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M9?

Moonshine

New member
:eek: As Leica are replacing cracked sensors for free (cracked without warning in normal use) this can only be because it was cracked by being dropped.

Moonshine, I think you could ask if the sensor has been replaced whe buying an M9, and if it has put that camera to the top of your list. I haven't heard of any cracking twice. But cracked sensors are rare in the overall number of M9's sold and the reason we talk about them is because of the internet, not because it has been seen on the TV news.

I think you could also ask what the shutter count is, the hex number in the 'Unique Image ID' section of the EXIF file, not the file number on the SD card. Shutters are good for upwards of 150,000 actuations, and a lot of hard used M9's have gone well above that without problems.

And if you are going to a dealers to try an M9 take with you two different brands of SD card and use the camera with each, ideally take a San Disk Extreme as one, to see if you can make the camera mis-behave. Some seem to be sensitive to SD card brand, others aren't, and the head scratching still goes on about why. Try the camera at all distances with a known and trusted lens to check focusing accuracy.

Other than those small issues I really think you could assume that most M9's for sale in the next few weeks/months, are being sold for genuine reasons because the owner is buying an M240, so there is likely to be far less risk in the gene pool from people off loading because of an undisclosed problem. In this sense a genuine Leica dealer taking trade-in's would be the ideal person to buy from, any good dealer will charge a reasonable market price and give a six month or year warranty and will be happy to turn his stock around quickly.

Steve
Thanks for all the tips Steve :)
I'm going with a M9P from a fellow forum member! Very excited as i wasn't considering one but it fell in my lap!
 

250swb

Member
Thanks for all the tips Steve :)
I'm going with a M9P from a fellow forum member! Very excited as i wasn't considering one but it fell in my lap!
Well done!

To make you feel even better about your purchase have a look at Sean Reid's review and comparison of the M9, MM, and M. If you aren't subscribed it isn't much to pay, but well worth it, especially to see that the basic image quality of the M9 is pretty well equal to the new M, except at higher ISO's, and then by only 1.5 stops.

Steve
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Well done!

To make you feel even better about your purchase have a look at Sean Reid's review and comparison of the M9, MM, and M. If you aren't subscribed it isn't much to pay, but well worth it, especially to see that the basic image quality of the M9 is pretty well equal to the new M, except at higher ISO's, and then by only 1.5 stops.

Steve
Sorry for the digression ...

Some of Sean's reviews have been interesting, but I've honestly not found any of them much real use. And his obnoxious insistence on mediocre flash presentation makes them almost unreadable for me. I subscribed for last year and found it an utter waste of $30 due to the misery of the reading experience.

He should simply wrap up his articles as PDF files and sell them individually for $1-5 apiece. Add encryption if you're paranoid so that only people with a code can use them.

... and now back to our regular program. :)

G
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Well done!

To make you feel even better about your purchase have a look at Sean Reid's review and comparison of the M9, MM, and M. If you aren't subscribed it isn't much to pay, but well worth it, especially to see that the basic image quality of the M9 is pretty well equal to the new M, except at higher ISO's, and then by only 1.5 stops.

Steve
Reid Reviews are a great suggestion. I paid for a subscription in the past and it's a great resource for M lens performance reviews in a controlled environment. It helped me make some of my decisions on what to buy or not buy (along with looking at lens rendering on Flickr.) While much of the same information can be found scattered over the internet it's a good resource IMO that saves time.
 

250swb

Member
Sorry for the digression ...

Some of Sean's reviews have been interesting, but I've honestly not found any of them much real use.
For the rest of us the first 'scientific' comparison between the M9 and the M240 (and MM) has thrown up some surprises that run against many expectations of the new camera. But nobody has to be interested if they don't want to.


Steve
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
For the rest of us the first 'scientific' comparison between the M9 and the M240 (and MM) has thrown up some surprises that run against many expectations of the new camera. But nobody has to be interested if they don't want to.
I generally just don't find camera comparisons to be all that useful for me as a photographer. They're interesting for me as geeky tech head ... :) ... But Sean's reviews present too many obstacles for me to enjoy reading them anyway.

G
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
I generally just don't find camera comparisons to be all that useful for me as a photographer. They're interesting for me as geeky tech head ... :) ... But Sean's reviews present too many obstacles for me to enjoy reading them anyway.

G
Godfrey, aesthetics of the site (which I wholeheartedly agree is quite primitive) would you say the factual and scientific comparisons of the lens reviews weren't worth the $33?

I know value is subjective, but in my case (and I'm sure some others) I know the reviews actually saved me money or gave me an objective view of lenses (and maybe camera bodies too) that I was curious about and some that weren't particularly on my radar at times. I think that alone was worth the price of admission and putting up with the archaic site.
 

250swb

Member
It is just a shame that whenever Sean Reid is mentioned the discussion turns towards his web site, rather than the content of his web site. I'm not in the market for an MM or M (240), but his approach to testing is both analytical yet also exhibits common sense in his conclusions. If I upgrade a digital camera I usually wait and jump a generation, so its good to know my M9 ain't broke yet :)

(oh I shouldn't have said that last thing, 'they' will be onto me with 'its not the camera its the photographer' and 'I'm still using the camera my grandfather used and its OK for me', oh no, I'm typing what I'm thinking again, stop it Steve....)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Godfrey, aesthetics of the site (which I wholeheartedly agree is quite primitive) would you say the factual and scientific comparisons of the lens reviews weren't worth the $33?

I know value is subjective, but in my case (and I'm sure some others) I know the reviews actually saved me money or gave me an objective view of lenses (and maybe camera bodies too) that I was curious about and some that weren't particularly on my radar at times. I think that alone was worth the price of admission and putting up with the archaic site.
Not for me. Getting to the information was so clumsy that I never bothered to look around very much, and even the three or four pieces I tried to read I never really got through in toto. There was one piece he wrote that I really really wanted to read and I went through the aggravation of snapshotting each window and compositing them together into a PDF to make it minimally readable. That's when I said, "enough."

Sorry, but the topic will come up when Sean Reid's site and subscription is recommended, for me. The only way to see what's there is to pay, so you don't know how crappy it is until you have paid your money. At which point, he assumes that you've plundered his information if you ask for a refund. I find the site useless, but I what I really object to is his attitude towards paying customers. Everyone is a thief looking to rob him, personally.

G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
... If I upgrade a digital camera I usually wait and jump a generation, so its good to know my M9 ain't broke yet :)

(oh I shouldn't have said that last thing, 'they' will be onto me with 'its not the camera its the photographer' and 'I'm still using the camera my grandfather used and its OK for me', oh no, I'm typing what I'm thinking again, stop it Steve....)
LOL! ;-)

I haven't had much time to work my photography of late, other stuff has really gotten in the way, but I'm heading off to the UK for three weeks at the end of March on holiday. I'll bring my M9, two-three lenses, and a Balda Baldix 6x6 folder. Might as well head back to the future...

Godfrey
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Not for me. Getting to the information was so clumsy that I never bothered to look around very much, and even the three or four pieces I tried to read I never really got through in toto. There was one piece he wrote that I really really wanted to read and I went through the aggravation of snapshotting each window and compositing them together into a PDF to make it minimally readable. That's when I said, "enough."

Sorry, but the topic will come up when Sean Reid's site and subscription is recommended, for me. The only way to see what's there is to pay, so you don't know how crappy it is until you have paid your money. At which point, he assumes that you've plundered his information if you ask for a refund. I find the site useless, but I what I really object to is his attitude towards paying customers. Everyone is a thief looking to rob him, personally.

G
Fair enough. Oh and BTW I hope you didn't take my question as confrontational. I know tone, sarcasm, etc. isn't necessarily translated through a keyboard. I'm all about objectivity though and you can't have objectivity without opposing thought.

As for me I agree that the flash site is primitive but I found the reviews to be informative overall. I don't agree with EVERYTHING he likes/ dislikes at time but his site did open up my eyes to the 90 Summicron Pre-AA that I bought instead of going the 90AA or Zeiss 85/2 route. That alone "saved" me about $2500 or so at the time (that I eventually put into a 24 Elmar that he rated highly along with other reviews.)
 

Zoffdino

New member
I got my M8 just a little over two years ago, for $3000, a year after the M9 was released. It was my first digital M and boy, it was good. Never need any maintenance, only the occasional sensor clean that you have to do anyway.

Most Leica owners are aware of the resale value and want to keep their gears in good working order. The Paypal system actually help deter untruthful cases, as Paypal tends to favor the buyer in case of conflicts. My rule of thumb is try it out vigorously in the first 3 days. If I have any dissatisfaction with it, I will send an email to the sell, asking for a partial or total refund.
 
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