Personally, I feel that a tool that is well made, deserves recognition. Both R-D1s and M8 falls into this catagory and each have their strength. They are created for the non-mass market.
M8 has a certain charm and it carries the tradition of the Leica M bodies. Once held on the hands, one immediately will feel very comfortable if he has been using the M bodies before. R-D1 did something very different and won the hearts of 10000 photographers (as the initial production run). Hardly anyone will find analog dials on digital cameras. Hardly anyone need to wind the lever to **** the shutter to fire. Well, like the apple mcintosh, they have done things differently.
The only sad part about this is the mass market is not yet ready for such funky sexy products. Not many people will spend about USD2000 on a digital camera. That's alot of money for the general mass. And even fewer people will want to spend USD4500 on the M8, knowing that it's just another digital body. BUT to a professional photographer, USD4500 for a tool to earn an annual income of USD100,000 (estimate lah), that's pretty reasonable. Well, a camera means different thing to different people. And we have to respect those people who love to collect cameras as they help the general public to preserve these beautiful beast so that our children, grand children 50 years later will still know how a camera in the year 2007 look like. No one will know whether the M8 will withstand the age of time and maybe after a CLA it will still perform like a charm 50 years later. Who knows?
It's really really hard to compare the 2 beautiful cameras. And personally, I don't think it would be fair to judge that these 2 cameras would have sold better if the manufacturer or distributor lower their price. There is a reason why a product is priced as such. The technology built into M8 is not any simple technology that can be easily implemented on any digital camera. Technically, it's very difficult to build a sensor so close to the lens without any visible distortion. The business mode today has made it very difficult for companies with small R&D muscle to survive and grow. Hence, for a non-camera manufacturing company, Epson, has indeed done something almost impossible by coming out the R-D1 in the business world today.
Honestly speaking, for those who are still contemplating whether to get into digital RF.... look at the 2 camera bodies as a tool. If you need it to create beautiful pictures fast and easy... instant gratification, go and get one now. If your budget allows you to stretch and you really cannot survive with a 1.5 crop, then get a M8. If you're on a slightly tighter budget and don't mind 1.5 crop, get the R-D1s before it becomes extinct. If you only have the budget of a Nikon D40x and still want to join the RF club, then stay with film, get my R4M.
And best of all... IT'S FULL FRAME! :bsmilie:
