The Leica M9 is the latest addition to the Leica camera AG’s rangefinder M series. The Leica M9 “Titanium” was announced in September 2010 and it is a redesign of the M9 which was designed by Walter de’Silva and is built of titanium. The M in the name stands for Messsucher which in German means rangefinder and viewfinder.
The Leica M9 comes with intuitive yet simple controls which are easy to use even for photographers who are familiar only with SLR cameras. The Leica M9 and Leica M9-P are the latest additions to a century old journey of 35 mm photography which began with Ur-Leica. It comes with lot of unique features.
24X36 full frame sensors
This series features the world’s smallest cameras with 24 X 36 full frame sensors. The CCD censors come with an astounding 18 megapixel resolution and hence the photographer can use the 35 mm format to its optimal level. It features a new addition of glass cover so there is no infrared light contamination and we do not require additional Infrared or ultraviolet filters.
Unobtrusive, Discreet, and Resilient: the New Leica M9 35mm Camera
- Clarity of Viewfinder Leica M9
The Leica M9 gives accurate and faster focussing through an extra large and bright viewfinder. It enables the photographer capture natural and authentic images irrespective of the lens he uses.
Speed
The delay in between the capturing of the shot and the shutter release is very minimal. This range is the fastest 35 mm camera in the world today. This is particularly useful in animal photography and other kinds, where time is crucial.
- Silent shutter
The shutter is extremely noiseless. Particularly when in discreet mode, the photographer has to take his finger from the shutter release for the shutter to get relocked. The soft release mode controls the vibration emitted.
- User friendly controls for Leica M9
The controls are less complicated and is highly user friendly allowing you to worry only about shooting pictures rather than handling the camera. It has a direct control knob to control the shutter and aperture speeds. You can even set them in dark by just feeling the controls. An analogue dial enables you to select the time exposure. The four-way controller provides easy access to menus and functions. The controls are intuitive and user friendly. ISO, aperture and all other information are easily available at your fingertips.
Unlike the other cameras, which take a long time to set up with Leica M9 You just set it and shoot it. No messing around with complicated controls or adjusting angles and it is devoid of any unwanted junk features. A Nikon DSLR has close to six menus and Canon 5D has nine menus. Leica M9 on the other hand has a single menu for each item. In fact there are no menus to adjust the focus in Leica M9. You just have to preset by feel and distance. Just turn the ring and the images come up in the finder.
- Superior design
The design is classic to say the least. The control placement is as good as any of the previous Leica models. It comes with a brass top deck and bottom plate and a body made of magnesium alloy. It offers superb protection to the internal components. The LCD screen is protected by means of a scratch resistant sapphire- crystal. It comes in two colours – black Lacquer and steel gray metallic lacquer. The steel camera has smooth fake leather and the black comes with textured fake leather.
- User profiles
It comes with programmable user profiles and is very easy to save or edit. It stores any information you want to about your camera setting.
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
This series comes with a licensed Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It is an advanced version and has a workflow solution compatible to Mac and Microsoft.
- Cost effective
The Leica M9 is costs much lesser compared with Nikon D3X. It is not only the smallest and highest quality digital camera but also the most cost effective of the lot.
- Light weight
It weighs just around 69 grams (2.4 oz) which is much lesser compared to the NIKON D90 which weighs around 120 grams. It is very compact and is best suited for travel and outdoor photography. These cameras do not require a mirror box and so it has a depth of only 37mm. And it is also devoid of problems such as mirror slaps or shakes. The unobtrusive nature of this camera is what distinguishes it from similar models. Even journalists operating on crime scenes can carry this camera and take photographs without drawing attention to them. Nobody will identify them as journalists thanks to the compact and noiseless Leica M9. Another crucial advantage is that you needn’t store it away in some place like your car or hotel, but can always carry around with you. This helps you to capture all the crucial moments. Who doesn’t prefer smaller cameras? They are trendy, sensible and fun to carry around.
- Superior lens
The effort and ingenuity of the Leica engineers is evident from the quality of the lenses. High class glass formulations and superior manufacturing processes have helped in capturing images of unparalleled quality. This camera delivers in all fronts such as tonal richness, contrast, resolution etc., The focussing action of the lens is extremely smooth. Unlike the other mass produced lenses every lens from the Leica factory comes out with uncompromising quality. Uncoded Leica lenses can also be used for Leica M9 thanks to their M-Bayonet mount. The 6-bit coding automatically accesses all information about the lens attached and uses it for processing. With Nikon or Canon you have to be very careful in picking up the right kind of lenses with correct aperture and zoom settings for sharper pictures. But that is not so in the case of Leica. Even age old Leica lenses are compatible with Leica M9. It is the only camera to have auto ISO compatible to the type of lens used.
Reliability of the brand and M9 Leica’s
Of course Leica has a rich tradition of photography and is a brand to be trusted and relied upon. They have been producing cameras since the1920s. Many earlier models of Leica have been received with mixed reactions. But always they have delivered products with consistent quality. All their products have been dependable and were built with the latest technology available.
The Leica M9 is aimed at the experienced photographer and is devoid of any unwanted feature such as video, audio, slide show, GPS or HDMI output. It is unquestionably the best, compact and stylish product of its class. It is packed with features, easy to carry, noiseless, delivers superior quality image and gives the best value for money.