Leica M10 vs Typ 262: First Impressions

I have owned an M Typ 262 for just under a year. I chose it instead of the 240 because I wanted more simplicity and less weight. I have been very happy with the 262. I have no interest in Live View.

 

Today I had a chance to try an M10 in a camera store. I used my own lens (35mm Summicron), and had my 262 with me so that I could compare them side-by-side.

 

The M10 is the model I would have chosen if it had been available last year. Subjectively, the weight is the same (although the M10 is actually 20g lighter than the 262). But the M10 design improvements make sense for me. When I set out to take photographs, the only use I have for the rear button and screen is to set the ISO. It makes complete sense for me to do this with a dial instead. Also, if I go from outdoors to indoors, or the weather changes, I would prefer not having to activate the rear screen just to choose a new ISO.

 

I like the fact that there are only 3 menu buttons on the back of the M10. On the Typ 262, the WB and DELETE buttons seem silly to me, and the SET button is a bit confusing, especially since it doubles as an "OK" button.

 

The viewfinder of the M10 is slightly bigger - but not noticeably in my quick tests. The thinner body is more aesthetic for me, but there is not a huge difference in body width.

 

That all being said, I felt only a small urge to trade up. To me the feel of the M10 was not different than the Typ 262. If I had to choose today, I would pay the extra for the M10, but I am not sure that the difference in the two models is sufficient for me to sell my Typ 262 and get the M10. This may change as I mull over my experience.

 

I would be interested in the opinion of others who have compared the M10 and the Typ 262.

Interesting,. Obviously, they are both very fine cameras. I do like the ISO knob, as opposed to menus. Apples to oranges, but my Nikon Df has an ISO dial, and I greatly prefer that mode of operation as compared to changing ISO with button/wheel/menu mode. There are only four things to control, focus, aperture, shutter, and ISO. They should all be equally convenient to access. The M10 seems to deliver those quite nicely.

 

Just MHO.

If I was convinced to need a color Leica beyond my M8, I probably couldn't resist the urge to get an M10. If It's Monochrom version was already out, I might have preordered it. - ISO dial and range, the faint RF size improvement + the maybe by now somewhat usable EVF look all desirable in my eyes and I'd love to have a 2nd body to avoid a few lens changes.

I haven't even handled an M240 yet. - I read the reviews didn't wait long enough for the 2nd Monochrom version to be finally announced and bought the 1st one after dipping my toes with a beat up M8. - I had film bodies before. - The digitals have brighter finders than my M4-P & 3 but yes I can see the magnification difference and I do actually love the longer lenses too. - An 1.25x VF magnifier helps me a bit, but still...

That being said: I am really happy to have my outdated stuff and might end using a tripod or flash till the 3rd Monochrom gets announced.

I suppose Leica Ms are fun cameras these days? - So why not shoot them and maybe add the M11 or M12 as a 2nd body to your 262? Permanent upgrading is unlikely to get us anywhere. - Before you dig out the few folks generating income with their Ms: They must be great photographers to do so despite shooting Ms. - If that asumption wasn't true employers would still hand out Ms.

I mentioned the M8 on purpose here since yes, it gives the rangefinder feeling and colors and pixels look pretty good to me, at basic ISO at least. I'm not even always shooting for my 4K screen so image size isn't really limiting.

Sure, I'd love to have the ISO dial / knob but I can't agree to "When I set out to take photographs, the only use I have for the rear button and screen is to set the ISO. It makes complete sense for me to do this with a dial instead." - On the M8 I change from base ISO, WB "flash" just DNG to auto everything and DNG + B&W JPEG when I leave the studio. On the Monochrom I have to dial in my lens in use once in a while. Auto ISO cuts the cake quite well for me. I usually have to do a bit of histogram chimping to come to the conclusion its time to do things in manual mode. - So far I haven't learned to shoot in full manual mode reliably & sucessfully metering with my Lunasix. The built in trafic light meter is not my taste. And the modern shutterspeed dials feel like a step back to me. - On the meterless Ms I can feel my set shutterspeed on the digitals that is impossible. And "reading" the dial is sometimes a tad challenging in the dim audience of an event to be shot at ISO 10K & f2. Just saying "manual control still isn't what it used to be." Anyhow: They are all lovely cameras and hitting an ISO limit doesn't get cured by just 2 extra stops offered by a later and greater model.

Nice read Michael. I just received my one year-old M262 back from Leica NJ to have the rangefinder adjusted and a general cleanup. The M262 was the first Leica body I ever purchased new and I just love the thing.

 

The biggest selling point of the M10 to me is the better high ISO performance. If my only Leica was an M9, that would be a huge upgrade, but I'm darn happy with the M262 up to as high as ISO 3200, where I rarely go but have no problem doing so when needed. As a 24MP full frame body with a great sensor where highly details JPEG's often spit out from Adobe Camera raw at over 30MB with ultra-fine detail galore, I see my M262 as being camera that can hold my upgrade temptation back a few years yet.

I had the M262 for almost one year but sold it when I got on the M10 waiting list. After a 6 week wait the M10 arrived and now I can compare the two cameras. I prefer the M10's improved viewfinder - it is just easier and faster for me to frame and precisely focus, compared to using the M262. i feel much more confident that I have focused correctly with the M10. That's one of the key reasons I upgraded, since I need reading glasses. Second, I noticed with the M262 that I missed not having live view for framing (being a former Fuji and Olympus shooter). I often shoot landscapes with a tripod and sometimes the camera is rather low to the ground with a tripod. The M10's live view lets me frame the scene easier, and focus easier. The focus peaking is an alternate focus method that can also helps in such instances. And third, if I use a super wide lens outside of my in-camera frame lines, (such as Voigtlander 21mm), the live view lets me see what an ultra wide lens sees and will yield, prior to taking the shot. With the M262, I had to first take the image, then turn on view/replay to see the actual image, reframe and readjust the horizon, etc. and then try another shot. Then I'd need to delete the first test images that were off. So live view is a tool that lets you avoid these extra steps. Untreated, as a benefit of the M10, I don't usually shoot at a high ISO setting, but the M10 is said to be highly improved in this capability. However, the one thing I am still trying to improve is the M10's tendency to overexposure and give blown highlights. I am compensating now by dialing in a - ⅓ EV compensation as standard. I think my old M262 was more reliable in the sense that I didn't suffer blown highlights as much. I believe the way to shoot with the M10 in bright, contrasty situations is to slightly underexpose, expose for there highlights, and then recover the shadows in RAW post processing.

That's definitely how I use my M262. In bright sunshine I often don't even bother metering. Saturday I was at a gardens and spent all day at ISO 200 and manual exposure with 1/250 second at f11 or an equivalent setting like 1/500 at f8 or 1/1000 at f5.6 with the 35mm f2 Summicron, dialing the shutter by a half stop or so in shade or opening the lens up at 1/4000 and f2.8 when using the 75mm f2 to isolate a subject.