Any word on M8 flash sync speed?

I've found specs on the web that state the M8 will have a 1/8000 top shutter speed, but I can't find

anything about the flash sync speed. Does anyone here know what it will be?

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27152

 

1/250 according to the above.

According to RFF, the top shutter speed will be 1/4000 not 1/8000. I haven't seen any official specs, however.

Hallelujah.

 

The specs on this camera sound appealing, even if the price is stiff. Now that they're

entering the digital arena, it seems like they've finally bid good-riddance to some of their

historical baggage like the cloth shutter with its very limiting 1/50th sync speed.

 

I also read they plan to make a digital "Tri-elmar"....any truth to that?

I'm expecting a lot of digital freaks dumping this camera when they find that they don't like a rangefinder at all. ;)

How could anyone not like a rangefinder at all? There won't be used ones right away -- it'll take a while.

Well people were saying that the M8 was going to use the shutter from the R9. If that is true,

the sync is 1/250th. It also has a 1/8000th top speed, but I can understand that it might not

be as high in a smaller body like the M8...perhaps it takes too much power to go that fast. I

have no idea....<P>But in any case, the flash sync is almost guaranteed to be higher since

they are going from a cloth shutter to a metal one.

I can't wait for the special edition with no range finder, a 1/25th sync speed and a

seperate knob for slow shutter speeds....HAR! Better yet, a digital O series that

requires you cap the lens in the split second before it advances the shutter

electronically. No LCD screen!

Stuart - "If that is true, the sync is 1/250th. It also has a 1/8000th top speed, but I can understand that it might not be as high in a smaller body like the M8...perhaps it takes too much power to go that fast. I have no idea...."

 

It's actually the other way around. It requires "precision" to have high max speeds. The second curtain has to be timed to follow exactly 1/8000 sec behind the first. They have to move so smoothly that in the 1/350 or so "running time" of the two curtains, neither speeds up or slows down enough so that they're following by anything else than 1/8000 sec during the entire trip.

 

It takes "power" to get a higher x-sync. That means reducing the run time. The run time for a 1/250 sec sync is about 1/333 sec (1/250 sec sync window - 1/1000 sec longest flash). Making the shutter run faster means bigger springs to get the curtains moving faster (and bigger motors to wind the bigger springs) and bigger "shock absorbers" to catch the curtains at the end of the high speed run. The counterweights that "damp" the shutter motion also have to move faster, by bigger springs. More force to start and stop everything also means all support structures need to be bigger.

 

It doesn't hurt if you're good at materials engineering. Nikon first got high sync speeds into small cameras (like FM2n) by going to honeycomb composite titanium blades. Picture "tech words" in a Leica add.

 

"When worlds collide: M8 wraps a solid machined brass body around a quilted titanium/carbon composite shutter to bring you a photographic experience unlike any other".

 

(and yes, I know "shutter" and "other" is rather straining the rhyme)

Kevin, AFAIK the NDAs expire in a few weeks and we'll have the true specifications from Leica and the rumours and speculation can stop. Bad news is, if you aren't on a dealer's pre order list by now, your chances of getting an M8 before this time next year are slim.

I just hope that they get the orders out quickly. I did not preorder this time because I wanted

to see the camera and specs before I decided to go for one. I did pre-order a DMR and I was

number 2 on my dealer's list. Nevertheless, I received my DMR in September when I ordered it

in January. If Leica is holding off unveiling it until it is ready to ship a bunch out the door, I

think that is a much wiser move. I know that I was extremely annoyed that I had to wait

almost 9 months between the official release date and the time that I got my camera, and I

had used a major dealer! Hopefully Leica will be able to supply the demand in a reasonable

time for the M8, and I hope that there are no major bugs in the camera as well...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if the M8 has the image quality of the DMR, a

1/250th flash sync, good quality high iso capture and is priced under $5,000, that Leica is

actually in the digital game. Canon's pro 1-series bodies cost as much, and no one blinks at

their price.

It's a very strong limb. According to three major US Leica dealers I've spoken with the preorders for the M8 are running about 20x what they were for the DMR at the same time pre-intro. They say Leica told them their entire 1st year of planned production is accounted for already. And nobody knows at this point whether the M8 will be less, more or the same performance as the DMR or any other digital. So unless I'm drawing a false conclusion, the specifications of the M8 are of secondary importance to a lot of people than the mere fact it exists. The comparison to Canon's pro series is good now, but the question arises, what about Canon's next act, which may be 24+mp with even better high-ISO performance, and probably the same price if history is a guide. The argument that 10mp is "enough" is a good one but Leica is interested in selling to more people than just the ones who understand it.