Leica 18 Megapixels M9-P Professional Rangefinder Hands-on Review by ePhotoZine
2011-08-01 08:10 | Source
On June 21 2011, Leica announced the M9-P, a variant of its 18 Megapixels 24 x 36mm sensor (35mm format) full-frame M9 rangefinder camera. The P version gains the scratch-resistant & sapphire crystal LCD glass previously seen on the Leica M8.2 but now featuring improved anti-reflective coatings for improved visibility in difficult lighting conditions. In order to give an understated appearance, the M9-P omits the traditional Leica red dot and M9 designation from the front of the camera, instead the Leica name is engaved in the metal top-plate in the company's traditional script. The Leica M9-P is available in two different finishes, black paint or traditional silver chrome, selling at an MSRP of $7,995. Here's the summary of hands-on review by ePhotoZine:
"The camera has great ergonomics, with manual controls you can set the aperture, shutter speed, and not have to confirm the settings are correct by looking at the menus or screen, the information is available right in front of you whether the camera is on or off. The build quality is extremely solid with a metal body and brass top and bottom plates, as well as a leather like cover, it feels very well made. Menus give access to all the settings in one long menu, so that you scroll through them till you get to the options you want. Thankfully you should very rarely need to access them, as you can change most settings using the external controls. Lens focusing is extremely pleasant with the finger grip on the Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 lens, shown above, making it very easy to focus quickly. The camera has an instant shutter response, thanks to manual focus, aperture and shutter speeds, you just press the button and the instant you press, it takes the photo. This makes the camera ideal for capturing the moment, and with an extremely quiet shutter it is ideal for street photography.
The image quality and performance of the Leica M9-P is the same as the Leica M9, and the camera has great image quality with low noise, and detailed images. The files are very clean and smooth, with very little processing happening in camera, which makes a refreshing change compared to some other cameras. This means that you have images than can be altered without showing up any artefacts. The Leica M9-P digital rangefinder is a more discreet, yet more expensive M9 with improved screen protection. Whether this will be of benefit to you or not will be entirely down to your use of the camera. If you are a street photographer where you simply can't risk drawing attention to yourself or the camera, then the removal of the bright red dot is probably of great benefit. Although a cheaper method could simply be to put black tape over the red dot on the Leica M9. Either way, the Leica M9-P and Leica M9 are both very high quality products, and very pleasing to use."
Leica M9-P Sample Photos on Flickr
Leica M9-P Camera Reviews Roundup
| pdn: "Since the innards of the M9-P haven't changed at all from the M9-aside from a few firmware updates along the way-I'll say the same thing now as I said back then about image quality: it's outstanding in daylight and mixed light with superior dynamic range. Of course, Leica's top notch M-series lenses also help and the two I shot with-the 24mm f/3.8 Elmar M ($2,495) and 35mm f/1.4 Summilux-M ($4,995)-were, um, pr..." - Sep 14 2011 More » | |
| Pocket-lint: "The insides and the workings of the camera are otherwise identical but, perversely, one of the other few aesthetic differences is the addition of a large - and very attractive - Leica freehand-style engraved signature to the top of the case. So, face-on snappers can be more incognito but do beware if your would-be thief has a view from above. The signature addition actually dates back to the design of the Leica..." - Jul 29 2011 More » |
Leica M9-P Reviews Roundup [Total 2 Reviews] »
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