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Cyril Jayant

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Sean Reid's review of the M240 appears to indicate only a slight improvement in image quality over the M9 at base iso, which makes the M-E (with its full warranty) quite good value for money if you can get a nearly new example at a good price. I just hate the grey-green color

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Guest malland

Actually, I like the look of the M-E, and would have bought one expect that I managed to pick of one of the last of the promotional-priced M9-Ps for few hundred dollars more, which I felt was worth it for the sapphire glass LCD. Otherwise, I would have been just as happy with the M-E after I put on the correct LCD protective cover, or whatever that is called.

 

—Mitch/Paris

Paris au rythme de Basquiat and Other Poems [download link for book project]

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Sean Reid's review of the M240 appears to indicate only a slight improvement in image quality over the M9 at base iso, which makes the M-E (with its full warranty) quite good value for money if you can get a nearly new example at a good price. I just hate the grey-green color

 

That is what I did picked up almost new M-E (126 shutter count) at more than thousand dollars off. It is from authorised dealer with full Leica warranty. I also have an M on order from same dealer with buy back guarantee for the M-E from same dealer.

 

I am loving the images from the M-E so much that I may not even trade it in once the M becomes available. I also like the new leather on M-E compared to my previous M9. It is easy to grip and looks far better, but it is a personal choice.

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I just hate the grey-green color

 

Although the ME certainly appears grayish green in many product photos and certainly does in a store under fluorescent lighting, it is most certainly grey with no greenish cast in the hand.

 

I certainly am enjoying my ME while waiting for the new M (240), but I suspect a longish wait with my position on the list and many happy hours spent making pictures with the ME in the interim.

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Is there anyone to talk about M-E over here than M.Please:D

 

It's a very effective camera with no frills and no snags yet apparent. There are generations of excellent glass to use with it. I bought mine new last October and have been delighted ever since. It keeps good company with a IIIg I bought in 1959 and an M8 I bought (S/H) in mid 2010 and I don't want to part with any of them. I enjoy looking at people's work with the M Monochrome and S2 and I'm sure I'll enjoy looking at lots more images from the M once it's on sale but I don't particularly regret not being able to afford them. Not much more to say really!

Edited by hhmrogers
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Sean Reid's review of the M240 appears to indicate only a slight improvement in image quality over the M9 at base iso, which makes the M-E (with its full warranty) quite good value for money if you can get a nearly new example at a good price. I just hate the grey-green color

 

I really like the colour in the flesh, as it were. I thought it looked nasty in photos though.

 

- Steve

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  • 7 months later...

I love my M-E, secondhand EBay with glass protector installed. I have Canon 5d2 for video and Canon G12 for street but since the ME arrived I have ignored them. 50/2 lens and Angelo Pelle half case.

Brings back memories of the joy of shooting from my youth.

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Is the M - E still in production or was it a stop gap until M240 production got into full swing?

 

In the UK dealers that advertise them online also show them as being out of stock and speaking to Ffordes in Scotland recently they had no idea when they would get any new examples.

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I have just placed an order with my dealer (Sam Shoshan) for an M-E, and he tells me the M-E is on backorder with Leica. Perhaps leica underestimated the number of us who would chose the M-E over the M-240. I have not purchased a new leica body since getting the MP in 2003. A friend gave me his M8 (2006 made) in 2008 after he bought the M8.2, so I have been happily using the M8 all this time. Looking forward to full-frame soon. :) -k

Edited by mp58
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My M-E is the greatest piece of camera technology I've used to date. I was tossing up between grabbing it whilst on holiday in the UK or placing an order for an M240 locally (Australia) and waiting up to a year. I'm glad I got the M-E as it's a simplistic, wonderful machine that one has to work at in order to master (if that ever happens).

 

I figure the improvements (high ISO, video, liveview, EVF ability) were something that I really didn't need, and since then I have bought a Fuji X-E1 and Leica adapter. The fuji has the liveview, video, great high ISO performance, EVF built in, etc. and so for $700 on top of the M-E I have all the capabilities of an M240 and then some. Much cheaper, more versatile, and I prefer having two cameras than one (G.A.S. indeed).

 

I think this is the biggest consideration one has to make when tossing up between an M9/M-E and an M: do you want enough money to get an M9 plus a Fuji/Olympus/Sony or an extra lens, or do you just want the M?

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I just bought an M-E a couple of months ago. It's my foray back into Leica photography and my first serious digital camera (after making do with a Fuji X100 for a couple of years). A lot of what I do is travel photography and while the X100 was very good the Leica is just leagues more capable.

 

I was amused on my recent trip to Nepal when I ran into a French photographer who happened to have the same camera bag. He shot with a Nikon D4 and he was praising it to the skies and when he saw my M-E he looked positively dismissive. All I could think was how enormous the Nikon was. For what I do I think that big intimidating camera would just get in the way.

 

There are some frustrations that I am still dealing with. The biggest is that manual focus with a rangefinder definitely has its limitations especially when you shoot at higher apertures. I'm sure this is an area where the Nikon would have been better. On the other hand, I think that some shots that I was able to get with the little Leica would not be possible simply because the Nikon is so scary looking.

 

I still think that Leica has a massive ergonomic edge over a DSLR if you are a photographer who grew up with film cameras. An aperture ring and proper shutter speed dial are so much easier to work with than menus and LCD screens.

 

To my surprise I have found myself shooting with a 50mm most of the time. I also extensively shoot with a 90mm Summicron (the disfavored Canadian model) and 135mm Tele-Elmar. I have lately been using my 35mm Summicron Asph much less. Perhaps this is a reaction to shooting with the X100 for so long but I think my pictures are stronger with the longer focal lengths and their ability to concentrate more on the subject.

 

I bought the M-E primarily because I could not locate an M. Mostly I think it is a very fine camera. Slightly better low light capability would have been welcome. I'm learning to distrust auto-ISO setting as it sometimes selects a higher ISO than I think is necessary (even after I have limited it) and so you can get noise. However, up to about ISO 800 looks quite film-like to my eyes.

 

I could have used live view at least a few times. It would have been handy trying to grab a shot out of a car window.

 

I use aperture priority quite a lot and find it helpful but I think the AE lock is a poor design. AE lock works so much better when it is a separate lock as was found on the old Contax SLRs. On the other hand it is very easy to switch to manual (far easier than any DSLR I have handled).

 

I have read it is not as well sealed as an M or many DSLRs. I solved this problem by purchasing an Olympus TG2 (which shoots surprisingly well). If it is wet, I can go all the way now.

 

I have read reviews that criticize the M9s auto white balance. Was this fixed in firmware? I'm finding it quite good, especially compared to the Fuji.

 

My lenses are older and I have been unable to get any of the coding kits to work. My T-E has the 6 bit code and still does not work. Frankly, I have given up on trying to implement 6 bit coding and instead I set coding manually using profiles. It's becoming second nature to enter the profile when I change lenses and I would rather rely on that than a system that seems a bit hit or miss.

 

But the bottom line I think are the results. The Leica M-E is a camera that feels at home in my hands and which flatters me as a photographer.

Edited by Simey
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Guest malland
...I bought the M-E primarily because I could not locate an M. Mostly I think it is a very fine camera. Slightly better low light capability would have been welcome...
That is the "conventional wisdom," but there is a technique of "Shooting at ISO 640 and pushing in LR4/LR5," which makes the M9/M-E into a good camera for night high-ISO shooting. There are two separate threads on LUF discussing and illustrating this technique: here and here.

 

—Mitch/Paris

Tristes Tropiques [WIP]

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That is the "conventional wisdom," but there is a technique of "Shooting at ISO 640 and pushing in LR4/LR5," which makes the M9/M-E into a good camera for night high-ISO shooting. There are two separate threads on LUF discussing and illustrating this technique: here and here.

 

—Mitch/Paris

Tristes Tropiques [WIP]

 

Thanks for the thread links. I'm an Aperture user so I am converting this advice for that software. Very helpful.

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