[Leica] Looking for Advice: I have an M9 - it's 2024 - should I consider upgrading to an M11?

[Frank Filippone]

This is the kind of tainted belief I spoke of....and why the M9 will always be considered a pariah

"....

And I'd be nervous depending on
an M9-generation camera as my primary working instrument, because they can
suddenly fall afoul of unfixable problems.
...."

I suspect the writer was speaking of M9 corrosion damage.

The corrosion issue was limited to the kind of coating put on the top of the glass cover plate of the original M9 IC Sensor bathtub enclosure.  Once 
fixed by removing that piece of glass and using a glass cover plate that has a different coating, the problem is fixed.  Period.  Leica Repair 
Department is "tired" of doing this repair, and therefore has discontinued repair of M9 sensors.  Similar to their position on LTM bodies.

The M8 rear LCD no longer has available NEW LCD's to repair that function.  I suspect the Leica 3c has parts that are also not available new... so 
what does the independent repair guy do?  He cannibalizes parts from donor bodies and completes the repair.  Leica will not do cannibalization, so the 
repair of M8 LCD panel replacements, is no longer supported by Leica.

Ditto the long term repair model of the M8, and M9.

But pariah it is, and will always be.....  Just like the M5.... and the M240, although for different reasons.

I love my M9 and MM.

I love my M240

I love my M10-r

I guess I am just a pariah lover.

Frank Filippone
BMWRed735i at Gmail.com

On 5/29/2024 3:13 PM, Jeff Moore wrote:
> If you love the look of that classic M9 CCD sensor, and love the look
> you're getting with your Noctilux, and you're focusing that Noctilux on
> your M9 precisely and reliably enough that you're satisfied with both the
> look of the photos and your hit rate of technically good enough photos per
> times you push the button... then there's a strong argument for just
> continuing on as you are.
>
> If you're more interested in getting the photos you want than in any
> intrinsic pleasure of operating an M camera and that Noctilux... I'll note
> that I get an astonishingly high hit rate of technically acceptable photos
> from my Q3, and will also just mention that the 50mm-angle-equivalent crop
> from the Q3 is almost exactly the same resolution as the full M9 sensor.
>
> The low-light ability of modern sensors with an f/2-ish lens is sufficient
> to more than exceed the ability of an M9 sensor with an f/0.95 lens to get
> technically acceptable photos in the dim.  And I'd be nervous depending on
> an M9-generation camera as my primary working instrument, because they can
> suddenly fall afoul of unfixable problems.
>
> But... the look of photos and the experience of taking them would be
> completely different.
>
> And the Q3 lens depends on digital distortion correction, so there are some
> minor effective detail losses from that.
>
> But overall, the Q3 is a camera I'm happy to count on for a lot of work.
> It's just great.
>
> (and when I'm looking for hyper-high quality or even better low light
> chops, I'm gobsmacked by how well the Fujifilm GFX 100 II and 55/1.7 have
> been working for me)
>
> On Wed, May 29, 2024, 07:12 Jasse Chan via LUG<lug at leica-users.org>  wrote:
>
>> Dear LUGers
>>
>> I'm curious about the feeling amongst people who have 'lugged' around
>> old-school Leica's.
>>
>> I have an M3 that I love using for black-and-white captures. I've lent my
>> M9 Monochrom to my niece, who LOVES using it.
>>
>> My camera is an M9, and I keep my Noctilux 50mm 0.95 on it.  I still carry
>> it to work most days, and on weekends.
>>
>> I've seen some used M11's come onto the market - and I need to build my
>> case to my wife as to why I should go for an upgrade - and as far as I can
>> tell:
>>
>> M9:
>> Pros
>> it's been recently serviced by Leica - so it feels like it's new again.
>> I love the rendering it gives (I know the good old kodak sensor has some
>> charm)
>> It's simple - I've used it for a decade, and it has enough Megapixels for
>> my purposes
>> I have several batteries
>> Cons
>> As with anything - it's getting dated
>> I've missed shots because it can be slow
>>
>>
>> M11:
>> Pros
>> New and sexy
>> holy cow - megapixels - If I need to crop I feel confident that I can
>> I don't have the new experience of images being saved via wifi and to the
>> app (and my iPhone?  I rely on the SD card in my m9)
>>
>> Cons
>> Expensive
>> it might take some time to learn the new menus
>> Would my life actually get better if I dish out a lot of cash for another
>> Leica?
>>   . . . .
>>
>>
>> Please, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Frankly, I could live very happily
>> with my M9 because the images are still top-notch. As I mentioned, I only
>> use my Nocti on it, and it still performs magic.
>>
>> Jasse
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jasse Chan
>>
>> jassechan at gmail.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> Seehttp://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug  for more information
>>
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