I thought we could use a definitive thread for those not getting an M8. It may help if the avoidance pioneers post their experiences for new converts who are considering not buying one. I'll try to get it rolling...
Yes, I took the plunge! I decided not to get an M8 and 50 Asph and they are not on the way. The best part is I found a retailer I could not order from who had no wait list. (PM me for details)
Of course a lot of credit goes to my dear wife, who fully supports my decision and actually suggested I not buy the 35 ASPH as well - kind of an early Christmas present, I suppose! I plan on not ordering it today. (Everyday she reminds in these little ways of why I married her!)
I'll try not to get some test shots up as soon as they don't arrive. In fact I probably will not develop a website dedicated to my results of not testing the system.
Now I guess I just need some help planning the next items to pass on - I mostly don't shoot weddings but sometimes I don't shoot street candids. All suggestions welcome!
No need to be a pioneer. The first try often has its share of problems. I'll wait until all the problems are identified and sorted out in a follow-up model.
It seems to me they will probably get it right with the M8 MkII, or M9. Besides, I have enough toys for a while.
I get so sick of these people jumping on whatever new bandwagon rolls into town.
I would like to remind fellow FMers that I was not buying, and not testing, and not posting results from the M8 back in February 2003 when I took the plunge into not keeping my Contax G2 with which for many years I had enjoyed not shooting architecture, interiors, reportage and sports.
If you really want to avoid seeing what the M8 can do, check out 16:9 where there is a tranche of pages devoted to not discussing it, to assist late avoidance adopters follow pioneers like me.
Hubsand, thanks for posting. It's good to know that you have already blazed some trails - just shows that you can always find someone who hasn't done what you plan not to do!
Obviously there is no need for me to not put up a site if yours already hasn't covered what mine wouldn't.
I am sure that everyone not interested in the gear you don't review will be quick to avoid visiting your site!
I find it amazing how narrow-minded people can be. Either that, or your wife is not supportive enough of your interests.
I suppose that I can consider myself very fortunate, as in the course of several years my wife has supported me on most of my decisions. Among them:
- not buying Canon 1Ds (Mark II)
- not buying full collection of Canon L lenses
- not buying all the cool looking Macs ever produced
- not buying Leica DMR and R lens collection
- not ordering Leica M8 (in any color) and full set of M lenses
You may think that's too many "nots" to be a positive relationship. Well, not true. She has also fully supported me in:
- selling my Ducati motorcycle
- selling my Audi S4 bi-turbo
- ending heli-skiing trips to remote mountains
- purchasing a minivan (we have two kids - 2 and 4 years old)
- toning down my photo gear collection to one camera and a few lenses
This list can go on and on...
If I can make a friendly suggestion: please work on your marriage - it can be so much more rewarding!
I've discovered that most of the things I don't do, I don't do very well.
I'm not going to buy a M8 full retail, I'm going to scour yard/garage sales and see if I can find one sitting in a dusty box that has a $50 price tag on it. I'll talk the owner down to $30 Eventually, it will happen.
yes there are a lot of M8 threads on this forum right now... but lets all remember these pioneers are good guys who we need to share their experiences here ... so *we* can learn. these are the same guys who pioneers the contax/leica on canon which many of us benefit from today.
lets let people make their own decisions and learn from one another in an supportive environment. that is what makes this forum different from all the others.
radiodenver wrote:
I've discovered that most of the things I don't do, I don't do very well.
I'm not going to buy a M8 full retail, I'm going to scour yard/garage sales and see if I can find one sitting in a dusty box that has a $50 price tag on it. I'll talk the owner down to $30 Eventually, it will happen.
I take it you are not married. Otherwise, chances are that $30 is all the cash you have with you, and there is an antique-looking lamp sitting right next to the dusty m8 that you wife simply must have
collect the toys, attract the chick, get the chick, lose the toys...
could be worth it. how many do you need to have to get a chick worth losing the toys for, and is there a ratio of quality/quanty or toys to quality/quanity of chick?
mt-m wrote:
I take it you are not married. Otherwise, chances are that $30 is all the cash you have with you, and there is an antique-looking lamp sitting right next to the dusty m8 that you wife simply must have
I have/had a Canonet GIII and it is all the proof I need to know that rangefinder cameras are too heavy, unreliable, and difficult to focus. Besides, how Leica can charge so much for a camera that doesn't even have a film advance lever is beyond me.
Okay, back to the other M8 thread to live vicariously.
I also have decided not to get an M8. I considered the theoretical improvement in quality when I'm not taking pictures of brick walls and rulers that seem to be the optimum subjects for Leica lenses. But then I figured I'd wait for the Contax G3, since a camera company that doesn't exist anymore should take only slightly longer to come out with a digital model than Leica did. Now, about spending the thousands of dollars I don't have...
fizzy wrote:
I considered the theoretical improvement in quality when I'm not taking pictures of brick walls and rulers that seem to be the optimum subjects for Leica lenses.
That is rather unfounded nonsense.....
Although- I just remembered, i DO have a shot of a brick wall, and I did use a Leica for it:
