"Needless Markup" M9

[ishik_tuna]

<p>Lord take me now....I can't stand it anymore.<br>

First the $26,000 VW/Audi?Titanium M9,<br>

now the Neiman Marcus M9.<br>

<a href="http://leicarumors.com/2010/10/05/the-leica-m9-neiman-marcus-limited-edition-part-2.aspx/">http://leicarumors.com/2010/10/05/the-leica-m9-neiman-marcus-limited-edition-part-2.aspx/</a><br>

I'm seriously thinking about getting the new Canon 5d III when it comes out and slapping my R glass on it. I really miss using my wide angles, plus, i can get 1080p movies (with Leica wide glass).</p>

[kelly_flanigan1]

<p>Folks do this with Zorkis too</p>

[stuart_richardson]

<p>Pretty. Too bad about the price. Well the people wanting silver chrome can now get it at the cost of an arm and a leg! </p>

[waltflanagan]

<p>If you can't stand it why do you write about it? I love seeing these special editions because they always make me laugh that someone is crazy enough to buy one.</p>

[teneson]

<p>Serious collectors will buy them up! </p>

[ishik_tuna]

<p>"If you can't stand it why do you write about it?"<br>

Because I am a curmudgeon. Complaining is what I'm best at. My cup is always half empty.</p>

[tallplumphotography]

<p>There may be some good that comes out of the disgust. After all, complaining about the Leica was the impetus behind founding Canon. :)</p>

[Sanford]

<p>For Ishik Tuna</p><div></div>

[Richard Williams]

<p>'I love seeing these special editions because they always make me laugh that someone is crazy enough to buy one.'</p>

<p>In the UK, after tax, you'd already pay nearly 2/3 of this price for the regular model (with the lens but without the letter). Give it a couple of years and the standard pricing will be right up there; equally crazy but kinder to ostriches.</p>

[john_macpherson]

<p>I think this is the first thread I have seen on Photonet in my long long residency here that has mentioned both ostriches and tuna.</p>

<p>As an aside - how about a tuna-skin version for people who dont have their heads in the sand?</p>

[charlie lemay]

Ishik,

 

Unless they change the 5D Mark III from its predecessors, we can't use Leica lenses wider than 28mm without altering

the lenses or the mirror.

[leslie_cheung]

<p>I wonder what HCB would have said of these limited special $$$ editions...leica is a bourgeoisie idea?</p>

 

[fate_faith_change_chains]

<p>It's ridiculous BUT it's not that you can't take any credible pictures with it, just because it's overly luxury expensive, is it. Just like it's not that you can't take any credible pictures with an overly cheap crap camera.</p>

[ray .]

Rollei does this sort of stuff, even Konica did it.. Anybody for a $3400 limited edition Hexar RF?

 

Going fast........!

[Alex_Es]

<p>Here is a fact. Leica does not does real ostrich leather http://leicarumors.com/2010/09/13/leica-has-never-used-real-ostrich-leather-on-their-products.aspx/. So if you are an ostrich lover you can buy this limited edition guilt free.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>It amazes me how there is such an appetite for collecting these special edition Leicas (why not put the same money into a great piece of art, which would almost certainly be more widely appreciated as a collector's item and by more persons). If it makes a lot of money for Leica (somewhere I read that the ostrich skin on one model is not real) and contributes to restraining price increases for their camera cameras, then there is probably no reason to knock it, only be amused by it.</p>

[DavidRabinowitz]

<p>i believe the interior of the new Mercedes Z class is made completely out of ostrich leather...how could you pass that up...</p>

[j.art.photo.]

<p>I much rather love the "special edition Holga" with duct tape and elastic bands to hold the body together in the hands of a young college creative mind, than a Leica in the hands of a snob. the best street photog I know used a beat up m3 all stripped down to the metal. it was all about the pics not the camera.</p>

[dave_s]

<p><em>If it makes a lot of money for Leica . . . and contributes to restraining price increases for their camera cameras, then there is probably no reason to knock it . . . </em><br>

<em> </em><br>

Arthur is right on the money. Leica may be a laughingstock to many of you here, but not to the people who are actually buying their cameras. Each one of their bizarre special editions generates a million dollars (give or take a factor of two) to revenue, so each of them helps buoy up the company for another year or two. </p>

<p>I used to think Leica's days were numbered, but they may be able to keep chugging away for some time, in a similar way to <a href="http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/">Morgan Auto</a>. Both companies combine modern technology with old styling, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good">Veblen</a> character of their products insulates them from normal market forces.</p>

[jerry_sousa]

<p>It would do well to remember that, for the vast majority of photographers on the planet, even regular, "run of the mill" Leicas seem incredibly expensive.</p>

<p>I happen to think that this camera would compliment a new Bentley motor car very well.<br>

<br /><br />What <em>would be</em> utterly amazing is if the sale of just one Nieman Marcus limited edition Leica M9 were to kick-start the moribund US economy!</p>

<p> </p>

[jason]

<p>FWIW it's great that a company who makes the finest Rf in the world and some of the best lenses has figgered a way to generate more cash with a basic digital camera.We Leica users and owners(not always the same thing) can take pride in these "Special Editions". My M3 is sort of worn. The black covering is missing in many places.The chrome worn to a golden sheen.I traded a MF-SLR for a M6. I thought my M3 on it's way out. Well it soldiers on. I nearly took a turn "to the light".Darn things last more than a lifetime.The 'bandelero" holster the final touch. Hopefully a special edition of the Titanium model will be made in "Hello Kitty" PINK with matching holster.My daughter would love it! Truth be told, she is a good snapper, loving her old Spotmatic and now went to Nikon DSLR.</p>

[ishik_tuna]

<p>according to this site, and others,<br>

<a href="http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Leica_db.html">http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Leica_db.html</a></p>

<p>many (but not all) of the wide angles are compatible with the Canon 5D</p>

[teneson]

<p>Could they mark it down if I asked for chicken skin?</p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>Surprised, ishik? I predicted the ostrich skin limited edition M9 three weeks ago. <a href="00XJua">(link)</a></p>

<p>You replied</p>

<blockquote>

<p>not even close</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Well, I guess we know whose eating ostrich today, don't we, tuna?</p>

<p>Leica rumors didn't have it. dpReview didn't have it. photo.net didn't have it. 1001 noisy cameras didn't have it. Only on incredible visionary anticipated the ostrich skin limited edition M9.</p>

[john_walsh7]

<p>I read a review of the M9 on canonrumours.com and they guy who runs that site thinks this one of the best digital cameras ever, not this special edition per say. He did mention though that a 5d Mark II with the AA filters hacked out would produce a similar IQ ,, meaning the only variable in the end would be the skill of the photographer. These things are surely lovely but oddly if I won the lotto , it wouldnt be on the top of my gear list.. perhaps as I have never experienced using a rangefinder but the idea of it just seems too close to my sureshot 2 35mm ( film ) camera ( 5 euros on ebay ) . I prefer to see through the lens.</p>