Leica M9 - Still Something Special About It

 

Teen Style, Morning Light, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 Lens

iso 500, f1.7, 1/15 sec.

 

Yes, there's still something unique about how the Leica M9 sensor renders an image. Nothing in your face, for sure. But, this is basically the tonality that I had in mind when I made this shot on the way out of the house this morning. There's something subtle about the way this camera draws.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

How Often Do You See This? A Customer Asks For More of an Older Approach

Margot MacDonald, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, 50mm f1.4

iso 800, f1.4, 1/125 sec

 

No, this isn't a plea for Nikon to make a digital SLR like the great old film SLRs of the past (ala Df). It's an open letter, started on the blog "Photographs By Peter," to convince Leica to continue making new rangefinder cameras with CCD sensors.

 

(Click Here) to read the post on Photographs By Peter. The author makes the statement that image quality from Leica's latest rangefinder, the M240 (with the first CMOS sensor in the M line of rangefinders) is inferior to the CCD sensor-equipped M9.

 

I won't enter that argument directly. However, I will say that I'm quite pleased with my M9 (which came out before the M240), and I'm not looking to upgrade at this point. There's a lot more than image quality considered in that statement, however. I can't go around making multi-thousand dollar camera investments every year or so. And, I am not in need of some of the really strong features of the M240, including live view and the ability to adapt many different lenses, including the now mostly-orphaned Leica R lenses.

 

So, for now, the M9 remains my most expensive camera, and one of my favorites.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Sacrilege! The M9 is Better Than the New M (240)?

 

Forest Art, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5 Lens

 

Always on the lookout for new blogs, and especially those focused on Leica, I recently came across Prosophos.

 

Peter, the blog's host, is of the opinion that the image quality from Leica's CCD cameras, specifically the M9, is better than the new CMOS sensor in the M240. I am not necessarily of the same mind, but I do love my M9, and for very different reasons than I love my CMOS-based Nikon D700, for example.

 

(Click Here) to get started reading Peter's thoughts on the Leica CCD vs. CMOS topic.

 

Better and worse are very absolute terms. In art, absolute terms can be dangerous. To be fair, Peter is careful not to use them too much in his discussions.

 

I don't necessarily think either the M9 or M240 are better than each other. If you're shooting in the dark, or need to shoot video, the M240 is better. If you like the look of CCD images without AA filters, the M9 is better. If you're like me and still feel the weight of the investment you've made in the M9, guess which one is better?

 

One more thing, which I feel more strongly about, is the touting of all of the new features on the M240. Let's face it, folks, CMOS low light performance and video capability have been around for years now, and in a wide range of cameras, including other full-frame ones. Just not in Leica rangefinders. So, I'm not wowed by those features. And for me, the thought of an add-on electronic viewfinder (EVF) for a Leica rangefinder is just mixing two very different worlds. I'm completely at home with the add on EVF on my Micro 4/3 camera. Not so with the most pure of cameras in my opinion, the Leica rangefinder.

 

What would change my mind about the value of live view and add-on finders for the new M? Well, if I had a collection of R lenses, which can now be adapted and brought back to life, that would be a start. I'm not in that situation.

 

So, as always, different horses for different courses. And to end it positively, I still feel that my M9 is a camera that has no peer - not in my collection or anyone else's.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com