New Leica M9 owner

[TIV]

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Good morning

 

I have had photography as a hobby since 1980. I did two exhibitions back in the nineties. I used Canon F-1 SLR and Leica M6 from 1980 to 2000 and various point and shoot digital cameras from 2000 to 2012. Then my interest grew to the extent that I bought a Canon 5D Mark II and too many lenses. I used it a lot but then I acquired a Fuji X100T and more or less stopped using the heavy DSLR stuff. It was like coming home really.

 

Recently I was offered a mint 2012 Leica M9 and I bought it for 1800 Pounds. Boxed with all the stuff that came with it in 2012, 3 batteries and less than 5000 counts on the shutter. Was inspected and cleaned by a Leica dealer before I got it. Used some of the heavy Canon lenses to pay for it. Bought a Summicron 50mm lens in the UK which is waiting for me at my friends home in the UK. (I am going to visit her 11th of May).

 

It has firmware1.176 which is the oldest firmware if I understand it correctly. Can anyone help me to clarify which firmware I should upgrade to? What is the newest firmware for the M9?

 

Best Regards

TIV

 

https://www. flickr.com/photos/sirthrostur/

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https://de.leica-camera.com/Service-Support/Support/Downloads?category=93710&subcategory=93713&type=108942&language=93871

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[gunston]

i think your M9 has not been replaced with the latest sensor.

[TIV]

i think your M9 has not been replaced with the latest sensor.

 

No, it has not. I am the third owner. The first one used it for a year and the second owner did hardly use it at all. The third owner is going to use it a lot! ;-)

[TIV]

Successfully updated firmware to 1.202.

Thanks

T

[IWC Doppel]

Have Fun, its a wonderful camera

[nelly]

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I still prefer the older firmware on my M9.

Edited May 19, 2016 by nelly

[IWC Doppel]

I still prefer the older firmware on my M9.

Why ?

[TIV]

Yes.... Why?

[shootinglulu]

yes..why?

[TIV]

I just love my "new" Leica M9. After about 1000 shots this is how it looks.
 

M9 

The sensor is in top condition. (I´m being told that if it starts to show signs of corrosion Leica will replace it for free). Fine with me.
I shoot mostly one picture at the time so the relatively slow buffer speed does not bother me at all.
The screen is crap but I never use review anyway. I only use it for SET and MENU. 
It has not frozen on me or misbehaved in any way yet.Takes time to get used to using manual focus again but that´s part of the deal and I use pre-focusing a lot.
I hear people complain about the bottom plate. It only takes a second to take it off and another to put it back on. No problem at all.
The viewfinder seems to be the same as in the M6. Suits me fine.

50mm Summicron is near mint, with built in hood.
It is simply put fantastic.
My only complaint about this lens is that the aperture ring is a little to sensitive/loose and rotates to easily if touched accidentally.

35mm Summicron ASPH
Perfect in any way and has a tab on the focus ring. (The 50mm would benefit from having such a tab).

[IWC Doppel]

Leica adjusted my aperture ring for free on an 18mm lens that had the same issue with too easy to turn. I had a Chrome 50mm Summicron and the aperture sign was well weighted and not too loose, sounds like a minor adjustment is required

Edited May 26, 2016 by IWC Doppel

[Mr_Snap]

 

I just love my "new" Leica M9. After about 1000 shots this is how it looks.

 

M9 

The sensor is in top condition. (I´m being told that if it starts to show signs of corrosion Leica will replace it for free). Fine with me.

I shoot mostly one picture at the time so the relatively slow buffer speed does not bother me at all.

The screen is crap but I never use review anyway. I only use it for SET and MENU. 

It has not frozen on me or misbehaved in any way yet.Takes time to get used to using manual focus again but that´s part of the deal and I use pre-focusing a lot.

I hear people complain about the bottom plate. It only takes a second to take it off and another to put it back on. No problem at all.

The viewfinder seems to be the same as in the M6. Suits me fine.

50mm Summicron is near mint, with built in hood.

It is simply put fantastic.

My only complaint about this lens is that the aperture ring is a little to sensitive/loose and rotates to easily if touched accidentally.

 

35mm Summicron ASPH

Perfect in any way and has a tab on the focus ring. (The 50mm would benefit from having such a tab).

 

Could always strap one of these to your 50mm Cron -http://petapixel.com/2015/05/09/taab-is-a-universal-lens-tab-that-puts-manual-focus-control-at-your-fingertip/

[TIV]

Could always strap one of these to your 50mm Cron -http://petapixel.com/2015/05/09/taab-is-a-universal-lens-tab-that-puts-manual-focus-control-at-your-fingertip/

Thanks Chris, looks good! Have you tried it? Is it not to bulky?

[TIV]

Leica adjusted my aperture ring for free on an 18mm lens that had the same issue with too easy to turn. I had a Chrome 50mm Summicron and the aperture sign was well weighted and not too loose, sounds like a minor adjustment is required

 

Hey IWC Doppel, I was in Bath for two days just ten days ago. Wonderful city! Where did you have the aperture ring adjusted? At a Leica dealers, or did you have to send it to the Fatherland?

[TRIago]

It is a hell of a camera. Once you understand what's for and what's not for, you will love it. I do, at least.

[fatfaria]

I recently acquired as a third owner, an M9 that was at Leica-Service on March last year for sensor replacement. Not the corrosion problem but some other problem a previous owner encountered and paid for fixing it (I have the invoice). The camera carries Firmware 1.202 which indicates that this is not the latest (with corrosion problem sensor resolved goes to 1.204) and had less than 13000 activations. This camera goes with a fair number of Leica lenses I own from the analogue days including a Summilux 50 f/1.4 Asph being the only lens that carries the 6-bit code. The camera is in top shape both cosmetically and operationally. I like the little fuss the menus represent as opposed to other cameras (Sony, Olympus included) which have a maze of options that you are likely to forget some. This is almost pure concentration on the image as it should be.

I am still playing with the various lenses I have at my disposal but I use Leica Photopark under"fatfaria" where there are now some examples of the fun I am having with the M9.

 

Cheers, Fernando 

[Gregm61]

I just love my "new" Leica M9. After about 1000 shots this is how it looks.

M9

The sensor is in top condition. (I´m being told that if it starts to show signs of corrosion Leica will replace it for free). Fine with me.

I shoot mostly one picture at the time so the relatively slow buffer speed does not bother me at all.

The screen is crap but I never use review anyway. I only use it for SET and MENU.

It has not frozen on me or misbehaved in any way yet.Takes time to get used to using manual focus again but that´s part of the deal and I use pre-focusing a lot.

I hear people complain about the bottom plate. It only takes a second to take it off and another to put it back on. No problem at all.

The viewfinder seems to be the same as in the M6. Suits me fine.

 

50mm Summicron is near mint, with built in hood.

It is simply put fantastic.

My only complaint about this lens is that the aperture ring is a little to sensitive/loose and rotates to easily if touched accidentally.

 

35mm Summicron ASPH

Perfect in any way and has a tab on the focus ring. (The 50mm would benefit from having such a tab).

The aperture ring on my 50mm f2 (and 75mm f2) is also soft in terms of moving a little too easily from one setting to another.

 

The prior 50mm f2 had the focus tab. They redesigned it during the 90's to what we have today.

 

The M9 finder has a very slightly less magnification compared to the M6, .68x compared to .72x. Not enough to keep me from focusing a 75mm f2, 90mm f2.8 or 135mm f4 accurately.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Gregm61

[Lax Jought]

Here's the strange thing - I have an M8.2, and an M9-P.  The M9-P seems to have a slower buffer for each photo taken, when compared to the M8.2.  And it also seems to lock up a lot more than the M8.2, ie. after taking a couple of shots the shutter doesn't re-cock immediately.  In actual fact, my M8.2's shutter has never locked up in the 6 years I've had it.  I would've thought that the M9 is an improvement on the M8 with things like these.

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[eujin]

Here's the strange thing - I have an M8.2, and an M9-P.  The M9-P seems to have a slower buffer for each photo taken, when compared to the M8.2.  And it also seems to lock up a lot more than the M8.2, ie. after taking a couple of shots the shutter doesn't re-cock immediately.  In actual fact, my M8.2's shutter has never locked up in the 6 years I've had it.  I would've thought that the M9 is an improvement on the M8 with things like these.

 

I too, am a new M9 owner. From tracking many posts, there seems to be quite a bit of sample to sample variation with regards to small quirks and issues. My M9 has never locked up but I do notice that the Auto ISO setting can be quite different compared to my Monochrom (of M9 vintage). Has your M9-P always behaved like this? Or is this something recent?