My Leica M9 experience

[arminw]

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I was invited to shoot an event in London last weekend and the requirements were simple and straight forward - don’t look like a photographer, blend in and no flash please! After some consideration, I decided to use my Leica M9 and the M8 as a back up for the low light challenge and discrete shooting.*

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I was also asked to shoot video of live performances during the eve and got the 5d markII to do that . In the back of my mind I knew that IF the Leicas failed, I’d still have the canon to save my neck…

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The discrete shooting with the Leica went well - people loved the camera and I received many compliments on it. One person even said what a nice fashion accessory it was and asked if I’d chosen the silver grey M9 to match my grey-ish outfit? (it was all well put together, let’s leave it at that).

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I was shooting in rooms illuminated by candles and some dimmed tungsten lights. The lenses I used on the M9 were a 50mm summilux and a 35mm summicron. To be able to get something decent I had to shoot wide open at F2 and faster, with a shutter speed between a 20th - 30th sec. The ISO was set at 3200, which*was outside my comfort* zone.*

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On the night I couldn’t really see much on the back screen of my Leica to evaluate the shot regarding noise, sharpness etc. The screen really is a joke on the M9 and shooting with a high ISO setting everything looks so pixelated and noisy - impossible to judge the image ... I had to guess and hope and pray that all would be fine. *

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During the course of the evening the rooms got even darker and the Leica could only record images with motion blur or artistically creative compositions. The Canon with ISO 6400 was used to shoot film and stills. Yes the 5d MarkII was able to shoot incredible images at high ISO and I could see the images on the back screen as well but the focusing was a nightmare and I had to hunt to lock onto the subject. By the time it focused, usually it was already moving away, getting bored or went to get another glass of champagne and I missed the shot!

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After I finished the event and packed up my cameras my feelings were rather mixed and I wasn’t sure if I got what the client wanted.* Shoots like this never go smoothly and I had to rely heavily on my equipment. On my way back home I felt like none of the cameras I used were particularly great in the circumstances.*

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When I got back home the first thing I did was upload and back up all the files onto my computer and external Hard Drive. I recently upgraded to Apples Aperture, which I used to edit and process my files. To be honest I was surprised to see how good the images were after I adjusted a few settings and got the files processed. The Leica image had a certain feel to them, which differentiated them from the Canon images - more pure and vivid I would say...*

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When I got the images back from the printer (Snappy Snap) I could hardly see any noise: it was smooth but real and very nice looking, so well done Leica M9 - you are a tough one to use but when handled with care, you deliver.

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[Jerry_R]

Thanks for info, could you post samples?

[arminw]

Thanks for info, could you post samples?

 

I wasn't planning to upload any images online, because I want to value my clients wish that those images are private, and for personal use only, but I did want to share my experience with other members .

 

There is also a huge different between Print and Digital file ... the digital version shows a lot of noise and the print almost nothing .. so people wouldn't really see the difference.:)

[jaapv]

I think you mean you shot ISO 2500 on the M9

[tdtaylor]

If actually ISO 3200, I want one of those M9s. It may mean ISO 2500 has been improved .

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[arminw]

indeed it was my mistake ISO 2500 was the setting , and yes 3200 would have been nice ... come on Leica bring it on ...

[jaques]

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I just had a similar experience- this weekend I got a job photographing a music festival for a newspaper- I have done the same job over the last 3 years- previously using Canon and Nikon DSLR. This year I only took my M9 and 2 lenses (50 and 90).

 

I found the Leica quite a challenge- sometimes focusing on moving subjects was difficult- and it was often a surprise to see the final image- looking quite different than I had imagined it in the finder. Also quite worrying reviewing some of the higher ISO images and seeing all that noise on the screen... I must admit I got a bit dismayed at times.

 

With an SLR you often know you have the shot- you see it clear as day in the finder and when you go home -there it is- just as you snapped it- not so with the RF.

 

I did enjoy the envious looks from all the pros with their massive DSLR's and lenses- and many of them with two of the beasts dangling from their strained necks... it was a 4 day event and carrying around a tiny little bag was a real pleasure.

 

haven't had a chance to process the images yet but will post a few samples here when I do- and maybe a few comparisons from previous years. It will be interesting as certain parts of the event were an almost identical repetition of previous years.

[chris_tribble]

Jaques - a tough call to cover with just the 50 and the 90? Was a 28 not available, or was this a decision. For something like a festival I'd be worried not having a 200 - really interested to see how it worked out.

[jaques]

I had an official photographers pass- which meant I could go right in front of the stages- and I had no call for the 28 over the weekend. I actually bought it on the first day- but didn't use it at all. I was not assigned to get big crowd shots.

 

If anything I needed longer focal lengths- I wish I had bought my 135 along- and as you say 200 would have been ideal- but working my visoflex wouldn't have been... ;-)

 

I had a look at the images last night- and was surprised- there are some real beauties but I had to do a lot of cropping- which luckily the M9 allows. There were quite a few missed focus shots unfortunately as well... Also the stage lighting proved difficult to balance- I took some shots of Ravi Shankar where his head was a blown out red mess- looks great in B$W though.

 

all in all it was a good learning environment and I could see clear improvement in the images as the days went by.

 

I wish there was some way of getting telephoto into the M9 system in a workable fashion- as the idea of carrying two cameras is against the very reason I went to Leica. Live view would do it for me... and focus confirmation... but I don't see that happening.

 

I will post a few small sample here shortly.

[jaques]

ok- here we go- please don't mock me unless you really must:

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[Neil J]

The Japanese drummers and Ravi Shankar & his daughter Anoushka performing Womadelaide in my home town of Adelaide. Did you enjoy the concert? Are you happy with the M9 for events such as these and have you cropped those images?

Thanks,

Neil

[neli]

sweet drummer jaques, nice shots, me likey

[jaques]

I had a great weekend. These shots were taken only for my own pleasure- I had a particular assignment to cover indigenous events- and could enjoy everything else in between.

 

I did enjoy the M9- I found it a bit of a challenge at times- and I would have loved to have been able to get in closer. I took quite a few images of Ravi and his daughter but many of them missed the focus- or too much vibration- the stage was dark- strictly no flash. Also I missed the spot metering quite consistently and had to bump up, or drop exposure in light room (mostly up). I really should have manually metered I think,m and perhaps pushed the ISO up to get a little more DOF. I will say any failures were entirely mine and not the cameras. Absolutely no problem with buffer times. Looking through the final images last night I was pretty happy with many of them.

 

I do wish I had taken my 135- at least to test it out.

 

 

Some of these images are cropped- the drummer, and the crumpers are not.

 

I certainly enjoyed the size of the M9 - it was a huge contributor to actually enjoying myself at the event- between work.

 

here is a shot I kind of like in my own odd way:

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[arminw]

ok- here we go- please don't mock me unless you really must:

 

Those are great images ... did you use a particular Noise reduction program or just the one in Lightroom ? U R using lightroom aren't you ?