M8 B&W work; lens choice?

[sfbk]

<p>Dear all:<br>

I have just picked up a used M8 that I want to primarily use for B&W work; it has a high shutter count of 28,000 and is being sent to Leica for service; otherwise seems to work well; my interest is mainly street photography and some casual portraiture.<br>

I have an older M6 which I still use occasionally; 2 lenses that I have, include the 50 summilux pre asph and previous version of 28/2.8<br>

Would you be kind enough to give me some advise as to what would be couple of good choices given the crop factor for the M8 sensor. Should I look to get a 35mm lens which would essentially be a normal lens for this body? also, which filters should I look to acquire for B&W work.<br>

Thanks in advance for your help and input.<br>

Best regards.</p>

 

[jim_a]

<p>Abe, hope this makes you feel better about your "high shutter count" M8. An acquaintance has an M8.2 he purchased new in 2008. As of January 2016 when I last spoke with him, his M8.2 was still in action with 103,708 shutter activations. Of course, YMMV...<br>

Either a Zeiss 35/2.8, 35/2 would be good options to consider. A VC 35/2.5 would also be a lens to consider. It's tiny, which is a plus and minus, and inexpensive but still well built. I find the aperture fiddly to change on this lens. </p>

[Greg M]

<p>That's actually a pretty low shutter count for an 11 year old body. I'm about half-way to that number on my 11 month old M262.</p>

<p>The 28mm f2.8 should work pretty darn well as a semi-wide normal lens....the equivalent of using a 35mm lens on a full-frame body. I guess it all depends on whether you see things more in terms of 50mm or 35mm as "normal".</p>

[Jochen_S]

<p>I have an M8. - Most of the time I am using my 50mm 'cron on it. The 21mm Zeiss acting as my wide requires an external finder.<br>

For 35mm I am pretty content with a Hexanon f2 but barely use it (on M8). I think 28 & 50mm should be a nice basic combo. - Add something wider once you'll feel the need. I'm reluctant to suggest a moderately fast 90mm for the long end since I am way too often running out of speed with the M8 and getting a 90mm 'cron focused wide open comes close to a <em>wildest</em> dream. (Yes, I sent mine in for the last RF adjustment).<br>

No clue about filters. - Can't you emulate them in PP? - Get out of AWB if you use them! In doubt just act as if your sensor was the film you are used to.<br>

Some IR filters should be very nice to have with the M8. - I'll buy them some day.<br>

I'm usually running the M8 in RAW + B&W JPG for personal work to accompany my Monochrom as half of a 2nd body.<br>

If you ever end doing color better get those UV+IR block filters.</p>

[mukul_dube]

<p>I agree that you should work with the 28 and the 50 until you actually feel the need of something between them, or of something wider.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Your 50mm Summilux will make a good portraiture lens (about 67 mm equivalent), with the 28 becoming a 37mm wide normal.</p>

<p>A 21mm lens can take the place of a 28mm on a full frame camera and you might find either an older used LTM or M mount f2.8 lens. Less expensive is the 21mm f4 VC lens, but a used Japanese Kobalux f2.8 lens (production ceased in 2002) can also probably be found for less than $500, although you might need a separate 28mm VF for your M8.</p>

<p>Have fun.</p>

[charlie_webster1]

<p>The 28 Elmarit v3 is a famous lens on the M8. Not sure which version you have. The CV 21/4 should actually be pretty good, for not much money also, but not sure what VF you would need. </p>

[Greg M]

<p>"Previous version", would be the 28mm f2.8 ASPH introduced in 2006 with the M8, the one just replaced, and it is both excellent and tiny. No reason not to use it on an M8.</p>

[charles_stobbs3]

Trade in the M8 for an M9?

[gary_b._herbst]

<p>You might want to try a Zeiss 24mm f2.8 on your M8. Gives an equivalent to about 32 mm on a M8/M8.2. I took a long trip a few years ago and used that combo for over 90% of my shots. Used between 2.8 - 8 for most of the photos. 24 is the widest frame in the M8 without using an ext. finder. Very solidly made and very sharp for me.</p>

[Brian1664876441]

Have you tried using the full view of the finder to frame your shots with the 21mm? The entire area of the viewfinder, including that outside the 24mm framelines, is fairly close to 21mm- skip the external viewfinder unless shooting closer-in where parallax may be an issue.

[kin_yu1]

<p>Abe: Go "Retro" .</p><div></div>

[Allen Herbert]

<p > </p>

 

<p>"Trade in the M8 for an M9?"Charlie.</p>

<p>Trade in Charlie.</p>

 

[Allen Herbert]

<p>M8....</p><div></div>

[Allen Herbert]

<p>M8 the word for BW only challenged by the M monochrome and then a tight race.</p>

[Allen Herbert]

<p>To answer the post.</p>

<p>Elmarit 2.8 non ASPH affordable by Leica standards and rated by most Leica folk.</p>

<p>The above photo.</p>

[Allen Herbert]

<p> </p><div></div>

[kin_yu1]

<p>Because of M8's IR sensitivity, on so called B & W pictures, more details will appear, especially on portraits. M9 has a defective sensor so you can forget about it. </p>

[Greg M]

<p>That's a bunch of rubbish. If an M9 develops the defect, Leica replaces the sensor for free with a new version that won't develop the problem, whether you bought the camera new or used. These days, a lot of used M9's are for sale that have already had the new sensor installed. Kinda hard to go wrong there.</p>

[allancobb]

<p>I use the 35mm f/2.5 Voigtlander Color-Skopar PII pancake on my M8. A little slower perhaps, but fine for most of what you'd might use it for, plus the image quality is excellent, especially for the price. It's compactness allows the camera to hide under a coat or fit into a small case.</p>

[john_r._fulton_jr.]

<p>Your 28 + 50 are good for a start. 50 will be a bit long but the 28 will be 35mm effective. I mostly use a 35mm.<br>

By the way, Jim A., I'm now past 120,000 on my M8.2. 'Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. Hope all still well with that M262.</p>

[ray .]

I used a 21, 28, and 35 on the M8 I had. 50 is too long for me on an M8, for street photography. Using a 21 Zeiss

f/4.5 Biogon on the M8 was tricky because it's so contrasty. Very good for evenly lit overcast though. I don't know if the other Zeiss ZM lenses are similar.

 

Agree the 28mm Elmarit version III is killer on the M8. Great smokey tones with lots of midrange in

b&w. I'm not sure how much using Capture One RAW converter had anything to do with it at the time, but I think it

was an assist.

 

35 Summicron version IV was also excellent on the camera. Nice rich blacks while maintaining control over the range.

 

For 28, I also had good results with the 2.8 asph. Capture One again may have helped. If you print your work, the type of paper you choose can be another tweak you can make for contrast.

[ray .]

Here's the M8 with 35 Summicron pre-asph version IV:<div></div>

[ray .]

28 Elmarit version III:<div></div>

[kin_yu1]

<p>Dear Greg:</p>

<p>Here is more rubbish for the M9 besides having to ship the camera to Leica God knows where and wait:<br>

1. The SD card is unreadable after you think you took a lot of pictures. This was widely reported several years ago by a professional photographer and Leica tried to cover it up. </p>

<p>2. The color of pictures appear terrible compared to Nikon and Canon.</p>

<p> </p>