10 September, 2009 – Leica M9 First-Look Report

I've shot with M Leicas, both professionally and personally, for more than 30 years. After working with a production Leica M9 in Germany a couple of weeks ago I was taken by how that company has finally and successfully transitioned from film to digital with this new model. While the Leica S2, ( to be reviewed here tomorrow ) is a fresh from-the -ground-up digital design, the M9 attempts to carry forward the essence of what made the M series among the finest cameras ever made, into the digital realm. The M8 and M8.2 were steps in that direction, but had their failings. But with the M9 I believe that Leica has nailed the transition. With an 18 Megapixel full frame sensor, no AA filter, no need for IR filters, and the ability to take virtually every lens that Leica has ever made over the past 75 years, the M9 has what it takes to satisfy the traditionalist as well as the most demanding digerati. No, it's not inexpensive. But the world's best of anything never is. But, at about US $7,000 the M9 is the smallest and lightest full frame 35mm camera available, and I believe it will challenge the Canon 1Ds MKII and Nikon D3x in terms of image quality. Not as many gizmos and features, to be sure, but it does so for a comparable price. And for some photographers, in some situations, ultimate image quality along with discrete size and low weight will trump the bricks which we call "pro" DSLRs. As the saying goes – " You pay your money and you make your choices ". My Leica M9 First Look Report is now online. "I wanted to congratulate you on your LL guide to Lightroom 2 which I've just watched in a marathon single sitting while trying out the techniques demonstrated on a second monitor. Despite managing a database  of 40,000 images in Lightroom this is the first time I've really deeply understood this software. The tutorial was extremely thorough, clear and enlightening. I cant wait to incorporate this new knowledge into my daily work". ... ...

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