THE LEICA M8 REVIEW - PAGE  1 - 2 - 3 - 4

THE M8 ACCESSORIES

The M8 has at least two accessories that I found useful, including the GRIP. This gives you a “handle” to grip onto. It is especially useful if you have large hands. Even those with small hands will enjoy the feel of the added grip. It is basically a new bottom plate that attaches to your M8. Take the original off, replace with the new grip plate! I ended up selling my grip as it made the camera too bulky for my tastes. Still, many swear by it and would not use their m8 without one. It comes in black, or silver.

There is also a Leica branded Leather half case for the M8 which protects the camera while you use it. I used to own the half case but ended up taking it off as again, it added bulk. But it was an attractive case and did keep the M8 under wraps.

If you want the ULTIMATE case for your M8, I would suggest Luigi’s M8 Half Case. He is in Italy but he makes each case by hand out of genuine leather. They are beautiful. Costly, but beautiful.

HIGH ISO FULL SIZE SAMPLES

CLICK HERE FOR AN ISO 640 FULL SIZE SAMPLE - YES THIS WAS LOW LIGHT at 1.4

CLICK HERE FOR AN ISO 1250 FULL SIZE SAMPLE IN LIVING ROOM LIGHT 1.4

CLICK HERE FOR AN ISO 2500 FULL SIZE SAMPLE IN LIVING ROOM LIGHT 1.4

“MY M9 WISH LIST”

FULL FRAME SENSOR WITH USABLE ISO TO 6400

DEDICATED ISO DIAL/SWITCH ON CAMERA BODY

LARGER MORE ACCURATE LCD

IMPROVED AWB

OF COURSE THE NEW M8.2 SHUTTER and FASTER WRITE TIMES TO CARD

If you have an M8 with firmware older than 2.004 then I suggest downloading the latest version as it will give improvements in your M8, including the new DISCREET SHUTTER MODE OF THE M8.2! THIS IS A MAJOR UPDATE! Released March 3rd 2009!.

CLICK HERE FOR LATEST M8 FIRMWARE 2.004

The latest version of the M8 firmware is 2.004 and with this release Leica added the very cool DISCRETE MODE to the menu. What does this mean? Well, if you are shooting where you need to be “DISCREET” you can now press the shutter and get the quiet “click” and the shutter will not re-cock until you let your finger off of it. This is much easier to show, so I made a video using the Leica D-Lux 4:

This review would not be complete without showing you this really cool video on the M8. THIS WILL MAKE YOU WANT ONE! It pretty much explains the whole M experience:

SUMMING IT ALL UP

Leica seems to be on a roll introducing new lenses for the M system. As of this writing, the newly announced 18 F3.4, 21 1.4, 24 1.4 and 0.95 50 Noctilux Leica are making their way to the hands of M shooters worldwide. Leica must have future plans for the M8 line to be investing so much in lens design.

I enjoy the heck out of my M8 and use it EVERY single day. It is almost like I have a mistress as the M8 is so beautiful. My wife even gets jealous if I take too much camera time with the M8. But, even she has been seduced by its beauty as she has been mentioning how it’s unfair that I get an M8 and she only has a little old P&S cam (UPDATE: I just bought her a Leica D-Lux 4 and it is incredible!). Buy the M8 and you will be sure to fall in love as well. Just don’t blame me when you go broke buying lenses! UPDATE: I now have the M9!

I HIGHLY recommend B&H Photo in the USA. I have bought LITERALLY A TON of camera, video, and even computer equipment from them over the past 10 years without one problem. They have the best customer service I have ever experienced in my life. CLICK HERE if you want to check out the M8 on BH’s web site. If you shoot an M8 or if this review helped you to decide to buy one, e-mail me and let me know how you like it! Also, if you buy one after using the link here you and B&H will be helping to support this site, and I need all the support I can get!

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL M8 PHOTO GALLERY FULL OF SAMPLES FROM THIS CAMERA! THIS WILL OPEN A NEW WINDOW.

CLICK HERE FOR MY M8.2 NEW FEATURE BREAKDOWN/REVIEW