Home Donate New Search Gallery How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact LEICA M9 Intro Specs Performance Usage Compared Recommendations LEICA M9 (20.9oz/593g with battery and card, but no lens, cap or strap) with LEICA SUMMILUX 50mm f/1.4. enlarge. It comes in steel-gray lacquer as shown (10 705) and black lacquer (10 704). I'd order it at Adorama in black or steel-gray, Amazon in black or steel-gray, B&H in black or steel-gray. It's going to be a while before Leica can fulfill all the orders they're getting, so order yours as soon as possible and you'll be farther up on the list.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
9 / 9 / 2009 Rangefinder vs. SLR cameras
NEW: Leica M9 Example Images 06 October 2009 NEW: Canon 5D Mk II, LEICA M9 and Nikon D3 image comparisons 06 October 2009 NEW: LEICA M9 versus Nikon D3X versus Canon 5D Mk II Sharpness Comparison 01 October 2009 NEW: LEICA M9 Lens Compatibility 01 October 2009 Leica Camera Reviews Leica Lens Reviews Recommended Leica Lenses How to Afford Anything Firmware update 1.002 (instructions).
Introduction top Intro Specs Performance Usage Compared Recommendations
The LEICA M9 is a full-frame, 18MP rangefinder (manual focus) camera. It gives at least the same technical image quality as the Nikon D3X, Canon 1Ds Mark III and Canon 5D Mark II, but weighs only half as much. Sea Life Aquarium. original © 5MB JPG file or 18MB DNG. Here's a snap from the LEICA M9, made with a 39-year-old 50mm f/2 lens. It was at ISO 160 and 1/500, probably around f/8 or f/11, where diffraction sets in. Have a look at the camera-original JPG, which is a BASIC JPG. Not bad for an old lens in the crappiest file format. I think I had the saturation set to medium-high, and WB was set to cloudy. (iPhone and iPod Touch viewers: that original file is so big that for some reason our 'pods give up and display a mushier-looking version of that file.) The DNG looks even sharper, if you have the software to view it. Look especially closely at the red-blue transitions between the wings and the sky. They are sharp and clean (they are even better in the DNG). The Canon 5D Mark II can't do this: the 5D Mark II's chroma resolution is much less, so red/blue transitions are much softer, even if shot as CR2 raw on the Canon. Not only that, but the M9 just shoots. There is but one menu, not eight. There are no custom functions — just a camera designed to take great pictures the way a photographer needs. This makes the LEICA M9 the world's best digital camera. For digital nature, travel, interior, landscape and outdoor photography, the M9 replaces DSLRs with improved quality and much less size and weight. Why would I want to lug a Nikon D700 around my neck when the M9 gives better quality and is so much lighter to carry around? I only use a DSLR in my studio, or for photos of moving kids and family. Seriously: nothing has better technical quality, except maybe a $30,000+ medium format system that doesn't travel well. Nothing gives this level of technical quality in anywhere near as small a package. Nothing else works as directly, quickly and quietly as the M9. It's hard to believe anything could be this simple to proclaim, but nothing comes close to the M9, and it still costs less than the old Nikon D3X. When I pick up an M9, it just shoots. When I pick up my 5D Mark II or Nikon D3, I have to spend minutes jacking it off in menus just trying to get it set up for whatever I hope to shoot before it goes away. Unlike my Nikons and Canons with their endless menus, the LEICA M9 is always a joy to use. I write manuals for Nikons and Canons, and even I can't figure them out a day later. With the M9, I always get my shot — the way I wanted it. With the M9, I never miss. With Nikon and Canon, I tend to keep one camera around set up for one thing, and another set up for something else so I can just grab one. Sure, I could jack with more menus in Nikon or Canon to set up camera settings for fast recall, but on Nikon, it still takes about eight clicks in two different kinds of menu banks. Give me a break! DSLRs are a joke today; no one can figure them out anymore. With the M9, everything is exactly where I need it. Aperture control? It's a dedicated ring, not a part-time option key. Want to lock in a manual exposure based on another shot you just made in Auto? Easy! Look at the shutter speed shown top-center on playback, and set it on the top dial. Done; and the shutter speed dial of theM9 clicks in delicious half-stop clicks! Everything is like that. Trying to compare a DSLR and the LEICA is like comparing a video game to a camera. The Leica just goes, while all I think of when I think of DSLRs is spending all day looking through in thirty-seven menus trying to find something I just set five minutes ago. The M9 shoots, while I spend more time pressing the menu button on a DSLR than the shutter. The LEICA M9 is the smallest, lightest, highest-quality digital camera ever created by the hand of Man. The all-metal LEICA M9 is less expensive than the old Nikon D3X, and weighs over four ounces (120g) less then the plastic Nikon D90! Steel gray LEICA M9 and LEICA SUMMILUX 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. enlarge. Black LEICA M9 with Leica 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. enlarge. The technical image quality from the M9 easily outdoes anything from Nikon and Canon not just because of the excellence of the M9, but also because because of the uniform supremacy of LEICA lenses. Nikon and Canon each make some great lenses, and some dogs, too. Every LEICA lens is superb. We can all point to one or two spectacular lenses from Nikon and Canon, but will one of those be the one on your camera at any given moment, for every possible application? As far as colors, you'll have to be the judge of your own taste. Every camera is different. Personally I prefer the look of Fuji Velvia 50 over digital capture, but to each their own. Naked bottom, LEICA M9 with LEICA SUMMILUX 50mm f/1.4. enlarge.
Lens Compatibility The M9 works with all your Leica M lenses, meaning everything back to 1954. With simple adapters, screw-mount Leica lens back to the 1920s are fully compatible, meaning full focus and automatic exposure compatibility, just like the newest lenses. 6-bit code is no longer necessary. The M9 reads it, but now you can enter your lens data manually, saving you the need to butcher any classic lenses with 6-bit code. See LEICA M9 Lens Compatibility for details, and especially for exactly which lenses are in the manual coding menu. Leica optics are unchallenged. Since I started shooting Leica optics at the end of 2008, I can't bring myself to step back down to inferior SLR optics for my landscape shots, and thus I've shot Leica optics instead this year in Death Valley, on Route 66, in Volcano Country and in Monterey.
Colours top The M9 comes in black lacquer or steel gray metallic lacquer. We all know black; it's the best choice for discretion, but only if you use black lenses. The new steel gray isn't silver; its a much darker metallic that others might call titanium. The new steel gray is for the man who owns both black and silver lenses. They all look good on the steel gray M9, while silver lenses look silly on a black camera, and black lenses look silly on a chrome camera. There's a shot of a chrome lens on a steel gray M9 at the top. The black camera has a more deeply textured fake leather, while the steel gray has a smoother fake leather. The LEICA M9 in steel gray with Leica 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. enlarge. The LEICA M9 in black with Leica 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. enlarge.
Rear, steel gray LEICA M9. enlarge. Back, black LEICA M9. enlarge.
RIP M8 and M8.2 The M9 has an integral IR filter like every other digital camera, so the foolish external UV/IR filters needed with the discontinued M8.2 are now a thing of the past. The LEICA M7 and MP remain in the catalog as the crowning masterpieces of the M system. The M9 works like a digital M7, losing many of the mistakes made on the old M8.
Specifications top Intro Specs Performance Usage Compared Recommendations
Names Trade Name: LEICA M9. Internal Project Name: P864. Derivation: 864 is the area, in square millimeters, of a standard frame of 35mm still film.
Sensor Kodak KAF-18500 CCD, made in Rochester, New York, USA. 24 x 36mm (23.9 x 35.8mm to be more precise). 18MP. When opened with Photoshop CS4, the ACR input allows a 25.1MP (6,144 x 4,088 pixel) selection which looks about as good as other traditional 25MP cameras. 0.8mm integral IR-cut filter. No anti-alias (moiré) filter. This sensor was specifically designed for the M9 and its rangefinder lenses, whose rear nodal point often approaches the image sensor more closely than in SLRs. The microlenses of the M9's sensor are designed to be tolerant of varying angles of incidence so that the sensor works great with all LEICA lenses, and more importantly, so that future LEICA lenses can be designed for optimum performance without regards to having to worry about interface to any particular sensor. This means that future lenses will continue to be the world's best for film, as well as for impatient people for whom digital capture is good enough. Off-sensor A/D conversion: 14-bit linear. DSP provider: Jenoptik, who's using much of the work from the S2 here.
Image Sizes 5,212 x 3,472 pixels (18MP) native, JPG and/or DNG. 145.6 pixels per millimeter. 3,699 pixels per inch.
Also: 3,840 x 2,592 (10MP) JPG 2,592 x 1,728 (4.5MP) JPG 1,728 x 1,152 (2MP) JPG and 1,280 x 846 (1MP) JPG.
File Formats JPG, two levels of compression, called Fine and Basic. File sizes vary with image complexity. DNG raw, both 16-bit linear or 8-bit gamma corrected (log). Shoots either or both JPG and DNG at the same time. If you chose this, you can have the JPG at any desired resolution while the DNG is at full resolution.
ISO ISO 160 - 2,500 in third-stops. ISO 80 as a pull. Auto ISO Selectable slowest speed from 1/8 to 1/125 in full stops, also you can set it to change automatically with lens focal length!
Rotation Sensor Yes!
Noise Reduction The M9 automatically applies dark-frame subtraction with exposures longer than 2 seconds. This means the M9 makes a second identical time exposure with the shutter closed after your shot, which means you'll be standing around a lot longer, but get better images, with long exposures.
White Balance Auto, gray-card manual, 7 presets and Kelvin. The 7 presets are Direct Sunlight, Flash, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten and two Fluorescent settings. Kelvin goes from 2,000 K to 12,800K (not 13,100K as specified), far superior to lesser brands. This is important, because often the 2,500K lower limit of Japan's cameras is not sufficient. The superior range of the M9's 2,000 K setting lets us shoot in dimmer interior and candle light. Kelvin setting precision:
Image Tweaks To set the look you demand, you have these options: Saturation: 5 levels, also a B&W and a "vintage B&W" setting. The Vintage setting comes out of the camera as JPGs looking like this: Brett's BBQ, Encinitas, California. camera-original Basic JPG (4MB). (28mm f/2.8 ELMARIT-M ASPH, ISO 160 at 1/40 second, hand-held. Contrast: 5 levels. Sharpening: 4 levels, or off.
Color Spaces sRGB and Adobe RGB. Leica follows my recommendation not to use Adobe RGB unless the entire image and printing process is carried out in a completely color-calibrated professional environment.
Finder 0.68x, no zoom ability. The magnification of the finder image is the same for all lenses, so the finder image is way too big for wide-angles and too small for telephotos, but hey, LEICA shooters have dealt with this since the 1920s. (The Contax G System does zoom its finder.) Rangefinder base length: 69.25mm actual x 0.68x magnification = 47.1mm effective base length. The magnification may be changed with screw-on viewfinder magnifiers 12 004 (1.25x), recommended for lenses 50mm and up, which changes the total finder magnification to 0.85x, and the 12 006 (1.4x), recommended for lenses 75mm and up, which results in 0.95x overall magnification. Each only shows the center of the finder. 1970s-style red LEDs for shutter-speed, metering and flash ready bolt on the bottom, just like the M7. Unlike the M7, it has some way to tell you your card is full, dummy. Counts-down exposures longer than 2 second, and counts-up bulb exposures up to 4 minutes (240s), as does the M7. (The M7 goes to 16 minutes/999s.) The usual 28/90, 35/135 and 50/75 frame pairs, just like most other Leicas since the M4P of 1980. There is the usual preview lever to select any pair of frame lines so that less experienced photographers can preview various lens effects without having to mount each lens first. Automatic parallax compensation. 93% coverage at infinity with 28mm lens reducing to 85% coverage at infinity with 135mm lens. 100% coverage at 1 meter (3 feet), just like the M7 and MP. If you get closer than 1 meter, you'll get less in your image than shown in your finder. There is no compensation for field-of-view variations with distance; only the Contax G system or an SLR does this. -0.5 diopters (apparent distance of 2m or 6 feet). Correction lenses let you set this from -3.0 to +3.0 diopters.
Simply turn the lens' focus ring until two superimposed finder images are merged as one, and your lens is now perfectly focused. Done. There are no menus or settings for the AF system as there are on Nikons, which take me a lifetime to figure out. With any LEICA, it just goes. The LEICA M9, as all Leicas, automatically calculates the distance as the lens is focused, with no need to set a distance on the lens manually. They've done this since the 1930s, while other camera makers took until the 1960s to couple the rangefinder to the lens' distance scale. On other cameras, you had to measure the distance with a tape measure, guess, or use an external rangefinder and set that distance on the lens' focus scale, which was sloppy at best, and slow and sloppy at worst. Unlike AF SLRs, the LEICA can be focused in any light in which you can see. There is no hunting and no need for an AF assist light: so long as you can see details or an edge through the finder, just line up the images for perfect focus. Yes, you have to use a finger to slide the silky-smooth focus lever (there are no noisy motors as on AF SLRs), but after that, it's all automatic. The focus system of the M9 (and every Leica) uses no battery power. Focus as much as you like, even with the power off, and you use no battery power. What is automatic is that the focus metering rangefinder is calibrated to each lens, so as soon as you merge the images in the finder, the lens is already set for perfect focus. You do of course have to move a finger to focus, just as you have to press a shutter button on an AF DSLR. What makes me laugh is how people who put up with SLRs might mistakenly call the Leica a manual focus camera. With AF SLRs, after you turn them on, you have to spend many photo-missing minutes selecting AF sensors, selecting among the ways to select these AF sensors (wrap-around, direct, etc.), programming AF modes (AI servo, AI focus, AF-S, AF-C, tracking, tracking hold interval, lock-on duration etc.), choosing among AF sensor group allocation modes (single, group, network, 3D, tracking, etc.) and selecting how and when what AF assist light comes on to annoy your subjects, or not come on and not focus. Maybe if you got it all right after 10 minutes of fiddling, maybe the camera will focus as you intended. Here are instructions for most Nikon cameras. With the Leica, you slide one silky-smooth lever, and you're in perfect focus in any light — even with the power off. End of story.
Metering The M9 has a traditional meter: no Matrix, no evaluative, no 1,005 pixel RGB meter, no nothing other than a regular meter. This means in difficult light that you point your M9 at a part of your subject of medium brightness, hold the shutter halfway to lock exposure, compose and shoot. Easy — and you always know exactly what you're getting. If your subject is mostly light or dark, use the zone system to get perfect exposure. This means open a stop for a light color, or two stops if you want everything white. You are in control — not the camera. For instance, if the subject is pure, bright yellow, hold the shutter halfway to lock the shutter speed, and open the lens 2/3 of a stop. Easy. You make the image as light or as dark as you want it, so you always get what you want. The M9 has a through-the-lens (TTL) meter. It measures the light as reflected off white and gray shutter curtains via a silicon photodiode. This is the same a the Zeiss Ikon and Contax G, and a little different than other Leicas like the M7 which use a round dot in the middle. I prefer this new pattern, which is a broader pattern instead of the precise dot of older Leicas. Remember, with a rangefinder camera, you never really know where the sensitivity dot lies, so a broader pattern makes more sense. Metering is both aperture-preferred (you set aperture and the M9 picks the shutter speed) and manual, indicated with LED arrows. In Auto mode, just like the M7, the meter reading locks when the shutter is pressed part way down. Range is rated as from about LV 0 (2 seconds at ISO 100) with an f/1.4 lens. In my experience with the similar M7, meter range should extend much darker than rated, but oddly the M7 is still rated as superior by a stop (4 seconds at ISO 100). Auto exposure bracketing with selectable number of shots (3, 5 or 7) and increments (1/2 to 2 stops).
Shutter LEICA M9, showing cocked shutter. enlarge. Type Vertical metal focal plane, similar design to the quieter old M8.2.
Shutter Speed Knob Sets in half stops. Unlike earlier cameras like the M3 and M4-P, you cannot get variable speeds between the clicks. Rotates continuously with no stop; you can go from BULB straight to 1/4,000. Rotates in same direction as the M7 and M6, which is backwards from earlier cameras lacking TTL meters.
Shutter Release Button Three steps, just like the M7: a light touch wakes it up, a slightly firmer touch locks exposure, and the final travel fires your M9. This stepped travel feels inferior to earlier Leicas like the M3 and M4-P whose shutter release is one velvety slide, but tough, AE lock is important.
Speeds Fastest speed with flash (flash sync): 1/180. Auto: stepless from 1/4,000 ~ 32 seconds. Manual: half-stop clicks from 1/4,000 ~ 8 seconds. Set with a real knob! At 2 seconds and longer, the M9 uses a second equal-time blank exposure for dark-frame subtraction noise reduction. This means you'll have to wait around twice as long as the marked speed, but get cleaner images. Bulb: up to 240 seconds (4 minutes). The finder LEDs count up the exposure in seconds. Time setting: the shutter stay open until you press it a second time. You can make very long exposure and not have to hang around holding the shutter release. To get Time, set the self-timer and use Bulb. In Time, set with the self timer, the shutter stays open until you press it a second time.
Cable release Standard thread. Takes any standard threaded cable release as well as the 20 inch (0.5m) $54 LEICA 14 076.
Frame rate 2 fps, at ISO 160 and compressed DNG. Leica weasels out and cautions that it may be slower at other settings. Leica is to be lauded in respecting our intelligence more than lesser camera makers and doesn't have to tell us that this specification only applies at faster shutter speeds.
Buffer depth 8 frames.
Advance Built-in motor drive (no thumb lever needed to charge the shutter, as on other Leica cameras). Works normally, and can be set to a "discreet" mode where the shutter doesn't wind until after you've taken your finger off the button. For instance, taking photos where you don't want to be seen or heard, snap the picture, keep the shutter pressed down, hide the LEICA M9 in your coat, then lift your finger to advance to the next frame. There is also a "soft release" mode where the shutter fires at an earlier detent for less potential for camera shake with longer hand-held exposures. Yay! If you like, you can set the SOFT and DISCREET modes at the same time.
Self Timer 12 seconds. Set with a flick of the power switch. Optional 2 second setting (MENU > Self Timer). Flashing LED on front that shines through the lower silver bar of the finder window, therefore no visible LED unless it's turned on. You also can deactivate the self timer in the same menu (MENU > SELF TIMER), in which case the self-timer switch position is no longer a self timer, so you don't miss shots.
Flash 1/180 sync speed. First or second-curtain sync. Your LEICA M9 also has a clever mode whereby it automatically can set a fixed slow sync speed to 1/the focal length of your lens. You may also fix the slowest sync speed at 32 seconds, 1/8 of a second, 1/30 or 1/180. Of course all manual speeds up to 1/180 work with flash. Dedicated hot shoe. Recommended flashes: LEICA SF 24D (14 444), LEICA SF 58 (14 488), and anything with an SCA3501 / 3502 adapter. Other flashes, like the diminutive LEICA CF Compact Flash, should also work well. The LEICA SF 24D (14 444) is a smaller, non-bounce TTL flash that weighs a lot less than you'd expect. It's wonderful, as if it's made of air. The LEICA SF 58 (14 488) is a huge beast. With the LEICA SF 24D (14 444) and LEICA SF 58 (14 488) flashes, or SCA 3502 version 4 and newer flash systems, the M9 will choose the correct flash white balance while set to Auto White Balance. With more primitive units, you'll have to set WB yourself. I see no PC sync terminal. I see no M sync for flashbulbs. Leica says old and non-Leica flashes will work just fine in the hot shoe. Leica suggests at least a thyristor model from about the late 1970s, but oddly I saw no warning about very old electronic flashes with high trigger voltages. Leica claims balanced fill flash in AUTO mode with TTL flash; we'll see. Leica says flash exposure control is active in all exposure modes. Leica says that the flash won't fire if the light gets so bright that you need a faster shutter speed than 1/180 in AUTO, or if you have a faster speed set manually. This is copied from the CLE. The M9 sends its ISO setting to the flash so it can display ranges correctly. Setting exposure compensation on the M9 only affects the ambient exposure. To change the flash exposure, set it on the flash. If the finder bolt stays on after the picture is taken, your exposure was good and you're ready to shoot the next picture. If the bolt flashes at 4 cps after your picture, the exposure is OK, but the flash isn't ready yet for the next picture. If the bolt goes away after your shot, you fired at full power and may have gotten underexposure.
Image Stabilization The Leica man knows how to hold his camera. He is never flustered, no matter what may be going on around him. The LEICA's image stabilization comes from the quiet, unflappable confidence inherent in every Leica photographer. There is no need for any other IS or VR system in either your M9 or your LEICA lenses. Adding them would only detract from the extraordinary image quality that is the LEICA. Why would you want your images degraded? The IS and VR of the LEICA also comes from its lack of recoil. There are no flipping mirrors or other shenanigans going on inside the camera when you record your decisive moment. Your M9's focal plane shutter quietly slides past your image plane to capture the peak of the action just as it happens. World-changing photos slip through your shutter at just the right instant, unblurred by camera shake caused by the flipping mirrors which degrade image quality from SLRs.
Leica invented the live view system with the much copied "Messsucher" combined viewfinder and rangefinder system in Leica's first M3 of 1954. The photographer focuses and sees his subject live through the same viewing system, especially at the instant at which it is recorded forever. While SLR cameras allow live through-the-lens viewing on ground glass, they also black-out at the most important instant: the instant at which your image is recorded. With SLRs, you never see your image as it's shot, so what's the point? Many lesser cameras from enigmatic foreign lands claim a feature called "Live View," which are lies. Images on their LCDs move in response to the subject, but these images are delayed by a fraction of a second; they are not live. If you use these corny "live view" systems, decisive moments have already passed forever by the time you see it on their LCDs. Just wiggle a finger in front of these cameras and you'll see their lies. As a test, create some photos with flash. With the LEICA's live viewfinder, you see the subject flashed live the instant it is recorded. You know you got a perfect photo without needing to retire to look at an LCD playback. Thank goodness, the M9 has no mode to put moving images up on the rear LCD as you shoot. This would be inconceivably stupid for the LEICA photographer, even if popular with lesser men. The LEICA photographer's attention never leaves his subject, and certainly would never be fixed on an LCD while out shooting.
Data File Sizes DNG are either exactly 17.5MB or about 36MB. BASIC JPGs vary with subject complexity and ISO. With 18MP images, my BASIC JPGs vary between 1.4 and 9 MB, with a median size of 3.4MB and an average of 3.75MB. FINE JPGs are about 50% bigger. Leica specifies JPG: 2-10MB and DNG: 36MB or 18MB (uncompressed or slightly compressed) Smaller image-size JPGs are of course smaller, Leica didn't specify them. My 4.5MP (2,592 x 1,728) basic JPGs average 1.4MB with a median size of 1.3MB.
Folders Folder names start with 100LEICA and count up to 999LEICA. (Other literature erroneously flips this to read LEICA100; my M9 makes folders as 100xxxxx.) Each folder holds up to 9,999 images. You can create name folders as you like. You have 5 characters A-Z (caps only) and 0-9. For instance, use CAN10 for your trip to next year's Cannes Film Festival or GPM10 for your trip to the 2010 Grand Prix de Monaco. (The Leica man is always a participant, never a spectator. In Cannes, he uses his M9 to snap photos as he or his friends accept the distinction of the Palme d'Or, and at Monaco, the Leica man is driving the course, and uses his camera for snaps at the parties afterwards.) Unlike Canon Powershots, there is no automatic new folder creation by date.
Storage SD and SDHC cards up to 32GB. Much slower downloads than the current hot CF cards. Leica specifically recommends the SanDisk Ultra II 4GB, SanDisk Ultra II 16GB and SanDisk Ultra II 2GB cards, possibly in that order, as the fastest for use in the M9. Leica doesn't qualify what they mean by "fastest;" usually the only speed that matters is how fast you can suck all the data of the card into your computer. The SanDisk Ultra II 8GB and SanDisk Ultra II 32GB or other series and brands aren't as fast.
Connection Mini USB, or so says Leica. In fact, the tiny USB connector of the M9 is not compatible with the standard mini-B connector on my GPS and in all my other Nikon and Canon SLRs and pocket cameras. I presume Leica did this to prevent the M9's connectors from becoming soiled by contact with cables that have touched lesser cameras or consumer electronic devices, but it also means that you'll have to carry the special Leica USB cable with you. The LEICA M9 should pop up as an external drive if you want (mass storage mode) for trivially easy transfer to any computer without needing a card reader. So what? The Leica man doesn't even own a computer. He has others attend to this for him.
Languages The default language is English. Deutsche, Français, Español, Italiano, Russian, Japanese and simplified and traditional Chinese are also in there. I'm waiting to see if Leica keeps the menu option "language" also always in English as other makers do, so that I can set it back to English if a prankster sets it to Chinese when I'm not looking.
LCD and Playback 2.5." 230,000 pixels. The LCD cover is Acrylic plastic, also known by the trademarks Lucite, Thai Poly Acrylic and Perspex around the world. It is not sapphire as was the old M8.2, which leaves the door open for an improved M9. Leica chose not to offer the sapphire glass to allow the M9 to have its very attractive price without compromising image quality or operation. The 3" LCD of the Olympus E-P1 has the same number of pixels, and the Nikon D40 has an LCD with the same size and resolution as this Leica M9. Most lesser cameras have bigger screens with more pixels, but so what: with the LEICA, the LCD is used for setting the camera. When you shoot the LEICA, you know your photos are perfect. The Leica man never wastes his shooting time looking back at what he just shot; his eyes are always looking for his next great photo. The Leica man is part of the action, not a huddled drone off in the corner. The Leica man doesn't care to view his images on-camera. He more often sees his images on the walls of the Guggenheim, MoMA or the Whitney. While out and about, the Leica photographer sees his own work on the front covers of magazines, billboards and on album covers. Why would he bother looking at a little LCD? The Leica's True Live View System ensures that the Leica man's photos always capture the perfect expression. He never misses new photos looking back at an LCD to see what others missed when the mirrors of their SLRs blanked-out their finders. There is an RGB histogram, and when you zoom, it recalculates to show just the area displayed.
Size, Weight, Materials and Environment Size 5.5 x 3.15 x 1.5 inches, WHD. 138 x 80 x 37 millimeters, WHD.
Weights, as measured by me (steel gray version) 20.902 oz. (592.55g), as measured by me with bottom cover, battery and card, but no lens, cap or strap. 20.835 oz (590.65g), if I also remove the SD card. 19.195 oz. (544.2g) if I also remove the battery. 17.065 oz (483.7g) if I also remove the bottom cover, without which it will not work. Battery only: 1.640 oz, (46.5g) Bottom cover only, including plastic prophylactic sheet: 2.132 oz. (60.45g). Leica specifies 19.8 oz. (585g), with battery.
Materials LEICA M9 body casting. Top and bottom covers: Machined from solid brass, black or steel-gray lacquered. Interior and frame: Die-cast magnesium alloy, KTL dip painted, fake leather covering. Tripod Socket: Stainless steel. Environmental, Operating: 0-40ºC (32-104ºF). Weather sealing: none. If the Leica man needs photos from unpleasant locations, he has someone go there for him.
Quality MADE IN GERMANY. The battery charger is an ANSMANN, made in China.
Power and Batteries Battery 3.7V 1,900 mAh Li-ion rechargeable. It's the same battery as the old M8.2.
Charger The charger is compact, like the charger from the obsolete M8.2. The big old charger of the M8 is long gone, along with the even older M8. It runs just about anyplace on earth, 100 ~ 240V, 50 and 60 cps, with automatic switching. Just have your help plug it in anywhere. It includes two power cords, one for the USA, and the other for Europe. There is also a 12V & 24V DC yacht/aircraft/limo charger adapter included, so your help can provide you with fresh power in the field. Charging output: 4.2V DC, 800 mA.
Battery Life Leica suggests somewhere around 400 shots, about ten rolls equivalent. I made 250 shots on my M9 on the first battery, which read 50% full, and I spent a lot of time playing in the menus and not shooting At 440 shots it read about 25%. I made 16 more shots, and suddenly it politely announced "Attention: low battery. Please switch off camera." What that really means is that my battery just died, and my camera just switched itself off. I could not get another shot out of it, even with removing and retrying the battery. It was dead, and gave me no notice. I felt cheated; I was dead at 458 shots with a lot of menu play the first day. The next day, with more normal use, the second battery read 50% at 700 shots and 20% at 800 shots. THese batteries are new; they still need to be run a few cycles.
Power Management The LEICA M9 stays on for your choice of 2, 5 or 10 minutes, then shuts off. It wakes on the tap of the shutter.
Date Backup A backup battery retains the clock for about three months if you remove the main battery.
Annoying Beeps As a professional camera, the beeps default to OFF. They can be turned on for use by amateurs. As a LEICA, the annoying beeps are called an "acoustic signal" or "signal tones." As a LEICA, you have separate options for the annoying beeps: you may choose or refuse them for each of key clicks and a CARD FULL DUMMY warning.
Order Numbers LEICA M9: 10 704 (painted black), 10 705 (painted steel gray).
Included with the LEICA M9 10 704 and 10 705 LEICA M9 body and body cap 14 195. Battery 14 464. Compact charger 14 470 with power cables for the USA and Europe. Yacht/Limousine charger with power cable. Standard plastic strap 14 312. USB cable 420-200.023-000. Adobe Lightroom 2 as a download license.
Optional Accessories LEICA Hand Grip M9 14 486. Hand Grip M9 14 486 (black paint), 14 490 (steel gray paint) Charger mains cable for the UK 14 421. Charger power cable for Australia 14 422. Flash LEICA SF 24D 14 444. Flash LEICA SF 58 14 488. 1.25x viewfinder magnifier 12 004. Recommended for lenses 50mm and up; only shows center of finder. 1.4x viewfinder magnifier 12 006. Recommended for lenses 75mm and up; only shows center of finder. Since the resulting magnification with an 0.68x or 0.72x finder is life size, you can shoot and compose with both eyes open as you can with the M3 or Nikon SP. Angle Finder M 12 531: shows center only of finder. Diotpometric Correction Lenses:
18mm/24mm finder 12 022 (black paint), 12 023 (silver chrome anodized). 21mm/28mm finder 12 024 (black paint), 12 025 (silver chrome anodized). 24mm/32mm finder 12 026 (black paint), 12 027 (silver chrome anodized). Universal Wide-Angle Finder 12 011. 21-24-28mm Zoom Finder 12013 (black anodize), 12 014 (black and chrome anodize). Correction lenses fit this finder. Strap, black saddle leather with micro-velour inside 14 455. Slim leather straps: 14 453 (black saddle leather), 14 456 (racing green napa leather), 14 458 (mocha calf leather), 14 466 (black ostrich leather), 14 468 (Bordeaux red napa leather), 14 454 (cognac vegetable-tanned leather), 14 457 (smooth red calf leather), 14 465 (black lizard), 14 467 (chestnut ostrich texture), 14 469 (blue calf leather). Never-ready case, black napa leather 14 872. Holds the LEICA M9 and a lens up to 60mm diameter and 70mm extension from lens mount. It has a farm-worker's coverall style flip-down bottom to allow fiddling with batteries or memory cards. Neoprene Case 14 867 (short front), 14 868 (large front). Fastens with Velcro and has slots for memory cards. Short front holds M9 with lens up to 65mm diameter and 60mm extension from flange. Large front holds M9 with lens up to 65mm diameter and 80mm extension from flange (aka 90mm f/2 APO ASPH). LEICA M9, 50mm f/1.4 ASPH and Butt-Cover 14 869. Black napa calf leather butt-cover 14 869. This is a bottom half-case, with a cut-out for the rear LCD. Popular in San Francisco and Amsterdam. Tabletop tripod 14 10. Ball head 14 110. Billingham case 14 854 (black), 14 855 (khaki).
Performance top Intro Specs Performance Usage Compared Recommendations Power I leave the M9 turned on all day and night. After a few minutes (programmable in the menus by pressing MENU > AUTIO POWER OFF > (select) > SET), the M9 ignores the rear buttons, but wakes up immediately as soon as you tap the shutter,just like an SLR. There is no wake-up or boot-up time; it just goes and you never need to turn it off.
Technical Image Quality There is no automatic optimization of highlights and shadows in the LEICA M9, unlike most modern cameras of lesser brands. The Leica photographer is always the master of his own light; he has no need for the automatic shadow-brightening (and noise-raising) tricks of lesser cameras.
High ISOs ISO 2,500 on a LEICA is a far more potent tool than ISOs like 12,800 on SLRs. Even if you want to put up with SLR's nasty image quality at ISO 25,600, SLR autofocus systems can't see in light that dark to give consistently sharp images. The AF system of the LEICA sees in light as dark as you can. Worse, SLR shooters usually are limited by the slow f/2.8 speed of their big, fat zoom lenses, while the M9 has a full line of fast lenses that don't even exist for SLRs, like the 21mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/0.95, which allow shooting at slower ISOs in the same light for even more superior images. With LEICA, you're never choking trying to shoot through an f/3.5-5.6 zoom. Analysis The LEICA is a tool used by the world's greatest photographers. It is not a video game that shoots movies, records sound or makes phone calls. Technically, with full-frame capture, 18MP and no anti-alias (blur) filter, the LEICA M9 should exhibit near-film resolution, easily equal or better than 24MP DSLRs which use anti-alias filters in front of their sensors. Technically, images come from lenses, not cameras. While the LEICA M9 is superior itself, more important is that Leica's rangefinder lenses are superior to SLR lenses, especially for wide angles. With the sole possible exception of Nikon's 14-24mm AF-S, there are no wide SLR lenses which can match the performance of the LEICA lenses, so no matter what other camera you use, it will not match the technical quality of the LEICA. I own the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 L II and 17-40mm L, neither comes close to anything from Leica, so the resolution of the 5D Mark II and 1Ds Mark III merely shows these lens' flaws in all their glory. When my LEICA M9 arrives I'll show this directly, but this is not important. More important than meaningless technical trivia, the LEICA allows the photographer to remain as part of the event he is leading. It does not inconvenience him with menus, LCD look-backs or other irrelevancies, although of course his help can play back his images on the LCD he desires it. The Germans call it einmaligkeit, meaning that there is only one best instance in life when any particular photo can be made. In English we call it the decisive moment. In any language it means that your camera needs to fall away from your consciousness so that you can concentrate on your subject and capture that one moment in all eternity, for an eternity, and not be off dicking around looking for some lost menu item somewhere. If you miss the moment, it's gone forever. The Leica photographer never misses his moment because his camera doesn't weigh him down, doesn't try to confuse him, and never gets in the way. Quick test: can you set your f/stop, shutter speed and focus with your eyes closed? You can on the LEICA. Each setting on every Leica has its own full-time dedicated ring, each of which have only one fixed position for each setting. The Leica photographer can focus simply by feeling the position of the focus lever for a given distance, and likewise can set f/stop and shutter speed by feel. If you must change a lens, even the bayonet works so much better than Nikon or Canon. You'll love the fact that the silky-smooth and bank-vault solid Leica bayonet needs only a tiny one-twelfth of a turn to remove or completely lock a lens, not the much longer turns required on lesser cameras. For the Leica photographer, the M9 is the first real digital camera from Leica. It it the first and only camera which allows shooting both RealRaw for timeless exhibition quality from his other M bodies, and use the same lenses seamlessly with his M9 for immediate digital capture. The old M8.2 made no sense with its fractional sensor which gave incompatible views with the same lenses; good riddance to inconvenience. The LEICA is all about shooting. Lesser men don't understand the simple brilliance of the LEICA, just as a dog doesn't understand calculus or the brilliant designs of Ive or Rams. There have always been those who appreciate elegance and purpose, and those who never will. Simplicity is brilliance. This simplicity allows the Leica photographer to bag 10 award-winning photos in less time than others take to find a hidden menu item, or try to rescue their mistakes later on a computer from a lesser camera. Men who can't comprehend genius will always be able to find ways in which the LEICA is different from lesser cameras, and turn these differences into criticism. Anyone can always find something negative to say about anything. That is not important. Added features are a crutch used by camera makers who can't compete with the fundamental optical quality of the LEICA. Mass-market camera makers know that needless features sell better than fundamental, but hidden, quality. Experience has taught me that more features simply get in the way. For instance, Canon's very first EOS camera of 1987, the Canon EOS 620, works better at making pictures than Canon's menu-paralyzed monstrosities of today. Today, very few people can figure out their cameras; in fact, when I couldn't find the long exposure setting on a recent Canon Powershot, Canon's digital camera marketing specialist who was at the same event couldn't figure it out either! When you can't find the shutter speeds you need, you may as well not have a camera at all. Nikon is just as bad. With the LEICA, everything I need is where I need it, and the few features it does have are brilliant. Some LEICA features are so new and brilliant that the Japanese haven't copied them yet, like the option to set slow sync speed to track your lens focal length. On your LEICA, you always can find the settings you need to get your photo, usually with your eyes closed. With the LEICA, you always get your shot. Of course you can find this same simplicity in other cameras like the Nikon FE and Canon AE-1 Program, but they are no longer available new. The LEICA man doesn't use hand-me-downs.
LCD The LCD is bright, sharp, clear and legible in any light. The LCD is for setting up the camera. Leica photographers know how to shoot, and don't bother looking at their pictures on a little screen while out in the field. In fact, once a new camera is set, many photographers simply use the space where the LCD sits as a place to put gaffers' tape to mark one camera as "ISO 160," and their B camera as "ISO 800 B&W," or whatever. If you do use the settings LCD to view images, the colors can look a bit nasty, which is fine, because this means the photos always look better anywhere else. The shadows on the LCD go a bit violet. The LCD seems to have more contrast, especially in the green channel, than actually in the images. If you use the camera's LCD to gauge picture quality while fooling with it in a store, you will be sorely disappointed. The LEICA M9 is meant to be shot by professionals, not twiddled with at a camera counter. It seems as if the RGB channels can clip a bit before the image does, meaning that reds wash out to yellow on the screen before they do in the files. It takes a long time to zoom in — like four seconds — but so what: you should be shooting for your next great picture, not looking at what's already done. With a LEICA, you know it's sharp and you already saw your subjects expression as the shutter clicked with the True Live View System, so why do you need to zoom in, or even look at pictures on a little screen? I tried different cards, especially the suggested 4 GB SanDisk Ultra II, and it doesn't seem to make anything faster. It just takes too long if you expect to see anything when you crank the zoom-in control, so don't bother.
Usage top Intro Specs Performance Usage Compared Recommendations See my LEICA M9 User's Guide.
Compared top Intro Specs Performance Usage Compared Recommendations
Recommendations top Intro Specs Performance Usage Compared Recommendations I have a page of specific Lens Recommendations. The M9 is a superior camera, but very different from SLRs. If you are new to the LEICA, don't go mortgaging yourself to get one until you are familiar with the differences between Rangefinder and SLR cameras Am I impressed? Yes, so much that I already ordered my M9 the first minute my local Leica dealer opened on 9/9/09 (that would be OC Camera (949) 347-1276, tell them I sent you if you call). The M9 is smaller, lighter and better for what I like to shoot digitally than anything ever from Nikon, Canon, or anyone. Of course I prefer film, and the LEICA M7, CLE and Contax G2 are tops for shooting 35mm. The M9 is the world's top camera for in-the-field capture of reasonably still subjects. As a manual-focus camera with the world's best optics, technical quality is unbeaten. This level of quality in such a small, light and quiet camera means that for many people, the M9 replaces big old DSLRs. Simply adapting a Leica R lens to a 5D Mark II won't come close: the R lenses are inferior SLR lenses, not the open-class rangefinder lenses of the LEICA M9, and Japanese DSLRs use anti-alias filters to dull the resolution from their sensors. I'm not a good enough photographer to capture moving things, like my kids, with a manual-focus camera like the M9. For photos of my kids and general reportage, I prefer any SLR, like the Nikon D40. As a compromise, the Nikon D700, D3 or D3X offer more speed and flexibility than the LEICA M9 for reportage and photographing things that move. Any of these Nikons is a lot bigger and heavier, and should offer sloppier performance due to generally inferior optics for landscape use. The Canon 5D Mark II is lighter than the Nikons, but still bigger and heavier than the LEICA M9, and offers inferior optical performance due to Canon's lesser optics and Canon's inability to correct lateral color fringes as do all current Nikons. I'm not kidding about superior optics. I've been shooting all sorts of Leica M lenses since December of 2008, and they are incredible in their performance next to Nikon and Canon SLR lenses. It's not so much that they are LEICA, but also that they are rangefinder lenses designed without having to worry about clearing the SLR mirror that make them so much sharper and undistorted. I have a lot more Leica Lens Reviews on the way. Unlike SLR lenses, Leica lenses don't go soft when shot wide-open or looked at in the corners. If money matters, you do not use the LEICA. It is not for you. If you ask the price, you want any of the Nikons or Canons. See Recommended Cameras. If you've got an M8.2, I would dump it as fast as I could, since it is the M5 of the digital era. Sure, in 40 years it might rebound a little in value from the depths to which it shortly will sink, but today, it's only going down.
Macro Forget macro and close-up with the LEICA. Even though you can buy LEICA macro lenses, since you're not viewing through the lens, so bless you if you can get decent shots. Leica lenses don't focus any closer than two or three feet (0.6 - 1m) at best. I prefer to keep a Canon Powershot in my pocket in case I need a close-up.
More information Leica M9 Instruction Manual (177 pages), also in Dutch, Español, and Russian. Note: page 138 of English manual has the two images reversed. Leica answers common questions about the M9, and how to dispose of your M8.2. People are dumping their old Nikon D3X and Canon 1Ds Mark IIIs for the M9 as fast as they can! David Farkas' Review of an M9 prototype, with example photos.
It saves the Manual WB shot.
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