Leica M8 hardware update

published : Wednesday, February 06, 2008 | model : LEICA M8

Theme : Digital Photography | D-SLR

That is new in this industry Leica will offer a hardware upgrade of their digital rangefinder M8. All details here.

Leica M8 Digital Camera

eBay

4499.00 $

Calumet Photo

5495.99 $

Amazon

5399.00 $

Leica is offering the possibility to Leica owners to send their M8 to the factory in Germany in order to gat an upgrade. This is not a firmware upgrade but a real hardware upgrade : two main things are changed, the shutter and the rear LCD's glass. The new shutter will be much more quiet than the basic M8 one which is really too noisy for an M camera, a line well-known for its silence. The counterpart of this upgrade is a maximum shutter speed which will get down from 1/8000s to 1/4000 s and a flash sync speed sinking from 1/250s to 1/180s. The second upgrade is the implementation of a new glass to protect the rear LCD. The new one will be made of sapphire glass, a king of glass which should prevent scratches as it is, after diamond, the most resistant material on Earth.

Unfortunately, this upgrade is expensive : 1200 euros in Europe ! For that price, Leica will handle the freight in both ways (your home - German factory – your home) and you will get a brand new 2 years guaranty. Leica is not planning to change the design of their M8 being produced and therefore, if you purchase an M8 this year, you will still have to pay Euros 1200 to get the upgraded shutter and glass.

With this upgrade, Leica wants to give a "forever up to date" possibility to its M range and escape from the consumer electronic market laws.