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Will I regret buying the M240?


Badluck

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I'm seriously considering buying a black M240 (the one with the 100 etched into it)

 

They are cheaper at the moment until the end of January. Currently I have a D800 and a bunch of film cameras(none of them leica)

 

I know the Leica doesn't seem as versatile as a D800 but id love a smaller camera to take when i travel. I still want great image quality. I really loved shooting with mechanical cameras and the range finder experience sounds great. Im used to manual focus as I use a manual Zeiss on my D800.

 

I dont think the m240 could replace my D800 for sport and fashion work but for events and travel photography when i dont want to take much gear do you think It would be a great choice?

 

Im torn between the M240 or just getting a film M for the experience (in all honesty id like something digital though for every day and use medium format for film)

 

I'm a little worried about the m240 becoming outdated tech fast.

Edited by zenkizero
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Hi

 

I shoot a Nikon D3S and an M-P 240. They both have fairly different use cases, at least for me. These days, the Nikon is for sports, macro, and anything where zone focusing is going to be difficult; the M-P 240 is for travel and street photography. In situations where either one will work, I generally have been taking the M-P because I think I take better pictures with it. I've lugged the Nikon on long trips before, and I've taken Leica gear.

 

They both have their pros and cons; I don't make my living off photography but I like having both options.

 

Good luck !

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zenkizero, Welcome to the forum.

 

Keep the Nikon for those tasks in which it excels. Go to a Leica dealer and discuss your dilemma. It is possible to arrange a short-term loan against a potential purchase. That would give you an excellent opportunity to conduct your own trial and make an informed decision. Good luck and do report back what you decide to do.

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I think you need to find out if RF focussing is for you. Personally, I love it as it slows me down, and have used it with the Olympus UC and Leica CL film cameras. However, RF focussing is not for everybody, and as others have said, it's not suited to all situations. I would definitely try it out for an extended period of time before committing to buy a digital RF.

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Speaking as someone who's traveled with DSLRs many times and acquired an M240 recently...

 

Right now I am on a flight from California to Florida. In the dinky little bag at my feet is my M240, 50 lux, Olympus EVF, battery charger, 3 memory cards, 2 sensor swabs, Giotto rocket blower, black rapid metro strap, a spare battery, an ND filter, and my car keys. There's room for a 2nd lens, if I move the charger to my laptop bag.

 

The bag fits under the seat in front of me with a ton of room to spare.

 

Never could I do this with my DSLR rigs.

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Edited by Joshua Lowe
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Yeah i would need to get a nice 50 or 35mm to start too. Im thinking about going to try one out tomorrow. Theres no stores that near me though.

 

Thats cool that you can fit your gear in a small bag. I'm off to Tokyo soon and ideally if i get the M i will just take that and my hasselblad 500cm rather than all my Nikon equipment.

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Hi

 

I shoot a Nikon D3S and an M-P 240. They both have fairly different use cases, at least for me. These days, the Nikon is for sports, macro, and anything where zone focusing is going to be difficult; the M-P 240 is for travel and street photography. In situations where either one will work, I generally have been taking the M-P because I think I take better pictures with it. I've lugged the Nikon on long trips before, and I've taken Leica gear.

 

They both have their pros and cons; I don't make my living off photography but I like having both options.

 

Good luck !

It seems a bit strange to buy a camera that has arguably the best focusing system in the industry and waste the ton of money you paid for that system by habitually zone focusing as your post seems to imply.

 

@ OP: Outdated tech; it may be mechanically ancient as the essentials of the camera have been around since 1954, but if it is still actual after seventy years it is a good bet that it will be OK for a while longer.

The electronics, well, a wizard sensor might be around the corner, or incredible hardware, who knows, but do you really need anything more for your photography? There is no way I can fault the images I took /take with the M8 (2006) or DMR (2004) and the diginology is surely antediluvian...

Edited by jaapv
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I did not regret getting the M240, in fact was delighted with it such that I got a second one, something I did not do with either M8 or M9 (and thankful of that).

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been an M user for 45 years so have rangefinder focusing down pat. In most cases I find it quicker and more positive than manually focusing a reflex (I used manual Nikons and Hassy V for many years also). And I already have a large assortment of lenses. There is no way I personally (speaking only for myself) would get into the system otherwise now, given the obnoxiously priced lenses both new and used. I also bought both my M240's used. My demo was $1000 less than a new one and the preowned-certified was $1700 less. Again speaking personally, I would not have paid the price for a new one, especially this late production.

 

If you are looking to pare down bulk, as long as you don't adorn your M240 with grips or cases with grips, it will be somewhat smaller than your D800, but not nearly as svelte as a film M. Of course the lenses will be smaller, unless you go for a 21 or 24 f/1.4 or Noctilux or 75/1.4 or 90/2. But weight-wise you won't notice much difference, as the M240 and the lenses are heavy for their size. And of course you will give up the convenience of zoom unless you get the EVF and a Nikon-M adapter but that to me rather defeats the reason you're considering the switch in the first place. And VR won't work on the M240 either, so shooting stopped-down for DOF may require bumping the ISO up (which is not as clean as the D800 from what I'm told) and/or using some form of support.

Edited by bocaburger
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It seems a bit strange to buy a camera that has arguably the best focusing system in the industry and waste the ton of money you paid for that system by habitually zone focusing as your post seems to imply.

 

@ OP: Outdated tech; it may be mechanically ancient as the essentials of the camera have been around since 1954, but if it is still actual after seventy years it is a good bet that it will be OK for a while longer.

The electronics, well, a wizard sensor might be around the corner, or incredible hardware, who knows, but do you really need anything more for your photography? There is no way I can fault the images I took /take with the M8 (2006) or DMR (2004) and the diginology is surely antediluvian...

 

I was referring purely to the sensor/electronic technology. Its almost impossible to predict but it wouldn't feel good to drop a load of cash on one for something better to come out very very soon.

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Maybe you could take advantage of the 48 hour test drive ? Or hire it for a week ...

 

Unfortunately it took months for me to get comfortable with MF, after which I couldn't go back to other types of cameras for anything but short periods ;)

 

You will most likely end up selling the D800 kit and just buying a cheaper zoom kit for when you need this kind of system

 

If you do get the current M240 bear in mind it will be replaced within two years and it's is electronics so it will depreciate. Perhaps slower then most other systems but still significantly. If you plan to keep it for at least 3 years or more it will be well worth it.

You might find it best to skip every other generation of digital M giving you a 6-7 year window between upgrades. This would work out less then £500 a year on average, which for me is not bad value for the premium end of a great hobby. Cheaper then many hobbies ;)

 

The M240 would seem a good start M body as it's electronics and sensor seem to be very robust and reliable.

 

A film M would be great fun. Bear in mind that if you are not used to film it doesn't have the pixel level quality of digital.

 

Pay more now, have a break from gas :D

(Well that's what I tell myself anyway)

 

Best of luck

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I did not regret getting the M240, in fact was delighted with it such that I got a second one, something I did not do with either M8 or M9 (and thankful of that).

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been an M user for 45 years so have rangefinder focusing down pat. In most cases I find it quicker and more positive than manually a reflex (I used manual Nikons and Hassy V for many years also). And I already have a large assortment of lenses. There is no way I personally (speaking only for myself) would get into the system otherwise now, given the obnoxiously priced lenses both new and used. I also bought both my M240's used. My demo was $1000 less than a new one and the preowned-certified was $1700 less. Again speaking personally, I would not have paid the price for a new one, especially this late production.

 

If you are looking to pare down bulk, as long as you don't adorn your M240 with grips or cases with grips, it will be somewhat smaller than your D800, but not nearly as svelte as a film M. Of course the lenses will be smaller, unless you go for a 21 or 24 f/1.4 or Noctilux or 75/1.4 or 90/2. But weight-wise you won't notice much difference, as the M240 and the lenses are heavy for their size. And of course you will give up the convenience of zoom unless you get the EVF and a Nikon-M adapter but that to me rather defeats the reason you're considering the switch in the first place. And VR won't work on the M240 either.

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If you are looking to pare down bulk, as long as you don't adorn your M240 with grips or cases with grips, it will be somewhat smaller than your D800, but not nearly as svelte as a film M. Of course the lenses will be smaller, unless you go for a 21 or 24 f/1.4 or Noctilux or 75/1.4 or 90/2. But weight-wise you won't notice much difference, as the M240 and the lenses are heavy for their size. And of course you will give up the convenience of zoom unless you get the EVF and a Nikon-M adapter but that to me rather defeats the reason you're considering the switch in the first place. And VR won't work on the M240 either.

 

Not sure I agree. The M240 is 677g and the D800 is 1000g. For an example of a lens, the Leica 35mm f1.4 is 328g and the Nikon 35mm f1.4 is 600g. The Nikon combo and separates are much heavier.

Not to mention that the Leica lens is sharp wide open the Nikon isn't sharp until f2.8.

 

In terms of size M240 139 x 42 x 80mm vs a M7 (film) 138 x 34 x 79.5mm. About 3 mm on the 240 is due to the screen slight protrusion. I would hardly call it a big difference. I have both and they feel the same in the hand.

 

Rgds

Edited by colonel
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I have also been tempted by the current discount on the M240 ($6,500 new here in the US). The reduced pricing has thrown a wrench in my original plan to get an M-A ... :confused:

 

When the discount ends, the M240 will increase to $7,500. Given that reference point, I would be surprised if the new M is priced at anything less than $7,500. Also, given Leica's pattern of consistent price increases, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the new M could be priced at $8,000.

 

My point is that now could be a good time to buy if you want a new digital M. You can always wait to the next generation, but doing so will cost at least $1,000 more (per the above analysis). In terms of timing, if Leica stays consistent with past patterns, they will announce it in Sept 2015 (the M9 was Sept 2009 and the M240 was Sept 2012). Hence the next gen M won't be readily available until early or midway through 2016.

 

Here's another way to look at it. Would you rather buy a digital camera toward the end of its life cycle, and get the benefit of discounted pricing? Or would you rather buy at the beginning of its cycle, and pay the premium for having the newest and best?

 

One last thought: When the new M is announced, it's possible that the current M240 will be refashioned into a replacement for the M-E. If that happens, you might be annoyed that you paid $6,500 for a camera in Jan 2015 that was re-packaged and sold at a reduced price only 9-12 months later.

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Not to mention that the Leica lens is sharp wide open the Nikon isn't sharp until f2.8.

 

I don't use Nikon, but the Nikon 35/1.4G looks rather good on Photozone.de:

Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.4 G (FX) - Review / Test Report - Analysis

Compare with the 35/2 Summicron Aspherical:

Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH - Review / Test Report - Analysis

 

In terms of size, there is a big difference, especially when you buy more lenses.

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Not sure I agree. The M240 is 677g and the D800 is 1000g. For an example of a lens, the Leica 35mm f1.4 is 328g and the Nikon 35mm f1.4 is 600g. The Nikon combo and separates are much heavier.

Not to mention that the Leica lens is sharp wide open the Nikon isn't sharp until f2.8.

 

In terms of size M240 139 x 42 x 80mm vs a M7 (film) 138 x 34 x 79.5mm. About 3 mm on the 240 is due to the screen slight protrusion. I would hardly call it a big difference. I have both and they feel the same in the hand.

 

Rgds

 

I'm not a user of current Nikon products (last one I owned was an F5) so perhaps I am mistaken. I'm more familiar with Canon, and a 6D weighs only 770g vs the 677g for an M240. And my EF35/2 weighs 210g (there's a new IS version...no idea why IS is needed... that is a bit heavier) vs 255g for the Summicron-ASPH. Difference between the 2 kits is only 48g (about 2.5 oz) in favor of the Leica. Not a huge difference to me.

 

As to size, it's been several years since I owned an M7, but alongside my M4 the M240 is quite visibly increased in size, and it translates to an even more pronounced change in ergonomics than the actual numbers would suggest. And with the advent of the Sony A7 series, Leica M no longer seems all that much smaller or lighter than some DSLRs. Where there is still an advantage to me is, excepting the bulky lenses like the ultrawide Summiluxes, the Noct, 75 Lux, 90 Cron etc., I can fit a very capable M kit into a much smaller bag. That makes a big difference when carrying it around all day, and in crowds, on busses/subways etc.

Edited by bocaburger
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