Why must they tempt me?

I just received an email from a camera shop informing me that the Leica M9 is now available for pre-order.

I've spent the last hour trying to work out how I can afford it.

http://www.jacobsdigit​al.co.uk …products&produc​t_id=64819

Wow those suckers are pricey!

HankScorpio wrote in post #8612358
I just received an email from a camera shop informing me that the Leica M9 is now available for pre-order.

I've spent the last hour trying to work out how I can afford it.

http://www.jacobsdigit​al.co.uk …products&produc​t_id=64819

Sell a family member, the strongest and healthiest will fetch the best price.

mike_t wrote in post #8627499
Sell a family member, the strongest and healthiest will fetch the best price.

And don't forget to include your one-legged deaf and partially blind dog who answers to Lucky.

me

You could sell your hot bod. I hear there are Japanese businessmen who'll pay top dollar for that sort of thing.

I know this thread has been mucking around so far BUT I have a serious question. If you want a Leica, would you pay that much for a digital full frame or would you rather have one of the older film bodies? Maybe it's just me associating a Leica rangefinder with film, but I think it'd be a lot more satisfying and justified to use an older one?

I had an M3 for years which I loved but I went through a phase of shooting only medium format film and during that time I was offered £1200 for the M3 and 50mm Sumicron which was more than double what I paid so I sold it.

I do deeply regret selling it now but if I still had it then I think I would still be coveting the M9 as I have been the M8 and 8.2. I love film and won't give it up but sadly, film and more importantly, developing chemicals are becoming more scarce. Coupled to the fact that digital has come of age and offers so much more flexibility even if it lacks a soul that I think that I'll never buy another film camera (unless someone has an M7 they don't want?).

I miss the discreet nature of a range finder for street photography. People see an SLR and change their actions, usually for the worse.

I miss the bullet proof build (literally, my M3 was previously owned by an army photographer who had it shot during the Korean war with only a scratch and small dent as the result). I miss the absolute precision and simplicity that only Leica seem to manage.

So, to answer your question, yes I would pay that much if I had it. I'll more than likely go for an M8.2 as they're a little less but if I had a small lottery win or some relative I never knew, died and left me some money then the M9 would be mine.

I don't get it. Why pay so much for such a tiny camera? Is the quality that good or what? What I'm trying to ask is what can this camera do that a modern dslr from one of the major manufacturers can't?

With Leica you get quality, real quality that most manufacturers can't imagine, as in they still support and service models made in the 50's with every belief that they'll live forever. Most of the lens performance charts you see use a Leica 50mm as the 'standard' to measure by. Their optics are truly phenomenal.

With a range finder form, you get a discreet camera that can go unnoticed by your subjects so you capture people they way they are and not the way they behave when they see a huge SLR pointed at them. A case in point is Ralph Gatti's portrait of Pablo Picasso, where he was unhappy with the way Picasso was acting so he put the camera down, waited for him become himself again then quickly lifted his Leica and snapped one of the best know images of Picasso ever taken that shows the man himself not some put on pose.

You also get a history with a Leica. Pretty much every truly famous photo probably came from a Lecia. From Henri Cartier-Bresson through Robert Capa and on to Joel Meyerowitz and the truly superb William Eggleston. Leica users, one and all.

Good luck on that purchase and hopefully you will find a LEGAL way to work that deal, lol...

As for the history and what the purchase means, there is no way to explain. You either get it or you dont.