Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/11/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dante, I agree 100%. The M8 is slow in writing to the card in a sequence and locks up very easily. Even worse, when the camera locks up, the only way to unlock it is to take out the battery for a few seconds resulting in the loss of (up to) 10 pictures. At least that's what happens with my M8. I use the M for 95% of my work, so there is no digital alternative for the time being. I bough a small flash, the 24D for the Leica and noticed that sometimes the flash didn't trigger. I first thought it was the flash unit, now I know it's the M8... The lock up problem and losing 10 pictures is a real PITA. All the best from the south of France! Tarek ------------------------------------------------- Tarek Charara <http://www.pix-that-stimulate.com> NO ARCHIVE On 10 nov. 09, at 02:26, Dante Stella wrote: > Mark, this is not about raw speed - though I know that makes for a > better straw-man. > > 1. David Keenan is dead-on correct about the M8/M9 architecture, > which has a long shutter lag (six times that of an M3 and double > that of a D3), is slow to a second shot (should/when you need one), > and can lock up fairly easily taking repeated shots, even without > mashing down the shutter button on continuous. I have years of > experience with this on the M8 and agree with Keenan that > unresponsiveness - particularly on a first shot - is inexcusable. > This is even more the case where a camera allegedly is designed to > capture some "decisive moment." > > 2. Two things that didn't get mentioned (and hopefully these have > not carried on to the M9) are (a) the tendency of the M8 to wildly > overexpose if the shutter is pressed too quickly when the meter is > "waking up" - apparently a bad habit carried over with the M7 meter > - and (b) the tendency not to fire the flash at all if the shutter > is tripped too quickly after the shutter is first pressed. Then go > to #1 above for the slow recovery from the resulting missed shot. > > If the M9 is in any way worse than an M8 in responsiveness, it's a > fail. I don't believe that a camera should have any ability to > second-guess, ask for a "do-over," or be asleep on the job when I > need it. > > The decision when and if to take a picture is not an exercise for a > committee. > > Unless that committee is a committee of one. > > Me. > > Dante > > ____________ > Dante Stella > http://www.dantestella.com