Leica M9 Firmware 1.116 Is Here…

To get it log into your owners area at the Leica site. Go to your M9 product, click on it and you will see the new firmware ready for download! Enjoy!

You should see MUCH faster formatting, higher res preview and everything else listed in the improvements. I also noticed some improvement in high ISO.

You can get to the Leica web site HERE. Then log into the “Owners Area” using the link at the upper right. You must be a registered M9 owner to get the firmware update at this time as it does not seem to be on their main page yet.

BTW, things I have found with the new firmware…

  • The format times are now normal 🙂 Takes a couple of seconds compared to 30 seconds with the old firmware.
  • Yes, the preview image will load in as a higher res preview but it may take a second or two.
  • Much faster preview of images. No more pixelation. Just snap, and then zoom in!
  • I have not yet been able to try the camera with a wide lens though I am getting a 24 Elmar in to review.
  • Also, I have been using a PNY SD card with no issues. I bought this 8GB card at wal mart for $24.
  • I have noticed a slight improvement at higher ISO’s but not sure if it is in my head now. Leica does not mention this improvement in their update but to me I seem to get cleaner results at higher ISO. Not a huge difference but I see it. Does anyone else?


21 Comments

  1. “I’ve just updated my firmware and noticed same. I have the auto review set at 3 secs and the image does not sharpen in this time period at all!…”

    I second Vincents finding. Except that the pic is only sharpening after zooming in. Little annoying.
    (using a Sandisk Extreme 30MB/s class 10 SDHC card, 16GB … don’t think, though, the card has anything to do with it … little firmware glitch in the matrix)

  2. Something strange – I think. After update at midnight & elation after quick tests, cold light of dawn seems a little different.

    First Ashwin’s right – shutdown in middle of reviewing images is very jarring and annoying indeed & needs restoring to previous infinite timing ASAP! Auto shutdown should work only in shooting mode, in my opinion.

    The first, auto review on my M9 takes about 1-1.5 secs to appear, followed by the 5 secs or so before it sharpens : 5 secs auto review is proving insufficient for me (using a new Sandisk Ultra 15mb/sec 16gb SDHC – would be good if something similar to the Rob Galbraith card tests is done for the M9. Perhaps time to try an Extreme III 8gb card now).

    On manual review, initial zooming in when zapped to high magnification quickly still brings on the pixellation (didn’t notice it last night), and same happens when switching between images in zoomed in mode, the pixellation period in both situations takes about 5 secs to clear. Pretty much as previously, I think. Not criticising but an observation.

    When zooming in slower, using the click steps the image definitely displays sharp as each step increases. Definitely much better. Not really noticed improvement in thumbnail images though.

    First steps by Leica to improving a rather special camera, and despite inevitable bugs still much appreciated overall.

  3. Agreed with THual and Vincent…image first pops up as low res in review, then cleans up, but for me, at 1 second. I don’t notice a transition after taking a shot, as my initial image review passes so fast.

    1 bug I see: If you set auto-off to 1 min, the camera will shut off, even if you are reviewing images on the LCD screen at that time…bummer. THat’s a bug that needs fixin’.

    OTherwise, formatting time is the huge win, and images appear cleaner at higher ISO when reviewed on screen.

  4. Hi thual,
    I’ve just updated my firmware and noticed same. I have the auto review set at 3 secs and the image does not sharpen in this time period at all! At 5 secs it just about sharpens before timimg out!
    If you select manual review immediately & zoom in, the image does sharpen.
    Zooming is certainly much better, formatting much quicker – so is it 2 steps forward 1 step back?!!!

  5. Steve, don’t you find that the image that appears right after you take a shot is very unsharp. After a second the resolution increases, but at first look, you think it’s all out of focus… What do you think ?

  6. Agree with Steve on most items. Was very easy to download and install. Almost automatic 😉 !
    Keep up the Good Work Steve!

  7. Thank you Steve!

    You were right 🙂

    Formatting an SD card is now fast!
    And so is zooming in while reviewing!

  8. That’s brilliant Steve, thanks a lot and congratulations for your predictions… Cheers..

  9. When clicking play on your video I am getting the following:
    “The video you have requested is not available.”

    Clicking on the video I am getting an error message on YouTube:
    “This video is private.”

  10. Are your sure its there? I have tried it on both Safari and Firefox and all I see is Firmware 1.002

    Leica site>services>downloads

    Am I missing something?

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