M: Worlds First Universal Digital Camera!

[Ben Z]

This M is the worlds first truly universal full frame digital camera meaning with adapters, you can use ANY lens EVER made for a 35mm camera. This is huge!

To photo gear heads perhaps. To the vast majority of photographers, probably not so much.

 

[EdwardKaraa]

Wow! So much negativity! The Leica M is probably the most important camera body ever released since the Contax ND (first FF digital) in its historic value as the first true mirrorless FF and has been very well received by most people on all forums!

 

[NeeZee]

Am I the only one tired of the whole "lens character" thing. Seriously? Not being able to use 15 different lenses of the same focal length on one camera has limited your artistic way of expressing yourself all the years? Gimme a break... I've yet to see one case where a swirly, a painterly, a harsh or whatever bokeh "brush" used, made the difference between a good and a bad photo.

That M looks like a nice camera, though.

 

[rbelyell]

To violate the rule on cross-posing:

++++++++++++

After Leica proves the concept works, I predict we will see a similar FF mirrorless platform from either or all of Sony, Canon or Nikon in the next 18 months.
Ben.

thats gonna be a lonely limb if you mean these behemouths will be coming out with a REAL RANGEFINDER that can properly utilize slr lenses as well. no way, no how. and if its not a real rangefinder then the comparison is moot.
tony

 

[daveisbest]

Am I the only one tired of the whole "lens character" thing. Seriously? Not being able to use 15 different lenses of the same focal length on one camera has limited your artistic way of expressing yourself all the years? Gimme a break... I've yet to see one case where a swirly, a painterly, a harsh or whatever bokeh "brush" used, made the difference between a good and a bad photo.

That M looks like a nice camera, though.

Certainly not the only one. Most decent lenses produce pretty similar results at f8 anyway. A Jupiter 8 is just about as good as any Leitz lens when stopped down to f5.6 or more. I agree the M sure does look nice, wonder who'll be the first person brave enough to try a Jupiter 12 on one.

 

[aeturnum]

What struck me is this, and Leica beat them all to it. This M is the worlds first truly universal full frame digital camera meaning with adapters, you can use ANY lens EVER made for a 35mm camera.

I don't really understand what you're getting at. You can certainly mount all those lenses on other mirrorless cameras (fuji, sony). You could also, in theory, mount them on the m8 or 9, though focusing would be quite the trick. I don't think that it's either as new, or as important, as you seem to think it is.

 

[bugmenot]

Wow! So much negativity! The Leica M is probably the most important camera body ever released since the Contax ND (first FF digital) in its historic value as the first true mirrorless FF and has been very well received by most people on all forums!

That's most likely due to the fact that people in other forums aren't seriously considering buying the Leica, and many people on RFF are actually thinking about buying this at some point in the future.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

thats gonna be a lonely limb if you mean these behemouths will be coming out with a REAL RANGEFINDER that can properly utilize slr lenses as well. no way, no how. and if its not a real rangefinder then the comparison is moot.
tony

No, not a rangefinder in any sense. I am thinking more of, e.g., a FF Nikon version of a scaled up Olympus EP-2. Fuji is 3/4 of the way there already . . .

 

[bugmenot]

No, not a rangefinder in any sense. I am thinking more of, e.g., a FF Nikon version of a scaled up Olympus EP-2. Fuji is 3/4 of the way there already . . .

If Fuji is close, then Sony must be already up there, given they are sticking a FF sensor in everything, including a FF NEX (albeit a camcorder for now).

 

[EdwardKaraa]

That's most likely due to the fact that people in other forums aren't seriously considering buying the Leica, and many people on RFF are actually thinking about buying this at some point in the future.

So, you mean that they need to bash it first in order to buy it later?

 

[bugmenot]

So, you mean that they need to bash it first in order to buy it later?

Yes. To them, a Leica is not just another camera, another gear. They need to pick on every single thing in the new camera(s). It is a cycle of justification, much like the five stages of grief. Eventually, they come to accept the camera, much like a man who loves his girlfriend or wife eventually accepts and loves every feature, every flaw and characteristic of that woman.

 

[EdwardKaraa]

Yes. To them, a Leica is not just another camera, another gear. They need to pick on every single thing in the new camera(s). It is a cycle of justification, much like the five stages of grief. Eventually, they come to accept the camera, much like a man who loves his girlfriend or wife eventually accepts and loves every feature, every flaw and characteristic of that woman.

I certainly hope you're joking 🙂

 

[sig]

Wow! So much negativity! The Leica M is probably the most important camera body ever released since the Contax ND (first FF digital) in its historic value as the first true mirrorless FF and has been very well received by most people on all forums!

Why is it the most important camera body released since the contax nd?
What am I missing?

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Yes. To them, a Leica is not just another camera, another gear. They need to pick on every single thing in the new camera(s). It is a cycle of justification, much like the five stages of grief. Eventually, they come to accept the camera, much like a man who loves his girlfriend or wife eventually accepts and loves every feature, every flaw and characteristic of that woman.

Is this what you experienced when you bought your own Leica? Otherwise, how do you know this is what happens?

I know that I, after having owned seven Leica rangefinders, did not experience any of this.

 

[bugmenot]

I certainly hope you're joking 🙂

I certainly am 😛

However, I would not be surprised if my "assessment" actually holds true for some people here.

 

[sevo]

Why is it the most important camera body released since the contax nd?
What am I missing?

I took that statement to be scathing irony - why else would anybody compare it to the most miserable technical failure in the FF market? But perhaps I am wrong...

 

[EdwardKaraa]

I took that statement to be scathing irony - why else would anybody compare it to the most miserable technical failure in the FF market? But perhaps I am wrong...

The Contax ND was the first FF DSLR and no one at that time had the balls to make one. It was not a technical failure, just take a look at the wonderful photo samples on different forums and it is still used until today by some diehard users. It had a problematic battery consumption, and unfortunately Kyocera was already planning to give up on photography anyway.

 

[semordnilap]

What creeps me out is all the focus peaking where it should be peeking shouldn't it? I know Leica used "peaking" in their broshures and advertising material but in a sense of to view / to check, "to peek" makes more sense but I'm not a native English tongue either.

Focus peaking means the bright shimmery outlines on high contrast edges, a manual focus aid from video that's been made popular in the NEXs. So it seems they're using the right spelling.

 

[jarski]

Summilux 80 probably return close to price of 75. and many old SLR lenses have one more alternative body to use on. good times 🙂

 

[raid]

While the new M may be an amazing product, it saddens me to have photography be driven by technology at such a fast rate from year to year. Calm down. Take photos.