mca

I did read the topic yes and there was a smiley at the end of my first sentence, not criticizing anyone really! I just wanted to add some help for those few who were having trouble understanding the difference between the two approaches by showing a practical simple example.

I too started with film cameras a long time ago and in 2004 I finally got my first Leica, the M6, with a bunch of Summicrons. I was also on digital at the time (fuji, nikon and canon) and a few years later I traded all of it for an M9 to complement my M6 kit. I immediately fell in love with it, the M6 experience in a digital body, and the M9 was for me the one digital M that really felt like film in all aspects, including the slowness and the noise at high ISOs and the kodak colors we knew from film. Unfortunately the M9s had a sensor issue and after Leica stopped fixing them, I thought that in time my camera would become a paperweight, so I traded it in for the one camera that is the closest to the M9 but without the sensor problems, and that is the M262. It's basically the same experience but with an upgraded sensor, viewfinder and screen. All that I could ask for including great battery life. So none of the later Ms interest me as I find the M262 has everything a photographer needs, no gimmicks, no fuss, no complications, just the digital version of the M6 without the problems of the M9. So as long as my M262 works, I'm keeping it! As for investment and growing my M system, I think lenses is the way to go.

I just came accross this topic and it has been an interesting read. But I find a lot of misconceptions which I thought in this technically savvy community would be rare. I am not a very technical oriented guy but I know from experience that cropping an image taken with a wider focal length (like a 28mm) to look like a narrower focal length (like a 50mm or a 90mm) is very different from shooting with the narrower focal length lens in the first place, namely in terms of depth of field which is the topic of discussion here. For those who think it's the same to shoot wide and crop vs shoot narrow to begin with, if you have any 2 different lenses on your camera, I suggest you test it yourself at home, it's fairly easy: - put the camera on a tripod and take a picture with the wider of the 2 lenses at a fairly open aperture like f/2 or f/2.8; - then switch to the longer lens and repeat the process using the same f/2 or f/2.8 aperture used in the first photo; - then go to the computer and open the 2 images side by side, and crop the first image to look like the second image (so that both have the same field of view); - now compare the out of focus areas in both photos and you should see a clear difference! When you shoot with a 28mm at f/2 for example, and then crop to 90mm for example, you get a 90mm field of view with a 28mm f/2 depth of field for the distance you set your focus to, which is different than shooting a 90mm lens at f/2 and getting a 90mm field of view with a 90mm f/2 depth of field for that same focus distance. There is a website I often go to to understand the depth of field of each focal length which I suggest you play around with: https://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html and if you don't want to do the test yourself there are a number of youtube videos explaining this, here's one to ilustrate this depth of field difference between 2 different focal lengths in the same camera for the same focus distance: Happy new year to everyone!

great portrait, well done!

Indeed by going into the Copyright function and pressing Info as an OK won't work, it looses the information, but it does work fine if I use the SET button instead. Going to the last line and pushing SET does save the information and leaves the Copyright option ON, thank you. But regarding the camera freezing it doesn't solve, when you go back to the Menu, if you press the up button it works fine going up in the menu but if you press down when the Copyright is higlighted, the camera always freezes. It's gotta be a software issue since it works if instead you use the thumb wheel and slide to the right.

I would love to buy 2 original flanges for my Summicrons and install them myself, but would prefer to buy within the EU, to avoid import taxes and delays. Does anyone know of a dealer in the EU that is selling the original flanges?

Thank you a.noctilux, indeed I can't seem to find a way to fix the problem. Regarding your last sugestion, going from off to on and go to last line before pushing SET, I don't quite undestand what you mean, can you further explain please? Thanks!

Hey all, Just bought a used mint M262, after a few years without a digital M (sold the M9 and kept the M6), and it too freezes when stoping at the Copyright menu option (if you keep the D-Pad down button pressed it passes by and doesn't freeze, and if you use the wheel to go down the menu instead it works fine also). Did the reset thing and also reinstalled the firmware (1.1.0.0) but still freezes if you use the d-pad down and stop in the copyright option (which by the way doesn't store whatever information you put there, it always resets to OFF and nothing there). Still deciding whether to keep the camera or send it back. If it's only this minor software bug, which can be overcome by using the wheel instead, it's no biggie, but is this a sympton of a problematic camera, even with some electronics needing replacement? I'd appreciate some insight from those who have the M262 with this exact same problem, a few of which are in this topic. Thank you in advance!

Beautiful iPhone images Andy, what kind of processing did you do on the phone?

I am envy of all of you, unfortunately it wasn't possible for me to join you in Rome. Hopefully in Lyon in 1 year time. I hope you had a good time! In the mean time, I'll wait for some photos to come up in the forum regards to all!

I agree with the notion that the M10 is not missing features. The M line is a niche product to a very specific type of customer. For many it's not even the only camera they have, so the lack of video or any other 'modern' feature is really not an issue nor a wish for this type of customer. In my opinion, the type of customer that likes the M line is not only from a medium to high purchasing power but also usually of a certain age up, many times because their references are in the film M cameras and that's the experience they want, converted to the best possible image quality that a digital sensor can give us today. The modern full frame camera that Leica has to compete with the Sonys, Fujis, Olympus and the likes is the SL, and that's the camera that should get all the bells and whistles of modern technology, including video. And then you have the Q, for those who want a cheaper 1 lens alternative. It seems to me this is what they are trying to achieve and in my humble opinion, it makes a lot of sense. Personally, I love the M line and I hope it can continue to get developed in the same direction as the M10 has gone.

Personally I think the best buy in terms of bang for your buck is the M6. It has a built in meter (which if you don't want to use it, it's fine, but it's still there if you need it), it's easy to use and there are a lot of them available in the second hand market, many of them with not that many use. The lens is what might make the package a little above your budget, but try to find a good M6 in the 700 or 800 range and then look for a vintage leica 35 or 50 lens or go with a zeiss, they are also good and used they are not too expensive.

just make up an email like panda@panda.com and off you go

I think the option for OVF or EVF is done by choosing the M or the SL, and I think the SL competes well in the Mirrorless world against Sony and other smaller sensor systems. The M is and probably will always be a niche traditional Messucher type camera and I would not want it to go to the EVF or Hybrid Viewfinder path. It's for people who don't want bells and whistles but instead want pristine image quality with up to date sensors while still maintaining the same old body type of the M. As for the Monochrom versions, I see them as special editions, just like the P or the D versions. As such, they will come later on during the lifetime cycle of the M10. Regarding upgrade, I will not sell my M9. For me it's the closest digital camera there is to film, namely because of the high iso limitations and the sensor calibration that seems to emulate Portra emulsions. As such I will probably consider an M10 in a few years time when the M11 comes out and the M10 halves the price in the second hand market, while still keeping the M9 in the collection as the perfect transition from film to digital.

I have never had problems with batteries in my M9 and I have never needed more than 2 in a day even if I was shooting all day long, they last forever, nothing like the new mirrorless cameras that run out of battery very quickly. I have 6 batteries in total for my M9 which means I can have 2 sets of 3 on two different bags and whichever I take is ready to go, just choose camera and lenses and off I go (more lenses = bigger bag, less lenses = smaller bag). (also my batteries are all originals, no copies)