Search the Community

Four years ago I bought a used M262 camera. It was my first digital Leica M body. I used it for a year a didn't bond with it and decided to let it go. I vowed at the time that a digital M was not for me. Today in 2022 after the release of the M11, I came back full circle and purchased a steel grey M9 with an updated sensor for a price more than what I had paid for my M262 purchase. A quick background: I mainly photograph street & environmental portraits using my x100v and GR2. I enjoy them but also love analog/film photography. I love and collect various M film bodies and lenses and shoot color negative film and develop+scan at home to save cost. I use my Sony A9 to scan, for video work and also to adapt my M lenses on. Last week I spent a considerable amount of time developing & scanning over 30 rolls of color films that I had from 2021. I enjoy the final output of film but no matter how I justify it, scanning and editing is a lot of work and time to dedicate as a family guy. I looked at the cost of a dedicated high-end scanner like the Pakon but the prices are in the same ballpark if not more than the "older" digital M bodies. This led me to looking at M digital bodies again. So after some deliberation I decided I'm going to try the M9 to see if it will give me the same "film like" qualities for my images. I'm not a pixel peeper and print occasionally at 8x12 size. I've read alot about the limitation of the M9 body with it's sensor issues, aged electronics/battery and low ISO functionality (which i don't mind as a daytime photographer). I'm curious to see if the "M9 magic talk" is real or hype, I will find out soon after I have it on my hands. Will follow up.

Hi all, my m9 got this problem in low light especially in high iso situation. Do you think it’s a sd card or motherboard issue? Thx

Few weeks ago, I use my M9-P compared to Kodak 35mm film (Portra 160 & 800). Honestly, I don't think how good is M9 series image performance, but the CCD do makes M9 series become the unique one in Leica digital camera. M9-P w/Summicron 35mm f2 11673 (f/2.0, Auto WB, ISO 800) 👇 Kodak Portra 800 w/Summilux 35mm f1.4 11663 (f/2.0) 👇

Greetings everyone, I have been using the M9 since 2016. Earlier this year I traded it for an M9P and thought that will be good enough for my amateurish skill level and enjoyment. Until I started reading this forum to find out the black and white mindset change with the M9M which is exhilarating! I could not shake off this thought and now here I am, an owner of a used M9M (new sensor) in 2022. Thank you Leica Forum!

So should I dump my venerable M9? To try and help decide, I tried a quick, rough and dirty (i.e. non-scientific) shootout in a camera store. Using my own lens on each body, and then taking a quick snap as I would normally shoot and in difficult store shop lighting (against the light, mixed light - interior and exterior). The short answer is I'll be standing by the M9. But if you're interested in why, well the details and comparison images, unscientific and personally biased as they are, you can find on my FB page which you can visit by clicking HERE

Hi everybody, I’m a computer science engineer who has been working, as a hobby, the last three years in a new, more precise, way of recreating film look with digital cameras. I’m posting here for feedback, in case anybody of you would like to test the application (with the M9) and show the results and your opinions. I usually shoot film photography but also I like the comfort of digital. The problem is that I’ve never been happy with existing film emulations. Mainly because of that, because they are emulations instead of simulations. METHOD USED For doing so, instead of doing a generic conversion for every camera, I’ve done a specialised conversion for the Leica M9 based on simulating the chemical process and spectrum response, instead of applying curves and other stuff. In the end, I thought, if analog and digital are just two instruments which capture light, I thought, maybe is there any mathematical conversion to make the digital to look like film? I mean, if I take the same photo with analog and digital, under exact same conditions (light / aperture / exposition /…) could I make them look exactly the same? It’s based on chemical simulation and the Leica M9’s response to spectrum. Then LUTs and finally some extra calibration. I think that it could be improved because I’ve used home made or open source tools for calibrating and so on, which are far from perfect. EXAMPLES (Analog vs Converted Digital) Following are some examples of Superia 200 and TriX 400. Click in each photo to see high resolution. DNGs shoots taken with Leica M9 (left), and FILM shoots taken with Minolta CLE (right) at same conditions (aperture / exposition / ISO). All shoots taken with Zeiss Biogon T* ZM 35mm f/2. The examples show several photos, which are the following: +------------------------+------------------------+ | original DNG | | +------------------------+------------------------+ | converted DNG | scanned FILM | +------------------------+------------------------+ | developed DNG | developed FILM | +------------------------+------------------------+ For the generated simulated negative TIFF file and the scanned TIFF file I’ve applied exactly the same develop parameters. TriX 400 - 1 TriX 400 - 2 TriX 400 - 3 Superia 200 - 1 Superia 200 - 2 Superia 200 - 3 Superia 200 - 4 Superia 200 - 5 Superia 200 - 6 CONCLUSIONS Tonal range - Biggest difference between digital and film Dynamic range - Digital is faaar more detailed in the blacks, film never gets burnt, meanwhile digital gets burn quite fast. Film has more microcontrast, it's more sharpen Digital is a little bit more contrast after developing, I imagine it’s because it reach white level faster, then, when doing autolevels with the developing program, as a result, it’s a more contrast image. DOWNLOAD I'm having a console application ready, if interest is shown it will be ready quite soon! CAVEHEATS / LIMITATIONS The program only accept DNG, because I need all the light captured by the camera, instead of a JPG already converted and really dependent on camera self made adjustments. The program only accepts photos taken at the ISO of the certain film that is gonna be used. For example, for TriX400 it will accept only Leica M9 DNGs at 400 ISO. I’ve also done tests with ISO 200 and 800, and the results were quite satisfactory but, for complexity reasons, I prefer to let it be native film ISO for the moment. Highlights are not always correct, and sometimes they look weird, mainly in color film. This is due to bayer sensor pattern and its different intensity response (for Red, Green and Blue channels). FUTURE (& PAST) WORK Leica M10-D Leica M8.2 THANKS Super thanks to the creator of LibRaw, a wonderful C++ library for working with RAW files. Any questions I’m open to answer 🙂 Best regards everybody. Tomás AKA “Camalogica”

Hi i don’t know why the site wouldn’t let me create a new topic in the M forum. My question: I have an M10 and Q2. I just bought an M9 which I want to get converted to Infra Red. Any recommendations for getting it done? I’m in the UK. thanks

Hallo, ich habe mir vor Jahr und Tag eine M9 neu gekauft. Habe aber die M9 nicht benutzt , da ich lieber analog gearbeitet habe. Dann kam das Thema "Sensor" auf und ich habe um meine M9 zu prüfen einige Zeit mit der M9 fotografiert. Alles im "Grünen Bereich" - keine Probleme. Auf Nachfrage hat man mir gesagt, wenn da bis jetzt nichts passiert ist, dann kommt da auch nichts mehr. Sie brauchen nichts zu unternehmen. Also die M9 wieder weggepackt. Gestern nun M9 genommen , Objektiv angesetzt , Winterfoto gemacht .. und nix ! In der Mitte hell und an beiden Rändern irgendwelche Farbe. Karte formatiert. Das gleiche Ergebnis. Firmware kontrolliert und neu aufgespielt. Wieder Mist. Leica angerufen und 2 Beispielfotos an den Service gesendet. Aber man hat mir wenig Hoffnung gemacht. Es gibt keinen neuen Sensor mehr und wenn der es nicht ist, dann ist es irgendein Board, welches es auch nicht mehr gibt. So ganz kann ich mit dieser Sachlage nicht zufrieden sein. Eine recht teuere Digitalkamera mit weniger als 1.000 Auslösungen , gibt nach kurzer Benutzung und danach nur im Schrank gelegen, einfach den Geist auf und es gibt keinen Ersatz. Äußerlich sieht die M9 aus wie neu aus dem Laden. Die Update - Angebote habe ich auf der Leica Seite gesehen. Aber das kann ich nur als schlechten Scherz bewerten. Nach den Erfahrungen soll ich eine weitere große Summe in eine DIGITAL - LEICA investieren ? Gibt es ähnliche Erfahrungen ? Ich habe auch Digitalkameras von Nikon D3 und neuer die D810 von denen sind solche Probleme nicht bekannt. Na ja, die kosten ja nicht soviel. Es tut mir in der Seele weh, wenn ich nur denke die M9 einfach zu entsorgen. Es muß doch eine Möglichkeit geben.

My M9 fell to the ground from waist level. When I try to take a photo, the shutter is not working. Battery is full and all menus are working, no issues on the display as well, even the light meter also working. Somebody pls help

Hello all I posted a message on the general beginner forum the other day about the best camera with which to start my Leica journey. From the reply I got, it seems that the M9 is a very good bet. However, in my reading up in this, I have seen various articles which suggest the better option is the M9-P. I am looking at one of each of the M9 (£1,800) and M9/P (£2,750) bit of which have low shutter actuations (c.3,500) and have had their sensors replaced with the non-corrosive sensors. Any advice on which may be the better option would be most welcome! Many thanks Ben

Over the span of about six years I went from an M9-P to an M240-P and recently an M10-P. What struck me immediately was how similar the M10 and M9 files were in terms of color and contrast. The M240 files reminded me of Kodak Portra film whereas the M10 output just reminded of the M9. I thought i was alone in this observation until i read this article today. https://www.streetsilhouettes.com/home/2019/7/29/the-myth-of-the-leica-m9-ccd-vs-cmos-sensors Thoughts?

Ist es heute nicht zehn Jahre her, dass in NY die M9 vorgestellt wurde! Meine begeistert mich noch heute durch Form, Funktion und Bildqualität. Sie besitzt den 3. Sensor, allerdings war der Leica Service beim Tausch immer sehr gut. Ich hoffe auf weitere zehn Jahre!🤫

Here's the story of a photographer who thought Leica was a serious camera company who cares about their trustful customers. My name is Kaïs, french photographer based in Paris, France. I started my Leica journey with a M9, ten years ago, sold and upgraded with a M9-P A Monochrom (version 1) quickly followed him all of them bought brand new. Wanting to get my hands on a "real Leica", I bought a M6 Titanium set with its Summicron 35/1.4. The medium lust was too hard to resist: a S2 with a Summarit 70 joined my stable. Let's add a wide angle to my S system: a brand new Summarit 35. Time has past, I added a M7 (0.58 finder), a Q Titanium, a Monochrom version 2, a M5, an Elmarit 90/2.0, a Summicron 50, a Summarit 35/2.4... We are talking about minimum 44 500€ (including the S007)!!!!! Then, the problems begun: both my M9-P and Monochrom I had a sensor failure (cracked sensor). How come a "pro" camera could have a sensor cracked? During my carreer, I owned a 5DmkII, a D3x, a Df, a 5DmkIV (I'm still using today) that NEVER failed me, NEVER. Anyways, Leica has been kind enough to replace both sensors for free. When the S007 came out, I was tempted to upgrade my aging S2. At my usual Leica dealer, they kindly checked my S2 before it goes on sale and discovered a corroded sensor! Come on! A third failure from a so serious comapany? I must be the unluckiest photographer on earth then. Still, I upgraded to a reconditioned mint grade SOO7, checked by Leica with a one year guarantee. During my second shooting, the 70 started to rattle from time to time, missing focus lock. Of course, my poker face never let any worries showed to my clients. Back home, I uploaded the photos into Capture One and got struck by what I have discovered (picture attached). I thought my memory card failed (I exclusively use hi-speed Sandisk Extreme and Extreme Pro SD). I tried with different cards, same problem. The DNGs are available if requested. I met the people of Leica at Paris Salon de la photo (photoshow) and, after hours of friendly chat, they acknowledged that there was a video card failure. Wait a second. Are we talking about Leica's flagship camera here? The one that is supposed to compete with a Hasselblad HD6-50 or a PhaseOne XF??? A failure after less than 2000 photos taken? Is this german so-called excellence? Since November 8th, 2018 my SOO7 is at the customer service (I hope) and I have NO NEWS from them!!! How come a pro photographer can trust such miserable products????? How come my 2400€ 5DmkIV works like a charm after litteraly thousands and thousands of photos??? How come it takes 10 days max to Canon to fix and upgrade the firmware of their pro camera when I have been waiting 6+ months to get any information from Wetzlar??? I'm over with this overrated brand. Keep on releasing limited edition for rich Qataris and Russians and let the pros (Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Fuji, to name a few) run the photography business. SHAME ON YOU Leica to ignore and disrespect your loyal customers!!! We made you, never forget that. I sent them a letter and I know the drill: they will send me apologies. But I'm not paying for apologies!!! I don't need them!!! I'm paying for equipment that pays my bills and feed me! Today, I'm waiting to get my hands back on my S007 to trade it for a Hasselblad H6D-50c. I am so disappointed by Leica... www.kaisdebali.com

Hallo, ich habe heute einen SF20 an die CCD Monochrom gesetzt. Nur auslösen will der nicht. Hat jemand eine Erklärung für mich?

Why? no video simplicity of use The fun of relearning the art of taking a better photograph. Summary; I’m not distracted by the complexity of other over elaborate digital cameras. I take about a tenth of the photos with each project. As a result I have better photographs and more time in the post processing.

I just recently sold my M8 to "upgrade". I bought a used Q and am having feelings of loss of my M8 which I loved and had a more emotional attachment to than the Q. I bought the Q for the benefit of the option of autofocus in a full frame leica and better performance in low light with a lens that I could never afford to buy on its own and attach to an M. But I prefer the build quality on the 8 as well as the look of the files I just can't pinpoint over the Q. While better on paper in every way from a tech stat standpoint, the Q seems more clinical and images do not seem as buttery and the color rendition is different. I'm not looking for super sharp. I am not looking to document an exact copy of what I see in front of me. I am won over by the feel of images. The leica M8 just seemed to produce more artful dreamy images. Now I have been thinking about an M9 instead as I am reading that the differences I am describing are common with the newer sensors in all Leica. Am I crazy? Should I learn to love my Q and explore ways to replicate what the 8 had that the q seems to be missing?

Hi all, I am an M9 user but of late I have been seriously thinking of getting an M240 (M-P) to use for landscapes. I am not concerned with the differences in file output but what I am interested in is any advice you can give with regard to using filters. With my M9s I find filter use (Grads, Polarisers) at best inconvenient at worst downright annoying I am thinking that with the Live View on the M240 it will be easy to judge effect of filters I'm even thinking of adding the EVF for more convenience. So any advice/comments on your experiences on the use of filters with the M240 would be greatly appreciated. I should add that for "serious" Landscapes I do have the Fujifilm GFX 50S Medium Format system the 240 would be for when I travel light but still want to be able to do landscapes as well as travel style.

'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form Come in, she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word… [ 384 more words ] https://msvphoto.wordpress.com/2018/12/17/come-in-she-said/ Ph. © Massimo S. Volonté Fotografo M9, 35'cron IV

Hi everyone! I know that there are already discussions on this subject and I followed them to do the vertical alignment procedure on my m9, but I saw that nobody had my problems, so I ask you some advice, maybe someone has had my same experience and can help me. This is what I did: I removed the red Leica dot, I dropped a drop of acetone on the adjustment mechanism of the vertical alignment and after a while I inserted the special tool into the hole trying to pivot and move the mechanism. I have not seen any drops of glue on the mechanism or anything that looks like glue. However, I noticed that the instrument was not gripped at any point and therefore, rotating the instrument, the vertical alignment mechanism did not seem to move in any direction. After some time applying more force I noticed a great vertical misalignment. Trying to recover, I could not move the patch anymore. I ask you if it ever happened to you or if I did something wrong. thank you Marco

Hi, I wonder if others had the same problem: I have a 2nd SF 24D that I use regularly with my M3 on A setting, no problem. Now, recently I obtained an M9 and tried out the 24D with it but it instantly switches to a flashing ISO 3200 and an LGN of 45. This cannot be changed by the +/- buttons, nor anything else (such as f-stop). This occurs in A and M setting (TTL/GCN I can forget - it doesn’t work at all with the M9 but reminds me to switch to A). The odd thing is that it resets once off the M9 and then the settings can be used just as normal. I tried it also on a friend’s D-Lux 5 and his ancient Digilux 2 - the former works fine on A, the latter produces the same problems as with the M9. I usually am fine working on A or M since I normally use the 24D as a filler flash but even that doesn’t work with the M9 under these circumstances. Ideas? Thanks very much raxnitz

Hi guys, I am sure this topic is covered over and over again, but I can't help starting a new thread to help me out in a very difficult decision. It feels like a very difficult decision anyway. Some background: I have been photographing for the past 15 years, and for a few of those professionally. I have been a strong Nikon fan throughout (sorry for swearing in the church), but have also owned and used a lot of film cameras, such as Mamiya, Hasselblad 2000FCW, Canon and Nikon 35mm film cameras. I would say i am a fairly decent photographer with, maybe, a bigger passion and lust than talent. :) Two years ago soon my son was born, and I just didn't bring the big cameras with me any longer, and I missed capturing those moments. I stopped all professional photography to make time for family and my day job. I sold all my other cameras, DSLRs and film alike to buy a new, smaller, more handy one. That I actually would bring with me everywhere and take photos. I never bought one, and now I miss I so much. So I started the hunt for the best camera for ME. I have been googling, foruming all across, and I just don't know how to drill it down any further and decide on the actual camera to buy. One thing I do know is that it is going to be a Leica. I just love Leicas philosophy, the picture quality, the "to the roots" thing, and I have decided once and for all that now is the time for me to finally own a Leica. I also know that I am on a budget. Coming in at a total of 2000 USD would be ideal - but if course, Leica is not cheap and there are many factors here. So anywhere between 1000-3000 USD is something I look at. For that money you could buy either a Leica CL kit brand new, Leica TL2 brand new, a used Leica Q, used Leica M9. I am not a rangefinder guy really, but I really like the concept. However, I will use the camera for many different scenarios such as travel photo, family photo, art works that I do, and just general hobby/art photography. I don't do any studio work any longer, so that I don't need, I don't do street photography in that sense, and I don't to long tele situation photography like concerts or sports. So basically, I do everyday photography and would like my photos to be nice to have, maybe frame them, and if I find time again start taking art work photos again. But let's focus on travel, everyday life typ photo. Now - what do you guys think? Where should I place my bets? I guess many of you have tried many of the cameras - which one do you believe I will be happier with? Thank you so much! I appreciate all and any input!

Hi all, Not sure there is any solution to this but my M9 screen has started to show what appear to be dead pixels, to be clear they are not on the photo but are the screen pixels. (excuse crappy phone photo). Anyone seen this before or have any idea if it is fixable. To be fair it isn't a show stopper since I rarely use the screen except in tricky light to check exposure which is still doable. Any comments/advice welcome but I fear I will have to put up with it until it eventually dies. Shame as it has an new style sensor and otherwise works fine.

1 - Skatepark (South Bank) Leica M9 + CZ c-sonnar 50mm f/1.5

Hello, I apologize if this has been answered somewhere before, but I searched the forum (and the web) and cannot seem to find my answer. I purchased a Leica SF24D about a year ago. On arrival, it worked flawlessly in TTL, A, M etc and overall I was pleased. It has been a few months since I have used the flash and this past weekend when using the unit, it noticed that it exhibited some behavior that I do not recall existing before. When used in TTL (and with 6 bit coded Leica lenses ) I thought I remember that when changing the F-Stop on the lens, the flash would also show the corresponding f-stop with distance on the LCD display on the flash . When using the flash this past weekend, I noticed that when changing the F-Stop on my lens, the flash was fixed on an f-stop, say 2.4. When I changed my lens from 2.4 to 8, the flash remained on 2.4. Overall, the exposure actually looked correct so it appears that that the flash is working. As a test, I adjusted ISO on camera and the ISO did change on flash. I also changed sync speeds in camera, cleaned contacts on lens, replaced batteries in flash etc. I also manually adjusted flash f-stop when in TTL mode (set flash to F8, then lens to 2.4, 5.6, 8 etc) and the exposures continued to look accurate. Am I just remembering the operation of this flash wrong? I thought the flash f-stop would show the corresponding f-stop on lens when in TTL? As for A, that is working as expected, same as M. Thanks for any insights.