Does anyone have any idea as to what second-hand Leica M8's are currently selling for? New ones in the US are available for about $4950. Are there any issues with second-hand examples of these cameras that I should be aware of? All this talk about compact alternatives has made me want to give one a try.

Looks like they are going for around $4200 looking at competed sales on ebay. First generaltion early ones had a hardware issue with Light streaking and should have been sent back to germany for a fix. You probably would want to go over to the Leica User Forum and research which serial numbers are associated with the internal fixes. I believe this occurred around Jan/Feb of this year. I personally would find out the serial number range that the improved 2nd version started with and avoid the first versions.

Here is a link to that forum:
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/

The first phase of release has issue with banding so try to get the later used model. However, the new firmware may attenuate the problem significantly.

The used street price is from $3900 to $4250 but more likely toward the higher price since Leica is raising their price. There is a posibility of getting a brand new one for $4700 instead of the new price you quoted.

Unless you already have a number of M-lenses, the price of the body is the last thing I would worry about. Go for a new one, the savings isn't worth the risk IMO. Where you might save a few (thousand) $$ is on used lenses. Also check out the excellent new Zeiss ZM- range.
And yes, this camera is a joy to use and carry compared to DSLRs.

I would have to agree with the above. Piece of mind and the thrill of a brand new camera are probably worth the $500 and lack of worry associated with buying used, particularly with this camera.

photoArne wrote:
Unless you already have a number of M-lenses, the price of the body is the last thing I would worry about. Go for a new one, the savings isn't worth the risk IMO. Where you might save a few (thousand) $$ is on used lenses. Also check out the excellent new Zeiss ZM- range.

Actually, I have one lens -- the Voigtlander 15mm Super-Wide-Heliar, and was basically planning to buy a couple more Voigtlander lenses for it, and perhaps a couple of the Zeiss ZM lenses. The size, cost ($350, new), speed, performance of the CV 40mm f1.4 Nokton Aspherical seems to be a no-brainer as a standard lens, especially since this is supposed to be a "compact" and "travel" type system. Perhaps the Zeiss ZM 25mm to fit between the 15mm and 40mm lenses, even if it would be the biggest of the 3? Then, perhaps the 75mm Heliar or 90mm APO-Lanthar on the long end. I know, they're not Leica lenses, but its hard to ignore them at their exceptional price/performance ratio. So in the end, the M8 camera body IS the most expensive part of this venture.

Lotusm50 wrote:
photoArne wrote:

I would agree that you don't have to own Leica lenses to get the terrific performance of the M8. What you do need to know is when using lenses wider than 35mm you need to have an ability to code the lens so as to take advantage of the M8's vignetting corrections, including overcoming the cyan drift so often talked about. To do this with CV LTM lenses, you should consider buying an LT8 adapter from John Milich. jm@milich.com. This allows an adapter to thread onto the screw mount of lenses e.g. the 12 or 15 CV's and has 6 'pits' in which you can put nail polish (either black or white) to emulate the six bit coding supplied with Leica coded lenses. You then can use the lens with a UV/IR cut filter to deal with all the now well known IR issues related to the Leica M8 sensor and AA filter. I have used this with my CV 15 4.5 with spectacular results. I now have a very very wide angle lens which has no significant cyan drift and is fully corrected for IR related issues. All for a price of $150 for the Milich adapter. Go for it.

The Leica M8 is a superb tool. One only needs to understands its warts, correct for them and then shoot until it hurts!

Hope you have fun with yours

Woody Spedden
Unless you already have a number of M-lenses, the price of the body is the last thing I would worry about. Go for a new one, the savings isn't worth the risk IMO. Where you might save a few (thousand) $$ is on used lenses. Also check out the excellent new Zeiss ZM- range.

Actually, I have one lens -- the Voigtlander 15mm Super-Wide-Heliar, and was basically planning to buy a couple more Voigtlander lenses for it, and perhaps a couple of the Zeiss ZM lenses. The size, cost ($350, new), speed, performance of the CV 40mm f1.4 Nokton Aspherical seems to be a no-brainer as a standard lens, especially since this is supposed to be a "compact" and "travel" type system. Perhaps the Zeiss ZM 25mm to fit between the 15mm and 40mm lenses, even if it would be the biggest of the 3? Then, perhaps the 75mm Heliar or 90mm APO-Lanthar on the long end. I know, they're not Leica lenses, but its hard to ignore them at their exceptional price/performance ratio. So in the end, the M8 camera body IS the most expensive part of this venture.

i saw some images from Guy's NYC visit with the Voigtlanders and they seemed excellent. The value for dollar of these lenses shouldn't be underestimated. I gleaned from LUF that later builds of M8 seem more highly regarded.

here's a link to what Woody was saying

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/22041-cv15mm-ir-uv-cut-filter-firm.html

Seeing that people that shop around find new ones at 4000 to 4500 $ the savings on a used one appear to be marginal, if any.

Rob Riley wrote:
i saw some images from Guy's NYC visit with the Voigtlanders and they seemed excellent. The value for dollar of these lenses shouldn't be underestimated. I gleaned from LUF that later builds of M8 seem more highly regarded.

There is no technical difference between upgraded first series and current ones. I'm fairly active on that forum and I don't know of any such thing as more highly regarded.

jaapv wrote:
Rob Riley wrote:
i saw some images from Guy's NYC visit with the Voigtlanders and they seemed excellent. The value for dollar of these lenses shouldn't be underestimated. I gleaned from LUF that later builds of M8 seem more highly regarded.

There is no technical difference between upgraded first series and current ones. I'm fairly active on that forum and I don't know of any such thing as more highly regarded.


hoi hoi
with respect jaap
i have seen it a few times while searching for something else
i cant/wont publish that here, but i am happy to pm it to you if you wish

i think you are right that they would be the same but i cant be sure,
the contrarian view gave me a niggling feeling that i walked away with

Lotus, as Arne and Tariq said, I would strongly recommend against buying a used one unless you get a significant discount. The camera is awesome, and I love mine to death, but there have been, and continue to be, issues, and if yours is hit and needs a repair, it could cost a mint. The warranty is not transferrable, as I understand it. Buy used lenses and accessories, but get a new M8 with the warranty.

I would also slightly recommend against the Voigtländer 40mm lens, since it often has a somewhat jarring bokeh. At least make sure that you examine some images to see if it is your cup of tea. One of the Voigtländer 50s might be better, or just an older 50 Cron. There are lots of great lenses for the M8. My blog has several months worth of daily images by now, in case you want to see some results.

jaapv wrote:
Seeing that people that shop around find new ones at 4000 to 4500 $ the savings on a used one appear to be marginal, if any.

They go for $4000 in the Netherlands? The only way I found to get one cheaper than $4700 (new, in the US) was to get the student discount - then it is a great deal. But the qualification requirements are fairly stringent.

And I agree that getting a used one may prove penny wise - pound foolish with this particular camera.

Edited by tennclay on Sep 13, 2007 at 07:10 PM GMT

woodyspedden wrote:

I would agree that you don't have to own Leica lenses to get the terrific performance of the M8. What you do need to know is when using lenses wider than 35mm you need to have an ability to code the lens so as to take advantage of the M8's vignetting corrections, including overcoming the cyan drift so often talked about. To do this with CV LTM lenses, you should consider buying an LT8 adapter from John Milich. jm@milich.com. This allows an adapter to thread onto the screw mount of lenses e.g. the 12 or 15 CV's and has 6 'pits' in which you can put nail polish (either black or white) to emulate the six bit coding supplied with Leica coded lenses. You then can use the lens with a UV/IR cut filter to deal with all the now well known IR issues related to the Leica M8 sensor and AA filter. I have used this with my CV 15 4.5 with spectacular results. I now have a very very wide angle lens which has no significant cyan drift and is fully corrected for IR related issues. All for a price of $150 for the Milich adapter. Go for it.


You are not including the cost of the IR Filter and a holder- it will total much more than $150 to accomplish the "fix", no?

tennclay wrote:
They go for $4000 in the Netherlands? The only way I found to get one cheaper than $4700 (new, in the US) was to get the student discount - then it is a great deal. But the qualification requirements are fairly stringent.


Student discount?! Let me call my neice and tell her that she's going to buy me a camera.
;-)