Thinking About Buying a Leica… but which one and type?
I am thinking about buying a Leica. My wife and I are going to Europe in about a year’s time and I want to treat myself to a great camera to capture some of the beautiful architecture, landscape, etc.
I am thinking about buying a Leica M8, however, I am concerned that it will become obsolete extremely quickly compared to a regular film camera. I am NOT a professional photographer and I do not mind digital cameras due to their convenience and ease of use, however, when spending this kind of money, I want something that I can use for a long time. The last thing I want is a cellphone camera to have more megapixels than my Leica in 10 years…. which will probably happen.
What are your thoughts? Which Leica to buy?
Please stay on topic. I do not want opinions on why Leica is too expensive. I am not going to buy a Canon. I am going to buy a Leica no matter what…. as for which kind, that is why I posted here.
Is the M7 going to be a longer lasting camera than the m8
I love Leica M models too, but they’re not the most practical cameras…
They’re compact, but not small enough to fit in your pocket. Leica has some great lenses, but the image quality is not noticeably better than what you can achieve with pro quality Canon/ Nikon gear. The manual focusing is quick, but usually slower than with a decent AF system. The viewfinder has some clever correction for parallax, but it’s not as accurate as a dSLR. A Leica M – be it film or digital – can not begin to compete with quality dSLR cameras when it comes to action/ low light photography. And as for macro photography, long tele lenses, and zoom lenses, you can forget about all of that with a Leica M.
Leica’s main advantages are their almost silent operation and the relatively small form factor. This (still) makes them a great choice for candids. For general photography, however, you’d be better off with a Canon 5D Mk2 or a Nikon D700 with some fast primes… or a 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom. And *then* there’s the price. You could have an extra $6000 to spend on the rest of the trip. (If you think Leica bodies are expensive, wait til you add two or three lenses.)
If you’re still seriously interested in a Leica, I’d decide on the body in combination with the lenses. Don’t worry about the M8 becoming outdated.
For me, the M8 / M8.2 throw the lens selection off by having a 1.33 crop factor. A 35mm lens effectively becomes 47mm due to this. To achieve roughly a 35mm field of view for street photography, you’d require either a 24mm or 28mm lens. Leica has some very nice options, but I’d rather use their current 35mm f/1.4 asph as my main lens; it could very well be the nicest lens they’ve ever made. For me, this alone would dictate an M7. In fact, that’s probably all I’d take with me – I’d leave the 50mm and 90mm at home.
So the question really is, what (range of) lenses would you get with either an M7 or M8? Which combination of gear makes the most sense for what you intend to shoot?
When I went on a round the world trip myself in 2007-8, what I actually took with me was a Nikon D200 with a 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom and a 50mm f/1.4. Today I’d take a Nikon D700 with a 24-70mm f/2.8.
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added: About the M3 suggestion, if you’re not comfortable setting the exposure manually, skip it. With the M3 you have to use an attachment exposure meter and that quickly becomes a p.i.t.a. The M7 has aperture priority mode.
I’ve only seen a hand full of people use a Leica M in the last few years. (They draw my attention faster than any professional dSLR… I’ve also only seen a hand full of people use medium format in the wild.) Of the Leica owners, one or two were using the camera as intended. Two or three others were using it to take poorly timed and composed snapshots – nothing wrong with buying an expensive camera for the joy of using it – and the rest were seemingly wearing their Leica as jewelery. Leicas are very desirable objects but as cameras they don’t make a lot of sense outside of their niche. Almost everyone, from absolute beginner to seasoned pro, would produce a better photo album with a $1500 dSLR setup.
Leica M8 Review and Features
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Leica 14464 Lithium-ion Battery for the M8 Digital Rangefinder Camera (14464) $99.95 |
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Leica Hand Silver Grip f/ M8 Digital Rangefinder Camera $199.00 |
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Leica M8 10.3 MP Digital Camera – Silver (Body Only) $2,200.00 |
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Leica M8 10.3 MP Digital Camera – Black (Body Only) $1,251.00 |
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S2678 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W630 Silver Digital Camera 16.1M+8GB+Gifts+1YrWty $201.89 |
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S2675 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W630 Black Digital Camera 16.1M+8GB+Gifts+1YrWty $201.89 |
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z54 Battery For Leica M8 M8.2 M9 14464 Digital Camera $16.22 |
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S2685 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W650 Black Digital Camera 16.1M+8GB+Gft+1Year Warranty $218.89 |
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S2683 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W650 Silver Digital Camera 16.1M+8GB+Gt+1Year Warranty $218.89 |
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Leica M 8U 10.3 MP Digital Camera – Black (Body Only) $2,999.99 |
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S2688 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W670 Black Digital Camera 16.1M +8GB+Gifts+1YrWty $243.89 |
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S2691 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W670 Silver Digital Camera 16.1M +8GB+Gifts+1Year Warr $243.89 |
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LEICA M8.2 BLACK PAINT DIGITAL RANGEFINDER CAMERA +BOX CLEAN *Only 4314 Shots! $3,350.00 |
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GAP Kids Girls Aqua Digital Camera Tshirt Size S,M,L,XXL NWT $10.99 |
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Leica M8 10.3 MP Digital Camera – Silver (Body Only) $1,025.00 |
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New Battery PAck for Leica BM8 M8 M8.2 Leica M9 14464 Digital Camera BLI-312 $15.88 |
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*Black paint* Leica M8.2 10.3 MP Digital Camera – Black (Body Only) $3,900.00 |
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Leica M Lens 6 Bit Coder Ver.3.0 Kit for M8 M8.2 M9 M9P Digital Cameras $72.00 |
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New 14MP 2.7” TFT LCD Underwater 10M 8x Zoom Digital Camera Waterproof Black $84.98 |
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Leica M8 BW Travel Photography Histogram Camera Digital LFI Magazine 8 2010 $28.75 |
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USB Cable for Leica M8, M8.2 Digital Camera 6-foot (05) $11.94 |
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Women Leica M8 Digilux 3 V-Lux 1 D-Lux 3 camera Digital LFI Magazine 7 2006 $28.75 |
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2012 New BLACK FLASH ScoutGuard SG560K-8M 8MP Long Range Digital Scouting Camera $270.00 |
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New 1700mAh Battery For Leica M8 M8.2 M9 14464 Digital Camera Li-ion Battery $13.59 |
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Leica M brass mount for modification to Digital camera : Ricoh GXR, Leica M9 M8 $39.00 |
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Women Leica M8 Digilux 3 V-Lux 1 D-Lux 3 camera Digital LFI Magazine 7 2006 $28.75 |
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CARPA-130 Car Black Box 2CH Digital Driving Recorder Dual Camera 30fps1.5M 8GB $329.00 |
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LEICA M8 M9 RANGEFINDER DIGITAL CAMERA WALTER RX EYEPIECE ASTIGMATISM SOLUTION $489.00 |
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Leica Hand Silver Grip f/ M8 Digital Rangefinder Camera $199.00 |
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2012 12MP 12M 8X DIGITAL ZOOM HD 720P Digital Video Camcorder camera DV B930 $155.55 |
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(AJ01) jAi CCD CAMERA Digital Camera Link interface CV-M8CL NEW $3,799.99 |
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Epson R-D1 RD1 Rangefinder digital camera Leica M Mount M8 M9 $1,518.02 |
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2X Battery for Leica BM8 M8 M8.2 Leica M9 14464 Digital Camera BLI-312 Li-ion $27.99 |
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2X Battery for Leica BM8 M8 M8.2 Leica M9 14464 Digital Camera BLI-312 Li-ion $27.99 |
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M 8P AV TV Cable Fit Konica Minolta Digital Camera 027 $6.24 |
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Leica 50mm Lenses M8 Digital Bessa R4 Camera Viewfinder magazine 2 2007 Cases $19.95 |
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3.7V 1900mAh Digital Battery Pack For LEICA M8 M8.2 Camera free shipping new $14.99 |
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Leica M8 10.3 MP Digital Camera – Black (Body Only) $2,399.95 |
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B040 New ISO 1700mAh Battery For Leica M8 M8.2 M9 14464 Digital Camera $13.59 |
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LEICA M8 BLACK DIGITAL CAMERA BODY #10701 USED, FIRMWARE 2.014 $2,517.00 |
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