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THE NEW LEICA M Press Release

edwardkaraa

New member
Will non-m mount lenses (eg. Nikkor, etc) be able to be utilized on the new M considering it has live view? I know there are adapters but am not sure if anything else limits their use on the M.
Of course! That's the beauty of the typ 240 :)

Practically any SLR lens can be adapted.
 

volkerhopf

New member
Thank you Jono for this wonderful book.
Cheers, Volker

Hi There John
Good post. Like you, I've spent a lot of time with EVFs now, and the only one which really comes up to scratch is that on the EM5 - sure, it's the same piece of kit as in the VF2, but what's supplied to it is quite different, and it's the image stabilisation and fast refresh rate which makes it really workable.

As Godfrey says, the VF2 works well on the X2, without any obvious disadvantages (tearing, time delay). I have not looked through it on the M yet, so I can't comment on the actual implementation (can you?). I don't even know what the refresh rate will be (presumably it doesn't have to be the same as the video frame rate?)

As far as magnification (zooming) for precise focus is concerned - I agree with you, without IS it's not really useable on longer lenses due to the wobbling about. Which makes it really good that they've implemented focus peaking, which DOES work well with longer lenses, and also works well when stopped down.

The camera is only bigger if you attach all the bits (it is optional!). I'm assuming that the target audience is someone who is a rangefinder shooter, but who occasionally has telephoto and macro intentions (after all, SLR cameras aren't that great as rangefinders).

Licensing the Fuji hybrid finder would presumably have meant dropping the mechanical rangefinder and using the Fuji EVF (which is, IMHO, horrible).

The feedback from those who tried the camera with R lenses at photokina was pretty positive - maybe all is not what you are assuming!

all the best
 

ondebanks

Member
Saw this in the specs PDF on the Leica M website - and got really worried:

Shutter Speed: 1/4000s – 60s (in Bulb)

Does it really max out at a paltry 60 seconds? That would be...unheard of, for a modern CMOS sensor.

Can anyone verify this?

Ray
 

Bob Parsons

New member
Saw this in the specs PDF on the Leica M website - and got really worried:

Shutter Speed: 1/4000s – 60s (in Bulb)

Does it really max out at a paltry 60 seconds? That would be...unheard of, for a modern CMOS sensor.

Can anyone verify this?

Ray
It may not be a limitation of the sensor. It could be the shutter requires an electromagnet be energised to keep it open and that could drain the battery.

Bob.
 

ondebanks

Member
Thanks, Bob. But even SLRs and DSLRs which require a battery to keep the shutter open (AND the mirror up: a further power drain which the Leica M doesn't have) can take a B exposure of at least a couple of hours on a single battery/charge. So...that's hardly it.

Someone must have tested long exposures on the new M by now??

Ray
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Thanks, Bob. But even SLRs and DSLRs which require a battery to keep the shutter open (AND the mirror up: a further power drain which the Leica M doesn't have) can take a B exposure of at least a couple of hours on a single battery/charge. So...that's hardly it.

Someone must have tested long exposures on the new M by now??
There aren't any production new Ms yet to test. ;-)

While many cameras can run extended untimed exposure lengths, most do very very poorly at it: heat buildup causes lots and lots of noise. I don't know many that go much beyond 8 minutes.

If I need extended exposure times longer than a couple of minutes, I usually just pull out a film camera. Then I just have film reciprocity to deal with ...
 

jonoslack

Active member
Saw this in the specs PDF on the Leica M website - and got really worried:

Shutter Speed: 1/4000s – 60s (in Bulb)

Does it really max out at a paltry 60 seconds? That would be...unheard of, for a modern CMOS sensor.

Can anyone verify this?

Ray
HI Ray
I'm not sure where you saw this, but I don't think it's right

all the best
 

ondebanks

Member
There aren't any production new Ms yet to test. ;-)
OK, cool. I was just thinking that reviewers usually get their hands on early samples well before they hit the general market.

While many cameras can run extended untimed exposure lengths, most do very very poorly at it: heat buildup causes lots and lots of noise. I don't know many that go much beyond 8 minutes.
8 minutes is nothing really. Astro exposures are often much longer than that. I routinely shoot 2 minute subs at ISO 1600 on a 5DII...same dark noise impact as 16 minutes at ISO 200. And that's without any real need for dark-frame subtraction.

If I need extended exposure times longer than a couple of minutes, I usually just pull out a film camera. Then I just have film reciprocity to deal with ...
...and poor shadow detail. But I do it too, albeit more for other reasons (like spectral response, and just using certain film cameras that I love) than for avoiding dark noise.

Ray
 

dhsimmonds

New member
There are no production M's anywhere right now.

I was at a Fellowship group visit to Leica's smart suite in Mayfair, London on Tuesday hoping to see one, even if it was only a pre-production model. The M-E was available, the Paul Smith X2 and the Pana Leica latest offerings, but that was all.

In fact the top staff and management were available to answer questions and it soon became very apparent that they have very little information to hand about the M or the R lens adaptor. However they did state that a form of focus peaking will be included but they couldn't answer my question whether this would be available with the accessory Visoflex (Olympus) EVF viewfinder, it will definitely be included when viewing the LCD screen.

Most of them had handled the M at Photokina, purely momentarily as it was quickly snatched away from them. They did say however that the final specifications were not determined and once they were, Leica sales and technical staff would be advised.

The target date for launch is January, but they couldn't advise which year!! (Fellowship joke!:D) At the same time as the M is launched the M9 will cease production, but the Monochrom will continue in it's present form.

We were let loose in their bespoke studio fitted with massive Elinchrom Strobes and an S2 tethered to a MacPRo with two Eizo screens.

The new S2 may be available as early as December this year and the changes are very useful indeed, with sharper AF and many other smaller but important changes for pro photographers. The new leaf shutter lenses will also be rolled out starting next year. The S2 is a very desirable camera indeed and the drooling started the second my hands landed on it! :thumbs:

Pity I am trying to cut down on camera bulk and weight. :facesmack:
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
OK, cool. I was just thinking that reviewers usually get their hands on early samples well before they hit the general market.
Early samples aren't distributed yet. All the folks who have hands-on experience with the new M were the folks who went to Photokina and worked with the pre-production prototypes there, with possibly one exception I know of. Those cameras had the SD cards glued into the socket to prevent any samples being extracted as they're not ready yet. The one exception I know of had some experience outside of Photokina, and he hasn't released any of his test photos due to NDA. He did say, however, that his evaluation of the sensor data shows quite positive results from a technical point of view with respect to dynamic range and sensitivity.

8 minutes is nothing really. Astro exposures are often much longer than that. I routinely shoot 2 minute subs at ISO 1600 on a 5DII...same dark noise impact as 16 minutes at ISO 200. And that's without any real need for dark-frame subtraction. ...
That's quite the exception in my experience so far. I'd keep my hands on that camera if I was doing the niche photographic work you are. :)

I think in the past decade I've made five exposures that went past 120 seconds, other than for testing. I did make a bunch of 20-50 second exposures a couple of years ago. Obviously, I don't do much astrophotography.
 
N

Nilrem

Guest
Yes , good idea the red focus confirmation dot. I miss not having an Exposure Lock button on my M9. The alternatives are all slower and less convenient. Most of my cameras in the past 10 years have had one - even my Hasselblad 203 FE.
I can not recall anyone regretting its absence. I wonder if I am the only one?
 

FrozenInTime

New member
I miss not having an Exposure Lock button on my M9. ...I can not recall anyone regretting its absence. I wonder if I am the only one?
If the camera advance mode is set to standard or discrete ( not soft or soft and discrete ) a half press provides AE lock - that's enough for me.
For multi frame e.g. stitched panoramas, switching to manual is worth the effort.
 

rondeb

New member
Can anyone confirm for certain that the extra 5mm in width(new M vs. M9) is only due to the thumbwheel?
I cannot find this confirmed anywhere and a bit concerned this body is going to be a D2 brick. I do wish for an MP size digital M, though that looks like a ways off.

Love to hear more thoughts on the size from those that have fondled... I mean, handled, the new M.

Thanks,
Ron
 

erudolph

Member
Can anyone confirm for certain that the extra 5mm in width(new M vs. M9) is only due to the thumbwheel?
I cannot find this confirmed anywhere and a bit concerned this body is going to be a D2 brick. I do wish for an MP size digital M, though that looks like a ways off.

Love to hear more thoughts on the size from those that have fondled... I mean, handled, the new M.

Thanks,
Ron
At a recent Leica Akademie, Justin Stailey, Leica M-system product specialist, put it this way: that the difference in width has to do with the point at which the measurement is taken. In other words, as I understood him, the thumbwheel accounts for the extra 5mm.
 

rondeb

New member
At a recent Leica Akademie, Justin Stailey, Leica M-system product specialist, put it this way: that the difference in width has to do with the point at which the measurement is taken. In other words, as I understood him, the thumbwheel accounts for the extra 5mm.

Still sounds so cryptic, does it not?
 

jonoslack

Active member
Hi There
Well, the easiest comparison is looking at the base plate of the camera (which is also the width of the top plate).
I have it on good authority (the very best) that the base plate of the new M is about 0.6mm wider than that of the M9 - that's about the thickness of the baseplate metal on your M9.
So, with respect to Ron's question - yes - I can confirm that the extra 5mm is due to the thumbwheel, however there IS a difference, but it's very small indeed.
In a blind test you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Is that Un Cryptic enough :)
 
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