Leica M9: experience so far

Sell it to her like this - "I'll buy you this Zeiss lens and give you £1000 for shoes". That should do it. Mind you, my logic is still flawed as you're still down by a big wadge of cash and haven't saved anything :D.
 
Just watching The French Open and noticed the Longines advert with Agassi and Graf and noticed Graf is using what looks like a debadged M9 - Looks very stealth.
 
I like your idea Tobers, though Handbags are her thing which is even worse. And as you've pointed out your idea is flawed so I'm no better off! If it was down to me I'd have a Mk IV anyway. :)

Keep up the good work and please find something seriously wrong with the M9 :)
 
Amazingly, my daughter just let me take some pictures of her. This has never really happened before. She always moans and moans whenever I get a camera out to take a pic of her. I can just see the new Leica strapline - "The M9 Brings Families Together". Ha ha :D.

I do like the way the Zeiss lens handles flare. On my Canon zooms I always get big splodges of coloured light across the picture as reflections bounce around inside the lens. The Zeiss is much more subtle and smooth. More contre-jour stuff like this is called for I think. f/2 at about 1/1000th ISO 160, metered off my hand in the shade.


Daughter by Tobers, on Flickr

And one with the sun behind. She looks worryingly grown up here. f/2 again at 1/2000th metered off the grass in the sunlight. Grass is always good to meter from (sports photography experience). Slightly missed focus but it doesn't show in this small version.


Daughter by Tobers, on Flickr

I did take other pictures with the camera tilted the other way - honest! They just weren't as nice.
 
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Cuchulainn said:
Love those last two snaps! Leica must be loving you - I think you've probably got everyone who has read this thread counting pennies and thinking "Hrmmm......"
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These two (y) and the ones of your daughter too (y). I have to agree, the way the Leica handles flare and direct sunlight is just wonderful.


Tobers said:
I just taped over the M9 and Leica logos with black insulating tape. Now it looks cooooool! No name, no brand, just a small black camera. Yum.
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:shrug:


You've really got me sold on this; and I can see that the Zeiss lens would make a good saving. My only two quandaries are; is this where I ought to be putting this kind of money; and, is this just a mid-life crisis that I'm going through which I'll outgrow pretty soon?

A question, if I may.....

The M9 with the Zeiss lens is almost as expensive as a Hasselblad H4D-30 with an 80mm lens. Both are uniquely different, yet have something appealing about them. Did it cross your mind to spend that kind of money on the Hasselblad as opposed to the M9?
 
Tobers said:
I didn't even think or consider a Hasselblad to be honest. That could be an interesting alternative with a very very different shooting style.
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100% agree on the different shooting style; they're worlds apart these two.

However; they are very close, from a price point of view and both yield very appealing images in the right hands.

As a matter of fact, it was your thread on the M9 that opened up my fondness for the Hasselblad all over again; until I saw myself getting into the price bracket of a used Aston Martin DB9! This just confirmed what I always suspected about my sanity :p

I think, for the time being, I'll enjoy the M9, Stainless Steal Hassie, and the DB9 from a bit of a distance :); but by all means, keep the posts / blog updated. Wonderful unbiased review here (y)
 
None of the pictures I've seen on this thread lead me to wanting a Leica M9, but there, I'm not a fan of Leica anyway!
 
Somelier said:
None of the pictures I've seen on this thread lead me to wanting a Leica M9, but there, I'm not a fan of Leica anyway!
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I'm not a Leica fan as such but I do like the manual rangefinder experience and if that's what you're into or could be into what alternative is there to a Leica?

The RD1 is the obvious alternative and many forget that they got there first but AFAIK it's not in production now so if you want a new off the shelf digital rangefinder (and why wouldn't you?) it's not a matter of being a Leica fan but could be a matter of being grateful that they make it.
 
I love that the Leica lenses/rangefinder draw characteristics polarise opinion so much.

For me, I see the [busy?, low-fi? poor? imperfect? ageing?] bokeh of the Summicron, Summarit and Elmars and I just want to do the same things. Some see it and think 'meh..' and compare it to the [silky? uniform? boring? photoshop? creamy?] bokeh of the SLR primes like the 300mm's and the fast 85's.

I guess after a few images, you know which camp you're in!
 
Organic said:
I'm having a hard time selling the wonderful Zeiss lenses to my wife. I keep finding beautiful images taken with them but she wants Leica!

Trust me, the Summicrons are a compromise as she'd love the f1/4 Summilux lenses. They're all mad money but I feel the crons are better value with their f/2 apertures.
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Cant you buy it, tape over the Zeiss logo and tell her its a "stealth Summilux"?

Allan
 
I really hit the limits of the M9 today. I popped over to my friend's house as he's got 7 red labrador puppies. Cuuuuuuuute!!! 7 weeks old, they are just to die for (though I wasn't the one mopping up after them and picking up their poo!).

To photograph with the M9 though, they are a complete nightmare. The main reason is that the little buggers run about all over the place. Never still, and moving very randomly, focusing on them was just extremely difficult. Add in their relatively small eyes (main thing to focus on) and things get even harder, plus the fact that I was as usual trying to shoot as wide open as possible.

Anyhow I had some success but binned about half my shots, 50% due to focus error, and the rest just because they were crap. I'd really have been better off with the 1DIV and a 50 1.4 on 10 fps with AI Servo running. Ho hum - bit of a glutton for punishment. Anyway, here's two for you from the lot that made it...


Puppies by Tobers, on Flickr

I just love this one...


Puppies by Tobers, on Flickr
 
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Congrats on those two puppies shots... really nice... :)


I am in the want a leica but ain't gonna be able to get one (drool on window person perhaps) :D

Your shots look great and you can see that you are getting better at focussing etc with the practice. Good that you managed to get the pic of the bloke and get away unscathed :D
 
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allanm said:
Cant you buy it, tape over the Zeiss logo and tell her its a "stealth Summilux"?

Allan
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I wish it was that easy Allan! We're trying to arrange a day around my wife starting a new job to go to the Leica Akadamie in Mayfair so she'll be trying out the lenses.

Unless, I sneak in the night before and replace them all with Zeiss - now there's a thought...
 
Love the puppy shots Tobers. I still may be able to sell the Zeiss glass to my wife after-all.
 
I tried a Leica 28mm 2.8 Elmarit on the M9 today. It was a second-hand lens that LCE had in stock. Very small, compact. Image quality was sharp as you'd expect, with a little softness in the corners at f/2.8. I'm after a wider angle lens for landscapes and general stuff that needs a wide angle lens. At £800 it was a tad pricey and felt quite "used" with a bit of slack in the aperture ring, so I'll probably give it a miss.

I do have my eye on the Zeiss 25mm 2.8 Biogon though. However, I'd like something a bit faster for low light stuff. The Leica 24 1.4 springs to mind at a cool £4600 (!!), but there's also a Leica 28 f/2 at a mere £3000. My oh my what have I got myself into here?
 
I forget if it's come up in this thread but have a look at the rangefinderforum -- they have some long discussions on the relative merits of different makes/designs/age of lenses and the different look each has on film and digital. ...and you could always start another :D
 
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Tobers, I cant see your puppies......:naughty:

Allan
 
Yep seen that thanks. I'll update sometime soon.

I'm definitely in love with this camera. Its all about the pleasure of the experience of using it, obviously along with super image quality. I can't wait to pick it up and take pictures. if you really enjoy the act of taking pictures then I urge you to give one a try.

Here's a shot from a local car boot sale from the weekend...


Curious by Tobers, on Flickr
 
Tobers - really like the quality of the image, the tonal range and the amount of maximum black. Is there much in the way of PP being done by yourself or are these SOOC?
 
Thanks - I've set up a preset in Lightroom that I really like. It ups the exposure and blacks, as well as clarity, and puts a gentle vignette on.

I'll post up some colour shots soon as well, but I'm in a bit of a black and white mood these days.
 
Tobers said:
Thanks - I've set up a preset in Lightroom that I really like. It ups the exposure and blacks, as well as clarity, and puts a gentle vignette on.

I'll post up some colour shots soon as well, but I'm in a bit of a black and white mood these days.
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I'm liking it. That high(er) contrast B&W look is right up my street. Because the mags I shoot for NEVER use mono the whole B&W conversion thing passes me by for long periods at a time and I forget that it exists. Now you have me thinking I should do a B&W flickr 365 as something to get my personal photography back up to speed - thanks :)
 
Nice work on the B+W preset, it's just how i like my B+W's, nice and punchy. That Zeiss lens is excellent, it gives a stunning 3D effect.

Oh how i'd like an M9, I'd better buy another ticket this Saturday then. (A guy in my local town has just won £7.2million the lucky bugger!!)
 
A further update for you. After several weeks now the novelty has definitely not worn off. The photography experience with the M9 continues to be delightful, and also a bit frustrating at times.

I've now used it on for a number of high pressure paid jobs and I'm getting faster and more comfortable using it in those situations. I still have my 1DIV on my shoulder which is lightening fast at everything as you know. The M9 does get a different reaction from the subject though - more friendly in a way I think.

The lightness and ease of handling, and connectivity with what you are shooting makes a big difference to the Canon.

I'm now exploring a wide angle lens to go with the cracking Zeiss 2/50 Planar. I'm probably going to stick with Zeiss as the Leica lenses are way out of reach at the moment, so a 25 or 28mm f/2.8 should do the trick.

Shock, horror, here's a colour picture! I do like this one...

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Tobers said:
A further update for you. After several weeks now the novelty has definitely not worn off. The photography experience with the M9 continues to be delightful, and also a bit frustrating at times.

I've now used it on for a number of high pressure paid jobs and I'm getting faster and more comfortable using it in those situations. I still have my 1DIV on my shoulder which is lightening fast at everything as you know. The M9 does get a different reaction from the subject though - more friendly in a way I think.

The lightness and ease of handling, and connectivity with what you are shooting makes a big difference to the Canon.

I'm now exploring a wide angle lens to go with the cracking Zeiss 2/50 Planar. I'm probably going to stick with Zeiss as the Leica lenses are way out of reach at the moment, so a 25 or 28mm f/2.8 should do the trick.

Shock, horror, here's a colour picture! I do like this one...

edit - might try and clone out that annoying light...
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Great picture and great eye contact. Where did you get your planar from? I am about to get an M6 and would love to have the zeiss as my first lens for it, having loved all 3 of the ones I have for my G2.
 
Tobers said:
I got it from The Classic Camera in London near the British Museum. Dangerous shop - take care if entering :D.
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I didn't realise it was so close to aperture. I was only there fondling an M6 a couple of weeks ago! I wonder if they trade in g2's...
 
I'm sure it's already been covered on the forum, but the new de-badged version has now been announced, the M9-P:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1106/11062110leicam9p.asp

Perhaps this is what Graf was using? Note, the Leica logo is now on the top plate.

Tobers - your images posted are just brilliant. The puppy shots are amazing :eek:
 
"I just love this one..." So do I great picture and very cute :D
 
manualfocus-g said:
I'm sure it's already been covered on the forum, but the new de-badged version has now been announced, the M9-P:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1106/11062110leicam9p.asp

Perhaps this is what Graf was using? Note, the Leica logo is now on the top plate.

Tobers - your images posted are just brilliant. The puppy shots are amazing :eek:
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You can send the M9 to Solms be converted to the M9-P in October for about £1k. Not sure why you'd want to though.
 
Tobers said:
A further update for you. After several weeks now the novelty has definitely not worn off. The photography experience with the M9 continues to be delightful, and also a bit frustrating at times.

I've now used it on for a number of high pressure paid jobs and I'm getting faster and more comfortable using it in those situations. I still have my 1DIV on my shoulder which is lightening fast at everything as you know. The M9 does get a different reaction from the subject though - more friendly in a way I think.

The lightness and ease of handling, and connectivity with what you are shooting makes a big difference to the Canon.

I'm now exploring a wide angle lens to go with the cracking Zeiss 2/50 Planar. I'm probably going to stick with Zeiss as the Leica lenses are way out of reach at the moment, so a 25 or 28mm f/2.8 should do the trick.
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What are you spending on a wide angle? I'm after one to compliment my 50 Cron, maybe a 28mm as anything wider (21, 24 etc) then a viewfinder is required which is another expense.
 
Nothing internal is tweaked, apart from the cosmetic changes it is given a CLA and extra years warranty though to sweeten the deal.
 
I was out and about with the M9 again this weekend. Rather than going up to Silverstone with thousands of others, I decided to head for a purer form of motorsport – banger racing at Smallfield Raceway. There’s a full report, more pictures and link to the full image gallery here: http://slikimages.com. As you can read from the blog post, I had a superb time and had the creative bunny on my shoulder all day.

Shooting with both the M9 and 1DIV, I was initially disappointed by the M9 output in comparison to the Canon once I got the pics back onto my PC. After a bit of head scratching I realised that I’d been shooting the 1DIV in jpeg mode which I’ve got set to have added sharpness, saturation and contrast. The M9 was in DNG mode as usual. As you’ll know if you shoot any sort of RAW, it can look flat when compared to a jpeg which has had some in-camera zap added to it. The Canon is the same, and I’ll usually run all RAW shots through the “punch” preset in Lightroom to give them a bit of, well, punch.

Also, when Lightroom is showing DNG files it doesn’t seem to render the previews in the same level of detail as jpegs unless you zoom into 1-1 and then back out again. I’ve got preview rendering set to “standard” which I think gives 1500px images which should be enough. I guess the in-camera sharpened jpegs are already pre-processed anyway, but initially the DNGs looked a bit blurry by comparison. However, after zooming into 1-1 view, the M9 shots are of the usual shockingly crisp sharpness – that Zeiss lens is a real corker.

So, after some initial shenanigans with Lightroom, my confidence was restored back to the previously stratospheric levels and all was well.

I decided to make all the M9 shots monochrome. Call me old-fashioned, but they just look better that way I think. There’s something about shallow depth of field pictures that lends itself to monochrome.

Some other things to note. Due to it being sunny then cloudy then sunny all day long, I often just left the M9 in aperture priority and let it sort the shutter speed out accordingly. Metering which is very centre weighted seems quite good, and because I wasn’t really doing any major light/shade work it was fine to let the electronics do the work – one less thing to worry about when shooting under a bit of pressure. Additionally, with DNG there’s plenty of latitude to sort out a bit of exposure compensation after the event. Shock horror etc etc from the Leica “manual all the time” purists, but in this game you might as well use all the tools in the box. I did take full manual control for most of the panned shots where it was essential that I had shutter speed control, and I ended up at f/20 and f/22 quite a lot of the time to slow the shutter enough – must get a couple of ND filters!

On the negative side, I have set the exposure compensation to work on the rear dial. This only works in aperture priority (obviously) and is a mistake. I must have twiddled the dial accidentally and ended up shooting for 10 mins on +1 2/3rds and couldn’t work out why the pics were so overexposed. The exposure comp indicator in the viewfinder is just a small dot so very easy to miss. I’ll have to reconfigure the dial so it doesn’t work in the same way so I dont do this again. I much prefer the clear indication of the exposure bar you get in the Canon viewfinder.

As per usual, it’s possible/likely that you could have got a lot of these shots with a 50 1.2 on the Canon, but it’s just not the same, and you’ll have to take my word for that.

Anyway, a top day, with a lot of curious interest in the M9 from some of the other photographers there. Here are some pics and many more on the blog.

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Tobers, have you thought about using an Eye-Fi pro card in your M9, it would save you having to keep taking the card in and out?
 
Hi Ed - they dont work very well in the brass & other metal innards of the M9, and advice is not to use them. I can just plug the camera in via the micro-USB socket too but as I have a bit of a memory card workflow I like to move the cards about my desk from a "full - download next" to "downloaded" to "formatted" piles.
 
Great shots again and an interesting insight into using the M9. I am awaiting my first leica (sounds like a fisher price toy!) camera at present (an M6) but once I have lenses etc, who knows where that could lead?
 
So, further credit to the folks at Leica Mayfair. The dirty sensor mentioned in one of my posts a while back needed sorting as I've got a wedding to shoot this weekend where nothing but perfection will do.

I booked myself in for a "while you wait" sensor clean and low & behold a nice chap was ready & waiting. I asked if I could watch the process - no problem at all. The clean room with super German-spec benches with airflow things to keep dust at bay was the location for the deed.

An interesting way to see dust on the sensor was to put a thin white cloth, like a lens cloth, over the lens, point the camera at a light, and take a picture. The results revealed the splatter all over the sensor. Mr Technician then used one of these Pentax cleaning pens to get the initial dust off. After that, a wet clean using what looked like Visible Dust Orange sensor cleaning swabs.

After 3 goes, the sensor was a clean as a clean thing. Lovely. It was really good to watch it being done and it took all my concerns away - easy peasy to do I think (though I might give the Pentax sticky stick a miss).

I was fully prepared to pay the £80 they charge for a while-you-wait service. Although the charge is fairly steep, I regarded it as worth paying for as I got a "free" sensor cleaning lesson as part of it.

However, it was free. £0.00. Excellent! All M9's sold there get a free first sensor clean. How good. Mind you, seeing as the shutter seems to spray lube all over the sensor, quite right too.

Then of course it was back over the road to the shop to have a play. I decided to pick 3 nice lenses to fiddle with, a 21 1.4, 24 1.4 and 50 0.95. Not that I had any money for any of this of course, but it has to be done. All these lenses are significantly larger than their f/2 counterparts (or 1.4 in the case of the Noctilux).

Big aperture wide angle 21 and 24 lenses need a big bit of glass at the front, which is also expensive at £4,500ish. Both were lovely, beautifully sharp as you'd expect. 21 is a bit wide, 24 is rather nice, but I think somehow I'll end up with a Zeiss 2.8/25 which is about £3600 cheaper! Sod the bokeh.

Talking about bokeh, I was dying to get my hands on the Noctilux. And who wouldn't. What a piece of kit. Oh to have £7500 just hanging around. There's no doubt it gives a very special look when shot at f/0.95, but of course you need to be very careful about the extremely narrow depth of field that comes with the territory. The front element is made from a flourite crystal which takes 4 months or more to grow, and 2 months to grind, according to nice Mr Leica sales assistant (who had some rather stonking pictures from India taken with his own M9 and 24 1.4).

What is most impressive is how you get a 50mm field of view, but a depth of field effect of either a much longer lens, or of having the subject much closer. Either way, with a subject sharp and the foreground and background blurring far more than they should have any right to at 50mm, you do get a very special picture from this lens when at f/0.95. Question is, is that worth several ££££s over a 50 1.4. Who knows. Nice though. This pic shows what I'm on about...


Noctilux by Tobers, on Flickr

So there you have it. Unlikely I'll ever see a Noctilux in my bag (though I did enter Euromillions shortly after handing the lens back). Very good service from the Leica folks again too.
 
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