Well it's been about two weeks since I got my M9 and my Canon gear found loving new owners. I have a few bits and pieces left but in a week or so it's all gone. I though it may interest others considering a digital Leica to hear what the differences are as one gets used to the new system. And believe me, the M9 is a completely different beast to a 5D markII, and in both ways I expected and didn't.
So, lets start with things I like and don't like about the M9.
Likes:
1. I love the centre weighted metering. It's so simple. So predictable. I have shot with CW systems before so I know how to react. When you use a 354 zone super i metering system you really have no idea of what the camera is thinking, so it's hard to make judgement calls. With the M9 if it's a backlit subject open up. Dark room, close down. I can meter off my hand again. Yay!
2. The simplicity. No portrait modes. No 15 parameters to set the motor drive. One menu and buttons that only do one thing each. I can already operate the camera blindfolded (but I'm having trouble focusing when doing so ;-))
3. The Voigtlander lenses. The net is full of Leica forums, full of Leica snobs who are full of themselves, who will hang, draw and quarter you for using non-Leica glass. I chose the CV lenses because I didn't want perfect japanese glass. i wanted lenses with character. And I got what I wanted. Honestly the Summiluxes don't interest me, at the moment. I will one day own a 0.95 Noctilux, but that's the only lens i crave. I really like the "classic" look of the CV lenses.
4. I like the grain of the M9. Notice that I said grain, not noise. The M9 has a lovely noise pattern that is organic and tactile. It's in stark contrast to the plastic noise free images from CMOS chips and japanese cameras.
5. It's small, but not too small and light but not light.
6. The sensor reacts more like film. You can push the shadows, but not the highlights. It gives a look I really like. But if you clip.......
7. I really like the simplicity of the viewfinder info. I've seen complaints but I like the arrows in manual and the one tiny dot to indicate exposure compensation. I love that you can set the aperture by feel. Turn to wide open and count the clicks.
Now the things they don't tell you in the camera shop. The things that annoy me.
1. Batteries. $200 EACH! Are you on drugs? That's just ludicrous for a battery that will give you 400 shots at best. I have two originals and bought 4 clones on eBay for $150.00. That's for all 4.
2. The rangefinder was out, out of the box. Leica should put a 2mm allen key in every box because it's apparently pretty common. It only takes 5 mins and a google search to fix the infinity focus. But it should be good to go on a $7K camera.
3. The LCD is atrocious. Worse than a $100 compact. The screen on an EP-1 is a massive step up on this rubbish. Oh, and it's glass not sapphire so I already have a tiny scratch on mine. I don't have a weird thing for perfect cameras but the 3 year old canon 5D2 I sold still had a perfect LCD after 40K shots.
4. Purple fringing. It's there and it's horrible. And it happens regardless of the lens. I tried a Noctilux 1.0 and a new 35mm summilux in the store as well as half a dozen lenses and they all have purple fringing with high contrast backlit subjects. C1 handles most of it fairly well, but some shots need to be converted to B&W to get rid of it.
5. What ever you do don't over expose. The sensor has a very sharp highlight cutoff. The tiniest over exposure and there's no hope of using the recovery slider. With a DSLR you expose to the right and pull the highlights back. With an M9 you keep the file from clipping and then push the shadows. The good news is I like the files better this way, but it took some getting used to.
6. There is a VERY limited range of flash options available. Only the two expensive Leica guns (made by Metz) and the two Metz hammerhead guns, which are huge. I think there's a message there. M9's are made for natural light photography.
So that's it for now. I may add more as time goes on. But overall, for me, it's the best thing I've done in years. Already taking away all the choices, all the complexity of the canons, has freed me up to start taking real images again. I'm still getting the feel, but it's coming faster every day. And I'm even getting the odd image I'm happy with.
M9. CV 75mm 1.8 @ f1.8
M9. CV 35mm 1.4 @ f8
Gordon
So, lets start with things I like and don't like about the M9.
Likes:
1. I love the centre weighted metering. It's so simple. So predictable. I have shot with CW systems before so I know how to react. When you use a 354 zone super i metering system you really have no idea of what the camera is thinking, so it's hard to make judgement calls. With the M9 if it's a backlit subject open up. Dark room, close down. I can meter off my hand again. Yay!
2. The simplicity. No portrait modes. No 15 parameters to set the motor drive. One menu and buttons that only do one thing each. I can already operate the camera blindfolded (but I'm having trouble focusing when doing so ;-))
3. The Voigtlander lenses. The net is full of Leica forums, full of Leica snobs who are full of themselves, who will hang, draw and quarter you for using non-Leica glass. I chose the CV lenses because I didn't want perfect japanese glass. i wanted lenses with character. And I got what I wanted. Honestly the Summiluxes don't interest me, at the moment. I will one day own a 0.95 Noctilux, but that's the only lens i crave. I really like the "classic" look of the CV lenses.
4. I like the grain of the M9. Notice that I said grain, not noise. The M9 has a lovely noise pattern that is organic and tactile. It's in stark contrast to the plastic noise free images from CMOS chips and japanese cameras.
5. It's small, but not too small and light but not light.
6. The sensor reacts more like film. You can push the shadows, but not the highlights. It gives a look I really like. But if you clip.......
7. I really like the simplicity of the viewfinder info. I've seen complaints but I like the arrows in manual and the one tiny dot to indicate exposure compensation. I love that you can set the aperture by feel. Turn to wide open and count the clicks.
Now the things they don't tell you in the camera shop. The things that annoy me.
1. Batteries. $200 EACH! Are you on drugs? That's just ludicrous for a battery that will give you 400 shots at best. I have two originals and bought 4 clones on eBay for $150.00. That's for all 4.
2. The rangefinder was out, out of the box. Leica should put a 2mm allen key in every box because it's apparently pretty common. It only takes 5 mins and a google search to fix the infinity focus. But it should be good to go on a $7K camera.
3. The LCD is atrocious. Worse than a $100 compact. The screen on an EP-1 is a massive step up on this rubbish. Oh, and it's glass not sapphire so I already have a tiny scratch on mine. I don't have a weird thing for perfect cameras but the 3 year old canon 5D2 I sold still had a perfect LCD after 40K shots.
4. Purple fringing. It's there and it's horrible. And it happens regardless of the lens. I tried a Noctilux 1.0 and a new 35mm summilux in the store as well as half a dozen lenses and they all have purple fringing with high contrast backlit subjects. C1 handles most of it fairly well, but some shots need to be converted to B&W to get rid of it.
5. What ever you do don't over expose. The sensor has a very sharp highlight cutoff. The tiniest over exposure and there's no hope of using the recovery slider. With a DSLR you expose to the right and pull the highlights back. With an M9 you keep the file from clipping and then push the shadows. The good news is I like the files better this way, but it took some getting used to.
6. There is a VERY limited range of flash options available. Only the two expensive Leica guns (made by Metz) and the two Metz hammerhead guns, which are huge. I think there's a message there. M9's are made for natural light photography.
So that's it for now. I may add more as time goes on. But overall, for me, it's the best thing I've done in years. Already taking away all the choices, all the complexity of the canons, has freed me up to start taking real images again. I'm still getting the feel, but it's coming faster every day. And I'm even getting the odd image I'm happy with.
M9. CV 75mm 1.8 @ f1.8
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M9. CV 35mm 1.4 @ f8
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Gordon