M9, I am not enjoying it, is it just me?

[greenwell]

Good point, it has just been too tempting with the initial getting to know the camera, If I had turned the lcd screen off at the party and continued shooting I would not have realised that something was amiss, as it was getting darker I realised that I was not noticing the screen reviewing the last picture.

 

[bwcolor]

Ignoring the differing 'look' between the M9 and various films, digital does tend to challenge the film shooter with regards to controlling highlights. It also lulls one into less considered shutter engagement, but only if you allow this to happen. Shoot raw and learn the computer processing side of things. If you like to learn, this is fun. If not, go back to film and enjoy yourself. Perhaps, this isn't really an M9 issue, other than reliability and various lag issues.

 

[fotomeow]

" I thought that the M9 would be different but I have got fed up of constantly deleting photos that I would not have taken in the first place if I had been thinking"

That says it all.. think before you shoot whether film or digital. It's the instant result age, I see people firing away and immediately looking at the result. Yes, that approach can make you lazy, if it's no good just try again but then the moment has gone. Use the same discipline as with film, think about capturing the moment and don't look at the results till you get home.

yes, thats what I am learning as well. i have had the M9 for 2 days now,
I kept thinking to myself, "Stupid Leica" for the 101 reasons that could easily backup this judgmental internal voice of mine.

And I keep thinking, could they really be that stupid to build a $8k camera which has sh*t for brains and a relatively crappy sensor compared to the Japanese mastery of the CMOS sensors.

Then I began hoping that maybe, just maybe, Leica made this camera to be slow and dumb ON PURPOSE to simulate the film experience. That way, they help me slow down and take pics with the M9 more like shooting with film, and less chimping, etc.

So I turn off the LCD on the M9 and keep shooting, and what happens? I concentrate on the shot like with film, and I dont have to review every pic for 3 seconds on the LCD before i move on. And when I get home and pop the SD card in the computer, I can see that my pics turned out well, and I didnt have to worry that I wasnt getting the shot in the first place.

THats my experience, it has helped me. I would just ad that you may want to try the Epson RD1 instead of the M9 for dRF: the RD1 is as close as you will get to a digital cam with the film experience ......

 

[jamato8]

I love the smell of fixer. I worked in a darkroom for a long time and did color print and slides and lots of b&W. It took some time for the M9 to start to feel right in my hands. To get a feel of the way it rendered, just like when using different films, and the sound of the camera. For me, since I use it for work along with my SLR's, it is like shooting film again, the same comfort, but it took some time and frankly, some forced use at first. Some days I would tell myself, today you use only the M9. . . no . . yes. . Then it got to where I like hearing the click and the feel and I could even track subjects.

I think the film M series was a easier curve but part of that is because I already knew the films. But we all have to do what we enjoy and even if work, why do it if you can't enjoy some aspects of what you are doing? So if the M9 doesn't do it, move on but for me, it has worked out. Now to get it back from Leica repair. :^)

 

[leicashot]

So to speak.🙂

Jeff

hehe I never said it was easy :bang:...luckily I've always been smart when it comes to women 😎

 

[Termik]

Such a coincidence that I saw this thread now!

I have an M9 and an MP, like the OP. Was out taking pictures today with the M9 when it went dead on me.. In with a new battery,
but still dead. Removed the SD-card (SanDisk Extreme 8Gb) and the camera worked again. Just not recording anything on a card since it was not in the camera. Back with the card in the cam again and pressed info. The camera reported the card as empty with no capacity.

So I understood that the M9 just fried my card with all the pictures. Well, well I just reached for my MP in the bag and continued shooting. No batteries or cards that can go wrong.

On my way home I bought another card, 4GB this time, and the M9 worked perfectly again..

When I come home tonight I developed the film and it is hanging to dry now. I was just thinking exactly the same as the OP. The best pictures I take with my MP. The M9 screws me up and turns me into a chimping, machine gun shooting, deleting photographer... It just feels wrong...

Very tempted to sell the M9 and settle with the MP and my 2 lenses...

Well, well... a lot to think about..

 

[johannielscom]

" I thought that the M9 would be different but I have got fed up of constantly deleting photos that I would not have taken in the first place if I had been thinking"

That says it all.. think before you shoot whether film or digital. It's the instant result age, I see people firing away and immediately looking at the result. Yes, that approach can make you lazy, if it's no good just try again but then the moment has gone. Use the same discipline as with film, think about capturing the moment and don't look at the results till you get home.

Spoke to a guy shooting an M8 a while ago, he took just one small SD card on holidays with him on purpose. Said it made him think whether he'd really want to take the shot, because there would only be room for so many shots on the one card.

I wondered, why did I never think of that?😕

 

[back alley]

sounds like you are blaming the machine for your new habits...

 

[greenwell]

Thanks Termik! I have been reading the posts advising me to hang in there! I have turned the auto review off but will be keeping my eye on the flashing red light.
I am haunted by the time that I miss loaded a roll of film in a Nikon F3, I was carrying the camera to record a one off in perfect conditions, I realised that something was wrong at the end of the day when the film counter was way past 36 frames, I had not recorded a single shot of a unrepeatable experience. Sadly much the same has happened again.

 

[leicashot]

No doubt, the MP design is better, smaller, thinner with a nice advance lever, but at the end of the day they are lightboxes, not cars.

If the OP sold the M9, he'd be missing the chimping factor.

The differences are obvious, but the end results are pictures. I thought we were done with digital VS film debates.

 

[Termik]

Thanks Termik! I have been reading the posts advising me to hang in there! I have turned the auto review off but will be keeping my eye on the flashing red light.
I am haunted by the time that I miss loaded a roll of film in a Nikon F3, I was carrying the camera to record a one off in perfect conditions, I realised that something was wrong at the end of the day when the film counter was way past 36 frames, I had not recorded a single shot of a unrepeatable experience. Sadly much the same has happened again.

Well, to moderate my post a little, things can go pretty wrong when developing, which I do myself ;-)

So even if the film runs through the camera without a problem, pictures can be damaged later in developing. Done that a few times when I have not got the film in the reel properly. So also film is not bullet proof..

Also, I was in Hong Kong a few months back. Walking the streets in the night. Cranking up the iso to 1000 on the M9, using my Sonnar at f1,5, giving me great pictures, even though it was dark is worth something. You can do it with film, but it's more grainy...

A pic from Hong Kong:

 

[jamato8]

I was doing some work in 1999 in northern Chile. Film of course, Canon cameras, not that it makes a difference, and a M2. Anyway, I shot a sequence of an interview that was important and it was all double exposed. I did not learn of this until I returned to the states to have all the slide film developed. Had it been digital . . . So stuff happens and there are benefits to both. For my work now I am glad to not have to pack hundreds of rolls of film for extended field work, just 2.5 hard drives, which take up much less room and when I return, I keep one set of drives with me and ship the other. I couldn't do that with film.

 

[Out to Lunch]

As quoted over at LUF on August 5...

LEICA M9/ SD Card compatibility

Leica Camera has recently become aware of customers experiencing compatibility issues related to select types of new memory cards when used in the Leica M9.

First of all, we would like to thank you all for the lively participation on our call for assistance to solve the SD-card issue with the M9. With this information, we would like to give you the latest information on the status:
The facts from today’s point of view are:
Customers report that the camera stops working if shoot in burst mode and view images while others are still in the buffer.
We have a very limited number of customers approaching Leica for this issue. Most users do not have a problem.
If the fault occurs once, it can be reproduced.
Images can be lost in case of this malfunction and the card can be damaged/destroyed.
There are no indications that it is a firmware bug in the latest firmware 1.162.
It is not a general incompatibility of certain cards, the M9 is in general compatible with SDHC cards, including newer San Disk Class 10 and Class 1.

What Leica is doing:
Our dedicated technical teams are actively working on identifying the root cause and solving the problem.
SD-cards in question are being tested at Leica’s QA department intensively to find the root cause for the malfunction.
We are in contact with SanDisk and getting their full assistance.
We started a structured query in the Leica User Forum to get a better overview about the customer’s experience.
As soon as possible, we will communicate the issue's origin as well its solution.

Until the solution is found, what can be done if this malfunction occurs?
If possible, use cards that worked well in the past: Keep on using it, don’t format it.
Please avoid formatting cards in the computer.
If you are forced to use new cards: Use them carefully: try to avoid browsing through the images on the screen while the red LED is blinking.
In case of malfunction, please stop using the card. If images are lost, try to recover them. Here is a tool: PhotoRec - CGSecurity

As soon as we have news on this topic, we will let you know.

Leica Camera AG
Stefan Daniel, Director Product Management Photo
Jesko von Oeynhausen, Product Manager Leica M-System

Remarkable, no one seems to care? I do.

 

[htimsdj]

I don't think of this as "film v. digital" in the typical sense of the debate, because I think there are different results obtained from both methods, and they each have advantages. I shoot film because I like the way it looks. I also like the cameras better. Right now I have a pair of MPs and some Zeiss lenses.

I picked up an M9-p a few weeks back and promptly returned it. It just wasn't for me - too complicated for what I want a Leica for, and frankly, I didn't think it was worth it. My MPs will last forever, and film will be available for my whole life (i'm only 32 now), so I'm not worried.

I really wanted to like the M9, but I think it needs a few more generations of product maturity. The M3 wasn't Leica's first film camera.

I'm glad that folks like the camera, as they are producing very good work with it.

 

[jsrockit]

Perhaps you can return / sell the M9, pick up a M8 and re-buy some of your film cameras... might be a good compromise.

 

[greenwell]

I am overwhelmed by the number of responses to my thread, this is not a film versus digital thread, I have simply been a long term film user who was determined to make a go of digital, I could see the advantages of changing iso on the move, colour or B&W with PP and a memory card which can hold a whole day's shooting, plus deleting shots that were not up to standard. I have been unfortunate to suffer a glitch the first time that it really mattered. What is concerning me is do I return the camera and throw in the towel or soldier on knowing that my heart is not in it.
I am greatly encouraged by the help and support from members to stick with it but each time that I read a thread of some who have found the same experience as myself I wonder. I still have a lot to learn shooting film, I have not yet tried to develop my own films as I find it handy to send them off, I thought too that using a computer was the way to go with post processing, I am still in two minds!

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Remarkable, no one seems to care? I do.

I care. I bought one of these SD cards from Sandisk after the problem was posted on RFF about it.

It is the most screwed up memory card I have ever seen in my life. It never made it to my M9, it screwed up in my Win7 HP Pavillion. If you cannot use the format utility from SDCARD.ORG with it, what chance does it have in a camera?

Five weeks after SanDisk received my defective card, i am still waiting for a replacement. The lesson to be learned from this: stick to memory cards that are not caught up in marketing driving design. "Faster Sells". Memory cards should not be a speed race, it should all be about reliability.

I've been using Sandisk memory cards since ~1995, with PCMCIA 4MByte cards. I still use some Sandisk PCMCIA cards from 1998. They work. The UHS-1 cards are total screw-ups.

 

[greenwell]

To have got a M8 or M8.2 crossed my mind but having read of so many who had used these cameras but were glad to have the M9 I decided to jump in at the deep end. I do not really miss the R and OM gear that I sold as I have M lenses from 24mm to 90mm, the other gear was a bit of a distraction, the ease of use of my MP beat the R9 with motor drive, state of the art exposure and bracketing to better photos.
Perhaps I should have tried a P&S first but I am sure that you will say that that is a world away from a digital M. If I give up on the M9 I will go for another MP and a digital P&S to see if I can enter digital photography from a different angle.

 

[swoop]

The M8 works the same as the M9 in terms of feel. But I think they produce much different results. Beyond the full frame debate you have 1 stop better ISO and the UV filter issue is nonexistent.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, to moderate my post a little, things can go pretty wrong when developing, which I do myself ;-)

So even if the film runs through the camera without a problem, pictures can be damaged later in developing. Done that a few times when I have not got the film in the reel properly. So also film is not bullet proof..

Also, I was in Hong Kong a few months back. Walking the streets in the night. Cranking up the iso to 1000 on the M9, using my Sonnar at f1,5, giving me great pictures, even though it was dark is worth something. You can do it with film, but it's more grainy...

A pic from Hong Kong:

Lovely shot.The poses are good but the expressions are perfect.

Cheers,

R.