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If there's to be a new M, what features would you want?


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1. The ability to customize frame lines.  I don't want two sets of frame lines.  Just give me the one for the lens I have mounted.  And let me disable everything else in the rangefinder window except for those frame lines.  No metering info, nothing else to get in the way. Let me set it up to be like the M-A.  And if you don't like that, then you could customize it whatever way suits you.

 

2. If we're going to some kind of digital rangefinder hybrid, then I'd like to see better parallax correction and variable magnification in the RF window, too.  

 

3. Self-cleaning sensor.  

 

4. Better high ISO performance.  I have no doubt this is coming given the improved performance of the Q and SL.

 

5. No movie mode.  Get that outta here, leave it for the SL where it actually makes sense.

 

6. If there is an optional EVF then get rid of the lag.  Same for Live View.

 

7. More resolution, more DR.

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Had you asked me four years ago I would have agreed with the no-video crowd. Now? No video would be a deal-breaker.

 

Why? I use this camera as a travel camera. Yes, my wife does the videocam. But when I   have a long lens on, I can supplement the footage by high-quality shots that no amateur or (in our case) prosumer video can provide. And no - I am not going to drag an SL around as well, thank you.

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Top priority upgrades for me would be.

 

1.) Camera's responsiveness and overall SPEED! I'd like NO lag and instant response when reviewing and zooming in to check sharpness.

 

2.) 95 percent of the time, I do not spray and pray - BUT an extra large buffer is needed for that 5% of the time when it could really come in handy!

 

3.) Shutter vibration and overall smoothness - the current 240 and M-P's feel decent but could be improved in balance. I love the SL's shutter movement.

 

4.) Hybrid OVF/EVF - this one I'm on the fence about. I'm completely happy shooting OVF when using the M - but having 100% frame lines and critical focus aids on the EVF is a nice option to have. Just like the one on the SL!

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thanks for all the responses, I really didn't expect so many. Interesting.

 

Good to read that many of you think too that it would be good if another M, maybe the next one, could be thinner……..As I would like.

 

Interesting other suggestions too, but in essence I still would like the next iteration of the camera to be even simpler, a little more refined in some functions perhaps but not too many changes or add-ons. Less being more.

 

I do like the "wish" for a better mountable EVF. For my 240 I have the Olympus one that I am told is the same as the Leica brand. It's handy, but at the same time horrible.

I've also often wondered why Leica has never produced a OVF that can go wider than the roughly 28mm that the whole finder area presently provides, sort of.

I have the excellent VC Bessa 4M that sports a great RF/OVF that goes down to 21mm, perfect for an M type of rangefinder camera that I've always considered ideal for focal lengths of 50mm and less. Why has Leica never produced such an OVF, anyone know? Seems odd to me.

That, a finder that could encompass the wider focal lengths would be something I'd add to my wish list.

 

So other than the wish for a wider finder, a M9 'ish proportioned body and the option to buy a version without video, wifi, gps and some other functions that I find I never use that's about it for me.

I may just have to be content with getting a 262 after all, get used to it's chubbiness and use a clip-on finder for those wides that I love, hey that's worked fine for decades until now why should I want to complicate things and pay a lot more for an EVF!………..

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The only improvement I would appreciate over my M9 is a sensor with a significantly lower inherent noise whilst retaining similarfile flexibility. There is nothing else I want which would improve the quality of the images that I take with the M9. Perhaps I'm easily satisfied :) .

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..............

I may just have to be content with getting a 262 after all, get used to it's chubbiness and use a clip-on finder for those wides that I love, hey that's worked fine for decades until now why should I want to complicate things and pay a lot more for an EVF!………..

 

I don't believe the M262 is any chubbier than the M9 is it?

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A scene mode dial on the top plate with icons of runners, ladies wearing hats, mountains and flowers instead of boring shutter speeds. How cool would that be?

 

also,

  • lower noise at higher ISOs 
  • longer exposure capabilities
  • inbuilt EVF switchable from OVF like X100T
  • movable focus point on EVF/LV
  • easy ISO for thumb wheel
  • customisable movie button (map to any menu item)
  • improved auto white balance
  • improved skin tones
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NEAR SILENT SHUTTER like the Nikons have if you raise the mirror and stop down lens with exposure delay mode.  Quiet mode just delays recheck.

 

If nikon can do it, why can Leica not do it.  My DIGITAL M`s sound like a tracked vehicle going down a gravel road. 

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I had the M9 and wasn't totally thrilled with it, on several fronts. I nearly sold it several times, it almost drove me away from Leica Ms. 

 

When its sensor turned out to have the cover glass corrosion problem, I took the upgrade to the M-P typ 240. Complete turnabout for me: more responsiveness, nicer shutter sound, less lag, greatly improved battery life, improved AWB, improved sensitivity, nicer files, better color, better controls, improved viewfinder and focusing ... even without considering video capture, Live View, and the EVF at all, it is simply a far better executed camera IMO. It realizes what I'd hoped the M9 would be, and for me is the real first-complete rendering Leica M digital camera along with its MM246 b&w sibling. 

 

What would I like beyond that standard? Given that my other great desire—the SL, a digital body for my R lenses—is now in hand, the M no longer needs to be the jack of all trades that Live View, the EVF, and video capture attempt to make it. It can be just what Leica Ms always were for me: the simple, direct adjunct and complement to my complex SLR system camera. The M246—an M/M-P typ 240 minus the Live View and video features, slightly lighter—is a nice step in that direction. The ME60 sans all the special edition stuff is a more extreme step in that direction. 

 

What I'd like is a production ME60 in the same black finish as the M-P, with a .72x magnification viewfinder and a la carte options to have the viewfinder set up with just the frame lines that I want for my lenses; 35, 50, 75, 90 would do me just fine. Or an M246 with the same viewfinder options, and the M-P's excellent B&W imaging options for in-camera JPEGs. Further improvements in responsiveness, weight reduction without losing the feel and finish, and sensor development are always welcome too. 

 

But I suspect I'll be using the M-P typ 240 for a long time to come.  B)

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What I would really like to see is an "M" digital that is as much as a "Film" M as possible.

No "A" on shutter dial, B&W capability, double exposure capability and live view for those odd ball lenses, that's it. Just a "Pure" leica

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Ok let’s go for it, a body that’s designed to accept different Sensor cartridges that are loaded into the body through the sole plate. A High MP sensor, Low MP sensor and Mono. You invest in one body and then purchase different Sensor cartridges that you take to your dealer to swap for you. Ok as I’m already pushing it, that you can change yourself and that Leica support for a couple of product cycles. (Fantasy but sowing the seed, and Leica remember where the idea came from!).   

 

Now in the real world:                    

 

  • Built in or External EVF that marches the SL. Leica patients of late seem to be exploring an alternative electronic to mechanical RF mechanism stating complexity and cost.

 

  • The ability to calibrate off the EVF for either the user or at least a Leica dealer to calibrate the OVF. (Such as Leica Mayfair London, Miami).

 

  • A colour filter array that matches Leica M9 for Caucasus skin tones, I don’t think it’s only CCD. Asia is a massive market and so designing a colour array for global skin tones kind of makes sense, except it far easier to add warmth then to take it away. Kodak defiantly optimised for pasty US and Northern European portraits and although these only make up some of the global market these days, if optimised for opaque skin tone your actually good to go Globally.  

 

  • Simply “My” customisable menus and I like the no name SL function buttons (apart from on the SL the on/off is written, which spoils it a little and I’m sure if your compliment enough to remember the rest you can figure that the switch that looks like a on/off switch is indeed such a thing).

 

  • Straight to P markings, i.e. no red Leica badge on the front.

 

  • High quality video, those fantastic manual lenses are superb for video and I don’t want to carry two bodies and two sets of lenses (and no the quality of my iPhone is nowhere near good enough) If you don’t shoot video then forget it’s there and disable.    

 

  • Built in dioptre.

 

  • Brass not Aluminium, Heritage and Quality.

 

  • 0.85 viewfinder
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Everybody has come up with a lot of great ideas so far. I like the suggestions regarding frame lines and magnification. 28 mm lines are close to useless so why not get rid of them or at least could you make them optional? Smaller and lighter is nice but not a deal breaker.

 

I don't have a M240 but I do have a M9 and a Monochrom. I passed on the M240 because I really like the M9 size and the quality of the files. So, in order to make me want to upgrade, the next M needs to have:

 

1. Higher resolution - say 36-39 MP

2. Clean high ISO - say clean low-noise files at 3200 (6400 would be even nicer)

3. Larger buffer - say being able to shoot 20+ frames while the camera writes to the card

4. Quiet please! Like M4/M3/M2 quiet

 

Everything else is just icing on the cake. The M262 comes close but falls short on the resolution. I know Leica does not want to compete with the S2/S/S007 but I already have a S2 and therefore know that 36MP is the resolution that I want to shoot. Get over it Leica, the S and the M do not compete with each other.

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My Ideal M is the mp-240 it is all I ever wanted from an M. 

24 mp is more then enough for me . I have a D810 and hardly ever gets out to play

live view is ok it's there when I need it but I do not need it often

Evf is there but I rarely use it .   And Vidio, I have never used it but it does not bother me. 

 

However the very reason of loving an M. Is to use the incredible lenses at open apertures and getting that Leica 3d image that we all love and pay so much more for our cameras and lenses . So why are we subjected to add silly ND filters in front of our expensive optics .  No lens is ever designed with filters in mind, every lens is at its best when used without another piece of glass in front of it.

yet every one of you guys here have asked for better high I S O perfomence.  

 What I would love to see is native low ISO. So I can use the lenses the way they are meant to be used in daylight situations.

Let others dream -- Stay on your own path,,,

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