"John Smith" <JohnSmith RemoveThis @aol.com> wrote:
>
>I know what audience I'm in but that has nothing to do with reliability,
>mechanical failures, returns, etc - the stuff I asked about.
I pre-ordered an M8 but the early problems (banding especially) put me
off buying one. So when my M8 arrived I transferred the order to a
friend who just *had* to have one. He paid me the deposit I had paid
the Leica dealer and paid the balance to the dealer.
The infra-red problem began to be noticed just after I escaped from
the deal. Had I known about the infra-red problem I would have run a
mile. You have to use UV/IR "hot mirror" filters to avoid it, and
those filters bring with them a lot of problems, especially severe
colour fringing with wide angle lenses. If you shoot RAW (actually
DNG) you can remove the fringing with careful post-processing, but
this takes time.
There are problems of light fall-off (vignetting) with many Leica
lenses, and chromatic aberration on a scale that you never seem to see
with film. These effects can be reduced or eliminated in-camera if
you shoot JPEG and use 6-bit coded Leica lenses, because the firmware
corrects for it. If you shoot RAW, you will have some post-processing
to do. RAW shooting gives greater dynamic range and is therefore
preferred.
As for reliability, mechanical failures and returns, the first year
after the introduction of the M8 was more or a less a beta test.
Reliability was poor, with many just dying - becoming completely
unresponsive. Many could not read SD cards reliably.
All the early M8s were recalled for (if I recall correctly) a sensor
change which solved the banding issue. Later M8s seem to be more
reliable but Leica are still dealing with large numbers of returns,
less than before but still a lot.
Unlike the trusty M6, paying a lot of money for an M8 does not carry
any guarantee of reliability. The fact the M8 is hand-made in small
quantities adds to the cost but does nothing to help the reliability
of what is a very complex electronic device in a traditional shell.
My friend who took over my M8 order has had his M8 body replaced three
times under warranty, the first for the sensor change (there were
other issues which meant a full replacement body had to be offered)
and the other two because the camera just died. In between, there
were other problems which required service attention twice. He has
given up on the M8 and when the last brand new body arrived, he
promptly sold it.
I have seen nothing that makes me want an M8. Some users are getting
very good results, but only with what is - to me - a disproportionate
amount of time spent post-processing. The M8's reliability is still
questionable. It costs a fortune for "only" 10 MP.
But it has its good points. The camera manages to combine
successfully the incomparable handling of a Leica M with digital
capture. The absence of an anti-alias filter makes for much sharper
and more detailed images than "only" 10 MP would suggest. The sensor
is good enough to allow the fine optical qualities of many Leica
lenses to be realised in digital form. If you must have a new digital
rangefinder camera with the M mount it is the only game in town.
So for the keen amateur with plenty of time to remove aberrations in
post-processing and the money to pay for what is probably the most
expensive 10 MP camera on the market, the M8 might make sense. But it
doesn't do it for me, not by a long way.
I still keep a "Leica" outfit although my bodies are made by Konica
(Hexar RF) and Minolta, and I am gradually replacing my Leica lenses
with Carl Zeiss ZM equivalents. I shoot film and scan it, and the
results are (technically) every bit as superb as they always were.
But my main outfit consists of two Canon EOS 5D bodies and a set of
mostly Carl Zeiss (Contax) fixed focal length lenses with EOS
adapters, plus Canon 16-35mm, 24-105mm and 70-200mm L lenses. I would
not swap one of my 5Ds for an M8, even though I can buy two 5Ds for
the price of an M8 and have enough to spare for a good lens.
If you really must have a new digital rangefinder body, the M8 is the
only game in town. If you are prepared to buy used, there is the
Epson R-D1 (and R-D1s) which was thought to be flaky and unreliable
until the M8's problems caused people to revise their opinion. Epson's
after-sales service is patchy at best but the mechanical parts of the
camera (especially the rangefinder) can be serviced by any technician
who is experienced with Voigtlanders - the camera is closely based on
the Bessa R2.
If I decided to buy a digital rangefinder now, I would buy the Epson
and take a chance that it stays reliable. But I will probably wait
until there is an M9, or a Zeiss Ikon D. In the meantime, there is
still film.
If you do buy an M8, consider buying the Carl Zeiss ZM lenses which
are much more digital-friendly than the older Leica lenses. The
latest Leica lenses (28mm Elmarit-M ASPH and the new, less expensive
Summarit range) are digital-friendly too, but the Carl Zeiss ZM lenses
offer wider apertures at the same price as the f/2.5 Summarits, or
less, and exceptionally competent optical performance.
>> Stay informed about: Leica M8 Reliability problems/returns???? 
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