Peter Truman Photography

[Update 10th September, see below]

I have written before about Leica rangefinder cameras - I used to have one and loved it, but for the type of photography I do it just wasn’t the right tool for the job. The M8 digital rangefinder was a lovely camera and using it was a pleasure as the handling was just sublime. Even though I have spent time getting to know my Canon cameras intimately and love using them, they just do not come close to the ‘feel’ of using a Leica M. Now, I know there is much snobbery, hype and drivel written about the M8 (and other M-series rangefinders), but if you like the way it works, can afford the purchase and ongoing costs (lenses and accessories are mighty expensive), it’s a wonderful camera system to use. The lenses are quite something and I can still marvel over some of my images taken with them. It’s difficult to describe, but they have a sparkle, a contrast and clarity that is difficult to see with almost any other lens I have ever used. Clearly it is not just the lens but the system that contributes to the look of the image and the Leica lenses are a good match for any M-series camera, film or digital. Trouble was, the digital M8 had a sensor smaller than 35mm film and, just like many DSLRs, lenses did not behave the way they should. A 50mm standard lens, for instance, performed as a 66mm lens (a 1.3x factor). The M8 was also plagued by teething troubles that took some time to clear up, is expensive and it got some poor press in its early days as a consequence. An upgraded model was released in 2008, the M8.2. This had a new shutter, different flash sync speed, a sapphire glass LCD cover and a significantly higher price tag than its predecessor. But there are many people out there, myself included, who bought an M8 or M8.2 and loved it. It had problems and workarounds, it was expensive, slow, noisy at times, ‘only’ 10 million pixels, no auto focus capability, but still people are quite fanatical about them. Many critics suggest that the passion people appear to develop over their Leica is an excuse or justification for the cost, and for some it may be. One of the greatest features of an M8 is its lack of features; it's just a camera, a sophisticated one, but remains a camera rather than a computer with a camera attachment that many DSLRs are. It remains true to the original M design and puts the photographer in control, not the camera, which in turn makes it much easier to connect with the subject. And if you like the way they work, the passion is real and the cost incidental.

I’m one of those who bought an M8, loved using it but after a year or so (and the purchase of a Canon 1Ds) found it was rarely, if ever, being used. So I sold it. It was not right for the sort of photography I did at the time or, quite frankly, do now. But I still kind of miss it in the same way you miss your favourite armchair when it finally gives up and has to be thrown out, or the favourite car that just has to go as the family no longer fits.

On 9th September 2009 (09/09/09) Leica announced their new range of cameras. This includes the successor to the M8 - the full frame sensor M9. It looks virtually identical to its predecessor although it is clear that some serious engineering work has been performed to fit a full frame sensor into the small body. The body dimensions are the same as the M8 and I’m intrigued how the Leica engineers have managed to achieve this. I had always thought that the depth of the M8 was insufficient to accommodate a full frame sensor, so I assume there’s some clever engineering and use of micro-lenses on the sensor itself. From the press release and initial reactions it appears that the M9 shares everything that was good about the M8 and fixes the remainder. Interesting to note comparing the specifications is that the M9 follows the M8.2 specification closely - except that it has a perspex LCD cover instead of the M8.2 sapphire glass (maybe that will come as another expensive upgrade!) It is of course very early days and we do not yet know if there are any reliability issues or teething troubles, but again one would assume that Leica learnt much from the M8 and will, we hope, have anticipated issues and fixed them! We also know the price - in the UK it is £4850 (including VAT). That’s expensive, even for a Leica.

But why would you use a Leica M for garden and plant photography? The rangefinder system embodied in the M-series is simply not made for close-up and macro work. You can use it, but quite frankly there are much easier ways of doing close-ups and intimate plant portraits. But for broader views of gardens and photographs of people and things happening in gardens, the M-series is absolutely fine. It is completely different to an SLR in the way you use it, but also completely useable for that environment. In fact it has some advantages over an SLR. Many people have criticised it, but in a rangefinder system the viewfinder shows a lot more than the lens will. What the lens will pick up is denoted by a set of framelines within the viewfinder. If using a longer focal length lens (that’s almost anything longer than 50mm) the image you see within the viewfinder framelines will be very small. Even with wide angle lenses the viewfinder covers more than the lens. This is one of the great advantages of the system, that you can see the environment outside the frame. If photographing people you can see them moving across the frame - you compose, wait, click. This is quite different to an SLR when what you see is what you get, where the viewfinder image is just what the lens sees (well, generally speaking as many SLR viewfinders do not provide quite 100% frame coverage). Clearly for close-up work the rangefinder approach is not ideal as you normally need as large a view as possible given the finesse required to compose and focus. But in a garden where there is lots of activity going on, being able to see more than the image frame can be a great way of capturing the scene. Another great advantage of the M-series is the size and weight. They are much smaller than an SLR system and the M9 is billed as the world's smallest full frame camera. Carrying it about doesn’t require a sherpa and camel train or a huge backpack; this also makes them far less obtrusive in use. Is that sufficient justification for buying an M9 and using the lenses I have kept? No, most certainly not given the costs and the fact that my Canon DSLR is perfectly suited to the job. But I’d still like one as I love the way they work.

I hope the M9 and the other announcements (the stratospherically priced S2 and the somewhat more down-to-earth X1) are successful for Leica and keep them at the forefront of camera and lens design. I will keep a watch but should you want hands-on reviews then you should look elsewhere as they will not be appearing here anytime soon, if at all. The Leica website contains details of the cameras and the press release and preview can be seen on several different sites, one example being dpreview.

Update: 10th September 2009

Well, I guess it was inevitable. Two things. First, hands-on previews have started to trickle out and have nothing but praise for the M9. Obviously no longer term feedback as yet, but people have sure been looking for the faults that plagued the M8 and they seem to have been addressed. Second, the critics have started to wage war on whether the M9 sensor is any good or not - largely based on theory, heresay and a few rather poor images. It sounds like people trying to justify their Canon, Nikon, Sony or any other camera against the Leica. Some say its great, others consider it poor. Inevitable. I want to see some large prints, feel the camera and how it works and then make a judgement.