Leica Bought a used M8

BillN

Hall of Famer
Location
S W France
Name
Bill
Been threatening to get one for a while now - the opportunity arrived when my wife took a trip to Hatton Garden, (the jewellery quarter in London for all you overseas who don't know) - after her "purchase" (it was for a special occasion) - she gave in

Does that mean I now have to spend all my time "moaning" on the RF forum?

What do you reckon?
 
Clever boy Bill! Hope your wife's as pleased with HER goodies :) I'm all ears and eyes to see how you're getting on with it. No doubt there will be a few gripes along the way but I think you'll have the time to take the kind of slow, considered pictures that are typical of the RF style. Merry Christmas Bill :whoo:
 
I reckon you'll enjoy your M lenses on a M Digital body
I am also thinking about an M8, next year around April/May.. Have to sell a Vasarely and a few other Fine Art signed lithograph's 1st.

Please post some images and your thoughts on the M8 as a Digital M.... Pros, Cons, Best uses......

Regards
 
Thanks

I'll start a thread just to give my early experiences with the cam - I've not had much chance to use it yet

- first "characteristic" - the AWB is "strange" indoors - easily sorted in PP - but out of cam it is "usual"
 
:drinks: Bill, you done what you've been hankerin' after for a long, long time.

Please consider moaning here, as well as on the Rangefinder forums. You know that Deirdre recently got a hold of an M8, as well, so yer not alone.

I did spy that one photo you posted yesterday, I think, and the white balance looked great to me. I can't recall if you'd pp'd it or if you had one of those filters on or what.

Looking forward to hearing more about your early Christmas present.:D
 
Hey Bill, congratulations on your M8 ! It's a serious compact camera ! I shall be looking forward to photos shot with the M8.
Enjoy your weekend. Right now: we got sunshine, it's freezing (2 degr below zero).
 
No moaning about M8's on RFF.

We spent Thanksgiving in Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia. Historic reenactments of Colonial America.

1939 Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm F1.5, wide-open on the M8, ISO320.

picture.php


I was the only person not using a flash below deck on this sailing ship. Lighting was from the Gun Ports only.

So- what lenses will you be using on the M8?
 
Hi Brian, I always enjoy your postings on the RF Forum always very informative - I've never posted on that Forum, just lurked for a number of years

My comment above was "tongue in cheek" - (I hope anyway)

I bought a 28mm f2.8 Zeiss ZM Biogon with Hood and Leica E46 UV/IF filter a few months ago when I decided that I would give the M8 a try

I used a 35mm f1.7 Ultron on my M6 and I now need to get a UV/IF filter for that as it is a smaller filter size to the Leica and Zeiss

I plan to use the 28mm most of the time as it equates to 35mm conventionally and no problem with the frame lines

I have a couple of old LTM lenses, both Leica and a Nikon LTM 13.5cm, (tried it but the frame lines are a novelty) - but I'll just try these for fun and not bother with any filters - same goes with the Leitz "film" M Elmar 5cm f2.8 that I have - I'll just give it a try for fun - that's the great thing about digital - the results are instant

I've been reading about the (cheaper way) of 6 bit coding for the Zeiss - just to get some info to the cam for the EXIF - I may give that a try, but the "sharpy" does not exist in the UK so I'll have to find a black marker that is similar.

Cannot get out much for now - bloody knees are "playing up" - but hopefully they will improve

I'll be posting my thoughts and "what I find out" on here as stuff like this really interests me

(a question - is there an adapter for Nikon RF to M as I have a Nikon RF 50mm f1.4 kicking around? - although it focuses the "wrong way")

Best wishes
 
Amedeo (Ebay) makes an adapter for Nikon/Contax to M-Mount that allows RF coupling. These run in the $300 range. It might be cheaper to sell the Nikon S-Mount lens and buy one in Leica mount.

The longest lens I have used on my M8 is the Nikkor 10.5cm F2.5 in Leica Mount. I use the 90mm LTM to M-Mount adapter with it. The 90mm framelines are perfect for it, provide 100% framing. I also picked up an inexpensive 1.25x magnifier.

There is a thread in the Leica M8 forum for new M8 owners. Good place to start.
 
Bill, I'm sure you'll enjoy the M8. I've been tempted many times to get one. Looking forward to seeing some of your photos, so I hope you knees feel better soon!
 
Congrats Bill!

Enjoy your new cam and show us some pics!
Honestly, you are much braver than me, because digital Leicas are not my cup of tea. While testing a demo M8.2 together with my for this crop-class aquired 24mm ASPH. Elmarit, there was no spark jumping to me......

Therefore I made the hard decision two days ago and placed three Leica lenses in ebay:

90mm Tele-Elmarit
50mm Summilux pre-a.
24mm Elmarit ASPH.

After my trip to Istanbul top of december the ZeissIkon and a 50mm Planar will go and the only analogue cam will be the BEssa R4A together with a 21mm ColorSkopar and a 50mm Summicron.

The Pen feels so good in my hands and in my mind that a digital Leica with it's four dimensional demand in terms of coding, filtering and postprocessing it's not suitable for me (I'm a soulshooter...):rolleyes:

Another option for me is the GXR with the 28mm module and a M-mount module in the next future.....but lets see and wait for the Fuji X100.......:D

Cheers
Bernd
 
Bernd, Thanks

But I've been supporting the german "export" drive for years

keep your lens - stock markets in turmoil, house prices down, western governments printing money like confetti, gold up, Euro in crisis, (Germany should leave and let the rest of the EU make a mess of it).

Leica glass is as good as gold from an investment point of view

As I indicated in my opening post "I'm waiting for the moaning, (from me), to start" - but so far so good - I'll enjoy the M8 - it is already reminding me of the "peculiarities of RF cams" - and I enjoy the non photographic side of photography - if you see what I mean - I still have an M6 and two M3s, a couple of LTMs and a Nikon S, plus a"few" Nikon Fs etc., etc., - I cannot bear to part with them

I have just, (this year), "given" my son my 911 which I bought new in 1989 and still have a Beetle Convertible from 1976, an R90S, R100RS MotorSport, R80 and R100GSPD - German stuff is always (good) and interesting and I have always enjoyed using it - no complains from me.

Two of my first "images" with the M8 - first shots were taken at Gatwick Airport - I've not been able to get "out" since we got back to France

F430.jpg


GTW_28mm.jpg
 
Bill you are a collector aren't you!:D

As I've already posted elsewhere, these two shots of yours are beauties. I think what makes all this camera gear so interesting is how there are different sparks that catch for each of us.
 
Bill, you MUST get a medail for supporting the german car and bike industry as well as Leica products!
A shame that I sold my two years old Moggy +4 to get a Z4........so beside Barbour, Billingham and Burberry no English products......but these will last for years......:)

OT: a friend has one of the rarest Porsche: a 901 - yes a car that looks like a 911. When they introduced this type, Peugeot claimed the trademark for car types with three digits and a 0 in the middle. Porsche put the second 1 and the famous 911 was created.
This car is stored for decades in a dark barn with dust on it.....together with a lot of Topolinos, a Fiat Coupé 2300 and other gems.....sleeping. If interested I could open a thread with D300 pics.......

Cheers
Bernd
 
Yes - open the thread - in any case the D300 is one of my all time favourite cams

Just a word of warning - my 911 - I bought it in 1989 - 75,000 kms in total in 22 years - I treated it like a baby - always garaged - summer car - never taken out in the rain - always parked in a good place when I took it out - never in crowded traffic - stored very carefully
anyway the last time I really used it was 5 years ago - It was stored in a nice garage and the engine turned over every month - when I gave it to my son - it needed the annual test, (in the UK the MOT) - in order to recommission the car we needed to spend £4500, (over 5,000 Euros), for new brake callipers, disks etc, a new petrol tank, (Euros 1,100), sender etc etc - a service and tune up - all the "replacement parts" were needed because I had not used the car, e.g the new petrol tank, from Dr Porsche - special shape and all that - no (good) cheaper substitutes

Here is a photo - funnily enough I never took many photos of the 911 - lots of my motor Bikes and my sons Opel Speedster, (Vauxhall VX220 in the UK), but only about 6 of the 911

 
Thanks Bill, a car or other technical stuff never used becomes..difficult.... Your car lookes very good and never will become 'old'. The 911 was always my dream, but.....:redface:

There are onyl 2 or three of this mentioned 901 worldwide, even the Porsche museum has no car I was told.
My friend is an extreme heavy collector for all parts for italian cars. And cars of course and and. He has tons of material and only he knows how to categorize and locate these partly very expensive parts for restaurations etc.
Here some pics including some of his 6 Topolinos:

Porsche_901.jpg


The GRP bod of a small Abarth

Abarth.jpg


and the Topolinos (mouse)

T_te_T_te.jpg


Cheers
Bernd
 
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