Being very tempted to swap for Leica M9

I'm really, really interested in the new M9. The price is nuts but it is getting me thinking about selling a stack of gear to help fund it. Has anyone here tried one or is also tempted????

I've used one. It was nice, but nothing I'd replace my gear for. I guess if you really wanted a digital rangefinder, but for me its not great. The lenses are nice, but the pictures are merely decent, nothing spectacular. And its pretty clunky, not a whole lot smaller than a xxD, and certainly heavier. The lenses are smaller though.

After looking through your images....I think you're a good candidate for the M9

I can tell that you're trying to get away from the rule of thirds when shooting environmental portraits of musicians in the studio. That's Cool! I love that because all too often slr shooters use the same tired compositions. The infinity viewfinder of a rangefinder might aid in your particular style of composition.

The other reason that I think you'll like the Leica is about out of focus areas. The transitions between in focus and out of focus areas are smoother on Leica than Canon. Most of your environmental type of portraits are shot within cluttered studio environments. It's really hard to isolate a subject in an environment like when using a canon because either the background will be too blurry and not tell enough of a story...or...it will be too sharp and distract heavily from the subject. Leica is a bit easier to find a happy medium because the lenses and camera creates a look that is much smoother between the IF and OOF areas. So it's often more easily possible to achieve just the right balance between having a sharp isolated subject while still showing enough detail in the out of focus background to provide a sense of place. This reason is why Leica is really considered the ultimate reportage camera. Canon DSLRs will offten just blow the background into a blur...or show too much of it and then the scene looks cluttered. Leica's F2.0 lenses in conjunction with the lack of AA filter in the M9 should get some nice smooth OOF backgrounds in the recording studio even when using moderate focal lengths like 50 or 75 or 35mm

Just some thoughts...good luck with whatever you decide

I would only buy a rangefinder in addition to my SLR system, not replace it. Perhaps someday when I could afford it, but rangefinders don't seem to really fit my style currently. But, I say go for it. You only live once.

What? Depth of field characteristics are precisely the same between Leica and Canon at the same focal length and same aperture.

Bokeh (the quality of out of focus ares) is subtly different, and the technique of seeing is different because the Leica viewfinder gives no indication of focus blur...but there is no difference in what will be blurred.

RDKirk wrote in post #8710233
What? Depth of field characteristics are precisely the same between Leica and Canon at the same focal length and same aperture.

Bokeh (the quality of out of focus ares) is subtly different, and the technique of seeing is different because the Leica viewfinder gives no indication of focus blur...but there is no difference in what will be blurred.

This isn't just about DOF...it's about apparent sharpness as percieved by the viewer. This is determined largely by subjective factors like how a lens draws or whether or not there are AA filters.

If DOF was the only factor...then a picture taken with a Leica lens at F2.0 would look exactly like a picture taken by a Canon lens at F2.0 These 2 images may, in theory, share the same DOF...But they will still appear totally different to the viewer in terms of the way that the images are drawn.

I've been very tempted but it's way out of my current budget (which is no budget at all). I wouldn't replace my SLR system but it would be great as a compliment.

I read that the M8 is less reliable than your sub $500 point and shoot. M9? We will see.

Of course I'll actually try one before deciding but for a lot of what I do it *may* suit me better. Just so very, very much cash...