To me now, it feels and looks awesome and it produces great results, roll after roll. I know people who think this camera is butt ugly, and I can’t remember if I was one of them, but what I can tell you is that most people who love the R8 end up loving it after they have held and used one. I’ve compared a lot of these monstrous cameras to the Canon EOS-1, but I can’t even compare the R8 to that behemoth in its looks. There’s nothing in their film range of cameras that looks like it. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s a standout body. If Leica had not discontinued their R system bodies, lenses, and accessories, it is my opinion that the Leica R could stand out as the ultimate Leica film body, even when compared to their beloved rangefinders. IS THE LEICA R8/R9 THE ULTIMATE LEICA CAMERA?
#Leica r8 serial number#
Here’s a good page on R8 ISSUES including suspected serial number ranges. However, the R9 on the used market is a good $500 more than a used R8. If you’re worried about this, that’s one good reason to buy an R9 which apparently fixed everything. It is likely, but not certain, that if you buy one today and it’s in working condition, it’s probably fine.
#Leica r8 free#
Leica reportedly, at that time, fixed these issues free of charge.Īll I can say is in the eight years I’ve had the camera, knock on wood, I never had a problem with it. In the first few years that the R8 was out on the market, there were numerous reports on reliability issues. The shutter is well damped and smooth in its sound. Leica R8, 90mm f/2 Summicron-R, Ilford XP2. You probably would’ve expected 100 percent viewfinder coverage on a camera like this, and so did I. The 93 percent coverage viewfinder is bright and clear, but appears smaller and not as easy to focus as that on the older Leicaflex SL series. A good rule to remember when buying cameras is that any camera with 1/8000 means serious business even if 99 percent of the time we never use that shutter speed! On the top right of the camera is the shutter speed dial which runs from 16s to 1/8000th of a second. You trigger the flash (or strobes) in “F” mode and it will help you determine flash exposure values which you can see on the back LCD without actually taking a shot, saving you from wasting film.
#Leica r8 Pc#
In a nutshell, the mode is used in conjunction with the camera’s pc socket and your flash which can be a dedicated flash unit or a number of studio strobes. I could write about this, but it would take a whole half page and I’ve never used it. It has all your usual modes, manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, and a very unusual “F” flash metering mode. The controls are definitely in the Leica bloodline, spartan and uncluttered.
I never thought about getting one until I started picking up R lenses to use on my 5D in the mid 2000s.Īfter seeing how great these lenses were, I found a great deal on an R8 in 2008 and although I’ve sold off a whole load of stuff since then, I still hang on to the R8. I remember thinking it was huge and cool and even a little crazy. I remember reading about the R8 in one of those cool British photography magazines in the late 90s. It is huge, it is massive, it is a TITAN!! The Leica R8 (and R9) look radically different from any Leica single lens reflex before it.
#Leica r8 manual#
It’s an electronic camera that relies on batteries for everything, and it is pure manual focus. While the R8 appears much like an autofocus camera, it is not. R9 differences will be pointed out later on in this article.
The bulk of this review is based on my extended use of the R8.
#Leica r8 series#
The R9 was introduced in 2002 and was the last film SLR made by Leica for their R series which was discontinued in 2009.Īlthough the R9 was marketed at the time as a new model, it is pretty much an upgraded R8. The Leica R8 is a 35mm film SLR introduced by Leica in 1996. I might as well call this “Tuesday Night Titans” as a tribute to the old WWF (now WWE) rasslin’ show 🙂
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