Leica M-E

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The new LEICA M-E - the digital M for purists. For 4,800 Euro you get a digital Leica M camera with the specs of the LEICA M9.

 

The post Leica M-E appeared first on Leica Forum Blog.

 

 

 

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[Philinflash]

It strikes me as odd that Leica would cite the absence of a framelines selector (as in the M-E and just-call-me M) as something that would appeal to Leica purists. OK, there is no imbedded history for the USB port, so I get that.

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[lars_bergquist]

The addition of the frame line selector (in 1955) was pretty well the first improvement made to the Leica M design after the launching of the M3 in 1954. This feature has sold untold lenses for M cameras.

 

It is also a piece of functionality that no TTL finder, reflex or EV, can ever offer. It's not just any useless doodad; every Leica camera since then has had it until now (except of course for the M1 and the finderless MD, MD-a and MD-2 instrumentation cameras). Sure you can live without it. Hell, we could live without a rangefinder too! And I have done that, before I could afford a RF camera.

 

But the removal of it – unless there is some other frame selection mechanism – is a great leap backwards for mankind.

 

The old man from the Age Before the M

[j. borger]

But the removal of it – unless there is some other frame selection mechanism – is a great leap backwards for mankind.

 

Could not agree more!~

[wda]

...But the removal of it – unless there is some other frame selection mechanism – is a great leap backwards for mankind....

I can only think that the removal of the frame selection facility was a decision by a non-Leica using designer or allied financial accountant.

[earleygallery]

I must say I can't think of a single occassion that I've used the frame lever.

 

I know myself when I want a wider or shorter lens. I don't need to see it through the viewfinder.

 

The exception was when I owned an M3 with the Leica meter - I recall that the meter read from the same area as the 90mm frame lines, so one would use the frame lever to see the metering area (although mostly I just judged it from the rangefinder patch).

 

It's obviously a cost cutting and/or space saving move, similar to the lack of a flash socket on all digital M's.

[Hicks]

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I don't buy the whole 'essentials' part. Before yesterday it was state of the art for Leica, now its 'essentials'. Like a cheap range of food in a supermarket.

 

 

If they want to make a real essentials camera, here is what I think it should be:

• Identical to an M3 in size and shape.
  
• A wind lever to recock the shutter
  
• No LCD screen
  
  • you can set ISO using a dial on the rear like the film cameras
    
  • Images are recorded in RAW with all adjustments in post-processing
    
  • Maybe a small e-paper display to show absolute essentials like battery condition and shots remaining (like the M8)
    

  [*]Extreme battery life - in many months not days

In today's world of full frame compacts and SLR-Video cross overs many people buy Leica because of their approach, simplicity and focus on the basics of photography.

 

That's what I want in a Leica, for everything else I have my 5D mk2.

[Ruhayat]

Two weeks after the frame selector lever dropped off my M4-P, Leica debuts a selector-less M camera. Foreboding?

 

Since I can't remember the last time I used the lever on my Ms, I think it's a potentially nice, erm, "update". Like losing vestigial tits. Or an appendix. But it'd only be nice if the camera showed just one frameline at a time depending on which lens is on - which the M-E apparently doesn't do. That's a shame.

 

Still. Better than my now even more minimalist M4-P - I'm stuck with seeing 4 framelines in the window these days.

[jaques]

vestigial tits??

 

I have only used the lever on my M when I mounted a 40mm summicron, goggled summaron- or similar weird lens that does not bring up the lines I want...

 

I have instructed RF learners in using it as a way of understanding how the finder works and how to choose the lens for the job- and it is helpful for that. Overall it is not needed- but I like it being there. If it ever fell off then I would probably decide they should be done with it.

 

This reminds me of my brother: when he gets a new swiss army knife he glues the little toothpick and tweesers into the knife. That way he can be sure to never lose them... he can't use them of course but to him that is less important than having a complete swiss army knife...

[Ruhayat]

I really like the minimalist concept behind the M-E, so I have to wonder why they didn't go even further and made the frameline appear one at a time. Probably the same reason why they kept the bottom loading method for the battery and SD card: purely out of nostalgia.

 

I'm not really complaining, since even the M-E is still about 800 euros out of my reach (and I'd still have to sell 4 of my 6 cameras to afford it, just). But it would have been a neat concept design, to have a pared down M, digital or not. If they made something like my M4-P - which I prefer over my M7 - or my late and lamented R-E, that would have been great; a real back to basics digital camera.

[bocaburger]

I really like the minimalist concept behind the M-E, so I have to wonder why they didn't go even further and made the frameline appear one at a time. Probably the same reason why they kept the bottom loading method for the battery and SD card: purely out of nostalgia.

 

More likely it's because 28/90, 35/135 and 50/75 lenses each share a single frameline activator cam, and splitting them would not involve creating three new activator cams and then force everyone to buy and install new flanges for one of each focal length in each pair. And then the resulting lenses would no longer bring up the correct frame lines on current and previous M bodies. Of course I suppose you could argue the latter constitutes a nod to nostalgia

[gyoung]

Could not agree more!~

 

Likewise, I use it all the time, what are they thinking?? Its one of the fundamentally useful parts of the M system of photography, and rangefinders in general, even with the III I often turn the multifinder to see of a different lens will do a better job.

You will need to put a VIDOM on your M-E

 

Gerry

[LucisPictor]

I wonder if Leica will in the future offer an ME instead of an M9 as a replacement for a broken M8.

[lm_user]

Is the shutter on the M-E different than the M9? The M9 is described as a vertical metal shutter and the M-E is described as a focal plane shutter. I thought the vertical shutter was at the focal plane?

 

Anyway - the marketing on the leica website says it is quiet.

 

Any thoughts?

[Ruhayat]

Ah. Hadn't thought of that. But since Leica is moving forward into the future anyway, they probably should eventually do away with the physical flange as a way to bring up framelines, and use just electronic contacts instead, perhaps on an all-new camera like the M-E.

 

As it is, the present M-E is nice to have - I have given myself 3 years to save up for a used one to replace my M7. Uglier than the M9, maybe, but looks more like a beat-it-up shooter camera to me in the way that my M4-P is to my M7. I love Leicas that don't look so precious.

 

More likely it's because 28/90, 35/135 and 50/75 lenses each share a single frameline activator cam, and splitting them would not involve creating three new activator cams and then force everyone to buy and install new flanges for one of each focal length in each pair. And then the resulting lenses would no longer bring up the correct frame lines on current and previous M bodies. Of course I suppose you could argue the latter constitutes a nod to nostalgia

[zlatkob]

The addition of the frame line selector (in 1955) was pretty well the first improvement made to the Leica M design after the launching of the M3 in 1954. This feature has sold untold lenses for M cameras.

 

I doubt it. Leica lenses sell themselves. Actually, Canon and Nikon and every other brand have sold untold numbers of lenses without any frame line preview levers. It's not a big loss — one less thing to break off.

 

[*]No LCD screen

 

That would be an absolute non-starter of a digital camera. The LCD screen is one of the best additions to cameras since the dawn of photography in the 1800's. And you can turn the LCD off. A digital M without an LCD would sell about 3 cameras. Well ... maybe a few more to collectors who would buy it for its unprecedented rarity.

[wattsy]

It strikes me as odd that Leica would cite the absence of a framelines selector (as in the M-E and just-call-me M) as something that would appeal to Leica purists.

 

The Ralph Gibson special edition MP of a few years ago was specified without a frameline selector. According to Gibson (IMO a great photographer) this meant "that the fingertips of the left hand have no obstruction and are more sensitive to the internal mechanism of the camera.":rolleyes: Maybe Leica should have kitted the new M-E out in red vulcanite and called it the Ralph Gibson M9P?

[andybarton]

Is the shutter on the M-E different than the M9? The M9 is described as a vertical metal shutter and the M-E is described as a focal plane shutter. I thought the vertical shutter was at the focal plane?

 

Anyway - the marketing on the leica website says it is quiet.

 

Any thoughts?

 

The shutters in the two cameras are identical. The M-E is the same as the M9, with the omission of the USB and the frameline lever and the addition of the paint finish.

[Olsen]

This is a smart move by Leica. Through out all mechanics that makes the camera expensive. What about a solid state rangefinder?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[wattsy]

What about a solid state rangefinder?

 

As opposed to what?