Leica M8 Upgrade Program a Bargain for the Rich
Leica's newly announced upgrade program for their M8 digital rangefinder cameras is intriguing. Instead of releasing a new model that obviates the previous, Leica is making certain upgrades available to M8 owners, including an LCD monitor cover made of sapphire and a new less-noisy shutter—for €1,200. Ridiculous, yes, but ever-so-slightly less so when you realize that the M8's suggested price is $5,500.
In short, the upgrade program is a great idea for camera owners and it's high time digital hardware be privy to the same long lifecycle of analog equipment, but you're still a twat if you own an M8 in the first place. (I'll admit, though, that this is exposing some of the inherent frisson between my desire for inexpensive goods and a willingness to pay a premium for quality.)
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Are you as much of a twat if you own the $7999 Canon 1Ds or the $5000 D3? Is it price related or is there a personal scale of unfulfilled desire which maps onto a graph of loathing?
If you buy 1Ds instead of a Rebel as an amateur photographer, then yes, you're a twat. I will admit that the scale is very mushy, based on personal whim, local windspeed, and percentage of cotton/poly blend in my shorts.
If you read some reviews of the M8 written by actual photographers rather than Leica fetishists, the Canon or Nikon are both clearly superior cameras. The Leica mostly has a lot of Teutonic wanking going on.
The twattish part is that the M8 just isn't particularly good at what it does, at least relative to the extraordinary price. A 1Ds will get substantially better picture quality than medium format film cameras (in colour, at least) in a body that handles as well as the best and fastest of film 35mm bodies. A D3 will bang away all day at 9fps, autofocus faster than you can think, even in bad light, meter better than you can and go 3000 shots on a single battery. The 1DmkIII will do 15fps. Both Canon and Nikon have pin-sharp zoom lenses with ultrasonic focussing and image stabilisation. I simply fail to see why you'd buy a Leica when $2500 prosumer DSLRs like the 5D are better in every respect. There's no logic to it, no business sense. There is nothing that the Leica will do that cheaper cameras won't do faster, more conveniently and with better results. That, to me, is twattish - more money than sense kind of behaviour.
The twattish part is that the M8 just isn't particularly good at what it does, at least relative to the extraordinary price.
I don't know if I'm misinterpreting your post, but it seems that you're not commenting on how the M8 isn't good at what it does, but how it isn't good at what DSLRs do. You mentioned the 1Ds, D3, 1DmkIII, and the 5D. Those are all DSLRs.
The M8 also sucks at TTL composition. It doesn't have a mirror either! Oh, and little to nothing at the telephoto range. Why? Because it's a rangefinder.
I'll agree that Leicas are unjustifiably expensive (a film M7 STILL costs $4000 new), but it's a fallacy to be comparing the M8, or any rangefinder, to any SLR/DSLR.
For some photographers, the rangefinder style as a feature trumps frames per second, megapixel count, and other features beloved by other photographers.
If Canon & Nikon had their own digital rangefinder systems available (which would be amazing!) that had a comparable feature set while lacking the Leica premium, then your argument would have some heft to it.
Until then, photographers that prefer using rangefinder cameras have three options: switch to a digital P&S, get an M8, or continue to shoot with film.
Probably not as twattish as the reverse snobbery of your comment, which has no other apparent justification than the fact that the M8 is expensive.
The price of the Leica M8 isn't particularly outrageous when compared to the flagship cameras of other manufacturers and when you consider that their development costs need to be spread over a far smaller customer base than the Japanese manufacturers.
It's a tool, and some tools are expensive. Yes, some get sold to people who can't really exploit what it's capable of. That's true of musical instruments, oil paints, and every other item we use to create art. Shall we start passing sumptuary laws, limiting people's ability to buy something till they are somehow "worthy" of it?
People are still actively repairing Leicas from the 1930s, because other people are still enjoying using them to take pictures. How many of the gadgets reviewed here will be something that people care about in 5 years?
as much as it is rediculous...this is awesome. come on, how many baddass 20ds and digital rebels out there are getting left on the wayside when there could be a legitimate hardware upgrade to the body...
or hell! a firmware upgrade? godaamn DMCA, i own my hardware, why the hell can't i do with it what i want, why do i have to be locked to proprietary hardware/firmware that is never upgraded, when the hardware is clearly capable of much much more with a simple firmware upgrade?? bah. fegin corporate facism
@ Anonymous:
"A 1Ds will get substantially better picture quality than medium format film cameras (in colour, at least) in a body that handles as well as the best and fastest of film 35mm bodies."
Um...no, a 1Ds will not best medium format film cameras. You need a digital back for a Hassy for that. And several 10's of thousands of dollars.
Also, this is traditional Leica behavior. There have been many "upgrade" programs since the '30's on their cameras. I saw photos of a Standard that had been upgraded to a II way back in the day. That took skill.
I think a few of you are missing the point... Leica has always stood for the pinnacle in quality workmanship and reliability. Their lenses are second to none and their cameras are designed to have everything you need and nothing you don't. Leica's focus has always been on quality and the essence of photography and they are trying to carry this over into the digital medium. The M8 has it's issues and I sure can't afford one, but this upgrade program is setting a very important example, which the rest of the professional digital camera market is sure to notice. I wouldn't be surprised if further upgrades will be made available for the M8 in the future so that it never becomes obsolete... that is something which is seemingly priceless in today's digital photography market of fleeting designs and shiny useless gimmicks.
-Ian Willms
Photojournalist
www.ianwillms.com