Leica M9: Another Luxurious Camera
Leica M9 reminds us of its predecessor; the M8. It is a rangefinder camera with interchangeable lens option. Most changes are hidden under the hood. With its emphasis on manual operation, the M9 is definitely only for those who know what they are doing.
The robust housing of Leica M9 made of a magnesium alloy; stable and solid. Top and bottom are made of solid brass; the holes for the buttons are recessed. The synthetic leather coating is crisp and provides a good grip, although the coating was a bit too rubbery.
The display is 230,000 pixels with 2.5 inches - that's too small! The viewfinder is a rangefinder, so it has a "separate window", which means that you can not look through the optics.
The compartment for battery and memory card is well positioned. The operation of Leica M9 is simple: no double-assigned keys, no nested menus - this is logical and easy to operate. The M9 insisted on a classic operation, are given a manual mode and an automatic timer. The focusing can only be done manually by an average image overlay. For all those who have never seen something like: Here two transparent double images are superimposed.
Leica M9: How good is it?
Leica M9 can be equipped with its M-mount M lenses of all kinds. As already mentioned, a central characteristic of these lenses is the lack of autofocus. The infrared sensitivity of the predecessor was corrected by a specially designed filter.
The image quality of Leica M9 was described in each test as well. The 18-megapixel resolution, full frame sensor from Kodak with a size of approximately 36 x 24 mm was developed specifically for the M9. Thanks to a new processor and the new data processing paths.
The noise performance of the Leica M9 was praised in all test reports. The lowest sensitivity of ISO is now at 80 - the Leica M8 started only at ISO 160. Between ISO 80 and 800 the camera makes very good results. Starting from ISO 2500 is not perfect anymore, but still usable.
The resolution was also rated well. Up to ISO 1600 still look good. There was a drop by the ISO 2500. However, the test mentioned a slight blur from JPEG images. This is probably due to internal conversion, it doesn’t occur in RAW mode. The RAW mode quality is about equal to high end D-SLR cameras!
The automatic white balance was not perfect, and produced from time to time to cool pictures. The color of the M9 was slightly over-saturated, that is too strong.
Leica M9 offers exposure bracketing of up to 7 frames - very good if you manually photographed and are not sure about the settings. A histogram with warning lights is on board, as manual modification options for sharpness, contrast and saturation. The white balance can be adjusted manually via a Kelvin-display.
The evaluation of the shutter lag is eliminated, since there is no autofocus. After pressing the shutter lag is not even noticeable. The rangefinder is activated in about ½ second.
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Leica M9 Digital Camera Review
Rating: 100% based on 2069 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: the Wicaksonos Family
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Rating: 100% based on 2069 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: the Wicaksonos Family
Thank you for visiting DiGiView - DIGITAL CAMERA REVIEW
