Leica M8 Specifications

LEICA M8 / LEICA M8

Technical Data

Camera LEICA M8
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.
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.
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 view-
finder 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. Identifi-
cation 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 pre-
selection 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 mode "S" setting of shutter speed dial = automatic control of exposure time, ISO speed and white balance. Menus reduced to
LEICA M8. essential functions, hints on aperture and focus settings are displayed when the Info key is pressed.
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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.
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.
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.
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– By pressing the set button, the following parameters relevant to the picture can be selected and changed in the picture
main menu 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.
Page 1 of 2 / As at September 2008 / Specifications are subject to change without notice
Leica Camera AG / Oskar-Barnack-Straße 11 / D-35606 Solms / Telephone +49 (0) 6442-208-0 / Telefax +49 (0) 6442-208-333 / leica-camera.com
: additional automatic setting with free choice of ISO range.
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: scratch-resistant sapphire coverglass). Brightness control in 5 stages. Checking options after taking the
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LEICA M8.
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: more pronounced detent mechanism to prevent
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: scratch-resistant sapphire coverglass), dial for navigation in the
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: 2 m). Frame selector Displays
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