I have a lovely canon system with a bag full of great lenses, but it doesnt get used enough because it's too big...

If I sold half of it, plus a big slice of my surprisingly good bonus cheque from last month then I could stretch for an M9, a 35 and a 75 or a 90.

Or should I put the money in the bank and get a panasonic GF1?

Have you ever used a rangefinder before? The M9 and GF1 are very different...

I also have a Canon kit, but it's not much larger than my Leica M2+50, and get's a lot of use, just because it's so compact... (5D2+Nikkor45P)

yes, i've got a MF film rangefinder and like the way it makes you get more involved and think slightly more about what you're shooting. I use manual focus out of choice on my 5D a lot of the time too.

The M9, a 35 lux, and a 75 cron sure would be sweeeet!

If you don't need particularly good high ISO performance, go for it.

The 35/75 combo Rob mentioned sounds great if you're into 35s.

The ZM 35/2 Biogon is a fantastic lens too, but the Zeiss 85s are either super-expensive (85/2) or slow (85/4).

The traditional lens combos are 28/50/90 or 24/35/75, so unless you are planning to stop at 2 lenses, I wouldn't go 35/90. The gap between them is large and hard to fill, unless you find the 35/50 gap acceptable.

35/75 seems like a good combo for m9. Its my current m8 combo....

I'm keeping my Nikon kit, but sold the lenses I don't use much and purchased a 300 2.8 VR. I'm now on a couple of M9 waiting lists. I have 35 cron and 50 lux. Probably will add a 90 cron or lux later. I should have purchased the 35 and 90 first, and then figure out what to get next.

Good luck on your decision. There are strong reasons to do nothing, but in the end, it's your call. Obviously, I would buy the Leica, however, I'm not stable.

damn, you lot are no use at all

I've just put a deposit down on an M9. Hopefully I'll get it some time before christmas!

too much noise. get the 5d compact setups, or e-420 olympus, or rebel, and save 4 k

The M9 has less noise than the e-420 and rebel... but OK. I do laugh at photographers for whom noise is the be all and end all. I rarely shoot faster than 800 film and never have any issues, at 800 the M9 is just fine.

Mike there is a VAT price rise coming to the UK at the end of the year, and Leica won't be lowering it's wholesale price so you did the right thing putting down a deposit if you do want one eventually.

Patrick most of your shots which I saw (nice shots by the way) were ISO100, 160 or 400... Wouldn't you prefer the compact and discrete size for candids and portraits?

thrice wrote:
The M9 has less noise than the e-420 and rebel... but OK. I do laugh at photographers for whom noise is the be all and end all. I rarely shoot faster than 800 film and never have any issues, at 800 the M9 is just fine.


One quick way to get about a stop of improvement in noise performance is to switch from ACR/LR to another RAW converter with competent NR at the conversion stage. It's a big improvement for high ISO shooters and good conversion-stage NR costs less detail than even the best post-conversion NR tool.

The ACR engine's biggest weakness at this point is NR.

That said, I'd strongly recommend CaptureOne as the preferred conversion tool for the M9, simply because of CO's moire control tool, it's probably the RAW converter best suited to working with cameras which lack an AA filter as it was specifically designed for that situation.

We do also have to wait and see what the final version of Lightroom 3 is like. People are saying raw conversion and especially noise control is vastly improved.

I'd personally use a 28 more then a 35, and an 85/90 more than a 75. However that would leave me wanting a 50

I have a friend that swears by the gf1. I am also thinking the leica needs a 28mm even if you go off brand to make the kit to my taste.

M9 with two lenses are good, but M8 plus many more lenses may also be interesting if you can live with disadvantages of M8 such as UV/IR, cropped sensor, louder shutter release, etc...

Back to the lens choice topic, it all depends on the person.

I found the 35lux quickly became my default lens with the m9 - just seemed to the right one for most situations.

I also have a wate and a 75cron. So far for me the 75 has been the least used.

One from a recent walk with the m9 and 35. The whole combo is smaller than just the 14-24 lens that I used to use. I've found that I really get more enjoyment taking photos with smaller, lighter gear.

thanks folks! to respond to the points above:
- I'm not too worried about noise. I rarely go over 800 and when i do, I'm used to film so the M9 will be worlds better than pushed FP5.
- I played with a GF1 in the shop today and liked it. If the M9 doesnt appear by christmas then a GF1 and pancake could come to Chile with me in Jan instead of an M9
- I dont want to compromise with an M8, I'd always be regretting not waiting / saving for an M9
- I use a 35 a lot on my 5D, so I think that'd be my main lens on the M9 too. I'd like something longer and probably something wider than that, so 24/35/75 is probably where I'll end up.

Damn.. I cant wait
(and I just spotted that you can get a converter for the GF1 to fit M lenses... )

atufte wrote:
I also have a Canon kit, but it's not much larger than my Leica M2+50, and get's a lot of use, just because it's so compact... (5D2+Nikkor45P)

Can you say a bit more about that Nikkor 45P on the Canon? How do you like the image quality?