SD card removal: As I said earlier, in Baghdad I frequently cover the scenes of car bomb. It is illegal to shot these scenes until they are completely cleaned up, and the Iraqi police frequently confiscate flash cards and cameras if they see us shooting. Occasionally a photographer is beaten bloody. One of the ways around this is to try to sneak a photo and have a spare SD card to swap out; the police end up confiscating a blank card and the images are safe in your pocket. On Canons and Nikons you can discreetly replace the SD or CF card in a couple of seconds. I believe that all SLR manufacturers use a simple compartment cover. Leica has decided that--in a nod to 1950’s technology--they will have you take off the bottom plate, i.e. partially disassemble the camera to remove the SD card. On several occasions I have had to fumble with this, frantically trying to swap out a card in a low-key manner as soldiers came towards me. Filters: Due to technical considerations that are irrelevant to this review, the M8 demands the use of expensive IR filters on every lens. With the dust and grit of Iraq and West Africa where I work, I generally change filters every six months. When you factor in that I use three lenses routinely, this translates to as much as $500 dollars a year spent on filters. Lack of depth of field: Due to technical considerations that are beyond the scope of this review, the M8 when used with a wide-angle lens has extensive depth of field, far too much in my opinion. Even wide open with a 21mm lens, (equivalent to a 28mm on the M8), it is impossible to get the kind of depth and bokeh to my wide-angle photos that I routinely get with Leica film cameras and with digital SLR’s. The M8 photos have a flat look to them as a result. Build quality: For years, Leica has benefited from its reputation for toughness and build quality. “Yes, they’re not much good with a telephoto, but they go forever, they’re super-dependable,” people would say. For much of the past 20 years, I agreed with this assessment--I still shoot daily with my M2 that I bought used in 1985. However, based on extensive use of the M7 and M8 over the past few years, I must say honestly: Leica’s days of dependability are long since past. In my opinion, Leica’s quality control today is well below that of other camera makers. This, coupled with poor field testing of new models and what is probably the longest repair wait of any major camera manufacturer, is a very serious problem for a working photojournalist. I have waited up to three months for lens repairs and four months for camera body repairs that had to be sent to Germany. I purchased an M7 new in 2005. When I payed for it through a well-known Manhattan dealer, he said to me, “Well you know you have to buy two because they break down all the time. You’ll need one as a back-up.” I laughed, thinking he was joking. He was not. “My customers bring them back here all the time and I have to send them to Leica for repair,” he told me. As he warned, I shot four rolls of film with the M7 before it locked up. Leica returned it after a few weeks but it quit on me in Sierra Leone and again in Darfur. The camera had to be sent back to Leica four times but still was undependable; the meter fluctuated wildly. After nearly a year, much of which the M7 spent at Leica’s repair facility in Germany, Leica refunded my money and I gave them back their M7. My first M8 was similarly glitchy. The camera would frequently randomly overexpose several frames by as much as 4 stops, rendering the images completely unusable. I had to reset the M8 by turning it off and on. In Jan. 2008, Fotocare in Manhattan where I purchased the camera, gave me a new M8.

SD card removal:

As I said earlier, in Baghdad I frequently cover the scenes of car bomb. It is illegal to shot these scenes until they are completely cleaned up, and the Iraqi police frequently confiscate flash cards and cameras if they see us shooting. Occasionally a photographer is beaten bloody. One of the ways around this is to try to sneak a photo and have a spare SD card to swap out; the police end up confiscating a blank card and the images are safe in your pocket.

On Canons and Nikons you can discreetly replace the SD or CF card in a couple of seconds. I believe that all SLR manufacturers use a simple compartment cover. Leica has decided that--in a nod to 1950’s technology--they will have you take off the bottom plate, i.e. partially disassemble the camera to remove the SD card. On several occasions I have had to fumble with this, frantically trying to swap out a card in a low-key manner as soldiers came towards me.

Filters: Due to technical considerations that are irrelevant to this review, the M8 demands the use of expensive IR filters on every lens. With the dust and grit of Iraq and West Africa where I work, I generally change filters every six months. When you factor in that I use three lenses routinely, this translates to as much as $500 dollars a year spent on filters.

Lack of depth of field: Due to technical considerations that are beyond the scope of this review, the M8 when used with a wide-angle lens has extensive depth of field, far too much in my opinion. Even wide open with a 21mm lens, (equivalent to a 28mm on the M8), it is impossible to get the kind of depth and bokeh to my wide-angle photos that I routinely get with Leica film cameras and with digital SLR’s. The M8 photos have a flat look to them as a result.

Build quality: For years, Leica has benefited from its reputation for toughness and build quality. “Yes, they’re not much good with a telephoto, but they go forever, they’re super-dependable,” people would say. For much of the past 20 years, I agreed with this assessment--I still shoot daily with my M2 that I bought used in 1985.

However, based on extensive use of the M7 and M8 over the past few years, I must say honestly: Leica’s days of dependability are long since past.

In my opinion, Leica’s quality control today is well below that of other camera makers. This, coupled with poor field testing of new models and what is probably the longest repair wait of any major camera manufacturer, is a very serious problem for a working photojournalist. I have waited up to three months for lens repairs and four months for camera body repairs that had to be sent to Germany.

I purchased an M7 new in 2005. When I payed for it through a well-known Manhattan dealer, he said to me, “Well you know you have to buy two because they break down all the time. You’ll need one as a back-up.” I laughed, thinking he was joking. He was not. “My customers bring them back here all the time and I have to send them to Leica for repair,” he told me.

As he warned, I shot four rolls of film with the M7 before it locked up. Leica returned it after a few weeks but it quit on me in Sierra Leone and again in Darfur. The camera had to be sent back to Leica four times but still was undependable; the meter fluctuated wildly. After nearly a year, much of which the M7 spent at Leica’s repair facility in Germany, Leica refunded my money and I gave them back their M7.

My first M8 was similarly glitchy. The camera would frequently randomly overexpose several frames by as much as 4 stops, rendering the images completely unusable. I had to reset the M8 by turning it off and on. In Jan. 2008, Fotocare in Manhattan where I purchased the camera, gave me a new M8.

Above: Refugees, Kirkuk, Nov. 2007. Leica M8 with 21mm ASPH shot wide open. Both this file and the one below are original and untouched

Above: Refugees, Kirkuk, Nov. 2007. Canon 5D with 24mm. Leica may claim some advantage in lab tests but the Canon frame just looks better than the M8’s--much better in my opinion.

Four frames above: School, Baghdad. 2007 My M8 would frequently and randomly overexpose by about 4 stops as it did here. I turned the camera off to reset it, then shot the last frame. Fotocare in NYC, where I bought my M8, and which I consider the best camera store around, simply gave me a new M8 when I came home on a short break. Leica’s customer service is just the opposite--I’ve waited months for simple repairs to be completed.

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