Leica M9 – again
My old Leica M9 was going downhill censor vice. It started corroding the sensor slowly being one of the very old models. As sensor replacement is complicated I began looking for a new M9. Why you may ask?
Why not buy a new model with optimized dynamic range, long battery life, fast wake up, large fast memory cards, lots of megapixels and you could go on.
The answer is simple and yet complicated. First of all, I just love that specific Leica M. The M9 is the purest and cleanest digital M ever made. But more important. The Kodak 18,5 Kodak CCD sensor makes it worth slow buffering, using 16MB cards and not being a monster megapixel machine.
The CCD sensor delivers a depth of colours and beautiful JPEG black and white photos right out of the camera too if you want.
The sensor was replaced in this new old camera, which has very little sign of use. The new Kodak CCD sensor types used to replace old damaged models are protected against corrosion damages. The M9 is the latest camera model using this unique sensor, whereas newer cameras use the CMOS standard delivering higher ISO performance, less noise sensitivity and cheaper to produce.
There is a retro sense of this (in a digital world) old camera released almost 15 years ago making me search for a good used model and I found it.
To celebrate the close to 15-year anniversary of the Leica M9 I will write about it in the next short period, and relate it to other cameras too.
The photo below was shot with the Leica M9 and Summilux 50mm f1.4 in Rome. It’s on the cover of my new e-book which you can buy and download or get it free when attending a workshop.
