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Reviewed by
Irakly Shanidze
, Professional
Price Paid
$4800.00
at Sam Shoshan
Photography Experience
21+ years
, Fine Art
Summary
Leica M8 is a unique product and should be treated as such. Like any other M series camera, it is not for everyone. I have been asked on may occasions whether it was the best digital camera in the world. Of course it is not. M8 merely is a camera body that provides digital access to Leiz and M-compatible Zeiss lenses. It is a rangefinder, and it carries all strong qualities as well as limitations of the breed.
There are quite a few good things that cam be said about M8, but not everything is as imacculately wonderful as Leica claimed.
I have a chrome version, and it is one of the first 1500. Leica issued a recall on these cameras because they all have the same issues that are completely fixed in later runs. Therefore I am not going to discuss them here.
M8 is a bit thicker and heavier than M6. It handles similarly, but is much more loud (thanks to a new vertically travelling metal shutter). Also, there is no winder, and the shutter is cocked automatically. I really do not like this, because at least half of the noise associated with releasing the shutter is due to its motorized transport. Besides, manual cock-up would save some battery life.
Rangefinder frame lines seem to be noticeably dimmer than on M6. Combined with a lower viewfinder magnification, it makes focusing more difficult, especially in low light. The lines are not precise, but it depends on a lens used. I found that only an original M3 2/35 summicron with goggles aligns with the framelines perfectly (goggles make the viewfinder even wider, and 50mm frame lines become 35mm) All other lenses seem to provide at least 5% larger field of view than frame lines suggest.
Compared with Epson RD-1, M8 delivers much higher image quality. It is not just resolution, which is almost twice as high. Digital noise of M8 sensor is much more film like, and tonal gradations with the same lenses seems to be better.
I do not shoot JPEGs partly because RAW mode is a part of my workflow since 2001, partly because M8 has a real problem with WB in low light. DNG format is an industry standard, and it was smart to implement it in this camera. The only problem, Adobe Camera RAW 3.5 and lower and a current beta version of Adobe Lightroom do not fully understand an embedded M8 color profile and render all images with a heavy magenta cast, if the profile is not manually ignored during conversion. So, one really needs ACR 3.6 or higher (Photoshot CS3 beta has ACR 4.0) to get rid of this annoying problem.
M8 is rather quick. It has instant response and zero wake-up time. I found, however, that pressing a shutter when the camera is in sleep mode gives a corrupted image with series of strange vertical lines streaming down from the middle of the top of the picture. However, it may be one of the issues that will be resolved with a promised free recall.
A real design blooper, in my opinion, is a compensation feature accessible only vie a menu. In fact, it is so inconvenient that I prefer shooting in a fully manual mode. Aperture priority is of limited utility to me because exposure compensation cannot be done without taking your eye from the viewfinder. Also, I am not sure if this is a characteristic of my camera only, but compensation must be set to at least -1EV in all instances to avoid overexposure. In manual mode, the light meter seems to be working just fine, though.
LCD screen is large and of a good quality. Preview images first appear pixelized, and it takes about a second to render a high-quality preview and apply a color profile. I find it strange. This is a minor issua, but something definitely below current standards.
Navigation through images is a breeze. Menus and settings are easy and intuitive. Rotating wheel as a zoom tool is a brilliant idea.
Battery life is adequate, although I have never managed to squeeze more than 200 shots from it. Moreover, the camera seems to drain power if it is left switched on. On a few occasions I forgot switching it off and put in a bag. Next morning it was dead until the battery was recharged.
The battery is small and compact, but the charger is bulky and heavy. In fact, it is roughly the same size as the camera body. Considering what M8 is built for (street photography, journalism), they could do better.
M8 has a limited number of ISO presets: 160. 320. 640. 1250. 2500. While it is OK in most cases, I wish the ISO range starded from 50 and had 500 and 800.
Interestingly, color rendition heavily depends upon a lens used. In my experience, the best colors come out of 1.4/35 Summicron (last non-aspheric version) and a 2.8/28 Zeiss Biogon ZM. Vintage 1.4/50 Summilux and 2/90 Summicron give somewhat colder and less saturated colors.
In an attempt to make the best use of lens quality and resolving power, Leica fitted M8 with a very thin IR-cut filter. Well, perhaps a bit too thin. As a result, some black-colored synthetic fabrics and occasionally black hair turn out magenta tinted. This tint is not software correctable (not in-camera, anyway) Leica came up with quite a high-tech solution and stunned everybody with its generousity by promising all M8 owners two screw-on IR-cut filters of their choice. If you shoot Leica, you know that most lenses are of different barrel diameters, so two filters will not cover all possible camera-lens combinations. Moreover, for some lenses (at least two of mine) Leica does not offer free filters.
To sum up, M8 is a very capable camera. It is quick and easy to use, but a new owner certainly should expect a steep learning curve that is quite slippery at times. Nevertheless, the camera is reliable enough to be used professionally.
Strengths
impressive image quality
well built
in general, good ergonomics
combination of fully-manual operation and instant feedback dramatically increases reliability of shooting.
quieter and less obtrusive than most SLRs
Weaknesses
unusable exposure compensation
drains battery if not turned off
dim frame lines
louder than other M-series bodies
requires an accessory IR-Cut filter for color work
Similar Products Used
Leica M3, M6
Leica Digital Modul R
Contax G2
Contax N Digital
Canon 1D/Ds Mark II
Customer Service
Leica has always been famous with its level of customer service. They handle the recall with courtesy. All M8 owners affected by the recall received a letter of apology from Leica CEO and a voucher for a 30% discount on Leica M lenses. Unfortunately, with a current USD/Euro exchange rate this discount does not seem to be very attractive for US photographers.
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