better, but its nothing to get up tight about.  I completely forgot
>about the fact that it is a bit thicker after 2 minutes.  I love the Set
>menu for shooting parameters (less clutter for the good stuff).  The buffer
>is big and while you can catch up to it, its hard, and you can wait a few
>seconds and continue tacking onto the queue. DNG rocks - makes it much
>easier to manage the Raw file (and its archival)! I've set it to show the
>preview for a few seconds in B/W too (that may be a firmware bug, but I hope
>they never fix it).  No problems with the on/off switch getting moved
>back/forth.  My frame selector is a bit sticky for some reason, but I'm
>going to just ignore it for awhile.  The 50 Summicron is a bit too tight, so
>I just ordered a used 35mm Summicron. I'm going to consider Tom's grip when
>it comes out as well. The soft release is made for this camera - I got some
>sharp shots at 1/8. I can put at least 300 exposures on the card before its
>time to change the battery (wish just this one part could be like the
>Nikons) but its acceptable.
>
>But here is the best part: when I loaded them into Lightroom and converted
>them to b/w (which is mostly what I plan to do) they just popped - it
>reminded me again why I use Leica lenses.  Sharp, contrasty, and they
>require so little mucking with (unlike the Nikon stuff I've been messing
>with while waiting for the M8).  The ISO at 160/320 is fine grained.  640
>and 1250 is a bit grainier and totally acceptable.  2500 is hit/miss, but I
>didn't usually shoot at that with film, so I'm happy.  Will print a few when
>I get back, but I have no reason to doubt they'll look as good on paper as
>on screen.  I've not looked at the color at all - probably won't - and as
>soon as I can get a "always preview in B/W" option in Lightroom, I'll
>probably never see it so the IR and WB issues just are not an issue for me.
>
>Here are a few pictures:
>
>http://www.heninger.org/gallery/victoria/
>
>Enjoy...
>
>
>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
>w a d e  h e n i n g e r
>u s e r  e x p e r i e n c e
>a d o b e  s y s t e m s ,  i n c
>
>
>
>
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