Leica M8.2 Digital Rangefinder Camera Now Official

Leica have stumped up with a new digital version of the classic M8 rangefinder, after their original M8 upgrade program, and dubbed it the M8.2. The company obviously subscribes to the “don’t mess with a classic” design philosophy, so there’s not much to see in the way of changes here but they are there.

The 10.3 Megapixel CCD-camera has a new “extra quite, low-vibration metal blade focal plane shutter,” a top shutter speed of 1/4000th of a second, a new largely automatic snapshot mode, and it’s apparently the “first professional digital camera” to use scratch-resist sapphire glass on the LCD screen. It’ll work with M-series lenses, and takes SDHC cards up to 32GB. There’s no data on pricing (though it’ll certainly cost a packet) and there’s word it’s due in October. [LetsGoDigital and Slashgear]