M9 full specs leaked

[tom_higgins3]

Ray, for me it's not about anything other than the crop factor for the 4 leica lenses I already own- the m8 IS a very

capable camera, I've shot with mine nearly every day since I got it -But the whole lens coding thing is frankly ridiculous.

[shane_beaumont]

<p>Lol has anyone even considered that the M9 might not be coming out? I mean it's all just tall tales until we see in 2 days (today is the 7th). The leica site says "witness the unveiling of the next generation of leica cameras" which could mean a whole slew of things. The most obvious one being that they might finally launch the almost forgotten S-series Leicas, almost a year after they were first shown at photokina. The M9 might not be even in proto type form yet!<br>

In truth nobody has concrete evidence yet. Why not just wait 48 hours and we'll all see the facts. If I'm wrong and leica does reveal an M9, well I'll still think they make great cameras, but in turn have a sloppy goal plan. I mean they told everybody the S-series would be out during the summer!<br>

An M9 would be awesome, even if the specs were a bit behind. Hey it's Leica, we all love paying extra to get less XD</p>

<p> </p>

[guido_h]

<p>Darn it. Leica really brings out the worst in me. Dark sides of my personality I didn't even know existed. I recall how, as a Nikon D300 owner, I laughed about the stupid crowd who dumped their D300's last year the moment the D700 came out, for no obvious benefit except some better low-light ISO specs. And now I'm sitting here, salivating over the M9 brochure and the devious "premium/hand-crafted" blurb of the teaser video, while at the same time I would never consider giving up my existing gear for something as mundane as a 25MP Sony A900, a D3x or a 5DMkII...</p>

<p>I just wish for 9/9/09 to be here, along with a horrendous, absolutely breath-taking price tag, allowing me to get over it and go back shooting...</p>

<p>And yes, the M9 not coming out would be another, welcome possibility.</p>

[steve_unsworth1]

<blockquote>

<p>'ll still think they make great cameras, but in turn have a sloppy goal plan. I mean they told everybody the S-series would be out during the summer!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Summer hasn't ended.</p>

<p> </p>

[ralph_jensen]

<p>Some interesting analysis of the brochure etc. at http://www.theonlinephotographer.com</p>

<p> </p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>

<p>Thank you Ralph. It's nice to see someone say something nice about Leica for a change.</p>

<p>I am glad that my worst fears were not justified: The M9 is not bloated. It is as compact as the M8. There will be no longer a need for UV/IR filters, if I am reading the catalogue correctly. Also, reading between the lines, coding will not be necessary except for flash (which will use the codes to automatically adjust to the focal length). I do not think the M9 will be as quiet or discrete as a film Leica RF. And Leica is continuing with those (MP, M7). </p>

 

</p>

[paulo_cortez]

<p>IMHO the full frame feature was the main reason for the creation of this camera. The M8 small sensor somehow perverted the Leica tradition as it didn't allow Leica film cameras owners to get the full potential of their lenses. We don't have to bring this motive to light between the lines of this brochure because it's clearly stated at page 35-7.</p>

<p>I would be very upset with Leica if I was an owner of a recently upgraded M8. However, I guess this step was predictable as no investments (Leitz financial constraints is other possibility) were made by Leitz in lenses for small sensors.</p>

<p>I don't want to offend any M8 owner but I dare to call this camera the Neanderthal in Leica cameras evolutionary tree.</p>

<p>Anyway, the best of luck for Leitz and its cameras present and future owners!</p>

[kens]

<p><em>"I don't want to offend any M8 owner but I dare to call this camera the Neanderthal in Leica cameras evolutionary tree."</em><br>

And no offense taken. If it weren't for past M8 purchases there would be no M9 today. And after the M9 is out and about my M8 will continue to take fine pictures. Well, at least as fine as my shaky skills will allow. :-)</p>

[michael_dimarzio]

<p>Paulo, Leica has to continue to support the M8/M8.2 with upgrades. I'd be upset if they didn't. A FF M camera is inevitable, but a bummer for me. If I sold every camera lens combo I own, I might be able to buy an M9 and no lenses.</p>

<p>There is a thread somewhere on the web comparing the size of the M9 to FF dSLRs, incredible!</p>

[blakley]

<p><em>Lol has anyone even considered that the M9 might not be coming out? I mean it's all just tall tales until we see in 2 days (today is the 7th). The leica site says "witness the unveiling of the next generation of leica cameras" which could mean a whole slew of things. The most obvious one being that they might finally launch the almost forgotten S-series Leicas, almost a year after they were first shown at photokina. The M9 might not be even in proto type form yet!</em><br>

<br /> OMG r u r3ding any stuffz on da interwebz LOL?!?<br>

<br /> M9=Tall tails ROFLMAO LOL OMG!!!</p>

[mjferron]

<p>All for folks with a lot more $$ than I have. Personally I'll just continue to shoot Delta 100 in my G2 or have fun with my Nikon D60. Either will give me an 8x10 indistinguishable from a .... how much is that M9 going to sell for?</p>

[Mike D]

<p>Just saw a bunch of images of people in San Francisco taken by a Leica group. I use the much larger D700 but it is too obvious for hanging around my neck and shooting images of street people. The Leica images were outstanding (photojournalist speaking). </p>

[nee_sung]

<p>The colours of the photos in the pdf are very strange. I hope that's not what the final production model will deliver.</p>

[phule]

<p>[[Only the difference between 10 minutes and 10 hours with your butt in a chair and your wrist in an RSI brace. If you like clicking mice better than clicking shutters, knock yourself out.]]</p>

<p>You're. Doing. It. Wrong.</p>

[blakley]

<p><em>I'm</em> not doing it wrong - I'm buying lenses that avoid the problem in the first place. Anyone who's using Photoshop for more than zero seconds to correct for chromatic aberration is doing it wrong.</p>

[tonmestrom]

<blockquote>

<p>Leica M photography is about capturing decisive moments</p>

</blockquote>

<p>and there was me thinking I did that.<br>

Anyway, I´m not going to upgrade to a M9. Wanna have, sure but way too expensive, just wait and see. Might be the right time to get a hardly ever used M8 though.</p>

 

[davebell]

<p>"Leica M photography is about capturing decisive moments"</p>

<p>In my opinion, this is the purpose of any form of photography, with any camera brand ever made - capturing decisive moments! Nothing at all to do with Leica M photography specifically.</p>

[ralph_jensen]

<blockquote>

<p>There is a thread somewhere on the web comparing the size of the M9 to FF dSLRs, incredible!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>See the second image of a camera grouping in this article:<br /> http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/09/the-worlds-most-compact-fullframe-digital-system-camera.html</p>

<p> </p>

[andy_piper2]

<blockquote>

<p>"Am I the only one who thinks that it is somewhat ironic that the brochure for one of the most expensive cameras on the planet is used to glorify Che Guevara and Cuban sports (one of the last pockets of communism on the planet)?"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>There has always been this dichotomy - going back to Robert Capa with the Republicans (socialists) in the Spanish Civil War (Yeah, well, Contax, but still a pricey small German camera). Susan Meiselas hanging out with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. H-CB in Moscow. David Alan Harvey in Cuba. René Burri in Cuba.</p>

<p>The whole Photo League, busy using Rolleis and Leicas, was shut down as an "un-American activity" http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAPphoto.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_League</p>

<p>Heck, when Soviet spymaster Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky wanted a "Soviet" 35mm camera - he didn't copy the nice proletarian Ansco or Argus http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-172.html, he copied the Leica, and named it for himself ("FED")</p>

<p>Capitalists make better cameras - socialists make better subject matter. 8^)</p>

<p>[edit] Ahh- c'mon Mods - it's a valid subject for discussion in the history of Leica - so long as it doesn't get nasty. jeez!</p>

[charles_wood]

<p>Interesting thread...much like reading a PC vs Mac thread. So, the M8 is now worth half of the original MSRP two years after introduction, not unlike the depreciation of high end bodies of Nikon and Canon. </p>

<p>No one argues that Leica glass is not superb. However, building fine glass and doing the necessary research to produce advanced processing electronics and package it, is probably beyond Leica's core capability. I would think Panasonic had quite a hand in this product and because items like the display and sensor are absolutely outsourced, the final product is not immune from Moore's Law. A substantial amount of the purchase price of the M9 is going to be obviously based on the logo on the outside, not the guts inside. And glass aside, does the compact size with a less than adequate display make it a great value? It certainly won't be the long term collectable that classic Leica film bodies became.</p>

[andy_piper2]

<blockquote>

<p>"So, the M8 is now worth half of the original MSRP two years after introduction..."</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Well, three years - but what's a 50% error among friends?</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>"I would think Panasonic had quite a hand in this product...."</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>You would think wrong. In the internet era it is not all that hard to find out the real facts. Kodak sensor, Fujitsu processor, Jenoptik help on the overall electronic design (now being brought in-house because - surprise, surprise, - Leica has hired talent who does know how to do this. And is smart enough to, you know, learn new stuff - just as Canon and Nikon learned how to do it.)</p>

[robert gordon]

<p>I continue to use my Leica film cameras (an M2 and an M7) because of the way they handle. The quality of the lenses (35mm and 50mm Summicrons) is of secondary importance.<br>

The absence of autofocus and motor wind is a HUGE plus as far as I'm concerned. I've been using my M2 since 1970 and except for the absence of auto-exposure it still is a superb instrument.<br>

Shooting with a Leica is fast, but the camera paradoxically forces you to slow down and think before you shoot.</p>

[charles_wood]

<p><em>You would think wrong. In the internet era it is not all that hard to find out the real facts. Kodak sensor, Fujitsu processor, Jenoptik help on the overall electronic design (now being brought in-house because - surprise, surprise, - Leica has hired talent who does know how to do this. And is smart enough to, you know, learn new stuff - just as Canon and Nikon learned how to do it.)</em></p>

<p>Basically, what I said..outsourced processors and sensors... Leica brought in outside help to workon the project. It was about two years ago that actual quantity deliveries of the M8 began, with product issues that had to be sorted out. The M8 product announcement was just over 2.5 years ago. And having worked in consumer electronics manufacturing with outside design and engineering consultants, I can assure you that their presence does not guarantee a smooth meshing of internal and external talents (egos). I would be extremely surprised if the M9 will be any different in terms of software issues when it is finally released.</p>

[patricks]

<p>I'm looking forward to this release. I stopped shooting Leica/film 5-ish years ago. This release might get me back into Leica M-series. I wish I had held on to that Summicron 35/2 ASPH though since I bought it new for $980, I see prices have gone up a bit... :-)</p>

[andy_piper2]

<p>I'm sorry Charles - but you just do not know what you are talking about - Leica sold 10,000 M8s in the first year of shipments (Oct. 2006 - Oct. 2007). I've owned BOTH my M8s longer than 2.5 years. 2.5 years ago I had already owned my first for 6 months.</p>

<p>Leica announced the M8 in Sept. 2006. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0609/06091412leicam8previewed.asp Today is Sept. 2009.</p>

<p>It works: Sept. 2008 was one year ago, Sept. 2007 was two years ago, Sept. 2006 was - yep, three (3) years ago.</p>

<p>You did not say "Outside firms...." you specifically said "Panasonic has quite a hand in this product..." It is right up there in black and white. Unless Panasonic recently bought Kodak and Fujitsu, your statement was incorrect.</p>