Specifications#
- Brand
- Leica
- Model
- M8
- Also known as
- M8 Digital Camera
- Camera type
- Mirrorless
- Released
- 2006-01-01
- Lens mount
- Leica M
- Sensor size
- 27.0 × 18.0 mm (APS-H)
- Crop factor
- 1.33×
- Resolution
- 10.3 MP (3,936 × 2,630 px)
- Weight
- 545 g (19.2 oz)
- Sensor
- 18 x 27 mm inducing a 1.33 crop factor
- Sensor type
- CCD
- Viewfinder
- Reverse Galilean (x0.68) with automatic or manual selection of parallax corrected framelines, additional color LCD: 2.5", 230,000 pixels
- Metering
- TTL, center weighted averaging
- Exposure modes
- Manual, aperture priority auto exposure
- Shutter
- Focal plane, metal curtains, vertical travel
- Flash
- Fixed hot shoe
- Battery
- Lithium Ion
- Dimensions
- 139 x 80 x 39 mm
- Successor
- Leica M9
Specifications merged from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Lensfun and openMVG. Spot an error? Tell us.
Sensor size compared#
Focal length equivalents & field of view#
Multiply any focal length by 1.33 to get the full-frame field of view. Angles are for a rectilinear lens focused at infinity.
| Lens on this camera | Full-frame equivalent | Horizontal | Vertical | Diagonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 mm | 11 mm | 118.7° | 96.7° | 127.5° |
| 10 mm | 13 mm | 106.9° | 84.0° | 116.7° |
| 12 mm | 16 mm | 96.7° | 73.7° | 107.0° |
| 14 mm | 19 mm | 87.9° | 65.5° | 98.4° |
| 16 mm | 21 mm | 80.3° | 58.7° | 90.8° |
| 18 mm | 24 mm | 73.7° | 53.1° | 84.1° |
| 20 mm | 27 mm | 68.0° | 48.5° | 78.1° |
| 24 mm | 32 mm | 58.7° | 41.1° | 68.1° |
| 28 mm | 37 mm | 51.5° | 35.6° | 60.2° |
| 35 mm | 47 mm | 42.2° | 28.8° | 49.7° |
| 40 mm | 53 mm | 37.3° | 25.4° | 44.2° |
| 50 mm | 67 mm | 30.2° | 20.4° | 36.0° |
| 56 mm | 75 mm | 27.1° | 18.3° | 32.3° |
| 70 mm | 93 mm | 21.8° | 14.7° | 26.1° |
| 85 mm | 113 mm | 18.0° | 12.1° | 21.6° |
| 100 mm | 133 mm | 15.4° | 10.3° | 18.4° |
| 135 mm | 180 mm | 11.4° | 7.6° | 13.7° |
| 200 mm | 267 mm | 7.7° | 5.2° | 9.3° |
| 300 mm | 400 mm | 5.2° | 3.4° | 6.2° |
| 400 mm | 533 mm | 3.9° | 2.6° | 4.6° |
| 600 mm | 800 mm | 2.6° | 1.7° | 3.1° |
| 800 mm | 1067 mm | 1.9° | 1.3° | 2.3° |
Depth of field table#
Total depth of field at each subject distance, using a circle of confusion of 22.5 µm (the 0.030 mm full-frame standard scaled by the crop factor).
| Focal | Aperture | 50.0 cm | 1.00 m | 2.00 m | 3.00 m | 5.00 m | 10.0 m | Hyperfocal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 mm | f/1.8 | 7.7 cm | 31.9 cm | 1.39 m | 3.64 m | 20.8 m | ∞ | 6.34 m |
| 16 mm | f/2.8 | 12.1 cm | 51.4 cm | 2.56 m | 9.56 m | ∞ | ∞ | 4.08 m |
| 16 mm | f/4 | 17.5 cm | 78.6 cm | 5.43 m | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | 2.86 m |
| 16 mm | f/8 | 38.5 cm | 2.65 m | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | 1.44 m |
| 32 mm | f/1.8 | 1.9 cm | 7.7 cm | 31.3 cm | 71.4 cm | 2.04 m | 9.34 m | 25.3 m |
| 32 mm | f/2.8 | 2.9 cm | 12.0 cm | 49.2 cm | 1.13 m | 3.37 m | 19.7 m | 16.3 m |
| 32 mm | f/4 | 4.1 cm | 17.1 cm | 71.3 cm | 1.68 m | 5.39 m | 75.4 m | 11.4 m |
| 32 mm | f/8 | 8.3 cm | 35.0 cm | 1.57 m | 4.30 m | 36.8 m | ∞ | 5.72 m |
| 54 mm | f/1.8 | 0.6 cm | 2.6 cm | 10.8 cm | 24.6 cm | 69.0 cm | 2.82 m | 72.1 m |
| 54 mm | f/2.8 | 1.0 cm | 4.1 cm | 16.8 cm | 38.3 cm | 1.08 m | 4.51 m | 46.3 m |
| 54 mm | f/4 | 1.4 cm | 5.8 cm | 24.1 cm | 55.0 cm | 1.56 m | 6.78 m | 32.5 m |
| 54 mm | f/8 | 2.8 cm | 11.7 cm | 48.8 cm | 1.13 m | 3.37 m | 19.7 m | 16.3 m |
| 90 mm | f/1.8 | 0.2 cm | 0.9 cm | 3.8 cm | 8.7 cm | 24.6 cm | 99.3 cm | 200 m |
| 90 mm | f/2.8 | 0.3 cm | 1.4 cm | 5.9 cm | 13.6 cm | 38.2 cm | 1.55 m | 129 m |
| 90 mm | f/4 | 0.5 cm | 2.0 cm | 8.5 cm | 19.4 cm | 54.7 cm | 2.23 m | 90.1 m |
| 90 mm | f/8 | 0.9 cm | 4.0 cm | 17.0 cm | 39.0 cm | 1.10 m | 4.63 m | 45.1 m |
Equivalent aperture#
Exposure is identical at the same f-number on any format; equivalence only describes depth of field and total light.
Diffraction & pixel pitch#
With 6.86 µm pixels, diffraction starts to soften pixel-level detail around f/10.2. For maximum sharpness keep landscapes between f/5.6 and f/10; stopping down further trades detail for depth of field.
| Aperture | Airy disk diameter | Spread over | At 100% view |
|---|---|---|---|
| f/2.8 | 3.8 µm | 0.5 px | sharp |
| f/4 | 5.4 µm | 0.8 px | sharp |
| f/5.6 | 7.5 µm | 1.1 px | sharp |
| f/8 | 10.7 µm | 1.6 px | sharp |
| f/11 | 14.8 µm | 2.2 px | slight softening |
| f/16 | 21.5 µm | 3.1 px | visibly soft |
| f/22 | 29.5 µm | 4.3 px | visibly soft |
Maximum print sizes#
At 10.3 MP the Leica M8 produces 3,936 × 2,630 pixel images. See the 10 megapixel guide or the print size calculator.
| Resolution | Typical use | Inches | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 DPI | Photo-lab quality | 13.1 × 8.8 in | 33 × 22 cm |
| 240 DPI | Fine-art inkjet | 16.4 × 11.0 in | 42 × 28 cm |
| 200 DPI | Wall print | 19.7 × 13.2 in | 50 × 33 cm |
| 150 DPI | Poster, viewed from 1 m+ | 26.2 × 17.5 in | 67 × 45 cm |
Night-sky exposure limits#
Longest exposure before stars trail. The NPF rule accounts for pixel pitch and is stricter than the classic 500 rule — use it for pin-sharp stars on high-resolution sensors.
| Focal length | 500 rule | NPF f/1.8 | NPF f/2.8 | NPF f/4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 mm (13 mm eq.) | 37.5 s | 26.9 s | 30.4 s | 34.6 s |
| 15 mm (20 mm eq.) | 25.0 s | 17.9 s | 20.3 s | 23.1 s |
| 18 mm (24 mm eq.) | 20.8 s | 14.9 s | 16.9 s | 19.2 s |
| 26 mm (35 mm eq.) | 14.4 s | 10.3 s | 11.7 s | 13.3 s |
| 37 mm (49 mm eq.) | 10.1 s | 7.3 s | 8.2 s | 9.3 s |
Handheld shutter speed guide#
The reciprocal rule uses the equivalent focal length. High-resolution sensors may need one stop faster than this for pixel-sharp results.
| Focal length | No stabilisation (1/equiv. focal) | With 3-stop IS | With 5-stop IBIS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 mm | 1/25 s | 0.3 s | 1.3 s |
| 37 mm | 1/50 s | 1/6 s | 0.6 s |
| 75 mm | 1/100 s | 1/13 s | 0.3 s |
| 150 mm | 1/200 s | 1/25 s | 1/6 s |
Lenses for the Leica M8#
Native Leica M lenses in our database (8 total). Also adaptable: T-mount (T2), M39 / LTM (Leica thread), M42 screw mount, Deckel (DKL).
- Voigtländer Nokton 28mm F1.5 Aspherical 28 mm
- Laowa 85mm f/5.6 2X Ultra Macro APO 85 mm
- Leica Elmarit-M 1:2.8/28 Asph. 28 mm
- Leica Summicron-M 1:2/28 Asph. 28 mm
- Leica Summicron-M 1:2/35 Asph. (11879/11882) 35 mm
- Leica Summicron-M 1:2/50 50 mm
- Leica APO-Summicron-M 1:2/75 Asph. (11673/11701) 75 mm
- Leica Elmarit-M 1:2.8/90 90 mm
Similar cameras#
Other APS-H cameras from around the same time.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the crop factor of the Leica M8?
The Leica M8 has a crop factor of 1.33× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 32.4 mm vs 43.3 mm).
What size is the Leica M8 sensor?
27.0 × 18.0 mm (APS-H), an area of 486 mm² — 56% of full frame.
Is the Leica M8 full frame?
No — its sensor is APS-H, which is 1.8× smaller in area than full frame.
How many megapixels does the Leica M8 have?
10.3 megapixels (3,936 × 2,630 pixels), enough for a 13 × 9 inch print at 300 DPI.
What lens mount does the Leica M8 use?
The Leica M8 uses the Leica M (flange distance 27.80 mm).
How long can I expose the night sky with the Leica M8?
With a 15 mm lens (20 mm equivalent) the 500 rule gives 25 s and the stricter NPF rule at f/2.8 gives 20 s.
Sources & licences#
- Wikipedia: Leica M8 — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q349974 — CC0
- Lensfun camera database — CC BY-SA 3.0
- openMVG sensor width database — MPL-2.0
Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources