I absolutely love the M9. I will often travel with my M9 Monochrom, and my M9-p bodies, and I agree: the CCD sensor is just magic. I have basically always used presets in Lightroom as the first step of my post-processing workflow. I was in for a shock the first time I opened up the color files from my M9-p on my computer, because I had this feeling that applying any sort of preset to these beautiful color files was basically blasphemous 😂 These files have totally changed how I look at post-processing. Depending on the type of shooting, I always have my 35 Summilux, but will either bring the 28 elmarit, or the 50 Summilux as the second lens (one on each body).
I love my Leica M-E (basically M9 withous USB port and framelone selector) and love it, the best camera i habe ever owned and ive often thought of adding the original Monochrom to my kit but never find one at a good price...
I also have a 50mm Summilux pre-aspherical(manufactured 1981), and have had my M9 since Feb of 2015, still love it. I do like the vibe the 50 gives and the bokeh as you mentioned. The lens can still be sharp when not wide open. I also got a 35mm asph non-fle a couple years ago. Amazing lens. The 50mm is odd in that it’s a long throw with no focus tab so definitely slower to shoot with than the 35. I do have an M3 I use the 50 on. That lens is awesome with film!
Best camera I’ve ever had, even though mine has sensor corrosion. No biggy really, I do a lot of gig photography in dark venues and it’s not really an issue. I’ve dropped mine a few times, knocked it, all sorts and it’s still going. Things people don’t realise about the M9 is it’s ISO invariant up to 640. Also, contrary to what people will tell you, it absolutely can shoot clean images at 1600iso. The problem is the inflexible nature of the raw files. Nail exposure in camera correctly, without the need to push or pull the files in post, and they’re nice and clean and very usable. M9M is my likely next purchase for sure.
I actually bought a corroded sensor m9 and had it changed right before Leica stopped doing it. If you guessed it right, it’s as if I’m paying for a new camera already. That being said, new sensor with some cla done, it was just like having a new camera. Kept going back to it coz of the ccd sensor with I love. I used to love 35mm but I now enjoy 28mm n just got a 50mm as well. Sadly I kept my 28mm coz my edc is a Ricoh GRD (walking 28mm t-max like bnw iso1600) so I leave the 50 on my m9 and use them this way.
I own a m9p and my wife own a m8, surprisingly i love the m8 a lot more, the m8 color is more cinematic with jpeg direct output, and the black and white give you attractive deep tone and shade that make everything symbolic. I have tried to adjust my m9 to replicate it but have no success
I've been using the canon 5d classic with the zeiss 50mm 1.4 and that's been a great experience. As much as I like the rangefinder style and function, I also enjoy getting closer to my subjects. So I found myself using a dslr again because of that.
I own both myself. Got the original Monochrom first, added a regular M9 a few months later. Best cameras I have owned. I often carry them together in a Think Tank Retrospective 4. I use them with the 50mm f1.5 Summarit and the 35mm f3.5 Elmar, or the Light Lens Labs 50mm "Elcan" and 35mm 8-element replicas.
Nice video, I have a few M's including the M9. My lens of choice is the 50mm but I do have a 35mm and the 28. So when I travel it is a 28mm for the vista and the 50mm for inner city shots.
