Leica R9

[leicamr]

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I have used two R8's for the past 12 years. Brilliant! One is now used exclusively with a DMR. Last week I purchased a second hand R9 as I felt it necessary to own the last ever film Leica SLR. I do prefer the R8. Can I detect the 100gms weight difference?, no. Do I like the mode lock button, no. The black chrome finish of the R8 is much harder wearing than that of the black finish of the R9. The flash results of the R8 TTL for film or with the DMR is excellent.

 

I am still amazed why people consider it unreliable because it is electronic. I wonder what they think of current digital DSLR's? They have even more electronics and even bigger batteries, that are recharged many more time than I have ever changed the battery in an R3, M6, M7, R8 or R9.

 

Buy either R8 or R9, personal choice. Certainly the best, most underrated manual focus SLR camera ever made.

 

Mark

[SteveYork]

With a little searching you can find new R9s w/ warranties for the cost of used ones.

[earleygallery]

Last week I purchased a second hand R9 as I felt it necessary to own the last ever film Leica SLR.

 

Who knows. Depending on the format they choose of course, but assuming they go for 'FF 35mm' I wouldn't be surprised to see Leica introduce both digital and film bodies for the new SLR camera.

[k_g_wolf ✝]

No way !

 

The R 9 was the last film-LEICA with a reflexsystem. The next one will be digital

only.

 

Most likely a dwarfed S 2, IMHO ...

 

Until then I will enjoy my R 9 with the bunch of recently aquired lenses.

 

 

 

 

Best

[thrid]

John -- I recently found what I thought a quite useful comparison when looking for similar info:

http://www.iconicphoto.com/pdf/nikon_f6_vs_canon_vs_leica_0405.pdf

 

There may be some errors in this article. For one thing Canon isn't the only company to make perspective correction lenses for 135 format.

 

I have an R8 (with Winder), which is almost the same camera as the R9 and it's great. It's a little on the large side and dwarfs something like an R6.2 or Leica M series. But it's no worse than something like an EOS 1-v. The indents on the shutter speed dial could be stiffer, but there is little else to complain about.

[david_d]

John;

 

Go with the R9 and, if you are a serious user, couple it with the Motor Drive R8/9. The Motor Drive gives you automatic bracketing and can rewind leaving a tail exposed on the film canister if you choose. The automatic film loading is excellent in that, in addition to being fast, it generally gives you 38-39 snaps a roll. The Motor Drive's battery is surprisingly long lasting.

 

The R9 is as field durable as anything Leica makes. As an example, I've taken mine on four trips to China, each trip spending multiple weeks bouncing around on a bus and in every environment from tropical to high desert. The R9 delivers. One caveat ... you do have to clean the electrical contacts. That's no big deal; a little periodic cleaning with alcohol and q-tips and off you go.

 

I used the R6.2 and R6 with Motor Drive R prior to buying the R9. The weight difference isn't all that much. There is a world of difference in utility-in-use.

 

Regards ... David D.

[leicapages]

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Both cameras are for all practical purposes as good as identical. The R9 presents some refinements over the R8. You will find some information on my web pages. I have both cameras and prefer the R9 for the very simple reason that there is live film counter in a small window on top of the camera, meaning that one does not have to switch on the camera to check how many frames are left. It is not a major issue, but it escaped me why the R8 did not have that from the start.

Either way, you cannot really go wrong. If you go for the R8, make sure that you have a late R8; there have been some issues with early versions of the camera.