Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-04-04)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 4 April 2020 49

T

heM9wasn’tthefirstdigitalLeicarangefinder– thathonour

wentto theM8,whicharrivedthreeyearspriorto theM9’s

release.WhereastheM8hada croppedsensor,theM9was

thefirstfull-framedigitalcameraforLeicaM-mountusers.

TheM9’s18.5-million-pixelKodakCCDsensorwasn’twithoutfault

though.In 2014Leicaacknowledgeda sensorcorrosionissue,identified

byunusualspotsonimageswithwhitehalosaroundthem,triggeringa

sensorreplacementprogramto fix theproblem.Thesensor’snative

sensitivityspansISO160-2500,it hasa small2.5in,230k-pixelLCD

screenat therearandit featurestwoexposuremodes:fullymanual,

withunder/overexposureindicatedin theviewfinder;andaperture

priority.Beingmanualfocusonly,it’scompatiblewithallM-mountlenses

manufacturedsince 1954 andlikeallrangefindersthefinderis

effectivelyjusta windowthatoffers,in thecaseof theM9,the

approximatefieldof viewof a 28mmlens.Atfocallengthsbetween

28mmand135mmtheframecoverageis indicatedby‘brightlines’and

lenseswiderthan28mmmust be usedwithaccessoryfinders.

Leica M9

Ataglance

£989-£2079

bodyonly(viaMPB.com)

●18.5MPfull-frameCCDsensor

●ISO160-2500(expandabletoISO80)

●2.5in,230,000-pixelLCDscreen

●2fpscontinuous shooting

●589g

What wesaid

●‘Insomewaystheentire

camerarepresentsa collection

of photographicanachronisms’

●‘TheM9hasfaults,notleast a

sluggishprocessoranda

dust-pronesensor’

●‘TheM9feelslikebotha

“proper”Leicaanda “proper”

digitalcameraat thesametime’

●‘Itsmeteringsystemis basic

buteffective,andAWBis

capablein mostenvironments’

●‘Theshutteris louderthanthat

of previous M-series cameras’

Whattopay

MPBstocksa goodselectionof

usedLeicacameras,including

LeicaS SeriesandLeicaT Series

bodies.Aswithallusedcameras,

thepriceyoucanexpecttopay

fora second-handM9varies.An

exampledeemedtobein

excellentconditionwitha

replacedsensorandonlythe

lightestsignsof cosmeticwear

willcostin theregionof £1,979,

whereasa well-usedexample

witha fewscuffscanbepicked

up for around £1,334.

Newalternatives

Leicahasreleasednofewerthan

13 digitalrangefinderssincethe

M9.TheLeicaM10arrivedin

2017 andfeaturedidentical

dimensionstotheLeicaM series

filmcameras.TheLeicaM10-P,

launchedin 2018,hasa 24MP

sensorliketheM10,buthasa

quietershutter,touchscreenand

electroniclevelfunction.The

latestmodelis theLeicaM10

Monochrom.It’sphysically

similartotheM10/M10-Pand

hasa 40MPsensorthatdelivers

stunningblack & white images.

WetakealookbackatLeica’sfull-

frame digital rangefi nder from 2009

USED CAMERAS Testbench

TheM9’s

electronically

controlled

shuttersupports

a maximum

flashsyncspeed

of 1/180sec

SeeovertofindoutwhatLeicaM9owners have to say

IN ASSOCIATION WITH MPB | WWW.MPB.COM

+Superbbuildquality

+Producesexquisiteimagesat lowISO

+Displaysviewfinderbrightlines

(28-135mm)

+CompatiblewithallM-mountlenses

• Originalsufferedfromsensor
  corrosionissue


• Wideanglelensesrequire an
  accessoryfinder


• Sluggish processor

For and against

SECOND-HAND HALL OF FAME

The2.5in,230k-dotscreenattherear

is considered small by today’s standards

Physically,theM9is verysimilartothe

M8.2 and shares the same legacy styling

GOLD

Howit farestoday

TheLeicaM9is startingtoshow

itsage,especiallywhenyou

compareitsspecstomodern

rangefinders.Itsmaximum

framerateof 2fps,230k-dot

LCDscreen,andobviousnoise

at ISO 640 andabovemightput

somepeopleoff,butwhenyou

nailthefocusanduseit between

ISO100-400,theimage

qualityproducedbytheM9is

exquisite.Thebatterylastsfor

around 350 shotspercharge,

butwithnoin-cameracharging

it’s a good idea to buy a spare.