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First day with my M9 - overall impressions


Andi_77

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The M9 framelines are calibrated to be accurate at 1 meter. A lot of users (including me) think this was a daft choice, especially when the M8.2 was calibrated at 2m The M240 is also calibrated at 2m.

 

As you move focus the focal length of a lens changes slightly. It's a bit wider at infinity than minimum. At infinity you need to add about 2.5x the width of the framelines to see the entire frame.

 

The good news is you will get used to it, mostly.

 

Gordon

 

Great minds...

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Interesting to hear your experience - mine has been more negative. I've had an M9-P for six months and have just decided to shell out a 5D III so I can get the many shots I always miss with the M9 - shots that require very fast focusing. The M9 is fine for landscapes and slow portraits but not for much else.

 

Those shots you miss with the M9, are they static or moving? I have an MM and a 5DIII and for static subjects I can focus almost as quickly (and probably more accurately) with the excellent rangefinder on the MM.

 

However for tracking fast moving subjects then the 5DIII is the weapon of choice and the MM doesn't even get close.

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Yesterday I went out with my M9 for my third weekend. Loving it more and more.

Adding the the Thumbie from Steve and the Sling from Leica Goodies improved the ergonomics a lot.

+1 for this products, I'm really really happy with them.

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Lightroom.

The details are there, I agree with you (even if my first impression is that there is less detail compared to a 5D Mark III), it looks like you have to work a bit more to make them emerge.

I may be totally wrong (it's a superficial judgement based on ONE day of shooting), but again, it's not a flaw, I like the way the images look straight out of the SD card.

 

What lens(es) are you using?

 

I tried a ton of 50mm glass on Canon 5dm3 - none beat my old Summicron for sharpness and beauty

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What lens(es) are you using?

 

I tried a ton of 50mm glass on Canon 5dm3 - none beat my old Summicron for sharpness and beauty

 

Zeiss 35mm f/2 ZM, Canon 50mm f/1.4 LTM, Leica Tele-Elmarit 90mm f/2.8.

 

Don't get me wrong, the more I use this camera, the more I like it.

And the range IS there (my first judgement was probably a bit superficial), it's simply that you have to look for it in Lightroom, the RAW files are a bit more "Velvia-like" out of the SD card, but the details in the shadows are definitely there.

And I agree, the overall image quality is fantastic and full of "personality".

It's just a difference - it looks like you have to work a bit more, but I don't mind. I actually enjoy this, because I often find myself enhancing this light/dark thing, rather than making it milder.

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The M9 framelines are calibrated to be accurate at 1 meter. A lot of users (including me) think this was a daft choice, especially when the M8.2 was calibrated at 2m The M240 is also calibrated at 2m.

 

As you move focus the focal length of a lens changes slightly. It's a bit wider at infinity than minimum. At infinity you need to add about 2.5x the width of the framelines to see the entire frame.

 

The good news is you will get used to it, mostly.

 

Gordon

 

Just curious. What did Henri Cartier Bresson have to deal with? I understand he ended up printing full frame with a black edge. But is that what he actually saw?

 

Thanks,

George

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You mean Kodachrome like. After all that's what Leica asked Kodak (the sensor designer) to try and achieve.

 

I don't think Kodak would have made a sensor/DAC that was Velvia like :-)

 

Gordon

 

Oh, well, OK :)

I've never used Kodachrome, I was more of a Velvia fan, but let's say it looks "slide-ish" ;)

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