Pics of the Leica M10 Leak out….will have a top mounted EVF like the X2

Pics of the Leica M10 Leak out….seems it will have a top mounted EVF like the X2

So pics have finally leaked of the Leica M10! Don’t you just love it when leaked photos are out and they look god awful?  Looks like an M still but with a few enhancements. Notice the port at the shoe? It’s the same as what is on cameras that have a shoe that houses an EXTERNAL EVF. Hmmmm. I think the M10 will have live view, video, an external EVF and a CMOS sensor. My only question is, will this take away from the M digital quality we have come ti grow and love? The past M8 and M9 have used CCD sensors and these have a rep for having a certain look and feel. I’ve always been a fan of CCD but CMOS brings with it new possibilities for an M like Video, Live View and much higher ISO capability.

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It also has a new dial selector and larger screen (finally, are they upgrading the antique LCD on the M9)?

In any case I expect this to be announced this year so stay tuned. Of course these are my opinions and guesses so let’s see how they play out. You can see more HERE.

I expect the M10 to be revolutionary. To do away with focus issues and problems. To be able to use longer lenses like the 135 without issues. I also expect it to come in at a heft price and after this is released I predict the M9 will become a much sought after “classic”. C’mon Photokina! Oh and thanks to Gideon Buurma for sending me the info on this one!

92 Comments

  1. Lesson learnt from the M9-M release : Stop wasting your money buying Leica’s latest overpriced and outdated pixel technology gimmick.

    Just shoot film, keep photography real.

    M2-7 + Tri X will do. For everything else, there’s Nikon and Canon DSLRs.

  2. So now not only does Lieca have the E-P3 VF2 view but it has the exact same E-P3 rear dial….

  3. Am I the only one who doesn’t really see the supposed EVF port in the grainy images? I have to squint and be looking with the goal of seeing a port

  4. I am just wondering whether the M10 will also be able to use the Olympus EVF 😀

  5. They will most definitely not drop the rangefinder focusing. Two reasons, the first is that by 2013 we will have at least one other manufacturer making full frame mirrorless bodies. So why would one buy an M Leica if it’s lost everything that makes it an M camera?
    Second, there is no reason why Leica cannot have TTL liveview screen w/electronic EVF readout, as well as rangefinder focusing.

    So why give up on a mechanism that you’ve used for decades, and have built a business on, in favor of something which pulls in less respect in the photographic community (EVF/Liveview), when you can just implement both, and justify charging $10k+ for it?

    And don’t tell me EVF/Liveview doesn’t get respect.. If anyone sees another photographer running around shooting stills with a 5DII and the liveview screen you’ll all scoff at him. EVEN if you do it yourself, you scoff… Now the Leica guys are even worse! I know I am.

    The LCD screen should be better in the M9, it will be better in the M10. I just hope the speed is up, as that’s what really bugs me about the M9. Can’t be a serious n discrete photojournalist when the M9s bogging you down..

  6. If you are upset about the cheap LCD in the Lecia M9 & M9-P, get over it. The pictures you want are what comes through your photo software with your HD monitor. The cheap LCD is just for your wife to look at anyways.

    • No, I can’t “..get over it..” as the camera is expensive, and the LCD capability is rather poor. I use it for checking for moiré patterns, and to check whether or not a wide aperture lens has actually nailed the focus. That’s what we used Polaroids for, in the days before digital cameras.

      That’s what these rear screens are for. Let’s say you bought a Rolls-Royce and the windscreen (windshield) was permanently hazy and you couldn’t see through it clearly. Would you “get over it”, or would you have a few words with the seller and with the manufacturer? I did.

      Why disparage your wife, by the way?

  7. Just here to say that kind of accessory port is used for all kinds of stuff on m4/3 side. Flashes, mics, EVFs…

  8. Why are autofocus lenses so gigantic today? How did the mirrorless contax g2 have “full frame” image circles from lenses that were relatively small?

    My fuji x pro 1 lens seems larger thang contax were and yet its aps-c.

    I like Leica rangefinders. but I’d like a full frame , phase detect autofocus, mirrorless that’s the same size as my old g2 was.

    What technological constraints are preventing this?

    • The Contax G2 focusing mechanism is all in the camera body: a motor in the body turns a rod which engages with a similar rod in the lens which racks the lens out and in. The lenses thus don’t need to be any larger than any small manual focus lenses, such as Leica’s.

      Most autofocus SLRs have focusing motors within the lenses, thus making the lenses much larger than small manual focus lenses. Contax, or rather Yashica, who made these later Contax cameras, also made an autofocus SLR which used normal non-motorised lenses for autofocus, and did that by moving the -f-i-l-m- backwards and forwards slightly inside the camera, instead of moving the lens!

      All internal-motor autofocus lenses are necessarily larger than non-motorised lenses, because they have extra mechanisms and electronics inside.

      “..My fuji x pro 1 lens seems larger than contax were and yet its aps-c..” ..that’s because the X-Pro 1 lenses have focus and aperture motors inside, as well as the glass, and so the overall size of the lenses is wider than the much simpler glass-only Contax or Leica lenses.

      “..I like Leica rangefinders. but I’d like a full frame , phase detect autofocus, mirrorless that’s the same size as my old g2 was..” ..then, essentially, you want your autofocus Contax G2, but with a digital sensor inside it instead of a strip of film. OR just continue using film, and then just scan the film after it’s been processed.

      Autofocus cameras now have motors inside their lenses (think of Leica’s big S2 cameras and lenses) and it’s unlikely that anyone’s going to make autofocus cameras any more like the Contax G2, with the focusing motor inside the camera body, and without motors in the lenses.

      The only possible – but very improbable – exception might be Leica, which COULD ..but probably won’t.. make a digital autofocus camera which winds the lens mount itself in and out for focusing, and could thus continue to use very small non-motorised manual lenses, but give them the capability to be used for autofocus.

  9. I have 2 insider friends in Japan (Panasonic-Germany Arri film Optical Dogs Yes folks the rumers are…Photokina 2012 Leica along with Panasonic are still in RD. HD Video Live View Pro Broadcast.
    Midland-Solms plant testing a type of Wi-Fi to transmit live to Cloud memory. Friend in UK areospace let the cat out of the bag. I can assume this might be a future ‘M13’ if you have to ask…afford to buy.
    Also testing various M R to Leica Digital that uses Next generation HD Cine lens. I saw some D samples of these RD ‘drop frame’ HD Broadcast-Very Impressed.
    I can assume Leica is gearing up to live to it’s legacy-Watch out Ricoh-Fugi…Time will tell.
    As for Leaked M10 F is for Fake and Video on a leica. I still shoot M3-Modified M4 Drum Scanner…
    Not ready to sell my left testicle just yet. Happy shooting folks Sorry but I prefer film over digital.
    Yours in Leica…FOL UK

  10. Let’s imagine a new M10 at Photokina, just like the M9, but with an additional Electronic View Finder, and an adaptor to fit Leica R (SLR) lenses, and Leica R zooms, to its, er, 23 megapixel body. Let’s say it costs $7000.

    Now lets imagine a new module at Photokina for the small, dainty, ever-so-capable Ricoh GXR ..a module like the existing Leica-M-lens-module, but with a full-frame (36x24mm) sensor, instead of the current APS-size sensor. At $2000.

    M10: Full frame, takes M and R lenses, high-resolution EVF, 23mpxl, highest ISO 16,000, no video, no colour correction or electronic filters in camera, $7000.

    GXR-MA: Full frame, takes M and R lenses, high-resolution EVF, 24mpxl, highest ISO 128,000, mechanical and silent electronic shutter (as in present M-module), colour correction and electronic filters in camera, $2000.

    Which would you buy..?

  11. the photo at the top is a fake- it’s obvious a PS job… but the two photos below are likely real. I wonder if leica have made it impossible to use the oly EVF on this camera.

    I am hoping there is truth in that rumour about Hasselblad…. and I hope it takes M lenses! Hasselblad won’t be cheap though- I hope similar FR like creations are heading our way from Japan. Only they can create an awesome product that is actually affordable to a large market.

  12. I want a direct print button so that I can directly print the jpgs on my color laser… *scnr*

    I love my M3!

  13. Well here we go again. I hope for: CCD @ about 20megs..For a ISO that holds image to about 12k.. An LCD that is up to days standards. 8 fps and 1/8000, you can keep. Movies, good enough for personal use, pro use. Buy Canon or Nikon. And please no strange problem that makes you say, why??
    I am holding out for this camera. The M8 was not up to par. The M9 is good. If the M10 is not up to modern standards. I will buy a Fujifilm. I will use my M7. I would hope to use the M10 and M7. Please get it right Leica or Fujifilm looks as if they have better handle on creating great system.Even if you do not like the Pro 1, you know there will be a Pro 2,3… At under 2k vs 10k+. Well do the math. Leica made the S2. They can make autofocusing lens and modern cameras. Sorry, but when pay Leica cameras prices you expect the best. If not SOME value for your money.

  14. it would be better to point to source (leicarumors), admin said in the comments section that he had to crop the image(s) to remove identifiable info about location and photographer

  15. I here Fuji is supposed to be announcing a new high end camera at photokina too. Imagine if fuji and leica put the best of their systems toghether in a modern rangefinder……….

  16. As much as I’ve tried, I’ve never liked the way the M8 and M9 renders skin tones. The CCD gives them a strange contrasty video/electronic look. I have ended up preferring the look of my 5D’s (mark 1 and 2) in this regard and have never bought a digital M for this reason. (My M6 still cranks out rolls of Tri-X and Portra… I won’t even start on how beautiful Portra is to skin tones…)

    A CMOS sensor would be a welcome change. It might convince me to drop the coin needed for an M10. I just bought a Ricoh GXR M-module and really enjoy the look of that chip with my M-lenses. It confirmed my suspicions of the my subjective taste (or lack there of) of the look from the CCD sensor in the M8/9. That being said, the GXR isn’t a rangefinder: It is nowhere near how much of a joy it is to use a Leica M. So as I said, a CMOS digital M would be quite welcome.

  17. I’ll stick with my M9. I’ve used Ms for 40+ years have never had rangefinder problems. I have many more focus misses with dSLR autofocus.
    The one reason LV and EFV would be nice would be to use Leica R lenses on FF digital, since R to M adapters are available. Not as good as a proper SLR-made-digital like a digital version of the R6, but may be better than adapting the R lenses to the huge dSLRs available.
    Otherwise video and LV-on-the-back have no attraction for me.

    • If the EVF for the X2 cost 600 bucks, how much does the EVF for the M10 will cost? Provided the pictures are real? Adding the cost of the EVF to the cost of a M10 body which does video, LOL on that btw, no thanks Leica, if I want a do-it-all camera I’d stick with my dslrs or a oly EM5

      The industry needs a third party full frame body with a M mount to undercut Leica’s bodies, because to me, only things that are special about Leica is their glass. I’m using an M9 not because it’s affordable, but because it’s the only game in town to take full advantage of the M glass.

      I guess I’ll wait till the M13 is released and stick with my M9 for now.

      • I would also have bought a different FF camera, if one had been available designed for “legacy photographers” so that it worked and felt exactly like our venerable manual-focus film cameras. That was the appeal of the M9 to me, plus I could use my 40-yr old M lenses exactly like on my film M – I have no “modern” Leica glass. If Pentax had made a digital version of their old MX film SLR I’d have bought it instead of the M9, although my aging eyes can focus a rangefinder now faster and more instinctively.

        • Yes, I would jump on a digital version of FM3a even with a film rewinder… But I guess even if they decide to make one, it would be full of plastic just like the OMD

  18. If this is the M10 then I’d say it’s fake, maybe though it’s some kind of Leica’s answer to the X-Pro / NEX 7

    • Absolutely. There will be no M10! The M Monochrom was the new camera in the M line. Why else would Leica announce the Monochrom on May 10th (a Thursday…really?). Everyone referred to it as the M9M which implied that it was still an M9 without color. I see nothing from Leica that says its an M9M. It was announced on May 10th because it is the M10 (or the next big M). The shots above are for a lower lever camera that will use cheaper AF lenses. IMHO

  19. EVF because lenses wuldnt be calibrated accurate enough? If this was the case it wouldnt be a real rangefinder anymore IMO. It woulb be just another mirrorless camera.
    AS long as the EVF is an additional option I am fine because I can but dont have to use it.
    I just hope they keep the camera simple and dont overload it with options.
    Because the simplicity has been one of the main reasons (besides IQ and the nice viewfinder) to use Leica M cameras.
    On the other side I have really enjoyed a x-pro 1 for the last weeks – and if such a camera would be offered from Leica/ with Leica lenses I would buy it. Yes, I believe I can faster and more accurate focus with the x-pro1 than I can with the M9. But I also still believe I take better images qith the M9.

  20. Looks photoshopped quite obvious. just compared it to my M9, notice how the right dial is so far left of the camera that it sits on the curved part? And EVF for what? would it work with the manual focus ring on lenses?

  21. looks like leica is up to for more profit growth 🙂
    let’s see in which price level they’d tag this M10
    nice!

    • The M8 was USD 4800 at launch and the M9 USD 7000. The M10 will in the USD 10000 range.

      • I am afraid you may be correct. I would like to think that the S2, if the rumors can be believed, would be a ceiling to how high the M10 can be priced. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

        PaulB

  22. Since this is all speculation anyway. Mathias Karstädt’s comment that this looks like an M8 with a bigger LCD brings up an interesting question.

    What if the photos above really are an updated M8. Lets say an M8.3, with an updated LCD, bigger APS-C sensor (Sony 24MP optimized for Leica WA lenses (?)), and the same EVF as the X2/EP3. Would any of us be interested, and at what price would we be interested?

    Personally, I would be interested in such a body if it was priced between $3,000 – $3,500, possibly up to $4,000 if the pixel count is higher and/or there is no AA filter.

    PaulB

  23. Let’s see…

    1. “Live View”, don’t need it and don’t want it.
    2. “Video”. Seriously?
    3. “CMOS Sensor”. While higher ISO would always be welcome I think the CCD sensor of the M9 renders wonderful images that have a unique signature.
    4. “Larger LCD”. I use mine very little anyway, and rely on the histogram more than the image.
    5. “Use lenses longer than 135”. Not an issue for me. If I want a camera for Safari a dSLR is a far superior choice.

    Leica should call this the M5x2, as it has a lot in common with it’s unfortunate technology blazing cousin the M5…and we all remember how successful that product was…eh, wasn’t.

  24. If the EVF rumor is true, I think the full frame M10 could be a really cool camera to use the Leica R lenses on (with an adaptor of course), not to mention all sorts of older manual SLR lenses especially the wide angles.

  25. There’s not much reason to worry about a move from CCD to CMOS, because there’s nothing magical about CCD. Sensor toppings, camera processing, quality of internal camera parts, raw conversion methods, etc. all play a role in the Leica digital “look,” and Leica can finally ditch the CCD tech that was already old when the M9 was released. Don’t forget, up until a few years ago, several low and mid level (and a few high end) DSLRs from Nikon, Sony and Pentax were all CCD, and I’m not exactly dying to shoot my old Sony A100 these days.

    I’ve owned CCD digital backs and DSLRs, and I say that Leica using their own sensor toppings and processing on a Sony CMOS would be an incredible performance improvement.

  26. I’m on the side of those thinking this is a hoax…what the hell with a Leica M 9/10 cost with video?, I’m scared to think.

    On the other hand I’m hoping it is true so that the cost of the M9 will go down 🙂

  27. I think video is a by-product of live-view. Once it has LV, then video is just a software thingy. Also, Live-view may be the cheapest and easiest way to make focus easily (for non-RF users). In RF world, it seems no way to make focus easily except LV and peaking, and of course, practice (at least for now).

  28. I think I’ll stick to my M3…no batteries, best VF of any other Leica, film can be scanned. No buyer’s remorse with always seeing what the next gadget will bring. Steve, bring back “Friday Film day!”

    • I agree with you Kev. I stuck with my M6TTL and have the films scanned. The true pain of digital is battery dependancy. Take shots, charge battery for four hours. Take shots, charge battery for four hours, take shots…one cell lasts months and months in my film camera.
      I bought an OM-D. A total opposite to the Leica and I admit I like it ( except for the battery dance and the fact that Olympus now thinks they ARE Leica judging by the price of the lens hoods!) but I’m keeping the M6TTL.It’s a good one, Not been impressed by M digitals. Remember how nice it was NOT to have to use menus and worry about sensor this and pixel that. Now this debate is just starting up with the M10. Here we go again. Film is set exposure, focus and shoot. Took me a whole week just to set up the OM-D! I think a digital camera is a completely different thing to a film camera.Trying to hybrid them isn’t such a good idea, maybe.

  29. If you want live view/video/high ISO – buy a Canon or Nikon, etc.

    The M9 works because it makes you slow down – thats half the fun

    PS – yes, I wrote the breakup letter, but we went to counseling and we’ve fallen in love again. In fact I’m also dating her younger sister – X2. So long as I don’t scream her name out, we’re cool……

  30. I used Leicas professionally for 18 years but to me they lost the plot after the M6. My M6s travelled all round the globe in all sorts of environments and never failed. The MP was more expensive and had a stupid rewind crank. The M7 was notorious for failing, my M8 never worked properly and I ended up getting my money back and the M9 is so grossly over priced with a shite screen that I’m just not prepared to spend so much on what now is either a poseurs necklace or rich mans trinket. Never thought i would say that about a Leica but it’s true!!

  31. From my perspective it’s good to see Leica looking ahead and making some changes for the upcoming M10. I think they could still significantly advance the camera and for the most part still keep the purists happy.

    With that said, I can’t help but wonder if it is a mistake moving from the CCD sensor. They’re really is something different about M8/M9 files that has nothing to do with the lenses….and for that reason I miss my old M8.

    • Whoops….that should have been ‘there’….not ‘they’re’……..
      Grammatical errors make me twitch…even on the internet. 🙂

      • The casual nature of internet writing has me using homonyms to a degree that makes me shutter. I catch them on re-reading; the problem is I so often write and click “submit” without thinking twice — or even once, for that matter. I”m only 61; I’d hate to think my mind is going!

  32. Why does everybody want the Leica M to be a camera which already exists in other brands? The Leica M is about making photographs is a pure and simple way. No bells and whistles. Who needs live view? Only the camera’s with less than perfect viewfinders. And people who don’t look and think before they take the picture. I doubt and hope that the megapixel count stays the same. Just higher ISO, larger buffer, faster compute times, better weather sealing (but that will never be perfect) and a higher quality LCD.

    I’ve used the M8 and M9 with many fast lenses (noctilux, 90mm summicron), wide open and never had an issue with focussing. It is a matter of practicing a lot. It is not a point and shoot which you can master in a few days or weeks. But if you get there it is magic.

    Let’s hope Leica doesn’t ruin an already almost perfect photographic tool.

    • “Who needs live view?”

      Me. I was a focus puller for 13 years shooting often at T1.4 85mm, no problem….well… a couple of takes maybe. So I know about and how to focus. I bought an MP for one reason only, the Noctilux. Actually I bought 3 for an early 3D (ish) application but due to Leicas inability in getting even 1 of the lenses calibrated to an MP body (never mind 2!) I lost interest in the rangefinder method. However a digital full frame M mount with live view would be a big help to me in nailing a very finite shot @ f1.0

      It would make my Noctilux usable again. The camera doesn’t interest me that much when compared to the glass, a bit of a film attitude I know but thats just baked in to my prejudice. 🙂

  33. I don’t know (have an opinion) one way or the other if Leica will have all the things listed above but after looking at those pics closely it seems to be fake. The straight on view of the EVF points looks pasted via photoshop. If an EVF was present I have feeling it wouldn’t be just a big hole in the back of the camera like that. Seems counterintuitive to Leica standards when it comes to the M.

  34. If the M10 is going to get a CMOS sensor it might be a similar one to the one the D800E has – or maybe even one with an even better resolution…

  35. I don’t think this is a port for an external viewfinder.
    If you look closely, you will see that this looks exactly like the Leica Camera print below (with JPEG artifacts), so I think this is just another marking with white letters. Maybe it says ‘M10’ or something.
    And as the body looks like an M8 my bet is, that it has indeed an included electronic viewfinder and they just needed more space for it in the body!

  36. I do not care if it plays mp3:s, as long as it handles like a real M rangefinder. If they drop the rangefinder focusing, I will stay with M9 (and M6) and start to look for a new camera for the future after the M9 dies.

    • Kris,

      It plays mp3’s? Drat, it’s off my shopping list then! 🙂

      I feel in unlikely they will drop the r/f focusing which, after all, is what Leica has been about for decades. Their slr’s didn’t really take off, although in the SL2 they produced what is probably one of the best all mechanical film slr’s of all times. (I’m going to duck know to dodge the missiles coming my way. 🙂 )

  37. Steve, I’m wondering why you think the sensor is CMOS? I was under the impression that Leica had committed to the new sensor company spun from Kodak’s ccd line.

    • Since there is a port for an EVF I am assuming live view and video. Those need a CMOS sensor. Plus, for ISO like ISO 10,000, in color, they will need CMOS. This is all just my guess…keep that in mind. It could be CCD..could be just a higher MP M9…we shall see!

      • EVF is good for still picture photography while live view is good for video capturing. These images need to be transfered from sensor via processor (after compressed) constantly. CMOS senssor can be read much faster then CCD sensor. That’s why CCD sensor camera can’t capture video but CMOS sensor camera can captur video.

      • Wait a minute… who said, that they can’t have both, a CMOS (camera) built in the EVF (getting focus distance from lens/body lever as mechanical-2-digital conversion and 6-bit lens type info to the EVF CMOS camera adapt CMOS focal lenght) and the “classic” CCD in the body? To me this would be the base to keep the CCD technology in the camera, but also to get the focus issues for fast lenses fixed by having focus peak. Once this is done, you might think about little gyro sensors in the EVF to magnify/reduce and/or move the magnified detail.
        This clever EVF will be sold extra. They somehow could come with a updated M9 like M9.2 (the only thing they need is a new cap w/ EVF connector plus the focus distance lever get also the binary angle information submitted plus loop through the 6-bit lense code(or just the mm converted from M9’s firmware (in case there are new mm) submitted to the EVF).
        At the end the external hot shoe mounted EVF is the new player. It has an extra CMOS camera insight, is feed w/ focus and focal length information. But since 100$ mobil phones have those kind of CMOS cameras required for this, today this should be feasable in a compact way.

        • Oh, I forgot to say this: with a possible upgrade option, they could even update the M8/8.2 to make them EVF-ready, but also the M7/6/… (for full usability on analogues, the 6-bit code ring needs to be mounted (if not, have some typical mm on EVF availabe to set up manually) AND somehow you need a battery (space for battery) for the EVF (try solar ;o) ) you could add a EVF! (if they would get rid of the optical viewfinder on M6 and M7 upgrades, they could use the space for a EVF-battery… or have just a viewfinder with no more focus information anymore)

          Another idea, on the digital M’s, you can send the little CMOS thumb pic also to the SD card (on shutter release). And if you just can set this as an option, in case you want to calibrate the EVF to your lens, to make the EVF a 100% WYSIWYG (WYSI EVF/CMOS IWYG on CCD).
          Or have a auto shutter-release option, to release the shutter if a eye-detection found a eye/the eyes in a picure are sharp (focused to).

          Ah yes, one more comment to the gyro sensors… like finger gestures, easy to learn little-little movements or shakes should control EVF’s magnification and detail-area shifts.

          I can just press thumbs, that they just got also the idea of a cheap 2nd external CMOS camera integrated into a EVF… if they provide some data channels also, a lot of weired ideas can be realized then.

  38. Horrible fake surely. It looks like a USB port. Also why would they block the hotshoe with an EVF?? EVF with no flash. Must be fake surely.

    • Nah…it isn’t fake. The EVF would primarily be for wide angle use anyway when flash would not provide adequate coverage anyhow.

      Besides….I would bet money that less than 1% of all M users utilize flash.

      • I have the SF20 for my M6, and the SF58 for my M9, and if you know how to use these flash lights at the right situation, you will be amazed how stunning the pictures are.

  39. I’m 90% positive this is a hoax. There is no sensible way Leica would do anything so lazy, especially considering that very good reports are coming in that Hasselblad are releasing their own rangefinder “style” camera that will utilize technology from microoled to be used in the EVF… why would a company with such an elevated brand be so slack and risk losing their dominance?

    • Remember…this is Leica. Look at the X2 😉 They are slow going with the tech but they always have seemed to deliver the feel and IQ we love. We shall see soon enough I guess. When I posted M9 news, people said it was a hoax. When I posted Monochrom rumors, people said it was a hoax and no way Leica would do that. Makes you think huh?

      • Good point :)… well either way I’m excited, the M9 is still class leading and it’s getting on in years so I hope the same for the M10.

    • Do you have, or is any more info available on that Hasselblad rangefinder? That sounds interesting!

        • I’ve read rumors like most people, just do a quick search and there are plenty of articles out there. One thing that makes me believe that there is some merit to them is that I know that the OLED manufacturer has been working with a long established photographic company and their first OLED’s seen in the photographic field will be at Photokina this year.
          Also, the rumors report a slightly larger sensor that 35mm, so either this will be a copy of the X-Pan or maybe it is needed to give the photographer 120% field of view like traditional rangefinders… a problem with the EVF.

          Or, maybe it’s a HOAX 🙂

    • M9 is not a classic in my opinion.
      Leica glass? Best. But with digital, Leica fell way behind. Let’s not leave ourselves in Brand Dreams. I would love to have a Leica film camera.
      I have shot with the following: Leica S2, M8 and M9
      S2 is the only camera that Leica should be proud in digital line.
      M8 is a shame.
      M9? they did a better job in the sensor but not enough! Was not even close to what they stand for: The absolute best quality and best value. M8’s CCD is not much better than Canon 10D, sorry but we need to face it.
      M9 LCD makes me wonder how ppl really pay that money for such a crap LCD.
      Mamiya did that with their digital backs early on.
      If you are paying the top dollar for top camera in its’ class, should not you be getting best of all? Sensor, lcd, durability glass etc. not just solid body, great glass…
      Just had to rant!
      Sorry to bother your ears guys.

      this is a HOAX
      and Steve, you have your watermark on the image file?? 🙂

  40. Just a weird product idea: if you could see b&w through the viewfinder by pressing a switch or soemthing, that would be awesome to find the neutral grey for metering.

      • HORRIBLE product!!! the focusing will be ovf obviously because of the rangefinder. so what is the point of the evf???

        it will be “exactly” like the mamiya 7 with a 43mm lens… use your eye to focus the rangefinder in the first ovf, and then move your eye into the second ovf that lets you see the filed of view for a wide angle to compose the image. by the time you have wasted that extra 30 seconds, your subject has flown away.

        • My M7II with 43mm needs no focus. I set it to either 7 or 10 feet depending on how close the near objects of interest are and just compose.

  41. looks like a cut and paste job on the main pic…

    all the m9 needs is some tweaking faster processor/buffer, sort out the odd focusing issues if any…be weather proof, better lcd.

    does it need live view?

    • Sadly they do need it and i think it is mainly to cut down on all of the focus issues so many have had with the M9 (and believe me, there are many who have had issues with fast glass). This will eliminate that issue and free up Leicas repair dept from always having to calibrate bodies and lenses. Also, in order to have video they need live view. An M doesn’t NEED it, no…but it may be better with it. We are in 2012, and they will keep the RF..I know they wouldn’t nix that!

      • cheers steve

        crikey..didn’t know focusing issues was so bad

        personally don’t think video is needed…have spoken to quite a lot of people who thought they would use video on their dslr’s and gave up due to the amount of editing/post prod it needs compared to stills….and would need good sound as well (a whole other kettle of fish to get right).

        also the more they put into the camera…the more that can go wrong with it.

        leica, having manufactured glorious super 8’s in the past, should produce a dedicated high-end video camera…as Red Epics etc. can now take the M Glass.

        • My M9 has been back TWICE to have the focus adjusted, and I’m still not happy with it. The second time, I sent an M3 with it, saying “This M3 focuses -p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y- with my 50mm f1.4 lens; please make the M9 focus as well as the M3”.

          They said the M3 was out of calibration – yet it had just been cleaned (CLA’d) and works perfectly with all my lenses! – and that both the M9 AND the 50mm lens would need re-calibration. (And I use a magnified eyepiece with the M9, so that its view matches the better-viewfinder old M3.)

          I just don’t trust Solms to get it right. Sorry.

          • that’s a real shame…

            i don’t fully test my m9 as often as i should but when it has been “out” it’s me missing the shot

            might get it re-calibr. next year….but haven’t seen any issues…yet

      • So it is all about turning an M into what an M shouldn´t be? Video?? really?
        Anyway, this is so good to me, I will keep my M9 like a treasury and won´t even think about purchasing an M10!

        • i like things to be done properly….and if they turn the m10 into video it will need proper mic XLR inputs etc etc. and i don’t see that happening. If video does appear on m10 it will have to be as a novelty and not the real deal…people will get some nice footage then realise it is too much hard work and stick to taking photos.

          It would be better if Leica come out with a proper M or R video camera or
          even to complement their new cine lenses.

      • that’s a bit absurd- it will only solve the problems if you use liveview exclusively. Who want to pay 10K for a crippled camera?

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