The new firmware v. 2.014 for the Leica M8 adds support for the new Super Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 lens, as well as “optimization of internal processes”. Some users claimed higher ISO settings would show less noise now, others claimed the image preview was rendering faster now. Personally, I could not observe any changes in the camera’s behaviour since I installed the new firmware.

Of course, M8 users have been wondering what this “optimization” really was, and now we have an answer. A keen rff user dared to inquire with Leica, and here’s the reply he’s got:

In response to your question, there are no quantifiable examples of a process being optimised, other than the camera as a whole operating faster, smoother and with fewer glitches.

The processes that have been optimised are coding processes, these are running in the cameras CPU and dictate how the camera behaves and operates at a fundamental level, this code has been subtlety changed in the firmware update to remove areas identified over the cameras lifetime as problematic, and introduce new code where it has been deemed necessary by Leica’s electronics technicians.

I hope this answers your question and please feel free to reply with any further query’s you may have.

Thank you.