I had been eyeing a Leica M for a while. It started after my grandpa gave me an old Pentax film camera. After that, I was hooked. I could not afford an M at the time so I purchased a Leica IIIc on eBay for a few hundred, but I still kept looking for an affordable M camera. After a few years of shooting with film and been out of school working in the bay area I finally had the money to get an M camera, but which one? After a few weeks of eBay hunting and browsing the second-hand shops I stumbled upon a Leica M8 on B&H for $1200. I immediately purchased it! I also needed a lens but I could not justify the price of a real Leica lens. Thankfully a Chinese company called 7Artisans has created some low-cost M mount lenses. I decided to go with their 35mm F2 lens, as the cropped sensor creates an effective focal length of about 48mm.
I also purchased a Leica screw mount to M mount adaptor so I could use my Leica 50mm Elmar F3.5 and Jupiter 8 lens that had purchased for my Leica IIIc.
Leica IIIc 
Jupiter 8 Lens
Photos
All of these pictures were taken with the Leica M8 with the 35mm 7Artisans Lens. I think they highlight the versatility of the camera as well as some of the drawbacks.
The above images have a film like quality for a digital camera, and the operation of the camera make you feel like you are shooting film. The manual focus forces you to slow down and compose your shot and the low resolution screen prohibits you form chimping too much. One down side of the older sensor technology is that greenery takes on a more brownish hue. This is due to the lack of IR filtering. This can be fixed with a IR cut filter, but I kinda like the look.
Final Thoughts
I am amazed at the images that come out of a 13-year-old digital camera. This is compounded by the Leica build quality and literal heft, this camera could knock someone out cold if needed. The only downside I have found is that the batteries are super expensive and only give you a couple of hundred shots if you are lucky. I have one original battery and two aftermarket ones. The aftermarket ones are a bit hit and miss but do work. My advice is to get a new one from Leica if you want to have the best experience with your camera.
If you are thinking of buying a used Leica M just remember that it is an old camera, it does not have wifi or even a video mode but it does make you want to take more pictures with it. And really nowadays our phones can do all of these other fancy features. I take pictures with the Leica M8 because it is just a joy to use, which probably colors my appreciation of the images it produces a bit haha!
