M9 / m240 / M10 which IQ do you prefer ?

[mottykytu]

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Which IQ do you prefer between those 3 famous Leica? and why ?

Between M240 - mp240, is it worth 600-800$ Extra ?

[Chris W]

M10

[costa43]

The lens plays a big part in ‘image quality’ so I can’t comment there but the M10 is the best camera from a technical perspective and the one I would recommend if the budget is there. Unless you have a love for the CCD sensor output that many on here do, then the M9 is your go to. Then again, you may enjoy the longer battery life, video capability and lower price of the still very capable M240… 🙃

Edited April 30 by costa43

[mottykytu]

18 minutes ago, costa43 said:

The lens plays a big part in ‘image quality’ so I can’t comment there but the M10 is the best camera from a technical perspective and the one I would recommend if the budget is there. Unless you have a love for the CCD sensor output that many on here do, then the M9 is your go to. Then again, you may enjoy the longer battery life, video capability and lower price of the still very capable M240… 🙃

Hmm, I lean toward the M240 for all what you say but many swear that the CCD sensor on M9 is legendary !

[Crem]

M10 is my favorite of the three choices. That said I looked up prices of used M10 models. If money is a concern I personally would go with a SL2-S with M adapter. It has amazing IQ and I love using it with M lenses. Most lenses will have very good IQ with it, but not all.

[Dazzajl]

For me, it’s the M9 hands down. I have no idea if the look is down to the CCD but both the M8 and M9 have a look that almost no other digital cameras offer. 
 

However, the M8 and 9 are both quite hard work to live with and even if you love the images, it’s tough to reason either one over the 240 or M10. Once you arrive there, it’s a choice largely made by budget I guess. 

[mottykytu]

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6 minutes ago, Dazzajl said:

For me, it’s the M9 hands down. I have no idea if the look is down to the CCD but both the M8 and M9 have a look that almost no other digital cameras offer. 
 

However, the M8 and 9 are both quite hard work to live with and even if you love the images, it’s tough to reason either one over the 240 or M10. Once you arrive there, it’s a choice largely made by budget I guess. 

What make the M9 so hard to live with comepare to M240 and M10 ?

ISO ?

[Topsy]

55 minutes ago, Dazzajl said:

For me, it’s the M9 hands down. I have no idea if the look is down to the CCD but both the M8 and M9 have a look that almost no other digital cameras offer. 
 

However, the M8 and 9 are both quite hard work to live with and even if you love the images, it’s tough to reason either one over the 240 or M10. Once you arrive there, it’s a choice largely made by budget I guess. 

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[Dazzajl]

3 hours ago, mottykytu said:

What make the M9 so hard to live with comepare to M240 and M10 ?

ISO ?

ISO is definitely poorer on the older cameras but that’s not where you’ll notice the biggest differences. The technology in the M8/9 feels very very old now. Operating the camera is much slower in quite a number of ways. Changing settings is not a fast or intuitive process, the screen is fairly hopeless and as much as live view goes against the grain in a Rangefinder camera, in can be almost essential for close focus with fast lenses wide open and you won’t have it. The frame lines are not as easy to see as the newer cameras, the time between shots is longer. The rotating dial on the rear is fiddly and imprecise. In manual mode you don’t get a shutter speed readout in the VF. In Ap priority you do see the shutter speed but then exposure comp is a several button press operation. There are probably more little things but they’re not coming to mind right now. 
 

But… IF you’re happy to slow down and appreciate the camera for all the things it doesn’t do and IF it’s not your only camera and IF you’re happy to let the restrictions enable your creative process, you will be rewarded with some of the most beautiful looking rendering of your images available today. 

Edited April 30 by Dazzajl

[bocaburger]

OP question was re: IQ so, I was fine with the M9 and would never have upgraded had it not been for the sensor corrosion issue which at the time Leica was still minimizing and had not yet engineered an improved sensor.   I currently own a pair of M240's and am fully satisfied with the IQ having tried an M10 on loan.  So basically from an IQ standpoint I feel like for my use-case (travel, mostly daylight) they are all fine. 
If I were contemplating buying into the M system at this point in time Leica's handling of battery availability would be my main concern.  Ironically the only one for which there are readily-available batteries (credit to 3rd-party mfrs) is the M9, but whi knows for how long.  The same concern would give me pause re the future availability of batteries for the M11 as well.  
Lately I have been shooting quite a lot with Sony A7R2 (my lens assortment including wides plays nicely with its stock sensor) which although I disdain the UI (EVF, voluminous menus and multiple scattered unmarked CF buttons) compared to the M (which I've used for close to 60 years) I can still readily buy new batteries for it and the camera itself cost me <CAD$1K.  

[mottykytu]

14 hours ago, bocaburger said:

OP question was re: IQ so, I was fine with the M9 and would never have upgraded had it not been for the sensor corrosion issue which at the time Leica was still minimizing and had not yet engineered an improved sensor.   I currently own a pair of M240's and am fully satisfied with the IQ having tried an M10 on loan.  So basically from an IQ standpoint I feel like for my use-case (travel, mostly daylight) they are all fine. 
If I were contemplating buying into the M system at this point in time Leica's handling of battery availability would be my main concern.  Ironically the only one for which there are readily-available batteries (credit to 3rd-party mfrs) is the M9, but whi knows for how long.  The same concern would give me pause re the future availability of batteries for the M11 as well.  
Lately I have been shooting quite a lot with Sony A7R2 (my lens assortment including wides plays nicely with its stock sensor) which although I disdain the UI (EVF, voluminous menus and multiple scattered unmarked CF buttons) compared to the M (which I've used for close to 60 years) I can still readily buy new batteries for it and the camera itself cost me <CAD$1K.  

What you say make me want to buy M240

[LocalHero1953]

The M9 was the camera that brought me to digital Leica after years of film Leica, and entering the digital world with Nikon and Canon. It was great at the time, but frankly I was delighted to replace it with the M240. Contrary to common opinion here, I found the the colours to be posterised and unreal - unreal but attractive like Technicolor and Kodachrome - fine if you like that artificial colour 'pop', but I preferred the more subdued natural colours of the M240. I also found I needed an IR-cut filter for shooting people: depending on the person's skin, I would get strange blotchy magenta discolouration, especially on lips under hot lighting. I was also glad to be rid of the noisy clatter of the shutter, and the embarrassingly bad LCD, which could not use used to review an image (or show them to anyone else) except to confirm you had got one. 

I was very happy with the M240, including with the occasional use of video (its absence was why I never moved on to the M10). Liveview has two benefits: you can use lenses outside the 28-90 rangefinder envelope, and you can use it to check/calibrate the rangefinder. 

Since my video practice has now moved on, I would take a M10 out of the three you list (I can understand its colour is the best) - but I no longer have a digital M of any flavour.

[mottykytu]

9 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

The M9 was the camera that brought me to digital Leica after years of film Leica, and entering the digital world with Nikon and Canon. It was great at the time, but frankly I was delighted to replace it with the M240. Contrary to common opinion here, I found the the colours to be posterised and unreal - unreal but attractive like Technicolor and Kodachrome - fine if you like that artificial colour 'pop', but I preferred the more subdued natural colours of the M240. I also found I needed an IR-cut filter for shooting people: depending on the person's skin, I would get strange blotchy magenta discolouration, especially on lips under hot lighting. I was also glad to be rid of the noisy clatter of the shutter, and the embarrassingly bad LCD, which could not use used to review an image (or show them to anyone else) except to confirm you had got one. 

I was very happy with the M240, including with the occasional use of video (its absence was why I never moved on to the M10). Liveview has two benefits: you can use lenses outside the 28-90 rangefinder envelope, and you can use it to check/calibrate the rangefinder. 

Since my video practice has now moved on, I would take a M10 out of the three you list (I can understand its colour is the best) - but I no longer have a digital M of any flavour.

So you choose the M10  over M240 just because of the video?

I have a seperate Camera to do VIdeo, and don't really want to do MF video because I'm lazy. Should I choose M240 over M10?

[LocalHero1953]

1 hour ago, mottykytu said:

So you choose the M10  over M240 just because of the video?

I have a seperate Camera to do VIdeo, and don't really want to do MF video because I'm lazy. Should I choose M240 over M10?

No, I chose not to buy the M10 because it didn't have video. I occasionally took casual video clips with the M240 for social media, and didn't want to lose the capability. Of course one could use a phone, but the IQ was better from the M240, even if it had limited functionality.

Since then I bought the SL and CL and, eventually, sold the M240. And now have the Q3 43 (also for casual video), SL2-S (back-up video) and BMCC6K (not so casual video). I only do manual focus video.

What you do, of course, is entirely up to you. It is easy to tell you the specs, performance and output from any camera. What no one here can do is tell you what you should buy for your particular experience, talents, photographic practice and aspirations.

[costa43]

On 4/30/2025 at 8:24 AM, mottykytu said:

Hmm, I lean toward the M240 for all what you say but many swear that the CCD sensor on M9 is legendary !

It has a look. Whether that look is for you is totally subjective. If you are not sold on that look then the compromises are too much for me to recommend it. Every M that has come after the CCD models is far more usable day to day. FWIW, I really enjoy the CCD models still but I am fully aware of their shortcomings and accept them.

There are lots image threads and groups on here and Flickr/FB that will provide you with infinite examples of images taken with these cameras. The decision ultimately is yours. 

Edited May 2 by costa43

[Dazzajl]

45 minutes ago, costa43 said:

If you are not sold on that look then the compromises are too much for me to recommend it

I think even if you do love the look, those compromises make it a difficult choice to make. Every snapper should get to experience the M8/9 at some point, it’s not really like shooting with anything else and when you really nail a shot you want, it’s 100% you nailing it. You’ll get no help from the camera. 

[costa43]

8 minutes ago, Dazzajl said:

I think even if you do love the look, those compromises make it a difficult choice to make. Every snapper should get to experience the M8/9 at some point, it’s not really like shooting with anything else and when you really nail a shot you want, it’s 100% you nailing it. You’ll get no help from the camera. 

Yep, they are definitely an experience! The M9/M8 now are emotional purchases for anyone really. It is near impossible to wholeheartedly recommend them on anything measurable besides the awesome wake time from sleep, they still outperfrom every other M that has succeeded them!

Edited May 2 by costa43

[RexGig0]

I started Leica M system shooting, with pre-owned and demonstrator M9 and M Type 240 cameras, during several visits at a Leica dealer, in early 2018, using a pre-owned Summilux-M 50mm ASPH lens, that was available for sale. When I finally decided to buy the lens, I did not yet know which camera I would be adding, to keep dust away from the rear element of the lens. On that day, in mid-April, I learned that it had just become possible, finally, to buy a new M10, without first being on a waiting list. I tried the M10, and liked the viewfinder experience. (I wear eyeglasses.) So, I crunched the numbers, and made a fateful decision to scupper* long-range plans to buy Nikon’s then-best 600mm “super-telephoto” lens, enabling me to acquire the new M10, plus the pre-owned Summilux. The default colors, in the M10, looked a bit better, to me, which was a reason to be glad that I chose the M10, but, of course, colors can be finalized during post-processing.

I have never used an M9 or M Type 240 in low light, so, have no experience-based opinion on their ISO and low-light limitations, compared to the M10. I do know that ISO 3200 is very useful, to me.

I did buy into the M 240-series, later, however, when I added a Type 246 Monochrom, during a time when my M10 was down, requiring repair, after a mishap. The high ISO, low-light performance of the 246 Monochrom is not second-best, when compared to the M10. The absence of the Bayer filter array enables better low-light performance.

*My left shoulder was still recovering/rehabilitating, following an injury, seven months earlier. I was still unsure I would ever, again, be able to use a heavy telephoto lens. By the time my shoulder was normal, again, after another five or six months, I had no regrets.