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M9 / M-E regretful purchase?


Dikaiosune01

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Guest malland

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My understanding is that most people prefer, for reasons of safety and convenience prefer not to connect the camera through a USB port, but simply to insert the SD card into the card slot on the computer or to use a card reader to do so.

 

—Mitch/Bangkok

Bangkok Obvious [WIP]

Eggleston said that he was "at war with the obvious"...

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I have been enjoying using my M9 since 2010.

 

The only reason for me to buy the M is to use my R lenses. Last month, my dealer told me he has the M (new with repaired lugs by Leica). I didn't buy it since the R adapter is not available yet :rolleyes:

 

M will be collecting dust without the R adapters. I don't care about the video.

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I just bought an M9 in excellent condition. This is the opportunity the M240 created by putting the M9 on the second hand market faster.

My initial intention was to have an M but the waiting time and the still not fully matured product pushed me towards the M9, with substantial financial help. I have the impression that M9 will remain as a unique product while the M240 will need to evolve to keep catching up with the rest of the market wishes. So, I can now wait for a few more years while growing with the M9. I had no R-lenses so the major advantage is not there for me.

The important is what pictures we will be able to take..

Newnew

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I just bought an M9 in excellent condition. This is the opportunity the M240 created by putting the M9 on the second hand market faster.

My initial intention was to have an M but the waiting time and the still not fully matured product pushed me towards the M9, with substantial financial help. I have the impression that M9 will remain as a unique product while the M240 will need to evolve to keep catching up with the rest of the market wishes. So, I can now wait for a few more years while growing with the M9. I had no R-lenses so the major advantage is not there for me.

The important is what pictures we will be able to take..

Newnew

Good for you, enjoy the M9.

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I bought an used M8 to cover the time until the M240 would be available. It turned out that the M8 really was a stubborn beast and more often than not i wasn´t able to get the picture i had in mind. And so i did the upgrade to the M9. March came and i wanted the M240 - badly. Then came the day my dealer called me and there i stood: M240 with a 35 Lux - a stroll in the park and white clouds turned out blue. Green trees went sickly yellowish aso. It was like 14 yrs of photography vanished within milliseconds. It all seemed wrong and i was deeply frustrated.

Going home and there she was: my M9. A beauty in steel gray, knobs and wheels boiled down to perfect usability doing fascinating pictures without processing your butt off afterwards.

 

But now, having spare money in the pocket the voices in my head are up again and demanding the 35 Lux FLE... i need it. Badly!!! :-)

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The M market allowed me to buy a backup M9 body, because I work with cameras, not play with them. Also got a Monochrom. Couldn't ask for anything more. If I want to shoot video, I will go to the Japanese, who are light years ahead in this field.

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Do you think there are many who purchased a m9 or M-E and regretted not waiting for the m240? Why or why not?

 

No regrets whatsoever.

 

I've had the M8 since 2007 and for quite a while I have wished for the full-frame experience. Then the rumours about the new M (10) started and I waited to see what Leica would come up with. After having seen the specs and having handled one in a shop I decided that all the improvements, changes and new features did not justify the additional cost for me.

So 3 weeks ago I bought the M-E and I absolutely love it. And I think if I can't make good pictures with this camera a new M will not help me either.

 

Oh, and I will keep the M8, it is still a great camera.

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a stroll in the park and white clouds turned out blue. Green trees went sickly yellowish....

 

.... fascinating pictures without processing your butt off afterwards.

 

Simple fix, and it involves proper WB and profiling before processing, not after. The M9 had color issues when released, too, and those were equally fixable. In both cases, firmware and software profile updates eventually make things even easier.

 

I would have been concerned about much different issues, if any. But to each his own.

 

Jeff

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I thought I would chime in here. I love my M9. I recently received my M240 and didn't think the EVF would be particularly useful to me. The thing is until actually you try it you don't realize how useful it is to focus those lenses with very shallow depth of field. The 10x magnification focus patch in the EVF is a godsend for getting critical focus on my 75mm Summilux.

 

Clearly this is just one opinion, but before knocking the M240 as having features you don't need... all I'm saying is that you have to try it first to make an informed decision!

 

Erik

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The 10x magnification focus patch in the EVF is a godsend for getting critical focus on my 75mm Summilux.

 

Is your Summilux calibrated correctly? Mine was a breeze to focus after a CLA using the focus patch (but dreadful before). Most of them are calibrated for film bodies..

 

Still, it's a totally valid point.

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M9P... and I have been trying to decide whether to run with it or not.

 

This would be my first rangefinder and I honestly would like to start shooting sooner rather than later. I suppose that really answers the question, but I am still curious to hear others impressions.

 

I have a silver-chrome M9P. It is a joy to shoot with. If I did not shoot sports from time to time, I would sell all of my Nikon kit as well.

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Purchased M9 in 2011. I had an SD card error but seems to be OK with latest firmware. I don't think any digital camera will be as reliable as a film M, and even the latest models still have issues from time to time. I really like the fact, as posted earlier, that M8s on are simply digital rangefinder cameras. The main virtues of simplicity, manual control, and the ability to use outstanding optics remain unchanged.

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I've shot a lot of Kodachrome in my day and I've shot around 1,000 images with an M-E with a 35mm Lux lens. I'm way too new to Leica to have an opinion about the suggested similarity between the CCD chip and Kodachrome (although I liked Kodachrome), but I deliberately chose the M-E for its simplicity, and it is yielding images that I find very pleasing. The M is probably a wonderful camera, but it offers no enhancements that would make me doubt the choice of the M-E. It should provide me with years of stunning images and it is just so much FUN to use!

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Guest malland

David, exactly what I think, except that I'm skeptical whether, after the M240 has a firmware upgrade and a better Lightroom profile, I'll like the color rendition as much as that of the M9/M-E. Actually, in February I decided to get an M-E for that reason, but a dealer in Paris had a new M9-P that was still at the promotional price that had ended on December 31. In euros, after the VAT refund, the cost came out to be a few hundred dollars more than that of the M-E; but I would have been just as happy with the M-E.

 

—Mitch/Pak Nam Pran

Bangkok Obvious [WIP]

Eggleston said that he was "at war with the obvious"...

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