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== M8 FAQ == | == M8 FAQ == | ||
1. The sensor is a 1.3 crop, the recorded field of view of lenses designed for FF (35mm) changes accordingly. | |||
2. The M8 uses manual focus lenses, with manual setting of the f-stop. There is no image stabilization in the lenses or the camera body. The camera is generally designed for use with wide angle up to short telephoto lenses (normally 90 mm max). There is a viewfinder which is separate from the lens ie you dont view the image through the lens as you do with a DSLR. Focusing is achieved using the rangefinder in the viewfinder. An excellent animation of how the rangefinder works can be seen on the Leica website. Frame lines present in the viewfinder indicate the the boundaries of the image to be captured. They change depending on the lens fitted and are accurate at the closest focus distance of the lens (often 0.7m). At longer distances the frame lines show less than the image captured. | |||
3. For proper colour reproduction and best sharpness, lenses must be fitted with uv/ir cut filters. These are not the standard uv filters that are fitted to help protect lenses nor are they filters for ir photography. Having bought your M8 you can order two FOC from Leica. If you borrow an M8 for a trial make sure the lens is fitted with a uv/ir cut filter. | |||
4. The sensor is not fitted with an anti-aliasing filter. As a result great image sharpness can be achieved using the M8, at the expense of increased moire in a few situations. | |||
5. The menu is very very simple compared to DSLR cameras. There is a battery indicator on the top plate. | |||
6. The camera is designed primarily for one-shot operation although the continuous setting allows about 2fps for up to 10 frames. There is also a self-timer. The shutter is apparently louder than previous film M Leicas (which are renown for their quiet shutters). | |||
7. The camera uses SD cards not SDHC cards. You need to remove the baseplate of the camera to access the SD card and the battery. | |||
8. The metering is centre-weighted as opposed to the 'matrix' system used in many DSLRs. The metering pattern is shown in the user manual and taking note of it helps greatly in making correct exposures. There are no alternative metering patterns. | |||
9. Two shooting modes are available. Fully manual mode uses the shutter speed dial on the camera and the aperture ring on the lens. In this case LEDs in the viewfinder indicate the correct exposure but note that the shutter speed is not indicated. Alternatively in Auto mode the user sets the aperture ring on the lens and the camera determines the shutter speed which is indicated in the viewfinder. Exposure compensation can be set in Auto mode. | |||
10. Current Leica lenses are coded. As a result the camera knows which lens is fitted and makes corrections in software to negate both vignetting and colour shifts that occur when using uv/ir cut filters. Although the camera knows which lens is fitted it does not know which f-stop is used, thus this information is not included in the exif. Most old Leica lenses can be coded by Leica at the customer's expense but Leica does not code Zeiss or CV lenses, users can make their own arrangements for these lenses. Coding is most useful for lenses wider than 35mm. | |||
11. The camera outputs RAW files and jpg files. Best results are obtained in RAW mode. Leica provides a copy of Capture 1 LE v3.7 for the processing of RAW files (dng). Capture 1 LE v3.7 will not run on Windows Vista or the latest Mac OS, however the latest version – Capture 1 v4.1 can be downloaded from the Pase One website and activated with the key included on the Capture 1 LE v3.7 disc. Other RAW converters can be used including Adobe Camera Raw, Adobe Lightroom, Aperture and others. The choice of RAW convertor is often decided by personal workflow arrangements but some users feel that Capture 1 gives the best overall results. | |||
12. The ISO setting ranges from 160 up to 2500. Using Auto and 160 ISO many users find that setting -1/3 or -2/3 ev is useful for avoiding blown highlights in some situations. Conversely, at ISO 640 and above, under exposure should be avoided for the best results in terms of keeping digital noise as low as possible. | |||
13. (Or 14 for the superstitious amonst us) The M8 is compatible with a very large selection of Leica M-mount and Leica Thread Mount (LTM) lenses, which include those that are manufactured today and back to lenses that were manufactured 50 or more years ago. Other manufacturers such as Zeiss, Cosina Voigtlander and Canon have produced lenses in M-mount and LTM, which offers a wide range of lenses with differing characteristics, quality and price points. | |||
== M8 Firmware History == | == M8 Firmware History == | ||
*1.06 | *1.06 | ||
Revision as of 11:54, 24 June 2008
M System
- M Lenses
- Non-Leica M Lenses
- M Accessories
- Non-Leica M Accessories
M8 FAQ
1. The sensor is a 1.3 crop, the recorded field of view of lenses designed for FF (35mm) changes accordingly.
2. The M8 uses manual focus lenses, with manual setting of the f-stop. There is no image stabilization in the lenses or the camera body. The camera is generally designed for use with wide angle up to short telephoto lenses (normally 90 mm max). There is a viewfinder which is separate from the lens ie you dont view the image through the lens as you do with a DSLR. Focusing is achieved using the rangefinder in the viewfinder. An excellent animation of how the rangefinder works can be seen on the Leica website. Frame lines present in the viewfinder indicate the the boundaries of the image to be captured. They change depending on the lens fitted and are accurate at the closest focus distance of the lens (often 0.7m). At longer distances the frame lines show less than the image captured.
3. For proper colour reproduction and best sharpness, lenses must be fitted with uv/ir cut filters. These are not the standard uv filters that are fitted to help protect lenses nor are they filters for ir photography. Having bought your M8 you can order two FOC from Leica. If you borrow an M8 for a trial make sure the lens is fitted with a uv/ir cut filter.
4. The sensor is not fitted with an anti-aliasing filter. As a result great image sharpness can be achieved using the M8, at the expense of increased moire in a few situations.
5. The menu is very very simple compared to DSLR cameras. There is a battery indicator on the top plate.
6. The camera is designed primarily for one-shot operation although the continuous setting allows about 2fps for up to 10 frames. There is also a self-timer. The shutter is apparently louder than previous film M Leicas (which are renown for their quiet shutters).
7. The camera uses SD cards not SDHC cards. You need to remove the baseplate of the camera to access the SD card and the battery.
8. The metering is centre-weighted as opposed to the 'matrix' system used in many DSLRs. The metering pattern is shown in the user manual and taking note of it helps greatly in making correct exposures. There are no alternative metering patterns.
9. Two shooting modes are available. Fully manual mode uses the shutter speed dial on the camera and the aperture ring on the lens. In this case LEDs in the viewfinder indicate the correct exposure but note that the shutter speed is not indicated. Alternatively in Auto mode the user sets the aperture ring on the lens and the camera determines the shutter speed which is indicated in the viewfinder. Exposure compensation can be set in Auto mode.
10. Current Leica lenses are coded. As a result the camera knows which lens is fitted and makes corrections in software to negate both vignetting and colour shifts that occur when using uv/ir cut filters. Although the camera knows which lens is fitted it does not know which f-stop is used, thus this information is not included in the exif. Most old Leica lenses can be coded by Leica at the customer's expense but Leica does not code Zeiss or CV lenses, users can make their own arrangements for these lenses. Coding is most useful for lenses wider than 35mm.
11. The camera outputs RAW files and jpg files. Best results are obtained in RAW mode. Leica provides a copy of Capture 1 LE v3.7 for the processing of RAW files (dng). Capture 1 LE v3.7 will not run on Windows Vista or the latest Mac OS, however the latest version – Capture 1 v4.1 can be downloaded from the Pase One website and activated with the key included on the Capture 1 LE v3.7 disc. Other RAW converters can be used including Adobe Camera Raw, Adobe Lightroom, Aperture and others. The choice of RAW convertor is often decided by personal workflow arrangements but some users feel that Capture 1 gives the best overall results.
12. The ISO setting ranges from 160 up to 2500. Using Auto and 160 ISO many users find that setting -1/3 or -2/3 ev is useful for avoiding blown highlights in some situations. Conversely, at ISO 640 and above, under exposure should be avoided for the best results in terms of keeping digital noise as low as possible.
13. (Or 14 for the superstitious amonst us) The M8 is compatible with a very large selection of Leica M-mount and Leica Thread Mount (LTM) lenses, which include those that are manufactured today and back to lenses that were manufactured 50 or more years ago. Other manufacturers such as Zeiss, Cosina Voigtlander and Canon have produced lenses in M-mount and LTM, which offers a wide range of lenses with differing characteristics, quality and price points.
M8 Firmware History
- 1.06
- 1.09 (Dec 2006)
- 1.091 (28 Feb 2007)
- 1.092 (05 Mar 2007)
Version 1.092 Includes: In Review mode the bar above the image is black and now includes displays for the shutter and ISO speeds as well as the image number. The clipping function is now accessible directly in Auto Review mode, i.e. without having to press the INFO button first. The color rendition with Adobe Camera Raw was improved. If Auto Review and Histogram are both selected in the menu, this is now indicated as „Hold/Histogr.” The word „disabled” has been replaced by „off”. Numerous internal procedures were improved and so-called bug-fixes implemented.
- 1.102 (14 Mar 2007)
Version 1.102 Addresses: Image quality problems resulting from the M8 sensor sensitivity for infrared light. Depending on the angle of the light it can lead to color offsets near the image edges with focal lengths from 16 to 35mm and will give an undesirable magenta-colored offset effect. Leica has therefore recommended the use of special Leica UV/IR filters. Together with coded lenses, this new firmware version corrects these color offsets.
- 1.107 (27 Jul 2007)
Version 1.107 Includes: Changes within the firmware allowing Leica Camera an even saver and more efficient production process. Modification of internal procedures, optimisation of the general image reproduction and the functional features of the LEICA M8 has been accomplished.
- 1.110 (05 Nov 2007)
Version 1.110 Includes: 6 Bit lens codes for Summarit-M lenses 35, 50, 75 and 90 mm; Time shortened between pre-flash and main flash in M-TTL mode with flashes LEICA SF24 D and SCA compatible flashguns function of the central setting wheel on the camera back improved (unintentional scrolling of the menu now prevented) battery capacity display improved Change in the French menu: «Marche +UV/IR» instead «Marche avec»
- 1.201 (02 Feb 2008)
Version 1.201 Includes: New and considerably improved algorithms for the automatic white balance (AWB), Bug fixes: The following effects have been remedied: With certain SD card types, images were bouncing while being reviewed. In few cases, wrong exposures were reported when the camera was released from stand-by mode. In the Exif data, the Max-Aperture-Value of the TRI-ELMAR-M 16-18-21mm/f4 ASPH was incorrect.
