Leica m9 Vs Canon 5dIII

Long story, short i am able to get a gently used leica m9 (not sure what lenses till tomorrow), or i can wait to get the canon 5D III.

I love photography, but don't do it professionally.

To me, they would be about the same price.

Considering the Leica M9 is worth a good bit more (especially with lenses) than a 5D3, I would say get the Leica if the deal seriously makes it cheaper than a used (or even new) 5D3...

M0nkeyWithAGun wrote in post #17680919
Long story, short i am able to get a gently used leica m9 (not sure what lenses till tomorrow), or i can wait to get the canon 5D III.

I love photography, but don't do it professionally.

To me, they would be about the same price.

If you can get an M9 for the same price as a 5D III, you'd be really foolish to pass that up. The 5D III (although quite nice) is just another Canon camera, the M9 is arguably the greatest camera ever made. Im assuming you've shot a rangefinder camera before, are cool with manual focus and have a small fortune set aside for lenses if you chose the Leica right?

dexter75 wrote in post #17681986
Im assuming you've shot a rangefinder camera before, are cool with manual focus and have a small fortune set aside for lenses if you chose the Leica right?

Oh good points!!! i will have to seriously think about this.

dexter75 wrote in post #17681986
The 5D III (although quite nice) is just another Canon camera, the M9 is arguably the greatest camera ever made.

Spoken like a true Leica fan-boy. The first phrase is an amusing understatement. The second a similarly amusing overstatement. It is widely recognized that the Sony sensors are the best today. The M9 has what? a Kodak CCD that has been reported to have corrosion problems?

joedlh wrote in post #17682213
Spoken like a true Leica fan-boy. The first phrase is an amusing understatement. The second a similarly amusing overstatement. It is widely recognized that the Sony sensors are the best today. The M9 has what? a Kodak CCD that has been reported to have corrosion problems?

Not a Leica fanboy. Quite the opposite, Ive owned all Canon gear exclusively the 10 years Ive been shooting and been a Canon fanboy up until my recent purchase of my Panasonic GX8. I don't own a single piece of Leica gear. However, I have shot with several of them and I have shot with all 3 5Ds. Have you ever shot with an M9? Its usually the people who haven't who don't get it. The sensor is only one part of the camera, not arguing sensors here. The M9 is a full frame, mirrorless camera that came out in 2009. Its nearing the end of 2015 and Canon still can't put out any mirrorless camera in the US, why? Don't even get me started on the lenses. Ive shot with almost every L Canon has made (thanks lensrentals.com) and I still have yet to find one that can match the Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 The 5D III is an excellent camera and I would take it for shooting sports or anything you need super quick AF for, but Id take the M9 for everything else.

dexter75 wrote in post #17682393
Not a Leica fanboy. Quite the opposite, Ive owned all Canon gear exclusively the 10 years Ive been shooting and been a Canon fanboy up until my recent purchase of my Panasonic GX8. I don't own a single piece of Leica gear. However, I have shot with several of them and I have shot with all 3 5Ds. Have you ever shot with an M9? Its usually the people who haven't who don't get it. The sensor is only one part of the camera, not arguing sensors here. The M9 is a full frame, mirrorless camera that came out in 2009. Its nearing the end of 2015 and Canon still can't put out any mirrorless camera in the US, why? Don't even get me started on the lenses. Ive shot with almost every L Canon has made (thanks lensrentals.com) and I still have yet to find one that can match the Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 The 5D III is an excellent camera and I would take it for shooting sports or anything you need super quick AF for, but Id take the M9 for everything else.

The Noctilux is also a $10,000 lens, I would hope at that price tag it'd be nothing but stellar.

You're seriously comparing apples to bananas here.

I agree Leica's are great cameras, but they're 100% a niche product. They're produced in far, far smaller volume than a DSLR is. Fuji has shown why nobody else really attempts to take on Leica in the digital rangefinder business too... it's not profitable. Fuji made a small splash with their rangefinder-esk cameras, but didn't really gain any steam or attention in the market until they released the X-T1. It's not a matter of Canon being lazy or any other silly reason, it's a matter of them doing what's going to be profitable for them, they're a business. Mirrorless cameras are now starting to gain a lot of steam, but mostly that's just from enthusiasts on the internet, DSLR's are still the more popular choice, especially here in the states.

Personally, I'd rather spend half (or less) what a Leica costs on one of the numerous fantastic a7 bodies and use the also fantastic Zeiss glass with them, or if you really wanted to go ahead and use your Leica glass on them. No, it's not the same as using a rangefinder, but it's close enough to be well worth the savings and the better sensor imo (unless we're talking about the Leica M, since there really isn't anything else on the market like it, again, down to market interest).

I have had canon gear for the past 15 years,....love canon lenses especially but I would not hesitate at all to choose a Leica M9 over a 5d3...German precision engineering at it's very best.

EverydayGetaway wrote in post #17682405
The Noctilux is also a $10,000 lens, I would hope at that price tag it'd be nothing but stellar.

You're seriously comparing apples to bananas here.

I agree Leica's are great cameras, but they're 100% a niche product. They're produced in far, far smaller volume than a DSLR is. Fuji has shown why nobody else really attempts to take on Leica in the digital rangefinder business too... it's not profitable. Fuji made a small splash with their rangefinder-esk cameras, but didn't really gain any steam or attention in the market until they released the X-T1. It's not a matter of Canon being lazy or any other silly reason, it's a matter of them doing what's going to be profitable for them, they're a business. Mirrorless cameras are now starting to gain a lot of steam, but mostly that's just from enthusiasts on the internet, DSLR's are still the more popular choice, especially here in the states.

Personally, I'd rather spend half (or less) what a Leica costs on one of the numerous fantastic a7 bodies and use the also fantastic Zeiss glass with them, or if you really wanted to go ahead and use your Leica glass on them. No, it's not the same as using a rangefinder, but it's close enough to be well worth the savings and the better sensor imo (unless we're talking about the Leica M, since there really isn't anything else on the market like it, again, down to market interest).

I agree with most of that but its odd Canon is so slow to implement mirrorless or even 4k video into any of their cameras. The $1200 Vixia g30 doesn't even shoot 4k and thats a VIDEO camera. There are point and shoots with 4k video capabilities. Its quite ridiculous. Just seems they have started to fall behind the competition and technology is catching up to them when my m43 sensor camera and $300 lens can produce images the same quality as any L glass equipped APS-C Canon and just a minuscule step below a 5D III. Canon seems very complacent to me the past 3-4 years and thats a major reason for the first time ever I have considered switching brands altogether.