to the previous model, it’s lost the sub-display LCD (battery/ frame count is now a function of the back LCD), lowered the fastest shutter speed and has a fractional difference in size; it’s also a far more serious proposi- tion for stock and travel users as well as the wealthy enthu- siast. Coming in black or black/ chrome finishes (or the £19,000 Titanium model) it’s also lost the sapphire glass screen option for now.
Under 600g, the M9 is pos- sibly the lightest full-frame digital body you could find – despite being exceptionally solidly made. Summed up, it’s brass, glass and astoundingly fine tolerance engineering, and feels utterly exquisite to use. Not, I must clarify, “ergonomic” – it’s not the sculpted grip and fingertip control surfaces of a pro DSLR; rather the precise click-whirr of the shutter, the increment spacing of the speed dial, the weight and resistance of the Leica glass.
On a practical level, the near £5000 list price is hard for any working commercial photographer to justify. With new lenses well into four figures in almost every case, the Leica kit I casually wandered around Egypt with (or would have, had there not been advice to remain in the resort that was somewhat reinforced by Kevin and Mark reportedly being told to put the cameras away and go back to the hotel somewhat forcefully) was well into five figures (or to put it into context, enough to buy an entire Red Sea facing apartment outright). Yet unlike a 5DII wrapped in video gear, the M9 was utterly un-noticed; when trying to find an ND filter the local shopkeepers assumed I wanted film for the camera, with little change in attitude to suggest that they now felt I was a wealthy tourist. Perhaps this isn’t what many of Leica’s brand-driven customers want, but I really don’t care what people think I spent on my kit. If the reportage camera attracts less attention, it is a much better tool for the job than the heavy, failsafe DSLR regardless of price.
And failsafe is right. Re- member when you had film?
MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY 16
The Leica M9 and lenses: the genuine Leica mount lenses have a coded optical pattern which is read by the narrow window visible in the lens mount, above, to add EXIF data to the image. Lenses like the Voigtlander 15mm, seen between Leica 75mm and 35mm designs (right), do not have this coding. The shutter of the M9 (top) is limited to 1/4000th instead of the 1/8000th of the earlier, smaller sensor M8 models.
Remember when you got it wrong? There’s no automation here, aside from Aperture prior- ity in a style more at home in the CL/CLE than 2011 (though the bright LED counters in the viewfinder can be read without putting your eye to the glass, allowing a countdown with remote shutter to be performed without risk of shake). Auto ISO is implemented, stepping in to do the best it can when the ex- posure duration exceeds the old rule of 1/focal length (like many features, this can be changed to suit your preferences), but with digital sensor precision and a lack of AA filter pixel-peepers aren’t going to be happy with that unless they have the hands of a stone-cold sniper. The M9 is a precision tool and has to be used with the delicacy and un- derstanding of an artist to shine
– despite that I mostly muddled through with it and got the results I wanted! In a matter of a month, of which only the last week was in good light, I feel I can be forgiven the mistakes of unfamiliarity – and by the end of PTO the Leica was a faithful companion, constantly resting on one shoulder, tracking shots with precision manual focus and the 75mm ƒ2 Summicron. If it weren’t for that price tag, I don’t even think I’d have felt particularly inclined to baby the camera (the black finish will eventually mark, revealing the machined brass underneath – no doubt the posers and tellers of tall stories will be there with the T-Cut according the tough little camera a well travelled patina before resting at the cruise-ship bar), though the classic leather ever-ready case
would help with the “slung by your side” convenience. The Leica M9’s results feel distinctly like a medium format system. Helped by a classic CCD sensor, with a really punchy, accurate colour reproduc- tion and simple yet effective metering and white balance, the lack of an AA filter means that the Leica glass can truly shine. Despite that high resolution, exceeding film comfortably, the Leica Summicron lenses can be stopped right down to ƒ16 without losing any crispness. Moiré can be an issue on some textures, but the only time I felt I was really lacking something in the results was when using the cheaper Voigtländer lenses. The Leica lenses are expensive, undoubtedly, but if I had the money... there’d be no thought process behind it, I’d just buy them confident that I will not get anything better, or as good and cheaper.
Of course, if I had the money I’d drive a 1930s Aston Martin 1.5 Litre, live in a small stately home and employ a valet. I don’t, and compromises have to be made; for the price of a single Leica 75mm ƒ2 Apo, it’s possible to equip the M9 with 15, 35, 50 and 85mm Cosina- made Voigtländer or Zeiss lenses. The £350 or so 15mm is a no-brainer if you have an M8 or M9, a veritable bargain; you do want to stop it down largely because the rangefinder coupling seems just a tad, a whisker, not quite there and there’s a hint of fringing, heavy vignetting and CA to contend with. It’s not a lens that needs to be excused by saying it has “character”, but it’s also not a technically perfect bit of glass. The 35mm ƒ1.4 is the cheap, fast alternative to the standard Leica glass (which even in ƒ2.5 form is well over 3x the cost). The build is a little lighter, the action a little looser, but it’s fine for most applications. If M9 users are stereotypical Bres- son wannabes, the 35mm ƒ1.4 belongs on the shopping list for the ones struggling to justify the cost. There’s a softness to it, and again that slight disparity in the rangefinder, that means that having had access to the Leica one I generally wanted
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