THE LEICA M9 REAL WORLD REVIEW

PAGE 1 - THE FULL FRAME BEAUTY ARRIVES

PAGE 2 - The goods. What comes in the box and what’s new?

PAGE 3 - Is FULL FRAME really that much better?

PAGE 4 - High ISO low light photography, and the M9

PAGE 5 - Color - M9 packs a PUNCH!

PAGE 6 - Some M9 Black & White conversions

PAGE 7 - The 35 Summilux and the M9 - A match made in heaven or hell?

PAGE 8 - Full Frame = Vignetting? Not on the M9!

PAGE 9 - Untouched Full Size Sample Downloads

PAGE 10 - My favorite images form my time with the M9

PAGE 11 - More M9 from other Leica photographers

PAGE 12 - My final thoughts and conclusion

PAGE 13 - Why I prefer shooting with a rangefinder camera.

NEW! > - My Ongoing Leica M9 Daily Diary - Updated DAILY!

PAGE 13 - Why I prefer shooting with a rangefinder.

So now that the Leica M9 has been sent back, I eagerly await my own M9 and I am going crazy waiting! Imagine having a million bucks in your hand and then having to return it. That is what it feels like! It’s like a big tease. Even our new cat didn’t want me to send it back. This was the last image taken with the M9 before sending it back. I could have swore when my cat meowed that she said “Mekeepitowwwwwww”. But with much sadness, I boxed it up and sent it back to Leica. Maybe when they send me an X1 to review, I can keep that camera a little bit longer.

So, the review has now been written and I realized that there are probably quite a few of you who are totally new to rangefinder photography. My M8 and M8.2 reviews talk about it a little, but I wanted to put a page here so you can understand why I love these cameras so much.

It all started when I bought a Leica M7 (before the M8 was even produced) and a 50 Summilux lens. I was hooked on the sleek, thin, small, but solid body. It felt so well made, like I could use it to knock someone out if I had to (for self defense, of course). The controls were simple, solid, and easy to manipulate. I always shoot in “A” mode and choose the aperture I want on the lens, which for me is usually 1.4 or F2. I do shoot at F5.6 when I shoot barns, buildings, or landscape stuff, but most of the time I like shallow depth of field. A Leica excels at this due to the amazingly high quality lenses they offer, and that M7 was such a beautiful camera. It is the camera that started my love affair with rangefinder photography. I wish I still had it, but it was eventually sold to fund my 1st Leica M8.

While not cheap, a Leica 50 Summilux ASPH lens is breathtaking. Perfect in every way. You can shoot this lens at 1.4 all day and your focus point will be pin sharp. This 50 just slaughters any other 50 made today. End of story. You can only shoot this lens with an M mount rangefinder camera. Rangefinders are so much different than a DSLR. With a DSLR you have a bulky, somewhat large body and when a lens is attached, it is even bigger. A Leica M with a 35 Summicron attached is small and sleek. It can be wore around your body with a strap and could easily sit under your jacket without even being noticed. Mine usually goes with me everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE! I sometimes hear my wife at 3 am saying “Honey, your M8 is nudging into my side!” - Just kidding, I do not sleep with my M :)

With an M camera, everything is decided by you. You control the focus, you control the aperture or shutter speed, and you can go all manual if you wish and control the exposure. Easy and quick using the dial on the top of the camera.

With its simple center weighted metering, I find it easy to get bang-on exposures. No more hoping that the exposure is spot on as once you learn how the center weighted metering works, it’s a piece of cake to use. Focusing is NOT like a normal SLR. When you look through the viewfinder of an M7, M8, M9, or any rangefinder for that matter, you will see frame lines. You compose within these lines and when you focus you use a patch in the middle of these frame lines. Just line up the image inside the patch and bingo, you are in focus.

The quality of the M9 is nearing Medium Format, so imagine that quality in a small, thin camera that can rest against your body without even realizing you are carrying anything. When you are ready to shoot, you lift it to your eye, focus, and shoot.

The M is not meant to be a speed demon. It is a thinking mans camera and therefore makes you think a little. Instead of lifting some blazing fast auto focus DSLR and firing away sloppily, when you lift the M to your eye you think, you compose, you “feel” the process and press the shutter. After a while it becomes second nature.

I see many people asking to see images that can only be taken with a rangefinder. What I say to that is many of my images could have only been taken with a rangefinder. Why? Because if all I had was a Nikon D700, I would have missed out as I would have left it at home half the time. A big DSLR = LEFT AT HOME. A Leica M = WITH ME EVERY DAY.

The experience of shooting a Leica M is refreshing. You feel free and you feel like you have no limitations. The size does not scare off your subjects and the quiet shutter will make most wonder if you even took their image at all.

I will probably never go back to a DSLR mainly due to all of  these qualities. It is not necessarily a Leica thing, but more of a rangefinder thing. I felt the same about my old Epson RD1 I had years ago. If you have never shot with a rangefinder and try one out, it may take a few days to get used to it. Once you do though, you may never go back to those big, heavy, bulky DSLR’s. All I really need is a Leica M9 and a 35 Summilux. That is camera happiness for me.

The cost is high, but here is the way I look at it. You can buy a used M8 for $2000 and a used 35 Summicron for $1400. $3400 for a camera system that you could be happy with for a long, long time. The M9 is even better, but of course, the price is higher, but worth it. When I started shooting the M8, any desire for a DSLR vanished and today I have ZERO desire for a DSLR. I do not need one, so I will probably never buy one again. When I used to shoot DSLR’s, I usually sold them after 2 months as I would always find something I did not like about them. I was never happy! This led to money being wasted on buying and selling.

Now, with my Leica system, I SAVE money as I no longer buy or sell, and if I do, it is a lens I sell for what I paid for it. Leica lenses, when bought used, hold their value well and in many cases go up in value!

So for me, an M9 is a HUGE cost and it is taking every penny I have from my M8.2 and lens sale to get it, but I figure I will hold on to this M9 for years and years. As long as it works, I will use it. Even though it is not the Holy Grail of digital rangefinder perfection, it is close enough for me.

I posted this video in my Leica M8 review, but it is so good, I had to post it here as well. If you have not seen this one yet, enjoy!

I thank you for reading my Leica M9 review. I hope you enjoyed it and found it informative. Feel free to leave your comments about the review here.

FYI - I write these reviews because I enjoy it and because I have a passion for photography. I really do not make any money from this site! The little that does come in from ads helps to pay for web hosting, gas money, and other expenses to keep this going full time. Anytime you click an ad or buy from one of my sponsors, like B&H Photo or Amazon (after clicking through to them from an ad on this site), I get a tiny percentage of those sales. This is what helps me keep this site going. Believe me, it takes up ALL of my free time! I thank you again for taking the time to read the review! Also feel free to join me on FACEBOOK & now TWITTER!

It's about time we started to take photography seriously and treat it as a hobby - Elliot Erwitt