Customer Reviews

Leica M8 10.3MP Digital Rangefinder Camera with .68x Viewfinder (Black Body Only)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After 16 years of retail photography equipment sales I've demoed hundreds, if not thousands of cameras to purchasers. When I decided to invest in my own digital camera my criteria was to purchase a camera that was built solid, had an easy to use menu, excellent picture quality, the best optical lineup available, compact, unobtrusive and a bright simple viewfinder. Price was not going to be THE issue because I wanted to purchase a camera I would keep and not fall into the throw away world that has been created by the electronics industry.
I had read the initial reviews of the camera and the howling by Leica film traditionalist and non-users about the IR issue. For those of you not familiar with the camera Leica opted to omit the infrared blocking filter on the sensor to maintain optimal sharpness when using the superb Leitz lenses. The omission of this filter causes some black synthetic fabrics to appear maroon in color. Leica opted to give purchasers of this camera two IR cut ultraviolet filters to put on the front of the lens to solve the problem. Leicas solution also caused Leica tradionalist to complain about putting a filter on the front of the lenses and although many of them had a standard uv on their lenses already this was made an issue that went way beyond its applications.
I have been involved with film infrared photography for years and saw the potential IR capabilities of this camera as a benefit. No more loading, unloading and handling IR film in total darkness was a definite added bonus in a camera that already produced superb color and black and white images. That has proven to be true over the 8 months I've owned this camera.
A major plus for the M8 is its simple and easy to use menus. I've witnessed so many potential purchasers of digital cameras roll their eyes when I start to demonstrate the convoluted menus and seen so many photographers miss a shot because they were trying to access a feature they needed. My only suggestion for improvement would be to include the choice of image type and saturation with the working "set" menu that way you would have everything regarding exposure under one roof.
I've used Leica rangefinder cameras for years and am used to using a rangefinder in all types of photography situations, but rangefinders are not for everyone and I would highly suggest that anyone considering this camera, who has no experience with rangefinders and is presently using an SLR, to find a dealer where you can either rent the camera or return it within a time period if you are not happy with it. It is not for everyone.
I'm more than happy about my investment in this camera, have not experienced any of the complaints I've read about it, appreciate the added bonus of the IR potential and if I have any complaints it is about the shutter sound that one user likened to a nail driver gun. Leica please try to make the M8 shutter as quiet as your film cameras.
I highly recommend this camera to anyone who can afford an investment into a superb digital camera that will not be a throw away, who have a collection of Leica lenses and want to go digital and anyone interested in the simplicity and photographic involvement in using a Leica rangefinder.

This digital Leica is more like a traditional film camera than a digital camera. You must be totally in control of focus and exposure, change lenses rather than zoom, and THINK when you shoot. The images that result can be stunning. After 40 years of shooting with Leicas and loving every moment of it, this was an exciting break through. It is a real Leica camera that just doesn't use film. It is expensive, but some things are worth the money. This camera is worth it if you are a Leica shooter and wish to use your wonderful lenses on a ditigital camera. My lenses were purchased in 1969 as a college graduation gift and work just fine.

I commend Leica for developing the M8 for the enjoyment of the small but loyal rangefinder community. The only thing I will say about SLR vs rangefinder is that what the rangefinder can do what it does exceptionally well. But the photographic community has recognized SLR's are far more flexible and I suspect every M8 owner has an SLR for what the rangefinder doesn't do.

Why only 3 stars? In general, the design has not addressed M issues of the past. Battery and memory card access from a non-hinged baseplate is silly. Multiple frameline display is a poor compromise. I would have liked to have seen a "zoom" finder buit into the body. Ths would allow projection of a dedicated frame line of consistant size regardless of the lens focal length. I would keep the frame line preview option though. A light booster or LED for the frame line for low light situations is also not present.

New issues. The shutter, motor advance noise, and trigger release are crude when compared to the quiet silky feel of the M2. Not providing a cover for the LCD is a great oversight. The option to use AA or other standard size battery is frustrating. While I have not come across a need for the IR-UV cut filters, promised but not yet rec'd, I'm frustrated sizes for out of production lenses are not offerred. The same comment applies to bit coding (although I'm not sure how important this is). On the one hand the marketing pitch is to the loyal Leica user, but on the service and support side we are only interested in customers that buy the current products.

Having said all of that, the feel and size are great. As with all of the Leica rangefinders it is an unsurpassed street shooter.

The build quality is of course superb, at obvious cost. I fear that in the rapidly developing digital age (non standard memory formats, detector formats, batteries) investment in the M8 may not yield the long term payback enjoyed by the prewar and M Leicas of the past. Hopefully the M8 has been designed for the ease of future upgrades and modifications. If not, perhaps a lower cost (lower quality) digital body M would have been a better option for the consumer.

Earlier today I had the opportunity to handle and use a chrome Leica M8, using the camera to take some outdoor color digital pictures in both ambient, and less than ambient, lighting conditions. I'm not usually one to succumb to hype about a new camera, but this time it was unquestionably almost love at first sight. Leica's new M8 digital rangefinder camera carries on the great tradition of Leica M rangefinders which started back in 1954 with the venerable Leica M3, but also offers many features that will be useful to the discerning digital photographer. For those familiar with Leica M rangefinder cameras (or either the Zeiss Ikon and the late Konica Hexar rangefinder cameras), the controls remain almost exactly the same as those for recently produced Leica M film rangefinder cameras such as the M6, M6 TTL, M7 and MP. Ergonomically it most closely resembles the Leica M7, having a similar shutter speed dial, but with speeds up to 1/8000 second and flash synchronization at 1/250 second; the highest speeds I have seen for any M-mount rangefinder camera. The M8 contains a low noise Kodak-designed CCD digital imaging sensor with a maximum resolution of 10.3 MP; the 1.33 X crop factor of the digital imaging sensor means that a 50mm lens will more closely resemble a 70mm lens, or a 28mm lens will resemble a 32mm lens; in either instance, this will not be a serious issue for those familiar with digital SLRs like those from Nikon that have a 1.5 X crop factor. The camera has a somewhat generous range of ISO speeds from 160 to 2500, with ISO 160 as the default setting.

The Leica M8's technical specifications will surely please both traditional users of Leica M rangefinder cameras as well as those new to them. It offers both aperture priority automation and manual exposure modes reminiscent of the Leica M7's. In aperture priority mode, shutter speeds range from 30 seconds to 1/8000 second; in manual mode, shutter speeds range from 4 seconds to 1/8000 second plus B for exposures of any duration longer than 4 seconds. In flash mode, flash synchronization speeds range from B to 1/250 second, and there is the option of first or second shutter curtain synchronization for creative flash photography effects. Digital images are storeable in SD cards up to 4 GB; these images can be stored under ADOBE's DNG (Camera manufacturer-independent digital negative format, which is better known as RAW format) or two different versions of JPEG compressed files. The camera back has a 2.5 inch large bright LC-Display with a resolution of 230 pixels (In actual usage, I was quite impressed with the quality of the images I had taken after viewing them on this display panel.).

I used a current 50 Summicron-M lens with the chrome Leica M8; both borrowed from Leica Camera USA's marketing director, Christian Erhardt; I was especially impressed with the excellent contrast and resolution of the digital images I had obtained (Traditional Leica M users may find amusing that the memory card is loaded, like 35mm film, by opening the base plate and inserting the card into a slot directly beneath the rangefinder window.). Speaking of the rangefinder window itself, it now has a magnification of .68 to accomodate frame lines for 24mm to 90mm lenses; I had no problem seeing through it, or reading the displayed shutter speed information, even though I wear glasses.). The only potentially major problem I see with the M8 is its relatively loud, though muted, metal shutter (It is based on the shutter currently used in the Leica R9 SLR camera); which makes a muted "thud" sound every time the shutter is pressed (Incidentally, I believe that it is noisier than the built-in motor winder which in continuous mode, offers 2 frames per second.); in stark contrast, the Zeiss Ikon rangefinder camera is noticeably quieter, though not nearly as quiet as the Leica MP, and especially, the Leica M7 rangefinder cameras.

Will the Leica M8 prove to be a resounding success? I believe it should sell well to those who can afford buying an expensive, interchangeable lens digital rangefinder camera, and want the best image quality possible from a digital camera. Professional photographers, especially those working under low-light conditions in which camera shutter noise should be kept at a minimum (e. g. a theatrical performance or chamber music recital), may not find the Leica M8 a suitable professional-grade digital camera. However, I strongly suspect that the Leica M8 will have a loyal following amongst both long-time Leica aficionados and those interested in using an interchangeable M-mount lens digital rangefinder camera.

The best rangefinder camera I ever used before this one was a small Olympus. I still have that camera even though i do not shoot film any more. I just love it for it's simplicity and graceful design. Before that the only other camera that resembled a rangefinder that i used was some instamatics as a kid.

This is not for everyone. I scrounged every penny and bought a used one in excellent condition. I have been shooting for 23 years now and I figured i earned the chance to have a big boy camera. It's not perfect. It exhibits grain above the 600 ISO and there is the whole IR filter thing with the magenta casting. Still that camera is made like a house of bricks and only reminds me of a very heavy minolta my dad gave me when I was 16.I used to drop that camera all the time. This feel like it would not mind being dropped. It almost feels like you could throw it and it would be OK.

Now today with all the bells and whistles on every camera and megapixel wars going full steam this camera does not enter the fray. It is the first of it's kind from Leica, (Epson made one that is not as good some years back) and it sets the standard for this type of camera. it is actually alone in it's class. The only other one out there is its slightly more expensive older brother the 8.2. The M 8.2 has the same resolution. It's improvements are a sapphire crystal (only a diamond can scratch it) back and a quieter shutter as well as better denting for dials and a"S" full auto mode. F stops and focus are fully manual in both models.

These are MANUAL cameras. They require looking, focusing, working the camera to get it to do what you want it to do. Depth of field, framing, exposure. These are all in your hands. Now while there are SLRs out there that do all this too, they are not rangefinders. There is no mirror in a rangefinder. less vibration. Smaller lenses, less obtrusive camera all around. It almost has an antique appearance. Were it not for the LCD screen on the back it looks 75 years old. The LCD is for menu and reviewing only. Shots are framed in the viewfinder, which is way brighter than SLRs.

Now this is not the only camera I own. This is a special camera. A camera for taking to a new city. For a walk in the fall woods. For taking some pictures of the family. This is NOT an action camera. It does not even take SDHC cards, only just plain old SD. This camera requires that you slow down, take a deep breath and make a single image as if your life depended on it.

Once you get one in your hands, hold it for a few minutes, mess with it, you will be humbled. Any one can buy a Best Buy camera and take dozens of shots in focus. This requires that YOU do the work. When you look at your pictures you take from this, you can rest assured they are your photos, not the computers. You have to put skill, knowledge, and even a bit of your soul into this camera to get some decent shots. I have been at it now for a while and I can say, I am humbled. I am sure I'll make some nice images with it, but I will have to work for them. When I get them, they will be all the more satisfying.

If all that I am saying seems like nonsense then please don't contest, just move on. This camera is expensive for a reason. It's made by hand by people who have been making cameras since before time began. This is a German camera and the lenses are the other 1/2 of the equation here. The best glass in the world. The M8 & 8.2 takes almost every M lens going back decades so you have a lot to choose from and if you are a M user from the film era all you need do is save for the body.

This camera has enough megapixels to produce decent prints at a decent size for the rest of your life.

Save up, it's worth it.

Added note: Now SDHC cards can be used. I have a 8gig one in the camera now and it works fine.

After spending a day out shooting, er, ah... "making photographs" with my M8, I thought I'd share with you my impressions. In summation, it really is an M camera. I doubted it, but I was wrong. Here are my individual footnotes as to why: Handling the camera & lens, my hands and brain were often led to think I was handling an M6. Only when my thumb reached for the film advance/shutter cocking lever did my hands and brain went "hey, what the heck? There is none!" If I had the option, I'd choose the original manual shutter cocking lever over the electric one, even on a digital M camera.
My hands could not even detect the slightly thicker body compared to the M6. The weight, combined with a 50mm lens was noticeably lighter than the M6 with same lens (which surprised me). The handling is the same, and so is the balance and heft.
I never once looked at the instruction manual, because: Everything is logical. Just read what is in the LCD, scroll, and press the right buttons.
Crop factor: what crop factor? My wide angle lens is still pretty wide with the M8, and I'm getting more than what the frame lines are showing me with the 50mm! Could it be that the M8 is a full-frame, but they aren't saying it is? Could be!
The write time is slow. You can see it writing as the red light in the back flashes. This is of no consequence, because of the ample buffer.
At present, the largest capacity SD card that can be used on the M8 is a 2 gig. I tried to use a 4 gigabyte SD card, and the LCD would say that the card is full. With a 2 gb card, you get 539 shots at the highest quality jpeg setting. How do they do it? I can only get 399 shots in a Panasonic DMC-FZ50 (with a 2 gig card)!
With the M8, you can use every lens that Leitz Wetzlar ever made, right back to the beginning of (Leica) time with screw-mount lenses. And you can use other lenses like the manual-focus Minolta MD lenses (and others, I was told)...with a Novoflex adapter! Find out by going to Novoflex' website. You can also use the new Voigtlander screwmount lenses, and some Konica Hexars. This is good, because Leica lenses cost thousands.
This is my review. I hope it was helpful.

I have gone through so many cameras in the last ten years, I can't even count them. At each stage of my life I need something different. I travel a lot and I wanted the same results I get with my Canon EOS 1D Mark II N without all that weight and trouble. I have found the perfect solution. The Leica M8 paired with a 50mm Summicron lens takes the sharpest photos I have ever seen. It takes a lot of getting used to, but once you do, you can't shoot with anything else. It can't capture sports, or moving targets well, but that's not what it's for. It's for people who want to take their time with their photos and do it right. Get one if this is you!

I am a bargain shopper. So the M8, in 2006, hovering near 5K was difficult to justify because I'm challenged to buy everything I need and then spend what's left over for things that I want. Between late 2008 and now the first quarter of 2011, I waited for the M8 to finally achieve bargain status and well, it ain't there yet. Don't get me wrong. Just over 2K buys a tank of a camera but "bargain?" Not exactly. But then I bought "value" cameras that could do almost everything (and more) the Leica can do. But I still wanted the M8. I know, I know, I should want the M9 but come on, 7K? So yeah, I'll wait 5-6 years more. But I digress. I finally bought a used M8 and while I wait to upgrade my lens, I installed a 40mm Nokton I got last year to use on a Bessa R2. Is it all I hoped? Yes. Is the build quality unmatched? Yes. Controls? Outstanding. No mirror slap so you can hand hold to a 15th? Yes. High IQ (sorry, image quality)? Yes. Does the sensor produced nearly unmatched quality of image with a look you don't get with other cameras. Yes? Fast. Yes. Don't be surprised, shot to shot the m8 is fast. It is. Not 5 shots per second but 2 and a strong buffer. How's the viewfinder? Outstanding. Have I missed something? Expensive lenses. Yes, too expensive. Have to remove the bottom plate to change SD card? Yes, a bit of a pain but you get used to it and handling the hand made, high quality metal camera is a dream. So I won't bore you any further. I recommend finding a used one and taking the plunge. Anybody who loves cameras and photography should at least once own a Leica M. I'd say get a M3, M4, M6 or M7 but if you're like me you want to see your shots right away and post process and shoot a 100 shots at anything you feel like. Digital is freedom. The Leica M8 is a blast. Just do it.

After Using the Leica X1 for a few weeks i loved the Size and Weight and the image quality was Top notch.. so i Sold my Nikon Gear D700 + few lenses and Bought the Leica M8..

Amazing Built quality and constructions if your searching for leica i know you already know about this

Ease of Use.. its really easy and straight forward everything is reachable with your fingers and if not just a button away

Picture quality.. although its a 10MP camera i find the picture quality way better that My Nikon D700 and i am very satisfied that i made the switch

its all about what do you do in photography if you usually shoot still subjects,Portraiture and street Photography thats the best camera

I rated the M8 based quality and feel, NOT on value nor its technology. I love the M8, having handled one only for a few hours. It carries on the high quality precision feel of the Leica M rangefinder film camera tradition. Make no mistake, this is a solid nice handling D-camera. But looking at it objectively, I question the price. Is it REALLY worth $5K without a lens? IMHO, no. There are competing state-of-the-art products from Canon and Nikon at a fraction of the price with more resolution and capability, especially if you are into long lens telephoto photography. The M8 does NOT have a full 35mm sized sensor which means it will crop your 35mm lenses. This is not a state of the art digital camera and not what I expected from Leica. Do the latest D-SLRs from Canon handle as wonderfully as the M8? Perhaps not quite as well but they make up for with greater capability and resolution at a much lower price. Digital imaging is a technology that is changing/improving fast with older cameras showing signs of obsolescence practically overnight. Last year's models depreciate like last year's newspapers. I would wait to buy a used M8 next year. The M8 is a great camera but grossly overpriced.