Please note that posts about the Leica M9 and Leica lenses on this blog are not aimed to be a 'review' in the strictest sense. They should be considered as highly opinionated, biased and therefore not very objective - also due to the fact that I haven't used the camera extensively yet. However, in the technical aspects they do try to be factual. All the posts which have me babbling about the M9 are gathered under the label 'Leica talk'. Click here to see them all...
So what's this Leica M9 about?
Well, it's a digital camera and a full frame one.
It's made in Germany.
I mention that fact because it seems almost outrageous: a digital camera not made in Japan or outsourced to China...
It's truly put together in Germany.
I've been using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, which is also full frame, and invested quite a bit in a few lenses, up to a point where I realised it all became too heavy.
That seems kinda silly, but remember that you gather it piece by piece, and then when dropped with it all in 40 degrees Celsius (like Shanghai last August) you realise it's no fun anymore. The bulk around your sweaty neck, the backpack or the sling bag on your soaking back, the bulkiness of it all (around 5 kilo's in the backpack you have to drag around in buses, trains and airplanes) and you curse the machine and your stupid hobby.
And I wasn't done yet.
I still needed a good wide angle (the 16-35 or the 17-40mm) and was thinking of replacing my 50mm F1.4 by the 50mm F1.2L, which would have set me back another kilo or two.
Of course, you don't need to bring everything you own on every trip, but even the camera alone with a moderate lens can already be a lot to drag around when the climate isn't helping.
M9
Then Leica came out with their M9.
Well actually before that, somewhere in the end of 2009, but I discovered it only half way 2010.
I had seen their M8 before, but that one wasn't full frame and it had quite upsetting reviews. But basically too charmed with the full frame concept of the 5DII, I didn't want to take - what I considered to be - a step back.
Leica solved the M8 problems with the M9 and made it a full frame camera, in corporation with Kodak, who designed the sensor.
Legacy
The M series cameras goes back a very long time - I haven't researched it extensively, but I think at least 50 or 60 years. And the fun part is that the basic design hardly changed. The lenses for the M series are still the M series lenses, and old ones and modern ones can be used on all models (with a few exceptions mind you, especially non-Leica M lenses - ultra wides - or collapsible ones).
Leica is about legacy, that's one thing that makes the M9 kinda special.
It also explains its somewhat 'oldish' look.
Rangefinder versus SLR
The M camera is a rangefinder.
I won't go into the too gory details, but on a rangefinder you don't look through the lens via a mirror like on an SLR. The M series has a viewfinder independent of the lens. It also means when you snap, the viewfinder doesn't black out, because there's no mirror that needs to flip up, like in an SLR.
Now that's considered by Leica to be a selling point, because you 'see' the actual moment you snap, in stead of the blackness of the mirror blocking the viewfinder.
And although that's true, I don't see the added value, because especially with the faster shutter times, who knows which millisecond got actually captured until you look at the LCD? No, I think that was the Leica marketing department ('in the moment...').
A more true advantage of the lacking mirror: it's a space saver.
It's the reason the M9 doesn't have the protruding front all the SLR cameras have.
And it doesn't only save space on the camera itself (which can be much slimmer because of it), but also on the lenses. Without a mirror needing space to flip up, the back of the lens can be placed closer to the sensor. And that means the lens can be smaller.
Other advantages of a lacking mirror: no mirror slap (I can seriously 'feel' the 5DII take a picture with a light lens on it, like the 35mm F2... a full frame mirror isn't small) and less noise when taking a picture, which makes the M9 more discrete.
See 'Dessert'. With a 28mm you need to be rather close to take a snap of someone that big in the frame. She never noticed I took the picture.
Viewfinder
The viewfinder on the M9, that's a revelation coming from an SLR.
It is bright and shows a standard view of what you could snap with a 28mm lens (and a bit beyond). So you always see the same size image in the viewfinder, no matter what lens you have on the camera. Indicated by frame lines in the viewfinder you see what part of the image your 50mm or 90mm or 135mm will capture.
Obviously this is not the best when using a tele lens, since the actual captured part of the image in the viewfinder becomes very small, and focusing becomes more difficult. It's one of the reasons Leica doesn't make an M lens longer than 135mm (you can attach magnifying gadgets though to the viewfinder, which will make focusing easier on the long end).
And although this approach has its drawbacks, the advantage of the wide viewfinder is that you can actually see what's happening outside the limits of your lens. With the 50mm mounted I can still see what's happening in the 28mm area, perhaps wait for that car to pass, or wait for that person to step in or out of the frame. That's something an SLR won't offer you.
Also, because of the placement of the viewfinder to the left of the camera (placing it in front of your right eye), you can use your left eye to look around.
And not unimportant: if you see more than just what the lens sees, you can make better decisions on where and how to point the camera. It helps deciding on composition, because it broadens the options. The viewfinder on a rangefinder better informs you about the environment you're in.
... continue with part II - Lenses
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