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My humble observation

douglasf13

New member
For me, for most of the time, my M9 is pretty responsive. The only time I have issue is occassionally, when I switch to discrete shutter mode, the camera seems to take a long time after I press the shutter to come back to ready mode. It will go like click, then wait, wait..... 10+ secs later, I hear the shutter advance. Even though I release the shutter immediately. This never happen to me when I am in standard mode.
Are you using the latest firmware? The latest firmware screwed up discrete mode, so I went back to the previous firmware.
 

douglasf13

New member
That's why I said you'd better not try one.
The shutter is lovely - it isn't just the sound, it's also the feel, which is delicious.
But there is less shutter lag, and the camera writes to cards faster and just feels quicker.
Your wants are the same as mine, which is why I said not to try it! (you'll be doomed).
I don't doubt the shutter feel is nicer. Granted, I only use M9's soft release mode, so I'm fine with the shutter. I guess I'm comfortable enough with the "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-ness" of the M9's shutter to not warrant an upgrade simply for that reason, although that is the most compelling thing about the new camera, to me. I'd better not try it out! :)

I've been working on the Eggleston approach of only shooting one or two frames and moving on, so the buffer is no issue to me these days.
 

VINCET

Member
Jono, my problem is that even without trying it, I already want it. But my wallet and bank account just do not agree with me

Vince
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Responsive in what way? Maybe I'm not privy to all of the improvements.
The reviews and reports all mentioned that the M had substantially faster write to storage, opened images to the LCD and executed zooms and shifts much more swiftly, and had less shutter release lag as well. The slow and somewhat noisy shutter re-cock of the M9 was stated as being quieter and quicker.

How much improvement I wasn't sure until last evening. One of my lucky local friends received his new M and we got together for coffee. Everything Jono says is true: once you handle the new M side by side with the M9, you will see very clearly that this is a more refined camera in almost every way with respect to its mechanicals and controls. The shutter sounds much nicer, the shutter release is greatly improved, the LED illuminated framelines are clearer and easier to see. It writes to storage nearly as fast as you can press the shutter release; I don't know how big the frame buffer is, but I wasn't able to push it to making me wait in the brief few minutes I had to press it last evening. (I don't often shoot so rapidly, but there have been several times when I was making photos of friends and trying to capture expressions that the M9's 5 frame buffer and slow write speed made me wait.) Pressing the review button snapped the image onto the LCD much more quickly.

Etc etc. These are the serious improvements to me, they make the M more invisible and less distracting when shooting. A bit more sensitivity is good, the Live View lends the camera more versatility, etc etc, but the overall elevation of responsiveness is the big deal.

You can't catch The Decisive Moment if the camera is too busy winding its shutter for the next exposure when it happens... ;-)

G

(A $7000 chunk of my 2014 budget has been allocated.)
 

jonoslack

Active member
Hi Godfrey. (And Douglas)
I clearly remember my first impressions when I took the camera away from Solms nearly six months ago. I think they finished building it whilst I waited! You've described it very well. I'm still using that camera at the moment, there are a few gotchas ( long since fixed in more recent iterations ). But the point is that it's the camera one would have liked the M9 to be.
The Live view/EVF stuff maybe just fluff, but it's fun fluff, but the real point is the camera as an M, I want one ! Hopefully mine comes next week, just in time for the trip to China. Lens selection is more of an issue!
 

douglasf13

New member
In what way is the shutter feel improved over soft release mode? I'd welcome that change, for sure, but for $7k (or an extra $3.5k,) I'm not sure that it would be worth it over the M9. None of the rewind or buffer stuff bothers me.

BTW, any news on the camera turn-on time? I remember reading in a couple of places that it took a little time, but I haven't seen any followups on it.
 

BANKER1

Member
Leica website, in the technical section for the M, states startup (turn-on-time), "Approximately one second".

Greg
 

jstaben

Member
Vince you will get one...if not now then someday. Good news for someone with GAS like yourself is that even if you wanted one you won't be able to for a long time!
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
In what way is the shutter feel improved over soft release mode? I'd welcome that change, for sure, but for $7k (or an extra $3.5k,) I'm not sure that it would be worth it over the M9. None of the rewind or buffer stuff bothers me.

BTW, any news on the camera turn-on time? I remember reading in a couple of places that it took a little time, but I haven't seen any followups on it.
I don't have a way to quantify "shutter release feel". It feels smoother, more positive and precise, without the gratchy movement of the M9 shutter release.

I didn't notice anything unusual about the camera turn on time, but then I have never noticed that the M9 was slow or fast there either. Both cameras seemed to power on as fast as I needed.

The differences might not be worth the price to you. But, ten minutes of playing with one and I know it would be a nicer camera to use for me. Is that $7000 worth of nice? I have no idea, that's a heck of a chunk of change, but if I have the spare $7000 to toss at it I'll give it a shot.

And I am actually, really, very happy with the M9 just as it is. The new M just has that nice addition of "more goodness" to it.

G
 

douglasf13

New member
Yeah, I'll just have to try it out, Godfrey. I think regular shutter mode on the M9 is pretty bad, with its three positions, but, since I don't use A mode, I stick with "soft" release and its two positions, which feels pretty good to me.

There has been a hint or two that Leica may have more M models in the pipeline. If that is so, I'd love to see something that takes the M mechanical improvements, skips all of the other non-rangefinder stuff, and comes in at a lower price, but I don't have my hopes up, and the price of the M 240 is lower than I expected, anyways.
 

PeterA

Well-known member
My humble observation is that Leica have released somewhere between 40-150 cameras - so far.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I have read on LUF that start up time is 3 sec. If true, it is on the slower side.
As I said in a prior response, I didn't notice anything slow about it. I turned it on and it was ready to shoot by the time I had it at my eye. Nothing struck me one way or another as being different compared to the M9 or any of my other digital cameras (E-1, GXR, etc) when it comes to startup time.

... Right on, PeterA. ;-)

G
 
S

sheikh

Guest
how about image quality M 240 vs dmr, for 16x24 inch enlargement.
 

douglasf13

New member
how about image quality M 240 vs dmr, for 16x24 inch enlargement.
Assuming ideal conditions and similar lens performance, an 8.5" x 13" print from the DMR will be about the same quality as an 11.5" x 17" print from the M9 and a 13" x 20" print from the M 240, give or take.
 
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