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Leica M10 M-D


colint544

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In 1971, when Leica unveiled their M5, they had, for the first time, an M where a glance at the top of the camera was all that was required for the photographer to see all relevant information - distance, aperture, shutter speed, film speed.

 

That idea was abandoned in subsequent models and the ISO dial moved back to its traditional position on the back of the camera.

 

It took until 2016, with the launch of the M10, for Leica to once again put all the information back on the top of the camera. What will they do if they bring out an M10 based M-D, a screenless digital M?

 

Will Leica go all the way and have nothing but leatherette all the way round, sans disc? I reckon so. And if they had the courage to make the camera in black chrome, no script or engraving, and leave off the frame line selector, that would have to be the stealthiest-looking, most minimalistic camera ever. Imagine that with a black or chrome eight element Summicron fitted to it.

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I'm with you Colin,

the most disturbing thing(optical) at the modern m

is  the dominant stylish looking monitor on the back!

looks a bit too much apple-like for me.

 

I prefer the "improvised "look on my mono1.

looks more like an traditional cam which is upgraded to an digital  ;)

 

Accordingly, I like the concept of the m-d from the beginning.
your version of an m10-d sounds very tempting....
 
lambda
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As user of M10 and M-D (bought after M10 ! ), the place of ISO setting where it would be on M10-D, it would not bother me.

Just few hours of using them, the back or top placing 'ISO setting" of the two became "natural place for me".

 

As side note I will wait for "M10_Monochrom_M-D" ( maybe Leica naming shorter, I bet) so it would be nice to "replace" most of my digital Ms for long.

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Likaleica - if they did it to that spec, and with a monochrome sensor, I'd be pretty near the front of the queue, if I had the money to spare!

 

lambda - agreed, and I'm pretty fond of my M Mono mk1 too, mostly for the look of the pictures.

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As user of M10 and M-D (bought after M10 ! ), the place of ISO setting where it would be on M10-D, it would not bother me.

Just few hours of using them, the back or top placing 'ISO setting" of the two became "natural place for me".

 

As side note I will wait for "M10_Monochrom_M-D" ( maybe Leica naming shorter, I bet) so it would be nice to "replace" most of my digital Ms for long.

An M10 Mono M-D in black chrome, with no engraved script, no ISO dial on the back, and no frameline lever would be a thing of beauty. I think they could probably sell a good few of those.

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Likaleica - if they did it to that spec, and with a monochrome sensor, I'd be pretty near the front of the queue, if I had the money to spare!

 

lambda - agreed, and I'm pretty fond of my M Mono mk1 too, mostly for the look of the pictures.

 

I'll be right behind you, with the same proviso.

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Please, Leica, a monochrome M10 D! I am done buying 35mm anything new except for monochrome, as I hang onto my M246 and I still appreciate my Q. But if they do a monochrome MD version, I wouldnt hesitate to buy. The classic film M way of shooting is lovely. No screens. No back buttons. No temptations to chimp.

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Please, Leica, a monochrome M10 D! I am done buying 35mm anything new except for monochrome, as I hang onto my M246 and I still appreciate my Q. But if they do a monochrome MD version, I wouldnt hesitate to buy. The classic film M way of shooting is lovely. No screens. No back buttons. No temptations to chimp.

0.58 & 0.85 and black paint options, that would be IT!

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Hmmm a monochrome MD?!

That is an interesting concept.

.. and the ISO dial makes an M10-D a more interesting concept as well.

I guess we should expect to wait a bit longer for it though (traditionally the M10-P should come first?)

Come on, Jono - you’re testing one right now, aren’t you?

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call me nuts. i really understand your wishes on a clean "M10D" and i appreciate all those who can afford buying those expensive cameras to make it even more possible for leica to produce any of their cameras in the first place. so keep asking leica to produce the weirdest cameras an go on buying them to keep leica going.

 

but from the point of view of a user, i'd rathe have a flipover screen just like the one on the olympus pen-f. it should be easy to flip away if not in use so that the camera becomes clean design. but when needed, it can be used vor architectural shots and TTL-focussing even when the camera is placed to the ground or for framing when it is held overhead.

 

shouldn't be too difficult for the designers, as a little metalframe always used to be around the backdoor of the analog M's. so there is a very natural frame predecessed for placing the screen. making it touchscreen would even make the need for pressbuttons obsolete so it could fit smoothly.

 

but that sure is quite the opposite of what an M10D would be inteded to be.

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call me nuts. i really understand your wishes on a clean "M10D" and i appreciate all those who can afford buying those expensive cameras to make it even more possible for leica to produce any of their cameras in the first place. so keep asking leica to produce the weirdest cameras an go on buying them to keep leica going.

 

but from the point of view of a user, i'd rathe have a flipover screen just like the one on the olympus pen-f. it should be easy to flip away if not in use so that the camera becomes clean design. but when needed, it can be used vor architectural shots and TTL-focussing even when the camera is placed to the ground or for framing when it is held overhead.

 

shouldn't be too difficult for the designers, as a little metalframe always used to be around the backdoor of the analog M's. so there is a very natural frame predecessed for placing the screen. making it touchscreen would even make the need for pressbuttons obsolete so it could fit smoothly.

 

but that sure is quite the opposite of what an M10D would be inteded to be.

A flip screen would add a lot of unwanted thickness to am M body.

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There's no doubt that flip screens, touch screens, autofocus, and so on add functionality to a camera. But I like the ethos of a stripped down camera like a Leica M. The M-D type 262 from a couple of years ago was a bold move, design-wise, from Leica and it's fun to project that idea onto the M10, and imagine how far they could go with the concept of minimalism.

 

I'd almost never use an M for commercial work - for that you need something fast and reliable and flexible. A DSLR, or one of the new breed of mirrorless cameras. Something that just gets the job done, whatever it might be, with the minimum of fuss. Something that's the photographic equivalent of a Swiss army knife.

 

The Leica M, on the other hand, is a very sharp kitchen knife. It's for a specific purpose, that being photographing people and places. And with either a 50mm, 35mm, or 28mm lens.

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Regretfully I agree with you there Colin in regards using the M's for Pro' work......at least for some jobs anyway.

I tried to "travel light" camera-wise on a documentary job working a story in stills and video around the plight of abandoned children in Eastern Europe a couple of years ago before I got my M10. On that job I took a 240 and a Q, ( plus a Pano' GH4 primarily for B camera video PU's ), and although they were reliable in the difficult working conditions it was a mistake. On reviewing / editing the shots afterwards I found myself wishing that I'd taken the Nikon, ( 810 ), kit instead. The 810 and a 28-120 zoom would have done everything and more that I was hoping that the "lower profile" Leica's were able to do and swiftly hitting critical focus wouldn't have been such a problem. The GH4 however was something of a lifesaver with it's AF capabilities.............But I'm with you too on the possibility of an M10 MD-M and if that happens I guess I will not be alone in trying to figure out what has to be sold to enable buying one with the proviso that I would really like to have a .58 finder option!

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With the Leica leather half case added to an M10, the back screen of the camera is covered.  One can pretend to have an M10 M-D by just not looking at the camera back.

I suppose you could. Certainly there were a few people saying that when the M-D 262 model came out a couple of years ago. You can also remove the battery from your MP film camera and pretend it’s an MA. Heard that one a lot too.

 

When you think about it, you could go as far down that road as you like. There’s no limit to what you could pretend.

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