Is the Leica M8 still worth it today?

When the Leica M8 was introduced in September 2006, it was met with genuine excitement. It was Leica's first digital M rangefinder; a landmark camera for one of photography's most iconic brands.

Twenty years later, does it still deserve that applause?

To answer that, you have to remember the world it arrived in. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol topped the charts, the Lamborghini Murciélago was the supercar everyone dreamed about, and life felt just a little more analogue. People spent weekends in pubs instead of tracking their VO₂ Max or worrying about social media algorithms.

Fast forward to today and we have AI writing our emails, homes that switch their own lights on and off, and electric cars that often feel more efficient than emotional. In that world, a fully manual digital camera seems difficult to justify.

Ironically, that's exactly why the M8 still shines.

With autofocus now bordering on telepathy and megapixel counts climbing ever higher, the M8 offers something refreshingly different. It's stripped back, uncomplicated, and demands your full attention. It slows you down—and that's precisely the point.

Technical Specifications

The M8 features a 10.3 megapixel CCD sensor developed jointly by Leica and Kodak. Its files have a character that modern CMOS sensors still struggle to replicate. Colours have a richness reminiscent of Kodachrome, while black and white images carry a tonal quality surprisingly close to Kodak Tri-X.

To maximise sharpness, Leica used an extremely thin infrared filter over the sensor. The downside is that blacks can take on a magenta cast unless you use a UV/IR cut filter. Leica acknowledged the issue when the camera launched and supplied owners with two filters free of charge. Originals still appear on the used market from time to time, although the camera remains perfectly usable without one if you're aware of its quirks.

SOOC DNG shot on Leica Summicron 50mm Rigid

Edited DNG shot on Leica Summilux Pre-Asph 50mm F1.4

At 545g, the M8 is lighter than later models like the M240 while still feeling reassuringly solid in the hand.

The vertical metal-blade focal plane shutter offers speeds from 32 seconds to 1/8000 sec, with flash sync at 1/250 sec. Over the years the shutter has gained a mixed reputation. Sticky solenoids, debris in the mechanism, and the occasional loose screw or lever can all cause issues. Thankfully, most of these faults are repairable, so I wouldn't let them put you off buying a good example.

To fit a digital sensor into Leica's first digital rangefinder, the company opted for an APS-H sensor measuring 18 × 27mm. This gives a crop factor of approximately 1.33x, meaning:

• 28mm becomes roughly 37mm

• 35mm becomes roughly 46mm

• 50mm becomes roughly 66mm

For many buyers this crop factor is the M8's biggest drawback. Personally, I've grown to appreciate the extra reach, particularly with 28mm and 35mm lenses.

The rear 2.5-inch LCD, however, is best described as... functional. It's fine for checking composition and the histogram, but don't expect much.

ISO ranges from 160 to 2500. For colour work I generally stay below ISO 320, as colours begin to shift at higher settings. For black and white, though, I'm perfectly happy shooting up to ISO 1250. The grain has a wonderfully organic quality that suits the sensor beautifully.

Build Quality

Like every proper Leica M, the M8 uses brass top and bottom plates. It feels dense, reassuring, and built to outlast most modern cameras.

There's a long-standing story that a Leica executive once stood on an M8 during its launch to demonstrate its strength. Whether that's true or not, the camera certainly feels capable of surviving decades of use.

The Rangefinder

The M8 uses a 0.68x viewfinder—slightly wider than the traditional 0.72x magnification—and includes six framelines:

• 24mm / 35mm

• 28mm / 90mm

• 50mm / 75mm

Importantly, these framelines have already been adjusted to account for the APS-H crop sensor, so framing remains intuitive.

We trade a large number of Leica cameras, and one thing we've consistently noticed is how rarely the M8's rangefinder falls out of alignment. Whether Leica revised the mechanism or simply improved the assembly process, they're generally impressively reliable.

Is 10 Megapixels Enough?

That depends entirely on how you use your camera.

For social media, websites, messaging, viewing on phones and computers, and prints up to around 14 × 11 inches, the M8 remains more than capable. Even professional photographers produced outstanding work with cameras of this resolution for many years.

Ultimately, image quality depends far more on the photographer than the megapixel count.

In fact, the M8's greatest strength is everything it doesn't have.

No autofocus. No subject detection. No computational tricks. No shortcuts.

You meter the scene, set the exposure, focus manually, and make the photograph yourself. There are no cheat codes. Every successful image feels earned, and that makes photography with the M8 uniquely rewarding.

As Orson Welles famously said:

"The enemy of art is the absence of limitation."

The M8 embodies that philosophy perfectly.

Things to Check Before Buying

Battery

Original Leica batteries are worth seeking out. They hold charge significantly better than many aftermarket options and communicate properly with the battery indicator on the top plate. Third-party batteries often work, but frequently display an empty battery icon regardless of charge level.

If you're relying on aftermarket batteries, I'd recommend carrying at least two or three for a full day's shooting.

Dead Pixels

Older CCD sensors can develop dead pixels over time. It's worth checking for these as soon as you receive the camera.

Just be careful not to confuse a dead sensor pixel with a fault on the rear LCD, which can also develop bright spots independently of the sensor itself.

"Coffee Stain" LCD

Some M8s develop what's commonly known as the "coffee stain" LCD, where dark patches appear beneath the screen coating. It looks alarming, but given the limited usefulness of the rear display, it's often more of a cosmetic annoyance than a practical problem.

So, Why Buy One?

The Leica M8 isn't a camera you buy with your head.

You buy it with your heart.

It's beautifully built, wonderfully tactile, and produces images with a character that's becoming increasingly rare in the digital world. The CCD sensor has a depth and richness that many photographers still chase today, and the camera encourages a slower, more deliberate way of working that feels almost therapeutic.

If you're looking for the fastest, smartest, or most capable digital camera, the M8 isn't it.

But if you want one of the most engaging photographic experiences available, and files with genuine soul, it's still one of the most compelling digital Leicas ever made.