Never bought a DSLR ... waiting for a D-CRF : M8 ?

I like the results film produces ( NPH/Tri-X/Acros/TMZ ) i.e. the tone, sharpness and accutence of a good

optical print.

 

4000dpi Digital scans and prints, on a Epson 2200, just don't look as good, and seem to take me much

longer to print, at bigger than web quality, compared to going into the darkroom.

 

I've used this viewpoint to maintain a belief in the superiority of film.

The lack of a compact sized SLR with fast prime lenses, good VF, good build, film equivalence etc. has

kept me from fully embracing the digital world.

 

Maybe the M8 will be it, but I'm still waiting to see the evidence, before deciding if it really adds any value

for me ( given that a couple of round the World trips can be had for it's, or a new DSLR system's, price ).

 

So, I was just wondering: How many here have also never bought a DSLR ?

Is the M8 it for you ? What advantage, other than convenience, finally made the investment worthwhile ?

The M8 is making me think that maybe the Canon 5D isn't so expensive after all...

Look up the brand new Pentax K10D with the pancake primes...body is $900...

 

JC

I saw the 5D next to the D200 and it looked smaller than the Nikon. I was suprised that the finder was so large and bright. For the money its a real value since its a FF dslr about 13mp made from magnesium and has great high iso ability. Canon makes their own sensors which helps them trim costs and shorten new product cycles.

The 5D seems to have best VF and a range of fast lenses, however to the M8 works out

cheaper once a couple of Canon lenses is considered.

 

The Pentax 10D and the 21/31/43 special edition lenses does look like the best value with

nice lenses. This would probably me my choice if I wanted to try out the DSLR world.

 

Currently, I use a pair of old M6s and 21/35/50.

 

Anyone ordered a M8 who has never bought a DSLR ?

I'll compare my Minolta 600si with my Konica Minolta 5D. Both use the same lenses. The 600si is a great film camera, and it's controls are really a masterpiece of simplicity. The 5D tries to maintain that but fails with multitudes of nested menus. I find that without using the camera continuously I need to consult the manual just to remember how to delete the images on the card.

 

The lens that came with the 5D isn't one of Minolta's best, but it's more that adequate to produce very good images. The pictures aren't as good as a good film, but it's pretty close, especially with 8x10's or lower. The image quality is quite good, and the image stabilization seems to really work (and it works with all lenses because it's in the camera).

 

The biggest downfall (aside from the complexity) is the high magnification sensor, which transforms all the lenses to about 1.3x the focal length. And finding a Minolta 35 fixed lens is a little difficult these days.

 

So my thoughts are -- I hate the 1.3x magnification, and I don't like the spike in complexity in using the camera, I think it gets in the way of thinking about the picture. I like the immediacy of knowing that you have the shot, and the image stabilization.

 

The M8 has the same 1.3x mag which might be a dealkiller right there. I don't know about the complexity yet. I like the fact that Leica is trying to move with the times, but I'm not happy about their decision not to go with a full frame sensor.

Re <I>I'm not happy about their decision not to go with a full frame sensor.</i><BR><BR>Their decision was a rational one. A full frame sensor verision would have just 3000 bucks more, come later, and would be made in a radically less production run.