Thursday, August 2, 2007
Dpreview Reviews Leica M8
Posted by Suhit Gupta in "ARTICLE" @ 11:00 AM
"And so, fifty-two years after the M3, and just in time for Photokina, Leica has made another historical introduction, the first digital M series, the M8. This new rangefinder digital camera has the classic design, build and function of the M series but utilizes a completely digital imaging system. The M8 has a specially designed ten megapixel CCD sensor which being slightly smaller than a film negative introduces a 1.33x field of view crop. This ratio conveniently converts several standard M lenses to sort-of equivalent steps (so 21 mm to approx. 28 mm, 28 mm to approx. 35 mm). The M8 is not an adapted M7, it is a totally new camera with a new body (albeit one that bears all the usual M trademarks), a new viewfinder and a new sensor. Nor is it necessarily the end of the line for M film cameras; Leica is leaving that door open, for the moment at least."
If you are in the market for a digital camera with a retro look and a brand name with a long tradition, then this Leica is for you. However, it looks like the M8 is lacking in features in all kinds of ways - no RAW capture, poor auto-white balance, and it doesn't store all the various settings when taking photos. But most importantly, it will set you back $5K for the body alone. Honestly, I would go with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III instead.
If you are in the market for a digital camera with a retro look and a brand name with a long tradition, then this Leica is for you. However, it looks like the M8 is lacking in features in all kinds of ways - no RAW capture, poor auto-white balance, and it doesn't store all the various settings when taking photos. But most importantly, it will set you back $5K for the body alone. Honestly, I would go with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III instead.
