Article about Leica M8 on Assignment in Iran

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Iron Flatline

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Hi all.

Here's a link to a story written by a PJ who took a Leica M8 to Iran. Interesting comments about Leica's quality of RAW files. Stern Magazine is known to be one of the world's most discerning photo-journalism magazines.

Camera Corner: The Leica M8 on Assignment

I am wary of posting these kinds of stories here. When Benjikan posted a lot of stuff about... uh, I think it was Pentax... anyway, when people post cheer-leading articles about certain brands others are right to wonder about their motivations. Obviously I'm a Leica fan, and am pleased to see my own choices reinforced by glowing reports written by real in-the-field professionals... but my sole motivation is to educate my fellow members here.

What I really am is a Rangefinder fan, and I found some comments about access to certain subjects quite interesting. The choice of camera for a photographer who wants to shoot people is quite important. I consider myself more of a dRF evangelist than a single-brand kind of guy, and I provide these kinds of links in that spirit. I love my M8 as much as my Epson R-D1!

I really like RF cameras, esp. dRF. I hope the (highly unlikely) rumors of an impending Nikon dRF are true, and hope you'll forgive me for getting everyone excited about ridiculously expensive cameras.
 
There is a difference:

* You have well over a thousand posts that didn't begin with Leica
* You are not sponsored by Leica
* You didn't just join and started saying Leica is great.
* Most (except for articles featuring Leica cameras) of your posts do not start with how much you like Leica. They are usually in the middle of your responses to other peoples' posts.

Thanks for the link.... I too love Leica and it is often nice to read about a rangefinder in professional use.
 
Thanks for the link, interesting stuff.

I hope the rumours of a new Nikon digital rangefinder are true as well; I'd like to see what they come up with 50 years after the S series. I'd also like to see a broader return of rangefinder photography, ideally with DRF bodies becoming affordable (plus it would make me happy to see Cosina-Voigtlander having more success and credit).

But as you say of the Nikon, it's unlikely. The big camera companies are happy enough selling compacts and dSLRs... and let's be honest, a lot of people buy dSLRs just because they're "better" than compacts rather than because of the intrinsic merits of an SLR system... the companies don't have much incentive to persuade consumers to consider rangefinders instead. Sales of dSLRs are great and allow for the continued advancement of the technology and lowering of prices, but at the expense of other types of photography.
So DRFs will probably remain limited to professional and luxury consumer use. I think it's a shame, as personally I like using rangefinders, TLRs, P&S and SLRs of various formats... SLRs are great but not automatically the best tool for all photography, as that article shows.
 
btw.. I went to browse at my local high end camera shop today who is a major Leica dealer too. I had to drag myself out... Two M8s, M6 Millenium, M7, and a row of newly listed used M-mounts for sale. ooOOoo

Back to the article.. just somethings that came to mind as I read it...
* I can't help but notice that all the photos are B&W. I was hoping to see color photos on this real assignment as that is where many claim the M8 does have some weaknesses
* I noticed he compared the M8 and Canon 5D. IMO, not really an accurate comparison. You can buy two 5Ds for the cost of an M8. We are also talking about two cameras that are 1 year apart in release date. I'd like to see a camparison with the newly released Canon 1d mark III. Of course, I know that the point of the article wasn't to compare the two bodies... the author just happen to have a 5D handy for comparison.
* I like that the M8 did hold up well in the harsher than normal conditions. I like that the M8 seems able to hold up to professional use.
* I'm actually quite surprised that he found less noise in the M8 than the 5D. Most of the samples I have seen show otherwise...... although the noise in the M8 is slightly easier on th eyes.
* I'm still NOT a fan of this "looks like film grain" and "doesn't look plasticky feel" garbage. It is always either "too noisy/grainy" or when there isn't enough noise to comment on it is "plasticky". Common.. subjective statements that always put other manufacturers down.
* I'm still not a believer in th whole IR thing... Not convinced the current design results in better results. I personally would like Leica to test this statement out rather than state it after the fact. The author further stated that there is no side-effect to using the UV filter. Huh? I've had issues with flare/reflections with all sorts of filters on lenses. Its just part of the deal of using filters... Mine are always on loose so I can remove them quickly. Even the Leica PDF that came with the firmware update has comments about filters, reflections, and IR filters in flourescnent lighting.
* The whole section starting wth "The photographic community should try to help Leica.." is really troublesome for me. It really sounds like a sales pitch pre-worded through a marketing department. I for one don't think it was necessary as I feel that Leica's products can stand on their own feet. He further states "by helping Leica succeed..." as if it were some charitable organization that needs our support. It is a business!!!


Hmmm. now reading back through my points.. sure sounds critical. Ah well.. so be it. I did go through his photos and I have to say they speak volumes... much better spoken than the article. The photographer did well to capture a portion of Iran we rarely get to see.

Never the less.. I continue to support Leica through my purchases because I like their products... thats it.. no more no less..


did I say the camera store also had the A La Carte box with examples of custom MPs? Yummy.
 
I agree with you, the whole IR thing is an absolute design fiasco. The guy writing that "most photographers use UV filters anyway" is just plain silly.
 
I do agree about the quality of glass though. My UV filters flare out the wazoo too, but I have used a very nice and expensive one which didn't. I guess if you pay a good $150 for an IR LP Filter then things become a non-issue, but for most ordinary filters it could cause a problem.

Good to see they survive the heat, because last I read about Leicas the ones that went on the bit Antarctic expedition last year (year before?) had a 100% failure rate from the cold :( Mind you it's not normal operating conditions.
 
whenever I have a flare problem, i remove my UV filter .... just to realise the flare problem remains. l so it seems in my case it is never filter-related ;)

my filters are a bit too expensive though.
 
I hope the rumours of a new Nikon digital rangefinder are true as well; I'd like to see what they come up with 50 years after the S series. I'd also like to see a broader return of rangefinder photography, ideally with DRF bodies becoming affordable (plus it would make me happy to see Cosina-Voigtlander having more success and credit).----

Nikon released the S3 2000 film RF in 2000 & 2002, not sure of the production numbers or who build it?
 
Random comment - IF, that's a solid photoblog you got there. Bookmarked.
 
Nikon released the S3 2000 film RF in 2000 & 2002, not sure of the production numbers or who build it?

If it wasn't Nikon, Cosina would be the only other possibility I can think of, because of their 'Voigtlander' rangefinders and since they have also made Nikon RF-mount bodies and lenses, but I can't say for certain. Anyway AFAIK the new S3 was pretty much the old S3 put back into production... I'd love to own one, but even more I'd like to see what they could do in terms of new RF design.
 

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