When will Leica introduce the M240's Successor ?

[CameraQuest]

Please note the key word is INTRODUCE. If history is any guide, the camera won't likely be sold to the public until 3 to 4 months afterward.

Perhaps introduced at about the same time might be a new version of the Monochrom using the CMOS sensor.

Poll dates end 3rd Quarter of 2016 as surely a new version will be introduced by Photokina 2016.

Have fun guessing! Time will tell.

-- separate thread -
what would you like to see in the M240's successor ?
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147689

Stephen

ADMIN EDIT:
Leica hired a new CEO early March 2015.
Time will tell how the new CEO will effect new product introductions.

 

[f16sunshine]

Maybe they are already testing a cmos monochrom. It's difficult to imagine they would make over the M240 at this point. The MP count and ISO performance are fairly close to contemporary cameras. What are the complaints and list of desired improvements for the M240? (I've never used one).

 

[YYV_146]

Maybe they are already testing a cmos monochrom. It's difficult to imagine they would make over the M240 at this point. The MP count and ISO performance are fairly close to contemporary cameras. What are the complaints and list of desired improvements for the M240? (I've never used one).

The EVF port could be updated to support the Leica T module. I thought the buffer was too small on the 240 but that has been addressed by the M-P.

On the whole I just want Leica to make a cheaper, smaller and lighter camera. The M240 is almost as heavy as the Canon 6D!

 

[f16sunshine]

Is an update a successor ? I would think not so much.
The M240.2 might include some small updates but not really be a successor (a new model).

 

[Kwesi]

September 2015

 

[jaapv]

M successor later this year, the current M will turn into a new ME. We have already seen the M240-2 in the form of the M-P.
MM - 2016 or 2017...
Best guesses.

 

[FrozenInTime]

When they are ready - this time they need to have well polished firmware to receive positive reviews on the demo units ( as bad reviews stay around forever ).

 

[Dante_Stella]

No sooner than Photokina. Specs on digital cameras have largely stabilized, and if 36Mp is bleeding edge, Leica won't get to it for quite a while.

The only things that are real irritants on the M are the EVF blackout, the inability to use EVF and flash simultaneously, and the ability to use higher-res EVFs. These are probably not top-of-mind issues for most people.

Given that it took Leica 6 years to do a big architecture change from M8/M9 to M 240, I would not hold by breath on any major spec changes even in 2016.

Dante

 

[Pioneer]

I would imagine that they could keep refreshing the M for quite awhile before introducing a completely new camera.

As for an update to the Monochrom, I would suspect that would depend on just how fast their stock of sensors are flying off the shelves to replace the delaminated ones.

 

[gunston]

Leica ME with better lcd

 

[jaapv]

Well, from M8 to M240 they have been on a three-year cycle. I see no reason to break that rhythm.
As for the MM, At introduction Leica said they were planning on a longer cycle for the model.
So predicting is not very difficult.

 

[jaapv]

I would imagine that they could keep refreshing the M for quite awhile before introducing a completely new camera.

As for an update to the Monochrom, I would suspect that would depend on just how fast their stock of sensors are flying off the shelves to replace the delaminated ones.

Stocks are not flying of shelves. They order as they go.

 

[rscheffler]

Sometime during the second half of 2015.

The M-P variant has been out some time and didn't get the $750 body discount with the regular M, perhaps because it was too new. Consider that the Safari edition is an M-P with the $750 discount, plus the 35 Cron silver at the current discounted price, plus a few hundred off for good measure. IMO, it's kind of a sneaky way for Leica to offer a discounted M-P without calling it such. Maybe it will move some inventory? But my feeling is there's a decent supply of demo bodies currently available that likely more accurately reflect the current realistic selling price for the M (mid-low $5000s).

A new camera gives Leica a chance to reset the price back to the $7000 range, at least for a while.

Different now from a few years ago is that there are a lot more used M bodies around, and many likely are content with what they already have.

 

[Dante_Stella]

I would imagine that they could keep refreshing the M for quite awhile before introducing a completely new camera.

As for an update to the Monochrom, I would suspect that would depend on just how fast their stock of sensors are flying off the shelves to replace the delaminated ones.

I suspect that the new Monochrom is coming very soon, given that there is a big discount off new and that most seem to be selling as "demos." A dealer even told me that there was no point in buying a new one over CPO/demo. Though I am not sure that the Monochrom sensor replacement would have the same stock issues as the M9/ME; they probably had to buy a ton of sensors to get a monochrome sensor done, possibly a lot larger overage over the number of cameras expected to be sold.

Dante

 

[ramosa]

Leica ME with better lcd

And larger buffer and quiter shutter ...

 

[zuiko85]

They still have to make the 'Brian Williams' special edition that will take pictures of thing that never happened.

 

[wafflecakee]

Martini dispenser built in

 

[ramosa]

And mirror for celebrity preening ...

 

[aeturnum]

The state of the art has changed a lot less 2012-2015 than it did 2009-2012. The M240 also solved most of the common complaints about the M9 (shutter noise, small buffer, etc). I'm sure Leica will announce something next photokina, but I'm not sure it'll be the M2016. They might keep the 240 even longer than that, depending on what other high-end camera makers do.

 

[thompsonks]

My thought is that the train is leaving, or maybe has left, the station. M240 resolution, buffer, ISO and LV just don't belong in the current market. My loyalty at this point is just to my lenses.

I use a Monochrom, but I've checked and its files are not impressively superior in 17x22 prints to A7R files. The Sony sensor's higher resolution just about makes up for eliminating the Bayer array.

I run into quite a few folks - from students to elders - who think of themselves as 'fine art' photographers. Few still regard Leica as a camera to take seriously, even if they could afford one. Even to those devoted to street photography, it's hard to recommend an M240, esp. because of ISOs and banding, or even an M9 (since sensor difficulties). Many are trying Sonys and Fujis.

Leica seems devoted to bringing out Summiluxes in wider focal lengths, at the time when other manufacturers are making reasonably priced f1.8s f2s coupled with sensors that can deal quite well with 'available darkness' problems. Better sensors, not faster lenses, are the way to go?

So IMO the appropriate release data for the next FF Leica doesn't appear in this poll – it was sometime in the past.

Kirk