Leica M8

Viewfinder
The Leica M8's viewfinder is a rangefinder. Bright lines show the edges of the frame, and a rectangle in the center is a coincident rangefinder. All of the items are sharply defined, and bright. The framelines vary depending on what lens is attached to the camera – a cutout in the lens mount moves the same mechanism as the preview lever on the front of the camera, changing the frame lines to match the lens. One limitation of this system is that the actual magnification of the view never changes – a telephoto lens corresponds to a small set of frame lines around the center of the view, rather than enlarging the subject. The other issue is that the sets of frame lines appear in pairs – 24 and 35 mm are paired, as are 28 and 90 mm, 50 and 75 mm. It is not usually a challenge to remember which of the two lenses is mounted, but it's not as simple as using an SLR, which shows the real image made by whatever lens is attached.

In automatic exposure mode, the M8 displays the shutter speed in the viewfinder, superimposing it in red over the field of view. It also shows flash status, exposure compensation, works like a match-needle exposure indicator in manual mode, and shows when conditions are beyond the meter range. Leica says that the brightness of the indicators varies according to ambient lighting. We couldn't test that at the Photokina booth, but the brightness was appropriate to the conditions there.

LCD Screen
The Leica M8 has a 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD that shows menus, controls and images for review. It is very sharp and has excellent color. The display text is clear and elegant. Leica says the LCD has 5 brightness levels. The display remains visible over a broad range of angles. With the eyepiece set on the far left end of the M8, most users won't be bothered by nose or cheek prints on the LCD surface, either – it's out of the way for anyone who looks through viewfinders with their right eye.

We found the display remarkably good for reviewing images. It shows images at up to 100 percent – meaning that each pixel on the LCD corresponds to one image pixel. We noted very fine image detail at that setting.

Flash
The Leica M8 does not have a built-in flash, but it accepts dedicated Leica flashes. We did not have a chance to see or test the flash, which uses a through the lens metering system. In an usual move Leica adopted a metering system that uses a preflash to measure exposure. Most high-end systems measure flash exposure as it happens, and cut off the flash when enough light has been emitted. A preflash introduces a delay. Testing will indicate how much of a delay.

Lens
We looked at the M8 with a 35mm Summicron f/ 2.0, the newest version of one of Leica's most popular optics. The M8's sensor format imposes a 1.33 magnification, making the 35 comparable to a 45mm lens on a film camera. The Summicron images seemed very sharp and well-corrected onscreen.

New Leica lenses have 6-bit encoding, a set of marks on the lens mount which the M8 can read. According to Leica, the codes allow the M8 to account for vignetting, to communicate focal length to the dedicated flash, and to include lens information in EXIF data, and coordinate flash sync shutter speed with focal length. Old lenses can have 6-bit encoding added, though Leica staff indicate this might not be justified with some older optics.