Leica M8 - shutter lag?

October 7, 2007 4:04 PM | Related Categories: M8

Some people have said that the M8 shutter seems to have more lag than it should, and feels rubbery. As I explained in the previous post, I feel that once you are on the third release position, it feels positive and not unlike my other M cameras. The shutter lag question bothered me though, because there is no point in having a rangefinder if you are not 100% sure when the exposure is going to take place.

So I performed a simple field test. I pointed the camera at the station clock and tried to catch the sweep second hand on the hour and at 5 secs past. I didn't try and fake this or anticipate the moment because it was done for my own peace of mind. The results showed, to me anyway, that I can be quite confident about the moment of capture. (NB images shot at ISO2500 if you're wondering about the quality)

Zürich Hauptbahnhof. Leica M8, 35mm Summicron, 1/8000s F5.6 ISO2500

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The shutter lag is 80 ms according to the leica literature.
# Posted By Gary | 2/9/09 4:17 AM
Thanks for the info Gary. I never find these figures very useful though, which is why I like to do the practical test. That's what counts in the long run. 80ms sounds awful long though - almost 1/10 sec
# Posted By richard | 2/9/09 10:25 AM
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