September 15, 2006
Leica M8
DP Review feaures a preview of the Leica M8 today. For a digital camera it's design is refreshingly clean without the overabundance of buttons and controls found on most comparable machines. The size is just about perfect. Still my dream digital cameras would not be a rangefinder. I still hope for an SLR, with this level of simplicity, about this size, with a full sized sensor. And all this said, even if someone were to give me an M8 tomorrow I'd still mainly shoot with my Nikon FM2 and Mamiya 7... well I think I would. Give me an M8 and let's see.
Update: I have now both played around with an M8 for a while and seen the files it produces... the camera feels just about perfect in the hand, and for me has exactly the right number of controls (very few and virtually all manual dials). If you love other cameras in the M series, you'll love this one too. The RAW files are very sharp. I was looking at them with a master printer and he feels you could easily go up to 30x40 with them even at 10 megapixels... so in essence they are about equivalent to 12-14 megapixel files produced by cameras with inferior lenses. Noise is pleasantly film-like. Low light performance was slightly less good than the 5D. The price is rumored to be around 5,000. Time to sell the car? Probably not...
to this site
09/15/06 11:39 AM
david said...
ah, but then there is this:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0609/06091410leicadigilux3.asp
09/15/06 01:03 PM
mjulius said...
I miss my leicas but I love digital. I guess it's the opposite problem. Since we're giving them away, can I have one too?
09/15/06 04:13 PM
keith said...
Raul, I'll wait with you for a digital FM2, but then again I wouldn't mind a M8 myself, wait so who's giving em away? :)
09/16/06 08:33 PM
Anonymous said...
I can't seem to get to the entry in which you and your son were rolling r's. This talent has become an obsession in my household...........can you link me to that entry? I think it might inspire us all.
09/16/06 09:34 PM
raul said...
at two monthshttp://www.mexicanpictures.com/experiments/baby.mov
and
at one year http://vimeo.com/clip:30327
09/18/06 04:31 AM
Gustaf said...
I couldn't agree more. I'm also dreaming of that elusive, simple digital SLR. In my case as a replacement for an Olympus OM2n. The odds don't look too good though.
09/20/06 08:13 PM
Octopus Grigori said...
I currently shoot with a Nikon F3, which I love, but it's a bit bulky, and it takes a while to develop the film, scan, etc.
If you had to buy a digital SLR now, what would you get?
Thx
09/20/06 08:40 PM
raul said...
If you can afford it, the Canon 5D I think is the camera of choice with the best balance of price/performance in it's category. The full sized sensor which allows the use of normal 35mm lenses is a big plus in my book. The Nikon D200 and D80 are much better priced and offer similar performance in good light (the Canon 5D shines in low light)...the D80 is a bit more compact than the 5D or the D200 if size is a factor.