[Leica] Leica T

[jplaurel at gmail.com (Jim Laurel)]

I was generally pleased with Leica's new T series camera. It really is a 
thing of beauty. I like the aluminum unibody design. Honestly, more products 
should be built like this. Fewer parts, better cooling, much much stronger, 
less variation between examples, better looks and just a better feel in the 
hand. If you're a MacBook pro user, then you'll know how no other laptop 
matches it for fit, finish and feel. It feels more solid than any other 
comparable machine.

My disappointments with this new camera are few. The EVF is external rather 
than built-in. I was hoping for a swiveling integrated EVF on the top left 
corner, like the GX-7. I have several cameras with the clip-on type, not the 
least of which is the M, and it can make the camera a little awkward to put 
in a slim satchel type bag. Maybe Leica is saving that for the next version 
of the M, but who knows.

No image stabilization? In 2014? Really, Leica?

The other question I have is why they had to introduce another mount. Surely 
they could have simply updated the M mount to include the electronic 
contacts necessary for AF and AE, which would have obviated the need for an 
adapter, as long as the camera body was also equipped with the ability to 
read the 6-bit lens codes. I'm not sure whether this was done for marketing 
or technical reasons, to keep the price of the body down (no 6-bit code 
reading), or just to prevent people from attempting to T lenses on M mount 
cameras, but I'd like to hear Leica's reasoning on this one.

Overall, a step in the right direction for Leica, and I wish them the best 
of luck with it. Now please, give us a hybrid integrated EVF in the next M 
camera!!