[Leica] Initial M8 impressions

[robert.rose at mac.com (Robert Rose)]

It has been a bit over a week now with my M8, and I am getting some images
to upload to the Gallery.  Overall I am really happy with the camera.

To summarize my two cents on the M8 issues:

1.  Shutter sound.  It is not much different than the M Winder.  Since I use
the winder on the M7, this is no problem.  It is less intrusive than the
mirror slap on my Nikon DSLR's.

2.  Magentaville, or IR Hell.  Yes, it is very real for tungsten lit scenes.
But I have two filters coming from Leica, and 3 Heliopans on order from B&H.
I have one Heliopan IR cutoff filter, and that corrects 100% of the problem.
I have always used a filter on my Tri-Elmar, so no problem there.  I got the
color profiles for Capture One that are supposed to correct this without a
filter, but I am still learning Capture One.  Long term I consider this to
be a non-issue.

3.  IR Heaven.  I love to shoot IR film in the M7, and the M8 promises to be
even better, in my first tests.  The Leica lenses have no significant focus
shift for IR (IMHE), and with an 87 filter on the lens you can still focus a
rangefinder.  That would be impossible with a DSLR.  So, I put the 87 on the
lens, set the exposure to manual, Color to B&W, and I intend to fire away!

4.  Battery life.  I bought two extra batteries, after the first one needed
recharging after 150 shots.  But, I shortened the review time to 1 sec (or
even better turn it off), set the camera off time to 2 minutes, set the
monitor level lower for User Setting 3 where I have high ISO levels set, and
use an external unit to download the SD card (an Epson P2000).  This seems
to have made a big difference, and I bet I get closer to 300 shots now.

5.  SPOTS on the Sensor!  Well, not really.  What appeared to be tiny dust
spots started appearing on the images.  In some images they seemed to be
faint dark circles.  Turned out they were all on images from the Tri-Elmar,
which had a dirty UV filter.  At small f/stops the dirt actually resolved
onto the image.  At large f/stops the dirt as a dark fuzzy spot.  So, I will
have to keep those new IR filters clean!

6.  DNG issues.  Adobe seems to do a nice job with DNG (it is their creation
after all), but other companies need to support it.  I am still learning
Capture One, but meanwhile PS and Bridge are fine.  I am shooting DNG+JPG
which works well.   On the Epson P2000 (which doesn't show DNG files), I can
see the image from the JPG file.

7.  B&W mode.  This makes the JPG into B&W, while the DNG file still retains
the color information.  Best of both worlds.

8.  Coding.  I have not tried a coded lens yet.  My widest lens is 28, so
maybe this is not a problem.

9.  Exposure.  I have found almost all of my images are right on using the A
setting, and if not, I can see it immediately.

Overall I am delighted with the camera.  I am taking it everywhere I go,
with the T-E, which is like having a 35-70 zoom.  The handling is just like
an M7 with a winder, and the images are beautiful.

Regards,
Bob Rose