Random M9 Questions

[bizarrius]

Ok im starting this thread to help everyone that wants to buy/will buy/needs some unclarified info about this piece of art.
i am waiting for my own and i have some minor questions like:

1. what SD card do you use and why?
2. is my 50mm f2 summicron collapsible unusable with the M9? are we sure i cant collapse the lens?
3.how many pictures can a 4gb card hold while shooting uncompressed raw + jpeg?
4.does it really piss you off for being so slow for a digital camera?
5. how many pictures can a single battery charge give while having the preview off or on 1 sec?
6. do i have to fully charge the battery before using it the first time? if yes, for how long?
7. do i need a second battery or its something i might never need?
8. do i need to code my uncoded lenses or i can use coded and non coded with the same settings?

im pretty sure i can help with future questions from other people when i have my own too 😀

thanks :angel:

 

[jaapv]

1. Sandisk UltraII 16 Gb or 8Gb - because it works fine and I had it lying around
2. Yes, but mount it extended.
3. 87
4. No - because it is about the most responsive camera on the market...
5. Better to have preview by holding the release button. In that case about 400 with a fully conditioned battery.
6. You need a charged battery for any camera.
7. Yes you need a second battery
8. You can use manual lens selection but it is not very practical.

 

[furcafe]

4. Yes, if what you're referring to is the speed the camera writes to the card.
8. I think manual lens selection is very practical & easy to do, so long as you're not constantly changing lenses on the fly.

 

[jaapv]

4.Ummm.. Do you wait for the file writing to finish before you take the next shot? I don't. The only thing that might bother you is the size of the buffer, as it will slow down shooting after eight shots- but still it keeps on taking photographs.
8.It may be the onset of senility - but I tend to forget to change the manual lens selection when changing lenses. And when changing lenses I often lack time to delve into the menu to change the setting. That DOES slow down the use of the camera.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Funny on the manual lens selection: I LOVE it!

Fast and easy, especially with the many (more than 60) lenses that I have for the Leica's. Many fit on using adapters.

You guys have never waited for a SCSI drive to spin up to store the image before being able to take the next picture, have you...

 

[jaapv]

Take out lens - remove lens from camera - put lens on camera - switch on camera - push menu - push set - scroll to manual -push set - scroll down the long list to the lens you need - scroll up again because you flashed past it - push set - take photograph.

Fast and easy ?😕😕

A SCSI drive - I remember those - how much better than the floppy disk!

 

[Phil_F_NM]

If you have just a few go-to lenses, as most of us do, then setting one to four of the custom user profiles takes care of all that fiddling with the menu.

Change lens, press SET, press Select user profile, select which one you want, press SET. You're done.

For me, I learned a while back that I need to stop changing lenses and start shooting photos. So then I go out with just one lens now. Maybe two at the most. If I'm out shooting for school or work then a bag comes with and I'll have 4 lenses, 2 bodies. The wides stay on the M9, the longer lenses on the M8.

God forbid if we had to load specially cut film into a camera from the bottom only then use TWO shutter speed dials on a camera with only a winder knob and to focus use a tiny 1.5x rangefinder THEN compose through a different window.
Oh yeah, that's a Barnack Leica. It makes the steps of the M9 look far too easy and "convenient."

Phil Forrest

 

[furcafe]

4. Ummm, no. I wait for the file to write so that I can pull up the preview. Not a dealbreaker, since I don't chimp that much, but annoying when I do want to do a quick check.

4.Ummm.. Do you wait for the file writing to finish before you take the next shot? I don't. The only thing that might bother you is the size of the buffer, as it will slow down shooting after eight shots- but still it keeps on taking photographs.
. . .

 

[furcafe]

Exactly. The only lens that I have that's really inconvenient to use w/the manual selection is the regular Tri-Elmar, for which Leica, in its wisdom, provides 3 separate settings in the menu (1 for each focal length), even though when the lens is coded, the camera is able to distinguish the focal length via the frame selector mechanism. Talk about crippleware. Consequently, the Tri-Elmar is 1 of the few lenses I bother to code (using a marker).

If you have just a few go-to lenses, as most of us do, then setting one to four of the custom user profiles takes care of all that fiddling with the menu.

Change lens, press SET, press Select user profile, select which one you want, press SET. You're done.

. . .

Phil Forrest

 

[ZlatkoBatistich]

4.Ummm.. Do you wait for the file writing to finish before you take the next shot? I don't. The only thing that might bother you is the size of the buffer, as it will slow down shooting after eight shots- but still it keeps on taking photographs.

When the buffer is full, you do wait, because there is a wait before the next shot can be taken. After about 8 shots, you are ... waiting ... for ... each ... shot. Of course, it only matters when the scene changes quickly and you're trying to catch just the right moments. This is not a big problem, just something the buyer should know in advance.

The M9 is about as responsive as other good digital cameras. The shutter delay is about the same as that of the Canon 5D2, although the 5D2 can seem more sluggish because of its mirror blackout time (which is long). The M9 has a relatively slow startup and wakeup from sleep when compared with other high end cameras.

The battery question really depends on how much one is shooting.

 

[bizarrius]

tbh i don't see a reason for a second battery at this point if that's the deal with the pictures one charge can take.
i come from film and i think i wont take more than 50 pictures (worse case scenario) before i can go back home and charge again.
it is lithium right? i can charge every time i go back home without the need for the battery to be empty.
i didn't really like the "87 pictures" every 4gb. that means i need a new hard drive 😀

as of the response, i hope it will not allow me to pixel peep every picture because i wont be bothered from lag time and that way i will be more focused on taking pictures.

 

[Havhest]

tbh i don't see a reason for a second battery at this point if that's the deal with the pictures one charge can take........

tbh I see a reason for having a bunch of batteries. Without my life would be utter frustrations:bang::bang::bang::bang::bang:

 

[bizarrius]

🙁 so i'm wrong.
bah, another 85euros well spent.

 

[sojournerphoto]

1. 2*Sandisk and a no name
2. Don't know - I wouldn't collapse it into the M9
3. I wouldn't bother with the jpgs - not a religion o judgement, just habit
4. It's slow to start and wind compared to a 1Ds3, but plenty fast enough in use
5. About 300 to 400 depedning on how you use it. I keep preview off to avoid distracvtion unles I'm checking exposure
6. Don't know, but full charge takes longer than I expected
7. I'll get a second battery before I gon away in the summer
8. I coded all my lenses as otehrwise I forgot to manually set them.

 

[Paul Luscher]

Re question #4: Well, all I'll say is that it has a hell of a lot faster "image writing speed" than my film cameras...🙂

 

[jaapv]

If you have just a few go-to lenses, as most of us do, then setting one to four of the custom user profiles takes care of all that fiddling with the menu.

Change lens, press SET, press Select user profile, select which one you want, press SET. You're done.

For me, I learned a while back that I need to stop changing lenses and start shooting photos. So then I go out with just one lens now. Maybe two at the most. If I'm out shooting for school or work then a bag comes with and I'll have 4 lenses, 2 bodies. The wides stay on the M9, the longer lenses on the M8.

God forbid if we had to load specially cut film into a camera from the bottom only then use TWO shutter speed dials on a camera with only a winder knob and to focus use a tiny 1.5x rangefinder THEN compose through a different window.
Oh yeah, that's a Barnack Leica. It makes the steps of the M9 look far too easy and "convenient."

Phil Forrest

The poster was talking about sixty lenses - there are four profiles...🙄I have two lenses under profiles - the Apo-Telyt 135 and the CV 15 - and my problem is that I forget to change back after changing these lenses. Very unpractical. It would be a lot better if the camera would revert to auto-detection as soon as a coded lens is mounted. It makes no sense to use the M8 specifically for long lenses - the pixel pitch is identical, so cropping down an M9 image gives exactly the same image as the whole frame of the M8- and the M8 is more diffficult to focus than the M9.

 

[jaapv]

The M9 is about as responsive as other good digital cameras. The shutter delay is about the same as that of the Canon 5D2, although the 5D2 can seem more sluggish because of its mirror blackout time (which is long). The M9 has a relatively slow startup and wakeup from sleep when compared with other high end cameras.

Wakeup time is 0.7 sec to be precise.

The shutterlag has been measured at 0.09 seconds:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica...frequently-asked-questions-2.html#post1615269

 

[Sonnar Brian]

If the M8 let me enter the HEX values directly for each of the 64 lens settings, it would be easier than the customization menu for the Nikon D1 and Nikon E3- a whole flip out guide for the codes for customization.

What could be easier- they even give names of the lenses in ASCII readable characters and NOT just make you memorize HEX!

 

[Phil_F_NM]

The poster was talking about sixty lenses - there are four profiles...🙄I have two lenses under profiles - the Apo-Telyt 135 and the CV 15 - and my problem is that I forget to change back after changing these lenses. Very unpractical. It would be a lot better if the camera would revert to auto-detection as soon as a coded lens is mounted. It makes no sense to use the M8 specifically for long lenses - the pixel pitch is identical, so cropping down an M9 image gives exactly the same image as the whole frame of the M8- and the M8 is more diffficult to focus than the M9.

Brian Sweeny actually mentioned 60+ lenses, not the OP.
Using an M8 for long lenses makes perfect sense when the M8 body itself has internal restrictions that don't allow use of some wides (which we want for their wide angle properties) that the M9 does. And yes, the pixel pitch is the same but unless one constantly prints or displays at 100% resolution, no one knows and few care. I'd crop in on an M9 image if I had a second M9 body. I'm lucky enough to have one of each and the way I use it, the M8 + 75mm = a fantastic ~100mm equivalent.
Sticking a 21mm SA or a 35mm 'Lux on an M8 is a bit of a waste when one has an M9.
The M8 has the exact same RF baselength and magnification as the M9 so it shouldn't be any more difficult to focus. It isn't for me. YMMV.

Phil Forrest

 

[furcafe]

I agree that one can forget to change the profiles or manual selection (I certainly have on occasion) & it would be nice if the camera reverted to auto-detect, especially if one has many coded lenses. But I think whether manual selection is impractical or not really does depend on the individual user & the number of lenses he/she typically uses. Except for relatively few lenses, it only affects EXIF, anyway.

It would be a lot better if the camera would revert to auto-detection as soon as a coded lens is mounted. . . .