[Leica] Old lenses and M8

[pklein at threshinc.com (Peter Klein)]

I'm honestly a bit puzzled at Mark Rabiner's obsession with "crop circles" 
vs. full frame.  The M8's crop factor never bothered me.  The issue for me 
is simply, "how does this camera perform as a system, for the way I shoot 
and the sizes at which I print and view?"

If I were an wide and ultra-wide shooter, I'd already be in line for an M9.  
But I'm not. If the M9 offered D3/D700 noise performance at high ISOs, I'd 
probably leap soon. But it doesn't.

I've almost always played in the "classic trio" zone:  35-50-90 on film.  So 
on the M8, I'm a 28-35-50-90 guy. This gives me a little less on the wide 
end, which I don't miss, and a little more on the long end, which I like.

I've found that my M8 pictures are actually more detailed than what I 
previously took on Kodachrome, Provia, and Tri-X. And in some ways I like 
the M8's 35mm (47mm equivalent) "normal" view a bit better than the straight 
50mm view on film.  I don't switch to a 28 on the M8 as often as I switched 
to a 35 on film.

What would the M9 buy me?

- My collection of 50s would be real 50s again, so I would use them more.
- I'd gain some significant performance and a stop at available-light medium 
wide angle (35/1.4 vs CV 28/1.9).
- I wouldn't have to worry about the occasional green reflection from the IR 
filters when I had light sources in the pictures.
- I'd gain about a stop of ISO performance.

What would I lose?

- $7000.00
- Some depth of field
- Whatever loss I'd take selling my M8, which I'd have to do.
- Some of my older lenses, which I love, wouldn't perform as well.

All this taken together, the M9 is in my "it would be nice" category, not 
the "must have" category.  I bought an M8 seven months after the initial 
release. Once the benefits and problems were known, it truly was in my "must 
have" category. 

The jump from the M8 to the M9 is far less than than the jump from film M to 
the M8.  The M8 has proved to be a very good camera for my needs, and I 
don't see a reason to leap now.

I will probably get an M9 eventually, but when I do so, and if it will be 
new, demo or used, is To Be Determined.

--Peter

---------------
what he said;^)

ric

On Oct 18, 2009, at 8:04 AM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:


> > The M8 I got last December was a great deal, and takes great  
> > pictures, the quality of which has been totally unaffected by the  
> > arrival of the M9.
> >
> > I will buy an M9 some day, no doubt, but I will wait till the price  
> > is in the 3000 EUR range. Should be there by 2011.
> >
> > Nathan
>   



------------------------------