For the Love of Suffering

A List of Digital Leica M Cameras why isn't this on leica.com?

11 May 2016

There really should be a definitive list of digital Leica M cameras, and I’m happy to turn this blog post into a link to that list. Until then, I hope this helps someone.

I don’t know why Leica make it so hard on us to buy their cameras. I can barely keep track of which camera I want, short of knowing that I want a digital Leica M. I have a film M7 that is a freakish combination of sculptural art work, exquisite functionality, and a tool that makes photography enjoyable to the point of giggles and produces results so good that they don’t make sense when compared to the simplicity of the process. That said, I still want the digital version because film really is a pain in the neck. If only I could remember which digital version I wanted.

The film versions are pretty simple. The M7 has a meter and thus modern1 conveniences like automatic shutter speed. Other Leica M film cameras don’t have meters. Or some may. Whatever, I’ve already got one and, as Monty Python’s French Soldier said, Oh yes, it's very nice!2 and Ferris was right: It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. 3

But I don’t have a digital one. And as part of the long (yet almost certainly inevitable) process of getting one, I needed some notes on what the options are. If someone else has made this list, I couldn’t find it, and I’m sorry for (a) not just linking it to your information and (b) for spending the time I did making my own list when you already had one.

So, here’s my table of digital Leica M-system cameras. If I’ve made some mistake, let me know @acaird 4.

Name Price 5 MP Year Comments Top plate
M8 ebay 10 2006 not full-frame, while all the rest are brass
M8.2 ebay 10 2008 M8 that is quieter, nicer LCD glass, more discreet brass
M9 $3,800 18 2009 Ken says it's the best camera ever made  
M9-P $5,400 18 2011 M9 with sapphire covered LCD and nicer cosmetics  
M9 mono $5,000 18 2012 b/w only; precursor to the typ 246  
M-E (typ 220) $4,500 18 2012 basically a less expensive M9 with no losses over the M9  
M (typ 240) $6,400 24 2012 video brass
M-P (typ 240) $7,000 24 2014 video, more black and a bigger buffer than the M (typ 240) brass
M-Mono (typ 246) $7,500 24 2015 black-and-white only  
M (typ 262) $5,200 24 2015 no video aluminum
M-D (typ 262) $6,000 24 2016 A digital camera with no screen  

It seems to me that the M Typ 262 is the best option of that list, at least for me. The M-E is probably just as effective and fun, but since the savings of $700 would barely buy a suitable lens, it might not be worth it6, plus everyone knows that megapixels are what define good photos. I think it was Cartier-Bresson who said “Megapixels plus Aperature Priority equal Art”, or something like that—it was in French and I can’t be sure of the translation. As for video, I have an iPhone for video, and it probably does a better job than either of the typ 240 do in my hands.

Footnotes:

1

Modernity here defined as sometime after the 1940s. As if your megapixels are really that cool… because Ken Rockwell asserts they aren’t, and he’s got enough self-confidence for himself, you, me, and a goodly fraction of the Internet, so there’s that.

2

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0091166/quotes

3

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/quotes

4

This page could change at any time; if you are really concerned about the history of it, you’ll have to follow the changes via git at github.

5

Prices change over time. Plus, eBay. So these are basically meaningless. Sorry. Google some stuff, you’re a grown-up looking at multi-thousand-dollar cameras for goodness sake.

6

However, I’m open to advice.