The flaws are not fatal, either for the camera or for the photographer. They are serious flaws, but if you bite the bullet and buy the IR filters it's a good camera. Not the camera it should be, as a Leica, but still it's the camera I use the most.
Jeffery seems to have suffered from piss-poor service from his retailer, and perhaps also from Leica USA. The service is better over here. I obtained my M8 by trading in a lot of Contax film gear. The M8 was (very lightly) used and without any faults (other than being an M8!). However, a friend spilt beer on it a few weeks after I got it, which made the shutter release practically unusable. I took it to the dealer (The Classic Camera, Pied Bull Yard, London <http://www.theclassiccamera.com/>), told them what had happened and they took it in for repair. I expected a hefty bill for it, but when I picked it up it had been completely overhauled and fixed in Solms at no charge. The M9 appears to be the camera the M8 should have been. I've played with one, and an S2, at Leica's showroom in London, which is a great place for the Leica fan and shows the good side of their customer service. Bob > > It's pretty clear that Leica shipped a camera with known > fatal flaws with the M8. Some of the flaws have been solved, > others have not and cannot be. > > The interesting thing is how Leica handled reviews of the M8 > on introduction, there were some severe fireworks over Leica > taking offense to reviewers stating the obvious. > > -Adam > > On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 11:05 AM, Tom C <caka...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Wow... > > > > Thanks. So it seems they totally dropped the ball. What's hard to > > comprehend is how the camera made it through QA with such a > crippling > > defect. It sounds to me like little QA or a very very > defective test > > plan. Or as sometimes happens in the software world, people > at lower > > levels realize there are problems but because management is > determined > > to meet a farcical release date and at the same time has created an > > environment in which people fear to speak up, plans go forward and > > management ends up with the mess they deserve. > > > > Tom C. > > > > > > On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:52 AM, P N Stenquist > <pnstenqu...@comcast.net> wrote: > >> > >> On May 18, 2010, at 10:31 AM, Tom C wrote: > >> > >>> Makes Pentax sound wonderful by comparison. But surely > the problem > >>> was not limited to Jeffrey's camera, so there's somewhat of a > >>> disconnect for me. Wouldn't just about every (or certainly many) > >>> Leica > >>> owner(s) that paid $6K for their tool be up in arms? > >>> > >> > >> Many M8 owners were up in arms. A pro shooter friend of > mine who had > >> used Leica film cameras for years bought an M8. He > struggled with it > >> for a few months, then sold it. Apparently, the M9 is a > much better > >> camera, but Leica definitely damaged its reputation with the M8. > >> Paul > >> > >>> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:17 AM, Bob Sullivan > >>> <rf.sulli...@gmail.com> > >>> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> Jeffery, > >>>> Well thats a word or two to the wise... > >>>> Saves me a lot of money. > >>>> Regards, Bob S. > >>>> > >>>> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 9:09 AM, Jeffery Smith > >>>> <jsmith...@gmail.com> > >>>> wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>> I got flamed on the Leica Users Group forum for > mentioning this, > >>>>> but my M8's were anything but reliable. My first one died after > >>>>> about a week, and Leica ignored all of my phone calls > and emails > >>>>> until I finally contacted the president of the company > personally. > >>>>> If you aren't a professional photographer, you can forget about > >>>>> customer service from Leica. You don't exist. The > second M8 body > >>>>> would not recognize any of the memory cards I used. > Leica blamed > >>>>> the memory cards and refused to repair or replace the camera. I > >>>>> bought every different brand of memory card listed as > compatible > >>>>> on Leica's site, and all gave me a "no memory card" > error until I > >>>>> removed the battery, waited a few minutes, and then > reinserted the > >>>>> battery (which apparently rebooted the camera). I had to repeat > >>>>> this every time I wanted to shoot a frame. Once the camera was > >>>>> turned off or turned itself off, the no memory card error > >>>>> reappeared. Until a new firmware upgrade appeared last > year, the M8 just sat in a drawer. The firmware upgrade seems > to have fixed the memory card problem. > >>>>> > >>>>> Pro photographers and photographers wealthy enough to afford an > >>>>> attorney get good service from Leica USA. Grunts like myself (a > >>>>> teacher) aren't given the time of day. I have refrained from > >>>>> mentioning my problems on the LUG except when a pro > photographer > >>>>> posts a message saying that Leica customer service is > absolutely > >>>>> the best. I then mention the problems I had and get my > ass flamed > >>>>> as a heretic. I finally unsubscribed from the LUG as it became > >>>>> less and less a forum about photography. The die hard > >>>>> photojournalist types on the LUG now post incessant > photos of their dog, their flowers, or buildings. > >>>>> > >>>>> Leica film rangefinders are great, and reliable. Leica doesn't > >>>>> seem to know anything whatsoever about digital cameras. If you > >>>>> want a digital camera with a Leica lens, buy a > Panasonic! They are > >>>>> great! If you can live with only wide angle to normal > lenses, the GF1 is a wonderful little camera. > >>>>> > >>>>> Jeffery -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
