Leica will announce the Mini M

I might actually be interested in this if it had a built-in viewfinder, faster lens, and greater zoom range than 28-70mm equivalent. You know, things a $600 Fuji X20 already has.

and let me guess, you want the same price as a $600 fuji?

I wouldn't want anything that I couldn't put that killer Leica M glass on and I have absolutely no interest in a zoom.

http://leicarumors.com …e-new-mini-m-camera.aspx/

Ugh oh, looks like the image is real. Unless this thing is a interchangeable lens system its gonna be a bust. I bet the specs are real 1.5x crop x2 sensor with SLOOOOOOW zoom lens. WTF Leica WTF.

yea, it does make you wonder. You think they would do a fuji xe-1, no optical viewfinder but it takes the lenses.

Lamplight wrote in post #16004111
I might actually be interested in this if it had a built-in viewfinder, faster lens, and greater zoom range than 28-70mm equivalent. You know, things a $600 Fuji X20 already has.

Yeah, but "I have a Fuji" doesn't impress people at dinner parties as much as "Check out my new Leica." Leicas are as much fashion accessories these days as they are imaging tools.

Mark0159 wrote in post #16004124
and let me guess, you want the same price as a $600 fuji?

Would make sense, now, wouldn't it? But, alas, it turns out that Leica's idea of pricing cameras goes like this:

10% of the price: research, development, production costs.
90% of the price: the little red dot.

LowriderS10 wrote in post #16004832
10% of the price: research, development, production costs.
90% of the price: the little red dot.

The little red dot contains magic pixie dust.

I've shot with both and right now theres not a better FF B&W digital camera than the M Monochrom period. I have a very good friend that prefers his M9 over his Fuji X-Pro 1 and the X 100s lens doesn't have DoF scales and neither are FF. I wasn't all that impressed with his X Pro 1.

But between the rumored mini and if the rumor is true and the Fuji I think the Fuji would be the better choice but I would but the new M which I still might.

Now again and M-E with the new sensor and my wallet will fly open. But not this crop Mini M especially if you can't use Leica M glass.

LowriderS10 wrote in post #16003513
BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH​A....if this is true:

"On the front is a permanently attached Leica Elmar 28-70mm (35mm equivalent) f/3.5-6.4 lens."

What an exciting lens on a $3,000+ camera!!!

I shall continue to sneer, scoff and snicker at anything Leica brings out!

Snicker away but the M Monochrom and the new M are nothing to snicker at.

I even like the M9. A lot. And if I didn't need the high ISO I probably would have one.

Saying there isn't a better FF B&W digital camera out there isn't really saying much, now is it? My friend once entered an audio competition and he was the only one in his class. He walked away with a trophy and plenty of future jokes made at his expense.

The M9 is the only half-decent camera I've seen out of Leica in a long time. I say half-decent because at the price they're asking having a native ISO range of 160-2500 (or are ISO 2000 and 2500 pushed?), a 2.5" 230k dot screen, no AF (I know, it's not in the "spirit" of a RF, etc, etc...still, facts are facts), a 1/4000s minimum shutter speed (this, combined with the high base ISO is rather limiting for using fast lenses during the day...I know this all too well, it's one of the recurring complaints about the OM-D), no spot metering (or, really, lack of metering options, as far as I can tell it just does center-weighed average), shoots a leisurely 2 fps, and ISO performance above 400 that's bested by my modest little OM-D. For $10,000 I do indeed scoff, sneer and snicker at it, though (to end this post on a happy note)...it's still a much, much better camera both overall and in performance-per-dollar terms than this joke of a Mini M. I'm really hoping that the "leaked" picture is a decoy and they'll actually bring it out with a half-decent lens...in that case it'll be worth a full 15% of its MSRP, instead of the 5% it'd be worth with that slowpoke of a ho-hum focal range lens the rumours say it'll proudly sport.

The low light performance and the sharpness of the MM is truly amazing. Been rightfully compared to the sharpenss and DR of 36 MP Nikon d800 and the MM is 18 MPs. There is no auto focus in world faster that being pre focused using DoF scales which are a must for me and the way I work. Most that buy Leica are the ones like me that don't want all the automation. And there must be more than a few of us out there because there are very long waiting lists for both the MM and the new M.

Mark0159 wrote in post #16004124
and let me guess, you want the same price as a $600 fuji?

I would never expect it to be $600, of course. What I'm saying as that even this $600 Fuji has these features, at least one of which (the viewfinder) is something the Leica would HAVE to have for me to consider it, regardless of price. The Leica could be $600 and if I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of in outdoors then it wouldn't matter.

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=VwHXWf6CKeE

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=iMLP_bJnfnw

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=Ykuy4qYip1U

Lamplight wrote in post #16005149
I would never expect it to be $600, of course. What I'm saying as that even this $600 Fuji has these features, at least one of which (the viewfinder) is something the Leica would HAVE to have for me to consider it, regardless of price. The Leica could be $600 and if I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of in outdoors then it wouldn't matter.

The thing is...why not expect it for $600? (Actually, with that lens, for $300). If its performance is on par with Fuji then its price tag should be as well. If that lens is real, then that's a $300 camera with a $3,000 red dot on it and we all know it.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #16005137
The low light performance and the sharpness of the MM is truly amazing. Been rightfully compared to the sharpenss and DR of 36 MP Nikon d800 and the MM is 18 MPs. There is no auto focus in world faster that being pre focused using DoF scales which are a must for me and the way I work. Most that buy Leica are the ones like me that don't want all the automation. And there must be more than a few of us out there because there are very long waiting lists for both the MM and the new M.

I'm not sure about the MM high ISO performance, but from what I've seen out of the M9, I haven't been impressed. Not even close.

Sure, some like MF, and you can do that with every single digital camera as well. But the point is that when called upon, those cameras can AF, the Leica can't. I don't like automation either, that's why I shoot full manual, but I usually shoot AF because my eyesight isn't the best. Also, I like having certain things, like a good screen, a metering system I can tailor to the job at hand, etc...

People buy Leicas for all sorts of reasons (sure, some buy it shoot wrinkly old ladies on the street, but to some it's an investment, to others it's an awesome accessory, and to some it's a great status symbol), so the fact that there's a wait list isn't necessary proof that it's a great photographic tool, and certainly not one that proves it's worth its price tag.

Furthermore, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the MM, the M9 (even in its fancy-schmancy-display-me-but-never-shoot-me Hermes edition...which you can't convince me is meant to be a photographic tool first and foremost), my real beef is with this new Mini M, which appears to be the crown jewel in Leica's never-ending quest to see just how much money they dare ask for mid-pack cameras sporting their logo.