Leica M8.2 Review

September 11, 2009 | Kevin Carter |

Introduction
Ease of Use
Image Quality
Sample Images
Product Images
Rating & Conclusion
Review Roundup
Specifications
Comment
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Introduction

The Leica M8.2 is the updated version of the M8 the first digital rangefinder from the company to be based on the famous analogue M-series cameras. Instead of a full-frame - 35mm form factor sensor, the M8.2 like the original M8, features what's sometimes referred to as APS-H sized sensor, much like that used by the Canon EOS 1D-without-the-s series cameras.

As the Kodak made sensor is smaller than a single 35mm frame, the M8.2 has the inevitable field view crop - in this instance though the crop factor is less than the ubiquitous APS-C size sensors at 1.33x. Principal differences then between the M8 and M8.2 include a quieter, less vibration-prone shutter mechanism with charging delay, scratch-proof sapphire crystal LCD cover, viewfinder frame lines aligned to cover the sensor at 2m rather 0.7m and some cosmetic changes.

The body covering material on both chrome and black models is a traditional-looking synthetic leather vulcanite, while the black chrome of the M8 model has been replaced with a discrete black paint finish and black motif instead of the more noticeable Leica red-dot. Another welcome improvement is the new charger, it's a much more compact unit and is even supplied with an 12-volt adaptor to use in the car. In most other respects the M8.2 is identical to the original M8 and might seem quite minor, but these are all carefully considered improvements, aimed at advanced (albeit very wealthy) users and imaging professionals.

While the market isn't exactly brimming with rangefinders, the launch of the new Micro Four Thirds Pen E-P1 from Olympus, DMC-GF1 from Panasonic and to a lesser extent both the Sigma DP1 and DP 2 compacts, are all likely to appeal to the user for the same reasons. As each model has their own benefits and disadvantages, the Leica M8.2, retailing at £3900 / $5999 is a very serious commitment - read our expert review to see if this investment is worth the risk.

Ease of Use

Like the M-series 35mm coupled rangefinder cameras before it, the M8 and M8.2 share a very similar and not unattractive design that goes back to the iconic M3 from the 1950's. Measuring 139mm (w) x 80mm (h) x 37mm (d) and weighing around 600g with battery and SD (HC) card, the M8.2 is similar in size and weight to the current 35mm aperture priority M7, and manual mechanical MP. For all that, it still looks much chunkier than those models. That's most likely due to the lack of wind-on lever but that didn't stop Epson from adding one on their earlier (Cosina made, Voigtlander Bessa R2 based) R-D1. Still, it does look a little odd without one, especially if you're accustomed to a 35mm M, but it only takes a couple of days to get used to it. Although the M8.2 is quite compact, even with one of the smaller lenses fitted it's not small enough to stash in a pocket; that is unless you walk round in a trench coat.

As you might expect from a hand-assembled German camera, the workmanship, materials and construction are all first rate. Indeed you won't find a better made camera else where. The body is made from magnesium alloy and the top and bottom plates are made from brass. The black paint finish wears quite easily, but the silver chrome finish is very durable. However unlike magnesium alloy DSLRs these plates are prone to denting.

As a nod to the film M cameras (and indeed cameras of the 1950's) the bottom plate must be removed to replace the SD(HC) card and charge the Li-ion battery. It's not as onerous as it sounds, especially if you're using a large capacity card, and the battery, while quite small, lasts reasonably well on a full charge.

We were recharging the battery every other day or so, with a lot of quite heavy (much of it unnecessary) use. With prudent use, expect up to 500 shots per charge. A small circular LCD panel on the top plate, shows the battery state and remaining shots on the card up to 999 frames (if your card is large enough - it's compatible with SD-HC up to 32GB).

We were supplied with the Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 ASPH (aspherical), a reasonably fast (wide-aperture) manual focus lens. It has the equivalent field of view of a 50mm in 35mm terms, and at £1800 is another (equally important) part of the investment equation. Leica lenses, M-mount especially have very good residual values when it comes to resale, and it's not unheard to sell the lenses at the prices paid several years later.


Front	Rear

Of course, you're likely to want a couple, maybe three; a wide-angle, standard and tele, so you could to be committed to a system of around £10,000 / $16,500 without too much difficulty, in choosing at least. Summicrons have a maximum aperture of f/2, which is considered mid-speed, Summarits are more affordable, if ‘slower', but, from what I've heard have as good optical performance. Leica also make some very ‘fast' Summilux lenses as well as the Noctilux 50mm f/0.95, but you'll likely need to re-mortgage.

The range of Leica M lenses isn't as a vast as say the Canon or Nikon lens range for their DSLRs; they currently cover 16-135mm (21-175mm -equivalent). And there's no zoom, but Leica has a Tri-Elmar 16-18-21mm lens with three focal lengths covering 21-28mm in effect. It goes without saying the lenses are a match to the body in terms of mechanical construction (and as we'll see) in optical performance.

Although the reviewed 35mm Summicron is very small and compact, it does in fact weigh quite a lot (340/245g silver chrome/ black finish), thanks to the aluminium exterior and heavy-duty brass helicoids. It's superbly mounted with the smoothest focusing you'll likely ever come across. The crescent shaped focusing aid is something of a hallmark for Leica M lenses, and it really helps as the ring is not knurled and rather thin.

Somewhat out of character perhaps was the very slight play in the aperture ring, but that could no doubt be fixed with a service. When mounted to the body, a quick procedure due to the very short throw, the M lens was rock-solid; such is the precision.

The M8.2 is coupled rangefinder and uses a combination of windows and frame lines to view and focus the image; you don't look through the taking lens when composing. There a number of advantages to this, and a few drawbacks, but a quick look through the viewfinder will surely make a lasting impression. The viewfinder image is large and brighter than any DSLR, and the rangefinder patch in the centre of the finder is sensitive and accurate for focusing, even in quite low-light levels.

With any one lens fitted there are a pair of frame lines present; 24/35mm, 28/90mm, 50/75mm. Ultra-wide angle lenses need a clip-on finder. You can select the frames yourself by moving what looks the self-timer lever on the front of the camera. The field of view of 35mm used in this review, for instance, occupies the inner frame-lines of the finder, around the central two-thirds of the viewfinder image. The outer is for use with the 24mm.


Front	Top

This works rather well with the somewhat low 0.68x viewfinder magnification, and the surrounding view allows you to anticipate the moment better than the classic DSLR, for example. But it can work against with longer focal length lenses, for instance, the 90mm frame is quite small by comparison.

Another disadvantage is that, occasionally, the frame lines don't quite cover the sensor area. Although the M8.2 has automatic parallax correction, if you focus on a subject at less than 2m you can find the viewfinder shows more than the captured image. All the same, overall with the 35mm f/2, I found the benefits easily out-weighed the disadvantages. Viewfinder info is a bit sparse. The shutter speed selected is shown as is over and under exposure when used in manual metering, but as there are no electronic contacts for the lenses, there's no aperture indication.

Around the back the M8.2 has a not so large 2.5-inch LCD, and the M8.2 adds a scratch resistant cover to that over the older M8. Although it's perfectly adequate for most menu selection and playback duties, it's not particularly detailed (at 230k dots) and it's not that legible in bright sunlight. The on-screen interface is a little sober, but it's straightforward and intuitive. There are two menus; the main menu for setting up and a image parameter menu, for everyday settings.

If I have a gripe it's that each selection must be confirmed by pressing the SET button, if not, the selection isn't made and can lead to mistakes at first. This is more of an issue when using exposure compensation; there's no easy to do it. Not all of the main menu is shown at once, so you need to scroll down using the large, thin command ring. Be that as it may there's not that many choices, certainly when compared to the dizzying array of features found even on entry-level DSLRs.

To give you an idea, the M8.2 adds an Auto-ISO option over the original M8; there is no Live View, nor HDR or multi-segment metering options, not even exposure bracketing. The ethos is on picture taking, not features. Nevertheless the Auto ISO is quite versatile as you can choose both a maximum ISO setting and exposure time.

The latter has a sub-menu where you can choose either to leave the camera to select an appropriate speed to prevent blurring (based on the focal length) or you can set the shutter speed yourself. Not exactly high-tech but welcome nonetheless. As we'll see with the noise tests, the M8.2 also lacks on-board noise reduction, Leica leave that and the decisions to you, and in part the Capture One 4 bundled software.


Battery Compartment	Memory Card Slot

There are the usual image parameter choices and the like as well simultaneous Raw (DNG) and Jpeg capture and an option to tag images as sRGB, Adobe RGB and ECI RGB (used for pre-press, as an alternative to ARGB). Another option you may not have come across with other digital cameras, unless you own an M8 perhaps, concerns the choice of UV/IR filters to correct colour shifts.

Leica M lenses are set quite close to the sensor and while the Kodak imager uses off-set micro-lenses to combat corner shading, it lacks both an anti-aliasing filter and uses only a very thin UV/IR filter. While this leads to high resolution imaging from Raw files, moiré is removed in-camera via anti-aliasing processing during Jpeg encoding, noticeably lowering micro-contrast.

Moiré is reduced during Raw conversion in Capture One, but there's not much that can be done processing-wise with the IR contamination seen under mainly tungsten light sources. Black synthetic fabrics are usually rendered with a strongly purple cast, but it can also mean magenta-tinted skin tones.

Leica's answer is to fit a UV/IR blocking filter on the lens, such as B+W's made to order 436 filter, but this in turn can lead to new colour casts in the corners of the frame. Providing you're using a new or retro-fitted 6-bit coded lens, which allows the M8.2 to identify the lens in use (it's an optical system of black and white dots - there are no built-in CPUs), the additional casts and any corner shading is largely removed by the image processor.

In truth, the otherwise excellent printed manual doesn't make it entirely clear what settings you should use, and if the Raw files are altered in any way. I assume they're not, judging by the results, and the UV/IR setting should be selected when using the additional filter. We weren't supplied with a filter for review, so couldn't test the effectiveness, but with the UV/IR option selected the colour of out-of-camera Jpegs look better than unprocessed Raw files. Either way, IR contamination is almost impossible to correct satisfactorily in post.

While this sounds like a deal breaker, it's less of a problem than you might imagine. If you regularly shoot under incandescent lighting, you should invest in a filter. Four user profiles are available, and are easily accessed from the secondary, image parameters menu, so one could be set-aside for this.

Image Quality

All of the sample JPEG images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel Fine setting, which gives an average file size of around 5MB.

As you might expect picture quality was a real highlight, especially at ISOs up to including ISO 640, easily matching more modern rivals with resolutions of around 15MP. Above that sensitivity and the dynamic range drops behind that of the best pro DSLRs, such as the Nikon D3, meaning some care is needed with exposure to get the best from the files.

Exposing for the shadows helps lower noise levels overall, though expect to see some highlight clipping with contrasty scenes. Shooting Raw provides greater latitude, but workflow overhead ay not be suitable for everyone. Colour saturation drops quite markedly above ISO 640 too, but as much of the noticeable noise is chroma, and detail is well preserved right up to ISO 2500. Shooting black and white looks very good and much better than colour images.

Unlike nearly every other high-end model, the M8.2 doesn't have any noise reduction options for Jpeg output. And as it uses a CCD it's unlikely to have any noise reduction applied to Raw files either. It's a choice Leica made during the design and it's up to you how you want to reduce its effects. Of course the bundled Capture One from Phase One does a good job with Raw files, and newer versions also work well with Jpegs too.

Chromatic aberrations are very low though you may see some when images are viewed at 100-percent (actual) pixels. It's not a real issue. Out of camera Jpegs aren't as detailed as Jpegs from Raw, in the main due to the in-camera Anti-aliasing algorithm (Moiré fringe detection). The M8.2 lacks the true AA (moiré) filter of rivals – another reason why Raw files are more detailed.

Noise

The M8.2 has 5 ISO settings, rather oddly starting at ISO 160 up to ISO 2500. It maybe easier to think of them as running from ISO 200-3200. Indeed, the sensor seems slightly more sensitive than Leica state, so it would be fitting to think in those terms. Here are some 100% crops showing noise levels for each ISO setting, with out-of-camera Jpegs cropped using PS CS4 on the left, and Jpegs from Raw (DNG) using Capture One on the right.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 160 (100% Crop)	ISO 160 (100% Crop)


ISO 320 (100% Crop)	ISO 320 (100% Crop)


ISO 640 (100% Crop)	ISO 640 (100% Crop)


ISO 1250 (100% Crop)	ISO 1250 (100% Crop)


ISO 2500 (100% Crop)	ISO 2500 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are just a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The combination of the Leica M8.2 and the 35mm Summicron lens handled chromatic aberrations exceptionally well during the review, with just a little purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Macro

Although Leica make a dedicated macro lens capable of focusing to just xxm, there's no way the 35mm Summicron lens can be described as being suitable for macro work; it focuses to 0.7m which is fine for close portraiture and the like, but it's not going to do well in our CompactFlash card test.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Night

The Leica M8.2 has a maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds in aperture priority mode. Thsi shot was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 160.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Leica M8.2 camera, which were all taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4

Camera type	Compact digital viewfinder system camera for professional use with Leica M lenses. Microprocessor-controlled metal blade focal plane shutter.
Image sensor	Low-noise CCD sensor specially optimized for the requirements of the M lens system. Pixels: 10.3 million. Dimensions: 18 mm x 27 mm. Extension factor: 1.33 x. Aspect ratio 3:2. Coverglass thickness 0.5 mm, full suppression of infrared light by additional UV/IR filter. Moiré filter: no, but full exploitation of the lens capabilities by Moiré fringe detection and elimination by digital signal processing.
Sensor speed range	Manual setting from ISO 160/23° to ISO 2500/35°. LEICA M8.2: additional automatic setting with free choice of ISO range.
Viewfinder	Viewfinder principle Large bright-line frame viewfinder with automatic parallax compensation. Viewfinder optics with reduced sensitivity to stray light and optimum visibility of the bright-line frame in all lighting situations.
	Eyepiece Matched to –0.5 dpt. Correction lenses from –3 to +3 dpt available. Image framing By display of two bright-line frames at a time: for 24 and 35 mm or for 28 and 90 mm or for 50 and 75 mm. Display selection automatically matches the lens in use. 100% of the sensor format is covered at 0.7 m (LEICA M8.2: 2 m). Frame selector Displays pairs of frames manually to simulate any focal length. Parallax compensation The horizontal and vertical difference between viewfinder and lens is compensated appropriately for the focus setting, i.e. the bright-line frame of the viewfinder automatically coincides with the subject area as seen from the lens. Magnification 0.68 x (for all lenses). Wide-base rangefinder Combination of split- and superimposed-image rangefinder shown as a bright field in the center of the viewfinder image. Effective measuring base 47.1 mm (mechanical measuring base 69.25 mm x viewfinder magnification 0.68 x).
Lenses	Lens mount Leica M bayonet with additional optical sensing for identification of all 6-bit coded lenses. Lens system Current 6-bit coded Leica M lenses of 16 - 90 mm focal length. All Leica M lenses of 21–90 mm focal length produced since the year 1954 can be used, even if lacking the 6-bit coding. Virtually all lenses can be retrofitted with 6-bit coding. 6-bit functions Lens-dependent reduction of edge shadowing originating in the system. Identification of the lens information within the image file to facilitate digital archiving. Adjustment of the flash reflector when using motor zoom flash devices. Auto slow sync. function in aperture priority mode. Compensation of color shifts through the use of UV/IR filters.
Exposure control	Aperture priority mode (Auto) Automatic determination of the correct shutter speed with manual aperture preselection and corresponding viewfinder display. Manual exposure control Free selection of shutter speed and aperture – can be visually checked using the exposure control in the camera seen by LED light balance in the viewfinder.
*Snapshot modeLEICA M8.***2	“S” setting of shutter speed dial = automatic control of exposure time, ISO speed and white balance. Menus reduced to essential functions, hints on aperture and focus settings are displayed when the Info key is pressed.
Picture modes	S Single picture, pressing the shutter release once per picture. C Continuous succession of pictures with 2 pictures per second and 10 pictures in the sequence. Auto-release Selectable with 2 sec. and 12 sec. delay time – visualization of the countdown by an LED visible from the front of the camera in the viewfinder window.
Controls/displays	Camera front Lens mount; frame selector. Top Main switch (LEICA M8.2: more pronounced detent mechanism to prevent inadvertent switching) and shutter release; shutter speed dial, LCD status display: display of remaining exposures and battery capacity. Back 2.5“ color monitor (LEICA M8.2: scratch-resistant sapphire coverglass), dial for navigation in the menu & magnifier function in 4 steps; 4-way direction pad for navigation in the menu & in picture details; menu button; play button; delete button; protect button; info button. Base Lockable base plate protects the rechargeable battery and the SD memory card against dust and moisture.
Color monitor	2.5“ large bright LC display with a resolution of about 230,000 pixels for viewing pictures and for menu settings. (LEICA M8.2: scratch-resistant sapphire coverglass). Brightness control in 5 stages. Checking options after taking the picture: general quality assessment, checking the exposure by means of a RGB tonal value histogram with identification of bright picture areas lacking detail (can also be used when zooming in), checking the focal plane, display of the quality parameter settings and the focal length of the lens (when used with current 6-bit coded lenses). Picture view sizes miniatures, 4 miniatures, full picture display and enlargement in four stages up to 100% view (1 sensor pixel = 1 display pixel).
Picture parameter menu– main menu	By pressing the set button, the following parameters relevant to the picture can be selected and changed in the picture parameter menu: user profile, sensor speed, manual exposure correction, white balance, image data format, picture resolution. By pressing the menu button, parameters such as the color monitor contrast or the color space can be set in the main menu. Menu languages German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese.
Picture resolutions	DNG: 3916 x 2634 pixels (10.31 MP); JPG: 3936 x 2630 pixels (10.35 MP), 2952 x 1972 pixels (5.8 MP), 1968 x 1315 pixels (2.6 MP), 1312 x 876 pixels (1.15 MP).
Data formats	DNG™ (camera manufacturer-independent digital negative format), 2 different JPEG compression rates.
DNG™ file-information	6-bit color resolution, 10.2 MByte file size per picture.
Memory medium	SD and SDHC cards up to 32 GByte. Complete list of LEICA M8- and M8.2-compatible SD memory cards: www.leica-camera.de/photography/m_system/m8
White balance	Automatic, 6 preset values, manual white balance, color temperature input from 2000K to 13,100K.
Color spaces	Adobe®RGB, sRGB, ECI RGB.
Viewfinder display	(at the bottom edge of the viewfinder) LED symbol for flash status, four-digit seven-segment LED display with dots above and below (display brightness is always adjusted for ambient brightness) for: display of the automatically calculated shutter speed in aperture priority mode, indication of the use of saved metering values, warning of exposure corrections, warning of when the metering range is overshot or undershot in aperture priority mode and countdown display of shutter times longer than 2 sec., memory capacity warning when the SD card is full. LED light balance with two triangular and one central circular LED for manual exposure setting. Display of: underexposure by at least one aperture stop; underexposure by 1/2 aperture stop; correct exposure; overexposure by 1/2 aperture stop; overexposure by at least one aperture stop. Triangular LEDs give the direction of rotation of the aperture setting ring and shutter speed setting dial to adjust the exposure. The LED flashes as a warning that the metering range is overshot or undershot. (LEICA M8.2: In “S” mode: red dot to indicate correct exposure, left arrow to warn against camera shake, right arrow to warn against overexposure).
Exposure metering	Heavily center-weighted TTL exposure metering with pre-set working aperture. Metering principle Light reflected from a white strip in the centre of the metal blade focal plane shutter. Metering range EV0 to EV20 at 20°C room temperature, aperture 1.0 and ISO 160/23°. Metering cell Silicon photodiode with collection lens positioned at the center of the lower edge of the camera base.
Flash exposure metering/ control using M-TTL flash technology	Principle Using an extremely short calibration pre-flash fired immediately before the exposure, the exact power requirement for the main flash is determined. Connection M-TTL guide number control with calibration pre-flash via accessory shoe SCA 3502 (version M4) or with Leica flash SF24D. Flash synchronization time 1/250 sec. (LEICA M8.2: 1/180 sec.) synchronization permits creative open aperture photography even in bright ambient light. Manual Flash synchronization times from B (bulb) down to 1/250 sec. (LEICA M8.2: 1/180 sec.) Aperture priority mode Auto Slow Sync: automatic extension of the longest flash time, using the rule of thumb 1/focal length in seconds. (only with 6-bit coded lenses). Choice of long flash synchronization times up to e.g. 1/8 sec. for balanced flash when taking available light pictures in aperture priority mode. Synchronization flash firing time Firing optionally at the 1st or 2nd shutter point (with appropriate flash device such as the LEICA SF24D or when using the SCA-3502 adapter).Flash exposure correction ±3 1/3 EV in 1/3 EV-Stufen stages adjustable at the SCA-3501/3502 adapter. Settable at the LEICA SF 24D ± 3EV in 1/3 EV stages, or from 0 to –3 EV in 1EV stages when using computer control.
Shutter and shutter release	Shutter Microprocessor-controlled metal blade focal plane shutter with vertical action. (LEICA M8.2: optimized to reduce noise and vibration). Shutter times In aperture priority mode (A) steplessly adjustable from 32 s down to 1/8000 s (LEICA M8.2: 1/4000 s). With manual setting from 4 s down to 1/8000 s (LEICA M8.2: 1/4000 s) in half steps. B for long exposures of any length. Activation Shutter activation optimized for minimum noise. Electric motor drive with friction wheel in the first speed build-up stage and a cam disk for homogenous torque throughout the activation process. (LEICA M8.2: time-delayed cocking after shutter button is released, selectable in menu). Release Three-stage activation governed by how far the release is depressed: 1. Switch the camera electronics on & activate the exposure metering – 2. Save metered value (in aperture priority mode) – 3. Release (includes a standard thread for cable release). Power supply Lithium ion rechargeable battery with a nominal voltage of 3.7 V and a capacity of 1900 mAh. Interface 5-pin standard mini-USB socket on the left side of the body, for quick USB 2.0 data transfer to a computer.
Camera body Material	Enclosed all-metal body of highly stable magnesium alloy for professional use over many years. Black synthetic leather coating. Top cap and base plate are milled from solid brass and are silver or black chromium plated (LEICA M8.2: black paint finished).
Tripod thread	DIN 4503 – A1/4 (1/4") in the centre of the bottom cover.
Dimensions (W x H x D)	approx.139 x 80 x 37 mm
Weight without battery	approx. 545 g
Scope of supply	M8 camera (10702 silver or 10701 black), M8.2 camera (10712 silver or 10711 black), anti-slip carrying strap (14 312), camera cap for M bayonet (14 195), rechargeable lithium ion battery (14 464), battery charger incl. car socket adaptor and 3 mains plug adapters (Euro, UK, USA) (14 463), (LEICA M8.2: compact charger with 80% charge display car socket and EURO/USA mains leads), USB connection cable, user manual, software DVD Capture One 4, warranty card.

Leica M8.2 Review

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Introduction

Ease of Use

Image Quality

Noise

Sharpening

Chromatic Aberrations

Macro

Night

Sample Images

Sample RAW Images

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Conclusion

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