Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/01/11

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Subject: [Leica] M8 Article in LFI
From: grduprey at mchsi.com (grduprey@mchsi.com)
Date: Thu Jan 11 18:40:12 2007

Some people buy these things to announce they ahve arrived.  Others buy them 
because they meet their expectations for time keepin, transportation or what 
ever.  Not everyone buys expensive things to show off.  I buy the best items 
because they last longer and provide better service to me.  I have no reason 
to impress others.  My Leicas were purchased because they are built better 
and meet my needs far better than the Nikons and Canons I have used in the 
past.  I have also used Hasselblads, and I preferred the now extinct Bronica 
camera.  I still have a Nikon F3, but it sits in the camera bag unused, as 
the Leica SLRs I have are superior in my opinion.  I hated the M3 I had, so 
I got rid of it.  When the M6TTL came out it was a better camera for me so I 
bought it and I love it, the controls are superior to those on the M3 for 
me.  Sorry for the rant, but you seem to equate the purchasing of expensive 
items to those who want to flaunt their wealth.  While it may be true for 
some, it 
is certainly not true for all.  I am certainly not wealthy by any streach of 
the imagination, but if I can afford an item of higher quality, I will 
definitely do so.  My wife on the other hand will spend her money on the 
cheapest item she can find ,and then end up spending the much more money by 
constantly replacing it with another of the same.

Gene


-------------- Original message from "Jayanand Govindaraj" 
<jayanand@gmail.com>: -------------- 


> Mehrdad, 
> People buy a Rolex/Porsche etc to announce to the world that they have 
> arrived. Otherwise they use Timex/Toyota (or whatever). I notice that 
> Leica 
> has stepped up advertising for the M8 considerably in magazines like 
> GQ/Esquire/Mens Vogue, rather than photography magazines, with slick arty 
> ads. Which market do you think they are after? 
> Cheers 
> Jayanand 
> 
> On 1/11/07, mehrdad wrote: 
> > 
> > B.D. i think you are more stuck in the name and in particular this 
> > "leica name " every time there is a praise of a leica something you 
> > go off thinking that everybody is under some sort spell and the magic 
> > red dot makes people say good things. 
> > 
> > i shoot with more camera brands and lenses than anybody i know ( i 
> > love gadgets), and so far i have been very pleased with the images 
> > from the M8. i have also been shooting with the pentax k10d and some 
> > the pentax prime lenses; oh boy this might be one the best. i have 
> > recently bought couple of sigma lenses for in the 4/3 mount and the 
> > results have been stunning also. 
> > 
> > Price is very deceiving these days, both a $20 times and $20k rolex 
> > tell the time and both very accurate, why do some people buy a rolex? 
> > the same is true about honda element (my favorite car) and a Porsche 
> > turbo, both take you place one costs 9 times more. i think price these 
> > days is more of a differentiator of class and not quality any more. by 
> > the way canon g7 is just awesome and in this list i talk about mostly 
> > about leica. 
> > 
> > 
> > On 1/10/07, B. D. Colen wrote: 
> > > But if precisely the same $4800 camera - looked and felt like a film 
> > > M, 
> > nice 
> > > bright viewfinder, solidly built, M lens mount, 10 mpg - with 
> > > precisely 
> > the 
> > > same problems - electronic but no dust or moisture seals, banding, IR 
> > > weirdness, green blobs, questionable battery life, need for IR cut-off 
> > > filters on lenses, noise levels much, much higher than Canon's, etc. 
> > etc. - 
> > > were manufactured by Nikon, Canon, Cosina, or Zeiss for that matter, 
> > would 
> > > you still call it "a great camera and worth the extra learning curve?" 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On 1/10/07 1:24 PM, "mehrdad" wrote: 
> > > 
> > > > despite, all of the problems, it is a great camera and worth the 
> > > > learning curve extra cost. 
> > > > 
> > > > On 1/10/07, Colin J wrote: 
> > > >> Eric Korenman wrote: 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> The recent article in LFI about the M8 takes on three major 
> > > >>> issues: 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> 1) IR - they explain it well and the steps to deal with it. 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> 2) Banding - they say it was fixed in the hardware upgrade 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> 3) 8 / 16 bit capture.. 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> ..Well here is where I think they turn on the smoke machine and 
> > bring in 
> > > >>> some mirrors. 
> > > >>> They present information about how the data is compressed by the 
> > square root 
> > > >>> , 
> > > >>> but when it comes down to it, it still sounds like a form of lossy 
> > data 
> > > >>> compression. 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> IE, The chip captures 14 bit data, crunches it to a non-linear 8 
> > bit form, 
> > > >>> which is latter re-expanded 
> > > >>> to bit to form the final 16 bit image file. 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> So.. Isn't the weakest link in the imaging processing chain an 8 
> > > >>> bit 
> > format? 
> > > >>> LFI then goes on to say essentially "you won't see the difference 
> > anyway" 
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> Anyone care to help on the matter? I am missing the point? 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> Eric, 
> > > >> 
> > > >> The only point you are missing is that no-one should question or 
> > criticise 
> > > >> the Leica M8 on this mailing list. We should always be supporting 
> > Leica 
> > > >> instead, and saying only nice things about the M8 ... 
> > > >> 
> > > >> ... like Mr Erwin Puts is now doing, now he is back on the payroll. 
> > > >> 
> > > >> Yours with a wry smile (because we are not permitted to laugh), 
> > > >> 
> > > >> Colin 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> Send instant messages to your online friends 
> > http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com 
> > > >> 
> > > >> 
> > > >> _______________________________________________ 
> > > >> Leica Users Group. 
> > > >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more 
> > > >> information 
> > > >> 
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________ 
> > > Leica Users Group. 
> > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > ------------------------------------- 
> > regards, mehrdad 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________ 
> > Leica Users Group. 
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information 
> > 
> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Leica Users Group. 
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information