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The new Leica M8 ($4,800, estimated street, body only) is a real M. Leica's long-awaited digital rangefinder is virtually the same size and weight as the M7, with a magnesium-alloy body and milled-brass top and bottom. In fact, to get at the SD memory card and lithium-ion battery (550-shot estimate), you have to remove the bottom plate -- just like loading film into an M7. The shutter button and dial haven't moved, and, like its 35mm sister, the M8 has 460 parts in the rangefinder mechanism alone. About all that's missing is the film-winding lever. And in typical Leica fashion, the engineers obsessed over the details. Example: making the sound of the shutter not just quiet, but uniform throughout the click. Under Leica's direction, Kodak customized a 10.3-megapixel CCD sensor for the M8. At 18x27mm, the chip is larger than the usual APS-sized sensor. This provides a 35mm lens factor of 1.33, versus 1.5 to 1.6 for a DSLR with an APS-sized chip. So a 21mm lens is effectively a 28mm. And the new 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M ($1,500, estimated street) is like a 37mm.
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More Leica M8 Articles
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July/August 2007
Leica's breakthrough M8 allows 35mm photographers to shoot the way they always have -- and get high-res digital image files. |
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May 2007
Photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson puts the new Leica M8 digital rangefinder to work while on assignment in the world's hottest war zone. |
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January 2007
The classic rangefinder hits the digital autobahn at 10.3MP. We take a test drive. |
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September 2006
The new Leica M8 ($4,800, estimated street, body only) is finally here, and it's a beauty. We've got all the details on this 10MP digital rangefinder. |
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September 2006
Leica provides Phase One software in new camera. |
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More Digital Rangefinder Articles
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February 2005
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February 2005
Epson R-D1 Rangefinder |
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User Reviews
Here's how our visitors have reviewed this camera.
RATINGS |
AVERAGE RATINGS |
Overall quality |
7.75
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Ease of use |
9
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Fit and finish |
9.75
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Click-to-click speed |
8.5
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Display quality |
8.75
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Flash quality |
7
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Image quality |
7.75
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Overall value |
7.5
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RATING SCALE: 1 = WORST 10 = BEST |
Read other reviews
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