Leica M-E in 2018?

[NicCouryPhoto]

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I know I'll get a mix of answers here, but is a great condition M-E still a good purchase in 2018? It has the sensor replaced.

I have an M240 I love, but needs an RF adjustment. I rarely shoot it over 800 ISO.

I'm also looking at the M246, but that's a lot of cash and I can buy the M-E and a 75 APO for the price of the M246.

Are the M9-sensor files that good and different than my M240?

[Ko.Fe.]

Different is very likely state of observation.

Good is very subjective parameter.

 

I read how M8 and M9 files are very different. I purchased M8 as backup for M-E, but sold it quick. It was no difference and no reason to keep two digital M.

I have film M as well. It is different and good . 

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[ianman]

 

I know I'll get a mix of answers here, but is a great condition M-E still a good purchase in 2018? It has the sensor replaced.

I have an M240 I love, but needs an RF adjustment. I rarely shoot it over 800 ISO.

I'm also looking at the M246, but that's a lot of cash and I can buy the M-E and a 75 APO for the price of the M246.

Are the M9-sensor files that good and different than my M240?

 

It may be subjective but I find there is difference between the look of the CCD and the CMOS. I find the images from the replaced CCD (after corrosion) are even better.

I would not hesitate for a second between the M9 and M240... but I also have no need for video, LiveView, EVF.

The M9 is, I believe, much slower at writing files. This could be important to you depending how you use the camera.

I also find the M9 family more aesthetically pleasing with the traditional frameline illumination window and the notch on the left side. The M240 looks like a brick! 

[Rus]

I think an M-E in 2018, for many, is as going to be as good as it has been in 2017, 2016, 2015... you get the idea

The question is whether or not you personally like the files it produces, either OOC or after PP. 

 

When choosing digital cameras I tend to look at three aspects: 

1) What sort of image quality, colour rendition, etc. its sensor is technically/theoretically capable of achieving? 

2) What I could possibly achieve with this sensor through my own current photo-taking and post-processing skills? 

3) Does the production of photos that are aesthetically pleasing to me require any of the "boundary-pushing" capabilities of a sensor in the first place? 

 

What I've often ended up finding is that my own skills usually fall short of extracting all the capacities of the sensor. So I'm often quite content with using "older" generation technology.

 

Oh I might also add that, after testing out the M240 loaned to me by a friend for a while, I realised that I shoot the M240 and M9 in different ways, which I have written about in a different post: 

 

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/280886-upgrading-from-the-m9/?p=3442184

 

I shot an image in low light with the M9 and Lux 50 Asph, underexposing at ISO640 and pushing 4 stops in PP.

Personally I find the result still more than usable, but different people certainly have different aesthetic preferences. 

You can find the rather mundane shot here: 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/dkmao/U5f426

Edited May 21, 2018 by Rus

[Adam Bonn]

Personally I’d serach the net for some sample m9 dngs to download (there are many) then run them theough your workflow and see what you think

 

The ccd/m9 isn’t some magic wand that always makes a lovely file, but it certainly can make a lovely file