13 page M9 review...

What I should of said is "almost double the megapixels" - Thanks!

Steve
I see this pretty often, I quote your review: "It is very cool to have almost double the resolution of the M8." Since these cameras (the M8 and the M9) both have Bayer pattern sensors, lack of AA filter notwithstanding, it takes FOUR TIMES the pixel count to double the resolution. Otherwise, a very nice review, thanks!
--
Bob Casner
--
My Leica M8 Images
http://stevehuffphotos.zenfolio.com/p802740336

My first Olympus E-P1 shots
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Great demonstration of the Joy of Photography. The rangefinder ethos is alive and well. It's the difference between snatching the world (SLR) and absorbing it (RF).
 
What browser are you using? That is the only thing I can think of. I use Firefox and Safari and all is fine.
I have the same problem using Internet Explorer. It goes away if I switch to Firefox. It feels as though the page has loaded and displayed but is hung up fetching additional data. You can't scroll during the waiting period, which can be a good 20 to 30 seconds.
 
I have not used IE in MANY years so I could not test it with that browser. Thanks for the info, at least I now know it appears to be a browser issue.
What browser are you using? That is the only thing I can think of. I use Firefox and Safari and all is fine.
I have the same problem using Internet Explorer. It goes away if I switch to Firefox. It feels as though the page has loaded and displayed but is hung up fetching additional data. You can't scroll during the waiting period, which can be a good 20 to 30 seconds.
--
My Leica M8 Images
http://stevehuffphotos.zenfolio.com/p802740336

My first Olympus E-P1 shots
http://stevehuffphotos.zenfolio.com/p1057928436

My Homeless Project
http://www.pbase.com/stevehuff/the_homeless

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/stevehuffphotos
 
I really enjoyed your review Steve, even though as a non-pro on a limited budget I couldn't justify buying the camera. But reading about the M9 is a vicarious pleasure for me. It feels a little bit like the woman I couldn't have when I was younger, and probably couldn't have handled if I did! :-) Yet still a pleasure to fantasize about and you fed the fantasy nicely.

I'm hoping you'll also review the X1 eventually...the one I can afford and can handle.

And BTW, your work is also a pleasure.

Thanks.
--
Mark
[email protected]
 
Thanks Mark!

I am on the list to get an X1 for review as well, but I have no idea when that will be. Hopefully soon!

Steve
I really enjoyed your review Steve, even though as a non-pro on a limited budget I couldn't justify buying the camera. But reading about the M9 is a vicarious pleasure for me. It feels a little bit like the woman I couldn't have when I was younger, and probably couldn't have handled if I did! :-) Yet still a pleasure to fantasize about and you fed the fantasy nicely.

I'm hoping you'll also review the X1 eventually...the one I can afford and can handle.

And BTW, your work is also a pleasure.

Thanks.
--
Mark
[email protected]
--
My Leica M8 Images
http://stevehuffphotos.zenfolio.com/p802740336

My first Olympus E-P1 shots
http://stevehuffphotos.zenfolio.com/p1057928436

My Homeless Project
http://www.pbase.com/stevehuff/the_homeless

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/stevehuffphotos
 
Very odd Jim, I have never had one complaint about that (besides you mentioning it here) I actually shortened the pages for this review and they load pretty much instantaneously for me. I have no idea what the issue could be. Very odd. Bugs the heck out of me though.

I am using Iweb for the site, which is totally not the best solution for making web sites. I plan on changing it all around eventually and switching to either wordpress or the dreamweaver route.
It does appear to be an IE issue with Iweb. FireFox does not suffer from the issue but IE at home and at work is totally unusable on your website. This is not good because so many people still use IE.

I think when you move to a different hosting service the problem will go away. I use FireFox and IE all the time.. but because FireFox took a recent trojan hit, which cost me a days work trying to get rid of it, I've kinda backed off on FireFox.

The only Trojan I have been hit with in the last three years came through FireFox and that really bothered me. I have yet to have any issues with IE other than trying to view your site.

PS... Leica will never make such an offer to me as I have been too critical of them over the last several years. Glad you had the experience and your review is excellent.

My one sentence review still stands: The M9 is what the M8 should have been.

--
Jim Radcliffe
http://www.boxedlight.com
http://www.oceona.com

The ability to 'see' the shot is more important than the gear used to capture it.
 
iWeb definitely doesn't produce websites compatible with Internet explorer...
 
Steve,

Your reviews are always fun to read. You are over the top, but that's OK. It will turn off some, but its who you are. Don't apologize for it. That said, a few observations:

You are right about moire. I have had it a few times on my M8.2; it just takes detail at the right frequency for it to show up. Adobe Capture Raw will actually smooth it out in many cases, so it may be a case of your raw converter needing to be updated to better deal with moire. I noticed it another image on page 6 of your review.

As for the 35 lux, of course it still has focus shift. It has nothing to do with the camera or sensor; it's a function of the lens design. I'm surprised anyone would think it would be a function of sensor size. However, you have demonstrated clearly that its just a function of lens design. Just like the Canon 50/1.2L--you have to learn to live with it as part of the trade-offs of what the lens is good at.

Just a nitpick, but on page 12 you mention that today is October 1, but its really September 29--at least here on the west coast. Has the midwest moved their calendars ahead recently? :-)

On page five, I think you have an error. The shot where you had the 24/1.4 on the camera but still had the lens set to 90mm DOES have correction on, although you say it doesn't. It just has the WRONG correction set; if you had it manually set to 90mm, then the camera is applying the correction for that lens.

Finally, on the high-ISO noise, I guess this is one area where I would like to see some 100% samples to back the claims that the M9 is better. The few 100% samples I have seen show no real improvement. Given that it appears to be essentially the exact same sensor (just FF with some changes on the microlens layout) and most of the exact same electronics, this would be what we expect--little real improvement. Sean Reid's very detailed review shows this to be case.

I will get an M9 as soon as they are physically available, but I guess I have now developed a realistic view: Some items like the LCD cover and lack of LCD on the top are real and significant downgrades. Oh well, I will have to live with it, but its disappointing. Some items are disappointing that they weren't fixed/enhanced: Speed of the camera (wake-up, etc.), low-resolution LCD (not ideal for verifying focus, especially for those who love shooting wide open with fast glass), overall high-ISO performance. All of that said, the reality is that its always magical to use the camera lens combo as they were designed--which is to say, full-frame. Like you said, its like going from an APS-C or APS-H to FF sensor in the DSLR world. The lenses reveal their true nature when used as designed, and its obvious. That to me is worth the upgrade.

I suspect that within a year or so we will see an M9.2 with a higher-resolution LCD, true chrome, and the sapphire LCD cover. It's the new world of the digital M--the cameras won't be as long-lived as the old film M's.

Jeff
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhapeman
 
I loved the review. I just wish I could afford one. Enjoy!
--

SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

 
My one sentence review still stands: The M9 is what the M8 should have been.
and the M9.2/M10 will be what the M9 should have been....

To me it seems pretty clear that the M9 offers several advantages over the M8 aside from it featuring a full frame sensor.

UK price for a brand new M8 is £2500, UK price for an M9 is £4850, that's almost twice the price, if the US price difference between the two is just a $1000 then
saving up that extra 1k might well be worth it.

I still think that £4850 is way too much to pay for a DRF regardless of weather one can afford it or not, as Steve said in his review he had to sell his M8.2 plus a couple of lenses to pay for the M9, so unless he didn't need the FOV of those lenses then I'd say that having an M9 puts him at a disadvantage now.

I hope that Leica change their mind and continue to produce the M8 at half the price of the M9, if they don't then I hope that Zeiss jump in and produce something cheaper for those that want to get in to DRF photography with out the need of a lottery win.

I personally think that the M9 looks great and is good for the DRF market, it will allow thoses that need FF to have it and I suspect it will allow many seriously talented photographers to pickup those M8 bargins and enter the world of DRF.

I also suspect that in 6 months we will see some real world comparison reviews between the M8/M9 and maybe then we will see if the M9 is worth twice the (UK) price.

Jim, Don't take this reply personality, you only said what many others have and you might well be correct.
 
Thanks for the review, Steve! Your enthusiasm for the camera is infectious and, because you can back it up with real world experience and examples, it is also convincing.

When the M8 appeared I can remember people defending its crop factor on the grounds that it was impossible to build a full frame digital M with an acceptable M series form factor. Some even said that the laws of physics were against it. Well, once again technology and engineering have achieved what theory said was impossible. All credit to Leica, Kodak and Jenoptik! Leica’s intention of developing the digital M as a full frame camera is to be welcomed. The M9 is the first model in what we can expect to be a highly successful development line. Leica is back on track.
 
I would be suprised if viewing onscreen shows much difference between the two but in large prints there should be a clear difference.
I guess my last post wasnt clear: yours shots with the M9 seems have the same level of quality from YOUR M8.2 shots, at least on my iPhone screen! All to say that I just love you photo style and I could not tell by just looking at the pictures which camera produced what!

here at Tel Aviv airport I am using their wifi connection and the pages loaded really fast!
 
I read with interest, great review from a real photog.

Now, I'm curious about the focus shift on the Lux 35. How come!? I mean, how come Leica, with its long history of great lens design, still having a design issue like that on a standard prime (yes, fast, but standard by all means). It seems there a curve for focus, good at f/1.4 amd f/8 and either front or back focusing midway. Is it back or front?

Another question, sorry for my digital M ignorance: does the M9 have an indicator for focus, likely using contrast focus. That would be wonderful to have in conjucntion with the RF and would avoid such issues. This test shows maybe RF focus is not accurate enough for digital (I know some will be disgusted by this remark, but that's my opinion, why ignore the goods of digital technology?).

Have you tried the 35 Cron on it and tested for same problem? I have an old version (made late 60's), would like to know how it does on the M9.
--
Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhlpedrosa/
OnExposure member
http://www.onexposure.net/

Good shooting and good luck
(after Ed Murrow)
 
Steve, thank you for the great review.

I enjoyed reading and collected some interesting informations from it, building up a "want", possibly a later "need" of the M9.

Thanks to your helpful comments regarding some questions, I raised as a SLR user, new to rangefinder cameras too, as it happened 2 weeks ago, that I came across a nice sample of a M6 with 50 Lux ASPH.

I enjoy Leica M shooting to the fullest since then and as my D3 and other Nikon gear collects dust in the meantime, some serious thinking is raised.

Keep up your great reviews and the fantastic images - I truly enjoy your photographs of old industry sites - love these subjects and the way, you capture them!

Regarding iweb - it truly is one very nice and easy web builder.

I am most interested in issues, others have with iweb sites too, as I use it for my site too.

--
http://www.teknopunk.com
http://www.teknopunk.com/load.meter.shutterspeed.aperture.shoot/
 
thanks for the review steve..
 
Thanks for the review, it provided some nice insight. I also enjoyed the rest of your reviews, and your pictures are very inspirational!
 

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