An evening at home with a Leica M8(!)

By Hamish Gill

I’ve borrowed a Leica M8! I have been using it since lunch time, and already feel like I have a lot to say about the experience. Perhaps a review is on the cards…? Time will tell on that, time will also tell how long this current flurry of novelty value continues first! One thing is for sure though, this evening has resulted in both a shooting experience I’ve enjoyed, and photos I’m not the least bit dissatisfied with.

Possibly the most interesting feature of these images is the very low level of post process I needed to apply to be happy with them. Second to that has been my hit rate. I took 80 photos this evening, which is clearly a more snap happy approach than with film, but I’m happy with 1 in 4 of those, which isn’t bad for digital in my experience.

Does this mean I’m going to stop shooting film? No, of course not, it’s only a loan camera for a start! What it does mean is that the niggling interest in the idea of a digital Leica that was gained through playing with the M60 can now be explored. And explored with a camera that is worth 1/20th that of the M60, a feature that feels like it allows me a little more freedom with how I use it. (Don’t worry Des, I won’t break it… 😉 )

So anyway, regardless of the end result of this foray into digital-Leicadom, what’s important here is the results from this evening’s experience, so here they are:

Shot with the M8, a combination of 50mm Zeiss Sonnar and 35mm f/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton. Processes in LR just using the basic tone controls.

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

An evening at home - With a Leica M8

Cheers, (and thanks again for the load Des)

Hamish

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About The Author

By Hamish Gill
I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for a little more than decade I've been a professional photographer and, of course, weekly contributor to 35mmc.
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Comments

Aukje on An evening at home with a Leica M8(!)

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

I did not see that one coming, a digital Leica on this site! ;-)
But great photo's again. I can imagine you never want to leave the house with such a family. And of course I am very interested in colour results too...
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

Thanks - They certainly make good subject matter! :) I shall try and post some colour shots at some point ... I think I might need to get me some IR cut filters though :/

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Aukje replied:

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

I wasn't aware of ir-issues until now (I had to google what you were talking about), so I learned something today :-) . Some comparisons with and without filter would be interesting.

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Patrik on An evening at home with a Leica M8(!)

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

The M8 is a great camera! And was my first step into the Leica World as well! The sensor is for sure the weak part with dead pixels, vertical lines etc but if I should get a digital M again I would probably consider the M8
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KJ Vogelius on An evening at home with a Leica M8(!)

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

Nice set Hamish!

I'll always have a soft spot for the M8. It was my first Leica and in some ways I liked it better than the M9 I upgraded to. The colours could be maddeningly inaccurate and even flat out ugly at times, but often it looked amazing – nicer than from any digital camera I've shot with before or after. I also liked the more utilitarian finish of the black M8, compared to the slightly flashy black paint M9. And the little frame counter LCD on the top is a nice touch too.

Regards /KJ
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

Yeah, the colours in my lounge last night were a little loopy ... But then, I'd not shoot colour in there anyway really. I am going to try and shoot some colour, but I think it is likely to lead to a loss of interest if I do too much. Des had the camera set to black & white when I gave it to me, and that seemed as sensible place to start with it as any. And yeah, the little LCD is cool!

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desmcs on An evening at home with a Leica M8(!)

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

It does do black and white really well and, as you say, rather cost effectively. Monochrom beware! Enjoy.
All the best
Des
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 03/02/2016

Do I seem like the sort of person that needs giving ideas like that? I need to maintain rational though processes as much as possible for the near future! ;)

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