Now it is one year since I started photographing with Leica M9, and would like to share my thoughts here. It became my main camera, and I am rather happy about it. M9 suits very well my shooting technique, as well as my photographic style. In the film era, I used M6, so I know Leica. But I also use the Nikon/Fuji system.
What about the M9? It is strong, light, and unobtrusive. However, it attracts attention because it looks like an old film camera, and people get surprised sometimes. It has a very good image quality. It is manual, easiest to operate for a self-controlling photographer. Only three parameters to deal with: shutter speed, aperture and focussing. In this sense, M9 is very fast to handle. The RAW files it produces (DNG) are very good to post-process with Lightroom. One opportunity which is very appealing: I can use old Russian LTM lenses, some of which are very good and cheap. Apart from Summicrons, I like my Jupiter 3 and Industar 61LD.
It has been a lot of M9 praise in the forums of connoisseurs, therefore I would just say: it is a good work camera which suits most of my needs. I suppose you might be more interested what the cons of the camera are. At least for me the cons are:
- slow writing speed and a small buffer. M9 is not that instant as the film camera was. Especially in low light, when M9 starts its noise reduction and you have to wait for several seconds (!) before you can shoot again. Imagine how many moments you lose in a quickly changing situation.
- it is a bit noisy. I do not mean the sensor noise (which is OK for me), but sound. The sound of shutter cocking is — maybe not that loud, but quite high in tone — too much “bzzzzt” for silent situations like theatre, concert or a meeting.
- no weather sealing. I have had no problems yet, but I avoid using the camera in wet conditions like rain or sailing. In this case I switch to Fujifilm S5 instead, to be on a safe side. This my concern about Leica getting wet is a considerable limit in my work.
- Grip. It is not THAT important, I admire the classic approach of Leica line. Is is rather my personal issue, because I hold a camera in my hand, not over the neck. A similar camera, Epson RD1, has for instance better grip. That is why I bought an attachable hand grip for my M9.
In this website, pictures from Paris, Back to Russia and Sardegna are taken with Leica M9.
