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Discount Voucher for Leica M

craigrudlin

New member
Josh at Dale Photo (Leica Miami Store) posted this on reddotforum. I
thought I should pass it along and also ask the obvious question:

why the discount now? Is a new M on the horizon?


Beginning Saturday, November 15, 2014 and running through January 31, 2015, Leica Camera is offering a $750 instant voucher towards the purchase of a brand new Leica M (Typ 240) in black or silver chrome, and a $250 instant voucher towards the purchase of nearly any brand new M-System lens, with the exception of the newly announced f/2.4 Summarits, Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH in Silver Chrome, Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH in Silver Chrome, and the APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH.
 

retow

Member
The reason might simply be the recent strength of the USD as compared to the Euro and making USD sticker prices look high in comparison.
Will be interesting to see whether similar discounts will be offered in other markets.
 

toyfel

New member
There are also dealers in Europe that offer the M240 with some discount. As much as I hope a new M were to be released soon, I think the current rebate is rather a sign of customers preferring to buy the "new" M-P even though its more expensive than the M. So it seems dealers are not getting rid of their M240's at the regular price.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I would love an M type 240 or M-P type 240. But even with a discount, I don't want to spend the money for it this year.

G
 

FrozenInTime

New member
There are also dealers in Europe that offer the M240 with some discount. As much as I hope a new M were to be released soon, I think the current rebate is rather a sign of customers preferring to buy the "new" M-P even though its more expensive than the M. So it seems dealers are not getting rid of their M240's at the regular price.
Strangely the M-P is discounted in the UK by a GBP 500 trade in allowance - the M.240 is not discounted.

I don't like the M.240/M-P body shape and other things, so am skipping the series; this plan allowed me to acquire a M-A.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Bear in mind that 2015 should be the year that the 240 will be replaced.
If it would sport a BSI sensor, I may be interested. I don't know if their current sensor supplier have that kind of technology.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
If it would sport a BSI sensor, I may be interested. I don't know if their current sensor supplier have that kind of technology.
I absolutely agree! At least BSI, if not that new APCS sensor technology!
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Strangely the M-P is discounted in the UK by a GBP 500 trade in allowance - the M.240 is not discounted.

I don't like the M.240/M-P body shape and other things, so am skipping the series; this plan allowed me to acquire a M-A.
Hmm. Well, in my hands, the M typ 240 and the M9 are virtually indistinguishable in terms of shape and size, only difference being the thumb rest and slightly heavier (larger battery) of the M. But I do like the feel of the film Ms more, which is why I have the M4-2 and the X typ 113.

G
 

Robert Campbell

Well-known member
Hmm. Well, in my hands, the M typ 240 and the M9 are virtually indistinguishable in terms of shape and size, only difference being the thumb rest and slightly heavier (larger battery) of the M. But I do like the feel of the film Ms more, which is why I have the M4-2 and the X typ 113.

G
I've always thought that the M3 was the ultimate in aesthetics, form following function. The digital Ms are just too thick (and heavy).

I don't fully understand why the digital Ms are the shape they are. Steve Jobs, it's said, used to chuck prototypes of the iPod into an aquarium; if there was a bubble or two, he told his engineers to make them smaller.

The Minox 35 and Olympus X series were the ultimate in compact cameras in their day, showing that a size reduction is possible; the Ricoh GR seems to be the nearest equivalent today.

If the argument is that a digital camera requires space for the electronic gubbins, a battery and a screen; well, it doesn't have a film cassette or a take-up spool, or a pressure plate etc. Even the latest M version without a screen isn't any thinner.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I've always thought that the M3 was the ultimate in aesthetics, form following function. The digital Ms are just too thick (and heavy).

I don't fully understand why the digital Ms are the shape they are. Steve Jobs, it's said, used to chuck prototypes of the iPod into an aquarium; if there was a bubble or two, he told his engineers to make them smaller.
...
If the argument is that a digital camera requires space for the electronic gubbins, a battery and a screen; well, it doesn't have a film cassette or a take-up spool, or a pressure plate etc. Even the latest M version without a screen isn't any thinner.
The iPod is designed from scratch to be what it is and has no need for mechanical compatibility with lenses. So whether this apocyrphal tale of Steve's design input is true or not, it's not relevant.

The problem is that the digital Ms have to support the same mount register as the film Ms in order for the lenses to interchange properly, and that the sensor stack plus focal plane shutter is 8 to 9 mm thicker than the pressure plate, film track, and shutter on a film M. That inevitably makes the body 10mm thicker.

The Sony A7/r/s are very compact FF digital cameras. However, if you look at the Sony A7/r/s, the image plane in the body is 10mm from the back of the body and they've squeezed everything else into as compact a space as possible. Add the M-mount to E-mount adapter tube, and the thickness of the body from lens flange to rear LCD is identical to the digital Ms.

Leica felt, whether rightly or not, that the style of the digital Ms had to mirror the style of the film Ms. So rather than put a standoff turret for the lens mount on the front, they made the entire body thicker to suit. There are probably issues having to do with the coupling for the mechanical rangefinder that affect these design decisions.

The LCD screen takes up only a couple of mm at the back of the body housing, so just taking it out doesn't change the basic shape, dictated by the lens mount register and the depth of the shutter/sensor assembly.

G
 

jaapv

Subscriber Member
Once one has been using the digital M cameras for a while, the film Ms feel uncomfortably thin.
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Re: Leica M Aesthetics

The problem is that the digital Ms have to support the same mount register as the film Ms in order for the lenses to interchange properly, and that the sensor stack plus focal plane shutter is 8 to 9 mm thicker than the pressure plate, film track, and shutter on a film M. That inevitably makes the body 10mm thicker.
...
Leica felt, whether rightly or not, that the style of the digital Ms had to mirror the style of the film Ms. So rather than put a standoff turret for the lens mount on the front, they made the entire body thicker to suit. There are probably issues having to do with the coupling for the mechanical rangefinder that affect these design decisions.

The LCD screen takes up only a couple of mm at the back of the body housing, so just taking it out doesn't change the basic shape, dictated by the lens mount register and the depth of the shutter/sensor assembly.

G
When Leica removed the LCD from the back of the M60 (digital M6) they replaced it with the replica ISO setting scale -- my favorite piece of technology nostalgia. Since Leica only very recently made it easy to mess with ISO setting, I've been missing that dial. On my M2 it tells me what is loaded, now it quite naturally tells the camera. And that is perhaps where the LCD thickness went.

From the Mark Norton teardowns of his M8, you can see that there is not much space empty on the battery side (many DSLR and mirrorless cameras make the battery holder into an extended handgrip). And little of the mechanical layout has changed going from M8 to M9 to the Ms. Even though the frame lever has gone away, the internal linkage is still there, as people who sharpie-code non-Leica lenses are aware.

scott
 
Because they need to shift some cameras before the Monochrom version of the M distracts attention from the core model, and of course the demise of the M240 itself in 2015.

Steve[/QUOTE
The discount is for US and Canada only and there is a 250 US$ discount also on many lenses (again US and Canada Only).
Does the above fit in any speculation about new replacement products?
I doubt.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Re: Leica M Aesthetics

... Even though the frame lever has gone away, the internal linkage is still there, as people who sharpie-code non-Leica lenses are aware.
What linkage are you referring to that would affect the "sharpie-code non-Leica" lenses? I use sharpie coded Voigtländer lenses and am not aware of any linkage to the frameline selector that does anything but adjust the frame lines. Far as I'm aware, that's all mechanical on the M9, and simply tells the illuminator in the M and later which frames to light up. The frameline selector works the same for all lenses too AFAIK ... the coding informs the image processor what lens is being used which injects the appropriate EXIF metadata and runs the lens correction algorithm. I don't think it does anything with the frameline selector.

G
 
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