I started
this thread when in a similar position to you, and recieved a great deal of good advice.
Only you can know what camera fits your hands, and vision best. I wanted to try an M8 to see it it was for me.
The quirks of the M8 are quite well documented online, but using one has to be your own personal experience before you decide to buy.
I bought mine from a good dealer with a 12month warranty. It was no more expensive than similar completed sales on
that auction site.
While perhaps things can get exaggerated online, (and if you listen to some hyperbole, you might wonder if a single M8 built actually works), and I have not had any issues with mine - that 12month warranty from a bricks and mortar store is a great comfort.
Some things I perhaps did not fully appreciate prior to owning one -
You will pick it up wrong. Before you know what you are doing, there will be fingerprints all over the viewfinder and rangefinder windows. Keeping them clean makes a real difference.
It is
not like focussing a manual SLR (which I have done before), it is a different skill, and to get good at it takes practice. To nail focus first time in a fraction of a second - while certainly possible, probably takes months and months of practice. And I'm nowhere near yet.
If you want true colours, you must use an IR cut filter. I got a genuine Leica one for free with the camera (whoo!) - but filters still cause flares from bright spots of light. So if you are shooting in inclement light; remove the filter and either shoot B&W and enjoy the rich
slightly IR tones, or hope there are no colour critical dark synthetic fabrics in the shot (which is usually an easy call). I tend to leave my filter on unless shooting outside after dusk, as streetlights flare horribly.
But that's about it for negatives.
So far I'm really enjoying the experience.