Now that we are comfortable with the Leica M7, what features would you like to see on a Leica M8?

Personally I would like to see the additional 1/2000 and 1/4000 shutter speeds plus more mechanical shutter speeds like the Nikon FM3A with a hybrid electronic shutter.

Plus I would like to have more brass fittings and a titanium baseplate as long as aperture priority remains.

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002

Answers

Alfie, please, Erwin has spoken. You don't need those high shutter speeds. You only think you do, but Leica knows best. Unless you go to an R8, when they suddenly become worth having. Don't question the logic, there is none, this is gospel handed down from on high.

Personally, I'd like to see something that takes medium format film. It's a constant embarrassment that my $400 Fuji rangefinder takes pcitures of far higher technical quality than my Leica, which cost 5 times as much.

-- Masatoshi Yamamoto (masa@nifty.cojp), April 04, 2002.

Groan...

-- Ken Geter (kgeter@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

I personally hope very much that it has not only a built-in motordrive that can rev up to at least 15 fps but a non-interchangeable 8-200mm 1.0 lens that is really sharp and only 1'" long. Do any of you ever go out and shoot photos or do you just sit here and keep rehashing your hopes of what the M12 will have on it?!

-- Mark (mark@markpix.com), April 04, 2002.

Are we talking about a 10 - 20 years project? By Leica std this is the normal.

Min 6M full frame CCD with X3 technology. God knows what we have in digital technology in 10 years.....

-- Marc (leica_image@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

Hmm... how about a higher mag finder like .93! And a "less is more" viewfinder offering 50, 90 and 135 frames. Of course brass top and bottom, but also engraved top plate too. Get rid of the features that speed up my shooting too much, like single stroke advance, like rapid rewind crank, like motor capability, and like rapid film loading.

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), April 04, 2002.

I'm with Charles, but .91 mag should be sufficient. And get rid of that stupid meter! ; )

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), April 04, 2002.

Why is the meter stupid Mike,just a q.

-- Allen Herbert (allen1@btinternet.com), April 04, 2002.

Masatoshi Yamamoto "You don't need those high shutter speeds. You only think you do, but Leica knows best"

Firstly, "I" need the faster shutter speeds, to make use of my fast lenses for isolating subjects in daylight. Secondly, Leica doesn't always know best. If Oscar Barnack was around today I think he would be: 1. Greatful Leica has maintained the traditional essence of the Leica camera, and 2. Think, "why haven't they moved on? I created new technology during my time, and it hasn't progressed much?"

Not needing a faster shutter is like saying "you don't need a Leica to take a sharp shot!" True, you don't, but some of us here choose to because we are happy with the performance, even at high costs. Like this example, I don't need a faster shutter to take a shot, as I can stop down. But I do feel creatively limited at times, as isolating subjects is my style of photography.

Some people need it and others don't. Me, I'd be happy to settle for a faster shutter that is noisier. Because the times where I need a faster shutter, I don't care about the noise of the shutter because I am oustide somewhere.

-- Kristian (leicashot@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.

Allen, Charles and Mike are being humorous. They are describing the M3.

-- Matt (morthcam@aol.com), April 04, 2002.

I think the M8 should have autofocus and image stabilization. I believe that many of us, myself included, will need those features by the time an M8 comes around. Perhaps a built-in defibrillator too.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 04, 2002.

It's already here. It's call the Contax G2.

-- Sanford (sanford@usa.com), April 04, 2002.

I would design from Lycra or any strong, soft and durable plastic, a vest for the M, thin and ergonomic, like an EOS shape but much smaller, added to the M body, like a globe, very helpful when knocks and sweat, designed to take out base plate and back door, and access to all functions, you coul play ball with it, a hard work to design mmm...

why... I donīt know, why should add a thing to some of the best designs of all times.

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

Jay, you're a riot. I am laughing as I write this.

-- Jim Shields (jim.shields@tasis.ch), April 05, 2002.

Now that we are comfortable with the M7 and have some reasonable suggestions for an M8, what features would you like to see on a Leica M9?

Personally I would like even more titanium. Why stop at the baseplate, though I agree with Alfie that a titanium baseplate would be a tremendous improvement. I think titanium strap lugs would be great. So would a titanium shutter release button, but the engineering for that might be too expensive.

-- George T. (davecasman@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

Mostly importantly, it must be able to "automatically" produce images which is not fussy even in the hands of Alfie :D

-- A Fly Wang (leica_fly@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

Maratoshi, I know what you mean. It really ticks me off that my $200 4X5 Speed Graphic takes way better pictures than my Fuji med. format rangefinder. C'mon, lets compare oranges to oranges.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

I like Charles and Mike's suggestions, but I think a more radical re- design is in order:

- The whole body needs to be significantly smaller, so that (e.g.) the camera plus collapsed 50mm Elmar will fit easily in a jacket pocket, and be more easily concealed for candid work.

- Built-in diopter adjustment for the rangefinder would be a welcome addition.

- The distracting focusing patch should be removed and replaced by a separate higher magnification rangefinder, preferably adjacent to the main viewfinder.

- The current film advance lever is difficult for left-eyed photographers to use. Replacing it with a simple wind-on knob would rectify this problem.

- The structual integrity of the body could be improved by devising a film loading system that only requires the bottom plate to be removed. The back of the camera could then be fixed solidly in position.

- The little-used slow shutter speeds could be removed from the main dial, and perhaps transferred to a separate secondary dial.

- Engraved brass top and bottom plates would be a very nice touch.

- The current Voigtlander lenses provide an excellent, economical alternative to Leica glass, but currently can only be attached to M Leicas by fiddly adaptors. Changing the body to a lens mount that allows these lenses to be attached directly would be a significant step forward.

-- Richard Williams (richardw@icr.ac.uk), April 05, 2002.

Richard, I have your camera all set to go - of course instead of M8 engraving it has IIIg.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

Bob, I should also have mentioned that I'd like the 'M8' to be priced so that it's easy to pick one up secondhand for, say, half the price of an M3. Unfortunately I suspect this would exclude all except 'Canadian University Surplus' M8s. :-)

-- Richard Williams (richardw@icr.ac.uk), April 05, 2002.

Kristian, try using slower film. If that don't do the trick add a neutral density filter!

-- Tim Franklin (tim_franklin@mac.com), April 05, 2002.

definitely must have a cupholder!! but alas, the m7 is the last film camera that leica will ever make, just as the f5 is the last pure film camera that nikon will ever make.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 05, 2002.

The only hope for the M8 that I have is that it will be half as good as my Leitz (Wetzler) M6.

-- Glenn Travis (leicaddict@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

Well, how about a digital body that accepts M lenses? Since they can make a DigiLux for $850 complete with 3:1 Summicron zoom lens, I would think they could manage to fit an M bayonet ring and no lens, for even less. Then they could add an R-toM adapter.

With one of those, we could have something sufficiently different from the M6/M7 to make it worth getting excited about.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 05, 2002.