First Published September 2008

WHY PUBLISH THIS REVIEW TWO YEARS - TOO LATE?

Leica announced the M8 digital rangefinder at Photokina 2006 - two years ago from today. Along the way there have been many bumps and bruises - such as the IR filter, odd colors, poor auto white-balance, ghosting and the list goes on. To remedy these issues there have been hardware fixes and firmware updates. On September 18, 2008 Leica released the 2.00 firmware update for the M8 which adds a couple features found in the newly introduced the Leica M8.2. In my opinion this firmware update marks the M8’s transition into a mature product.

I am publishing this article now because the M8 has piqued the interest of many photographers, but price has scared people away. With the run-up to Photokina 2008, second-hand M8 prices are approaching reasonable levels - relatively speaking of course. As it turns out, there is no M9. And the M8.2 has some handling improvements, but the imaging system is unchanged. So whether buying a new $6295 M8.2 or a used M8 for 40-50% less, the image quality is the same. I have been watching M8 prices for the last six months and finally decided to buy one. I’m guessing that I’m not the only person on the fence about the M8. This quasi-review is intended to help those who are thinking about a M8, but are undecided.

THINGS TO KNOW FOR RANGEFINDER NEWBIES

The rangefinder handling is quite different than a 35mm SLR. How different can it be? After all, slap a lens on it, look through the viewfinder and mash the shutter button, right? I am going to skip past guide lines, coupled focusing and some of the other basics. Other sites have gone through this and have well written commentaries; two popular reviews are available at Luminous-Landscape and DPreview.

THE VIEWFINDER - The M8’s viewfinder is large with moderate .68 magnification. With the Leica 1.25x, 1.4x, HK Supplies or Megaperl magnifiers, the viewfinder can be quite large - even beyond 1x. A rangefinder is not TTL (through the lens), so it is not possible to see the effects of graduated filer or polarizer through the viewfinder. Leica does have a unique polarizer system which works well, but it is a funky contraption (click here). Several things surprised me about the M8’s viewfinder. First, the edge of the lens is visible in the the lower right hand corner. The lens does not interfere with focus patch. Next, the M-series has a -.5 fixed diopter adjustment; optional diopter lenses need to be purchased which are currently $72.95 at B&H Photo (click here).

The information displayed in the LED readout at the bottom of the viewfinder is cryptic. For experienced rangefinder users the display probably makes sense. To me it is almost useless.  Leica needs to embrace modern technology. They could use LCD technology (instead of LED) and offer two modes - one that looks like the traditional layout to keep the purists happy, and then an alternate view showing the amount EC adjustment applied, current aperture setting and shutter speed.

FOCUSING - Sometimes I “lose” the patch when focusing on busy patterns such as foliage, or when the last shot was a close up and the next shot is infinity - finding the patch can take a moment because the two views are completely out of phase and nothing really makes sense until the two views are closer in phase. If the black window next to “M8” is covered by a finger, then the frame lines and patch vanish. Trying to change the shutter speed without blocking the window and without moving camera from your eye requires some serious finger yoga. If focusing towards a bright light source, the frame lines and patch are washed out and can be difficult to see. I have also found shooting in portrait orientation tends to reduce the frame lines & patch brightness. It is easy to get fingerprints on the viewfinder window, which in turn clouds the view. With the advice of several well-experience rangefinder owners, I ordered the Leica M8 grip (click here) and hope it will help.

METERING - The M8 has one metering mode which is their own pseudo evaluative or matrix mode - it is blend of average / spot metering algorithm. Overall the M8 meters well and since I usually leave the Canon 1Ds Mark III in evaluative mode, the M8’s one-size-fits-all metering approach is fine. What is not fine is exposure compensation (EC). On the M8 setting the amount of EC in “A-Mode” (same thing as aperture priority or Av mode on a Canon SLR) is done via the LCD menu. The process is:  SET-->DOWN BUTTON-->SET-->UP/DOWN BUTTON to the desired amount-->SET. That can be 5 to 16 button pushes! On the M7 there is a simple dial on the back of the camera body with a +/-2 EC adjustment range. Why Leica chose to bury EC adjustment menu is stupid, plain stupid. It runs contrary to the M tradition too. This can be fixed, sell your M8 and buy the M8.2 (for $6295) then EC can be adjusted in A-Mode via the data wheel while half-pressing the shutter button. Leica did NOT add this functionality to the M8 with 2.00 firmware update... @#$%^&

Yes, I’m bitter about this. $150 digicams bury EC adjustment in the menu, not $5000 premium digital cameras. The purist would suggest using manual mode, but I feel it is impossible to change the shutter speed dial while maintaining focus and without blocking the viewfinder or frame line window. Obviously Leica agrees to some point - after all they added the functionality to the M8.2. What ticks me off is that they did NOT add this feature to the M8. If Leica releases firmware 2.03 and adds this function, I will gleefully remove this section and praise Leica. As of today, that’s not the case.  Shame on you Leica.