Back to digital? Leica M9 First Impressions

[@haroldminuskumar]

Good stuff man! Did you set your WB manually? With my m9 most of my shots comes out reaaally cold. lol

[@ZoneFocused]

I did set it manually cause I had the same problem. Should have mentioned that. Set it to 6000k and left it there.

[@UKBROOKLYN]

Hey there.. I have an M9 too.. fab camera in my opinion. Heres the technique that I use for super accurate exposure control. First of all make sure you have the Advance in the Menu set up as Standard. Now set yr speed to A (Aperture priority). Now you can see the speeds changing in the viewfinder as you look around the scene. So point your camera to the part you want to expose for and then press the shutter button half way. You will see a little red dot appear in the center just above the number. Hold the shutter half way down, this fixes the exposure, now return to yr frame and shoot. You have to keep the release held down to the first detent as it will return to metering if you release it. You will get used to the feel of the half shutter really quickly and be able to meter around the scene super fast. So you can do the old grey screen technique of metering off the sidewalk and then panning up to take the shot. If you want to be super fast on the street, switch off aperture priority and take a reading off the sidewalk and set your camera for that exposure and you should be in good shape.

[@ZoneFocused]

Thanks for this. I don’t know how I was messing it up. I thought I was half pressing but I wasn’t because I never got it to work right, but I’ll do it again next time I use the camera

[@UKBROOKLYN]

@@ZoneFocused Just make sure you have "ADVANCE" set to "Standard" in the menu screen. The Advance menu option allows you to select a quasi silent shutter and a soft shutter option, but the soft shutter option will cancel the use of Exp lock on half press. Better to set Standard an work on shutter release feel. Once you get it sorted you will have a sort of Doh moment and see how easy and speedy it is.. Good luck..

[@jchuggy3395]

You have to take it off “soft shutter” mode. You can’t half press the shutter until then. It’s in the same menu as “discrete” mode. I didn’t figure this out until the last few months of my ownership unfortunately. But follow Sir Roger’s advise after that. It’ll work then

[@hashsteezy]

I agree. Use whichever camera helps you. Thinking about shooting more digital though because of the current film landscape.

[@jmbaug1229]

Man your work is insane! I am following you in Instagram ! Love your style and way to frame subjects 💙

[@ZoneFocused]

Yep there is room for both right now for sure

[@ezekielkok1848]

I love my m9 coz it’s beautiful ccd sensor blows any cmos sensor out of the waters. Of course, it’s not the latest and fastest camera now, however it slows me down to enjoy my walk and I’m not rushing to snapshot every walking thing. Another beauty is that it’s beautiful in both bnw and color too! So I’m definitely gonna keep it!

[@ZoneFocused]

If you have it already its worth keeping for sure

[@nickfanzo]

The original sensor will rot

[@melaninxhalide1165]

Welcome back!!! Great shots. Crazy as it sounds being a film guy I would love to own the Leica MD (the body without the LCD screen). I feel like that would be the perfect balance between shooting film & digital.

[@ZoneFocused]

Thanks! I would like to try the MD just to see how it goes. The M9 gave a similar experience cause I just never looked at the screen lol

[@robertchestnut3331]

I bought an m9 about 5 years ago and I loved it. I used it off and on for a few years but I shoot a lot of film too. I sold the m9 about 3 years ago because I was shooting my m4 and m7 more. I just gravitated more to the m7 if I wanted aperture priority. fast forward to now I have picked up an m10p and I feel its a step better than the m9. same size as my m7 and it is quiet like my m7. It also has the added bonus of extended iso range. I will say the images from the m10p are not 100% the same look as film but I can get it close with little editing. I am shooting more digital now because the price of film now is too high for me to daily shoot. Kodak color plus was my go too and now the prices are the same as portra was.

[@rio_nakayama]

great video! yes M9 metering does sux. I got used to it now though. Personally I love the M9. I sold mine and now I'm using M10-D but sometimes I do missed my M9.Love the slow buffer, love the shutter noisy sound, love the colors, can't quite explain it. It's by all means a bad camera, but I really enjoyed using it. Just love it!

[@james.shafiei]

Hey bro, good video. Just FYI the M9 has a 3 step shutter button. First step activates the meter, second locks exposure and the third stage releases the shutter. It’s quite hard to feel the difference between the stages though so I just shoot with manual exposure usually. Also, bear in mind there is a “soft mode” for the shutter button which releases the shutter on the second stage instead of locking exposure, making it even harder to use aperture priority, so check your settings if that’s something you wanna use. For me, the M9 is the closest a digital camera has come to the feeling of shooting film. I was in the market to upgrade to an M10 but I tried it out and I just didn’t like the way the camera felt. It was technically superior in every way but it just felt too refined of an item and lacking character. I love the M9 so much that I ended up buying another one instead, a monochrom to go along side the colour one I already owned. Cheers for the video. First one of yours I’ve watched but won’t be the last.

[@ZoneFocused]

Thanks for that James. I didn"t even know about the "soft mode" when I was using it.

[@jchuggy3395]

Yeah. Can’t use half press if that’s on :(

[@kennyward5252]

A lot like locking autofocus on other digital cameras, in order to lock exposure readings with the M9 you half press the shutter!

[@ZoneFocused]

Hmm maybe I was just trippin but when I would half press and move the camera the selected shutter speed number works still change in the viewfinder. Maybe I wasn’t doing something right

[@i35photo]

Expose for highlights to avoid blown out highlights.... You can lock the exposure with the shutter button 1/2 pressed you'll see the solid dot above the shutter speed inside the viewfinder... If you see that you know its locked.

[@pocketsquareformat]

Very well done. I purchased my first Leica (the M-E typ 240) a few weeks ago which I am becoming attached to. Like you however, I don’t like using aperture priority. For street photography I set my shutter speed & ISO at a desired rate and leave it. I use the light meter to determine my aperture which I find is quicker, more convenient to change since my left hand fingers are already placed on the lens. For me , it simplifies the process. BTW, you have a new follower!

[@ZoneFocused]

Thank you, Charles! I completely understand you about the AP being too fiddly. It is more simple to set it manually and just shoot as normal

[@CrueLoaf]

I love my M9 on a sunny day. Not great in low light though.

[@RYANPARKPHOTOGRAPHY]

thanks for the video mate! I wanted to have my leica m9 back but price went too high now.. but it is such a beautiful camera!

[@ZoneFocused]

I agree about the price. Thanks for checking out the video

[@Funktrainer]

I started with a silver chrome M8 and added a silver chrome M9-P later on. It is not the screen that’s bad as the M8 has the same screen and the M8 images look great on the M8’s back it is the stupid raw processing of the M9 which leads to limited low levels that have to be raised later on in post. The Kodak CCDs are just marvelous. Both cameras (M8 and M9-P) are my favorite travel companions. I love using the M8 with a 21mm 1:4 Super-Angulon and a 75mm 1:2.4 Summarit. The 35s, 50s, 90s and 135s go on the M9.

[@cggg490]

Not sure if you discussed the sensor issue with M9s but I guess if people want or have an M9 they're aware of it. I've had my M9 for a couple of years, it was my first digital Leica and now remains my only one. The year before getting M9, I got an M6 TTL. I hadn't shot film in many years but it was just time. Ending up selling all my fujifilm digital gear and lenses and now I only shoot Leica. So I shoot M9 (with replaced sensor; CCD ID 15) with Leica lenses and vintage Canon LTM lenses. On the M9 I use either the 50mm Summilux ASPH or the Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM lens, sometimes the Canon 35mm f1.8 LTM. Sold my M6 TLL and now I shoot an MP, use almost exclusively with 35mm Summicron. The M9 is special for the CCD sensor and yes it's archaic compared to newer tech but it has its charm. I would like to one day get an M10-P but I would still keep the M9. What I often hear from people that sell their M9 to fund other cameras or to "move on" is that they regret it. That says a lot.

[@Funktrainer]

I have absolutely no issues with the light meter of the M9. I just use it fully manual like any other camera so the exposure compensation is done with my eyes and my hands on the aperture ring and the shutter speed dial.

[@krolldavid]

I use my M8 in aperture priority mode and it usually works fine. I think I usually half press to the subject first to lock the exposure metering and then compose and full press. Something like that

[@irenedp4947]

I’ve never used the M9 -or any M- in aperture priority mode. If you meter with spot metering in manual it works fantastically well. Important to measure for the highlights because they can’t be recovered. The rendering is amazing,, better color than the M-10r and it is light equipment, as well as perfect when you want to look inconspicuous. Issues: very limited ISO range, hard using with wide angle lenses or a 90 and above, and print size max at A1. But other, newer Ms overcome this when there’s the need.. Obviously, cameras like the S and other medium format (Fuji, Phase) provide superior results but at significant more weight, bulkiness, etc, and not worth unless you really need to print at A0 or larger.

[@DrewWillson]

Great vid! This camera is gorgeous.

[@ZoneFocused]

Appreciate it Drew!

[@zguy95135]

I’ve been shooting with an M10 for two years now, I love it. Tbh I prefer the look of a really nice film image but film is such a PITA sometimes and the convenience with the camera handling I want is amazing. And I shot film only for a good 4 years. Auto ISO on the newer cameras though, so useful.

[@ZoneFocused]

Yea digital cameras do have a lot of things going for them right now. Still love film but the price is heavy

[@davidmiley1286]

Hey, why aperture priority. Drop the ISO into Auto, set you shutter speed to 500 then just roll with adjusting the aperture, to the aperture YOU want. Use the meter to get your exposure right. Do this for a while and soon you will be experiencing total freedom. No meter! You’ll know intuitively what you want your settings to be. You can then go and buy that M2. Love your style, by the way. I’ve been following so many KZbin channels lately that I’ve now got this policy. If I want to follow another, I must drop ten first. I dropped ten to follow you.

[@davidsak99]

well, thanks

[@myoung48281]

I have the M9. I don't like digital images so what I do with this cam is shoot in DNG then in raw convertor take the sharpness and noise reduction down to zero. The noise is very grain like and that deals with the digital look issue. On the other hand I hate dumbing down a camera which is capable of really stunning digital images in the current esthetic for that digital look. But I still prefer film shots!

[@ZoneFocused]

Yea I liked the grain also. Shot some higher ISO shots in black and white and liked it

[@incubus_the_man]

I'm not a Leica man and I don't have a terrible lot of experience with different light meters or cameras. I shoot Nikon. But here's my explanation of AP mode. When you use AP or S mode in many cameras, you can set limits for your shutter and ISO. I would check the shutter and ISO limits to make sure you aren't limiting the camera when shooting in a priority mode. Here's an example of what I mean: In AP mode, you limit the camera to 1/00s and ISO 100 then set the aperture to f/11. Because you're shooting in a low light situation, the camera will only have 1/100s shutter and ISO 100 to work with so it's likely that the shot will be underexposed. If you need to freeze motion at f/11 for DoF and there isn't enough available light, you can set the upper limit for the ISO higher so that you get an exposed shot albeit at the cost of added grain and loss of dynamic range. I tend to use AP mode when I prioritize DoF over motion blur. To freeze motion or to add motion blur, you can shoot in S mode. The camera will adjust the aperture unless within the limits you set or until it runs out of aperture or ISO. The problem might be within the software of the camera because I have read other reports of this camera not exposing correctly in AP mode. Another possibility might be using an external light meter. A vintage Sekonic light meter will look good with your M9. It will also give you a better idea of how you're lighting your shot when using your own light sources. Oh and you just got a new sub! Keep making good content.

[@ZoneFocused]

First, thank you for the sub! But yea I have not had a problem using AP with more advanced systems. I just couldn't get this one to work. I don't know if there were any parameter settings available in the menus or at least I didn't see it. I've heard of others just skipping it all together with this camera, so it seems to be an issue for others too. When I use AP on my Nikon F3 the photos come out really well exposed so I think it's the system and metering style of the system too like you pointed out. Thanks!

[@zairrewright4131]

Clean photos

[@ZoneFocused]

Much love!

[@PhilKnall]

Kinda sounds like you just need to play with the meter target settings a bit to get that aperture priority mode dialed in. Might have too tight a target.

[@ZoneFocused]

Some people have reached out and told me how to work it now. I was doing it wrong

[@mercury2ster]

I have never used the M9 but did purchase a M240 a year or so ago. Loved the feel of the camera but wasn’t impressed with the look of the files, so I ended up selling it. Colors look great on the M9 though!

[@ZoneFocused]

Yea I don't know if what I got from the camera justifies the price for me. Im not completely sold on one

[@eddie_g]

Photos looking good. Leica digital sensors are weird hit or miss. But I feel you on the transition back. Lol film hobby is getting expensive.

[@ZoneFocused]

Man hitting them pockets hard!

[@nickfanzo]

Too many photographers focus on the machine and not the pictures. There is a book by David Hurn called “being a photographer” Read it asap ,folks It talks about important things like - Finding your signature subject matter, so your work isn’t diluted garbage (random things) .As well as making a list of potential subjects and editing that down. - how to analyze your contact sheets or shots for editing. Good photographers show their sheets. - how to prepare and work a project from start to finish, so your project makes sense to the viewer.

[@donspringer6658]

Check your ISO, in Aperture, the camera has 2 variables. Shutter Speed and ISO. I use M in all my cameras and mostly with Auto ISO. All Leica's take great photos. The M9 requires you to become at one with it. It never takes a photo. You dance with it and make photos. Andre' the Leica M9 says... try Auto ISO. Any issues, contact me and I'll try to work it out with you. namaste' don

[@TENGUJAPON]

I can see you in a near future buying an M9!! 😛

[@ZoneFocused]

Ha! We will see about that lol

[@clarhettcoalfield3616]

Analogue cameras are similar to cars, from old vintage to brand new, where there are plenty of automatics, and the old trusted stick, and there is an endless line of available gas powered cars to choose, from that same long line. Where the digital spectrum of camera gear is in a way similar to electric vehicles, they are new, technological marvels. Sadly I think there are far too many digital cameras available that are far more accessible in terms of ease of use and price, that not only out perform the M9, but also provide a better digital experience, with results to match, including some smart phones. In the end, its all a matter of personal preference just as you stated. I am secure in saying that my feet are firmly planted in the analogue film side of photography, but that doesn't mean I don't own any digital cameras, no, I own and use several, a Pentax Ks2 equipped with a Sigma 30mm f1.4 Art lens , a Fuji XT3 equipped with a 56mm f1.2 lens, and a Nikon D500 equipped with a Sigma 30mm f1.4 Art lens (yes I love this lens, and own several copies in different mounts) and this area for me is also shaded in grey, because I don't use any of them for video, I strictly use them all for stills photography. My choices are not the same as someone else's choice, after all it just comes down to two things - comfort and joy, and which camera or brand that gives you that comfort and joy is the choice that makes you happiest.

[@ZoneFocused]

Facts, it’s whatever gives you the experience you want. I am analogue all the way too but there is room for both in my opinion for me

[@AlexOnStreets]

I like the M9, shooting it as a film camera substitute. I just never found one for a good enough price. It's wild how Leica cameras no matter the age or features just stay up and up.

[@ZoneFocused]

Man right. And the M9 is in the rise cause people are hyping the Kodak sensor

[@byfoul8743]

ssomething about the m9 sensor man... fuck beautiful colors, texture. I got a m10

[@ZoneFocused]

Havent shot the M10 but I do hear this same point from many people

[@woutdezeeuw1604]

Love this camera. Occasionally the white balance is off a bit on the green side, like the shot at 4:50, but that's quickly fixed. Also when in aperture priority, sometimes in bright conditions and using a wide aperture, then you can hit the shutter speed limit, and that's also a scenario in which you run into over exposure. Probably not what has happened in your case, but I still mess this up myself regularly because I like shooting wide open mostly (f1.4) when photographing people.

[@WhoIsSerafin]

I’ve been seeing a whole lot of your generation giving up on film photography. I was happy to leave it and never look back back in 2001.

[@ZoneFocused]

Leica, one time expense that holds value, chance to even increase in value with time. Film, a consumable product that is becoming more and more expensive and with no ROI if you are aren't making money from it in some way. Unless you're flipping film and price gouging (don't condone that though). Or just go the route I recommend and bulk roll bnw film. Problem solved.

[@nickfanzo]

The m9 Sensor does rot fyi

[@ZoneFocused]

Very true. Always good to ask about that if you are in the market for an M9

[@pinkeye00]

Talk to me in 5 years.

[@WilsonGomez]

Film photography should've been dead long time ago, your Sony A6400 take cleaner picture then any 35mm film camera. I haven't shot film since 2005 and don't miss it

[@ZoneFocused]

Good for you man. Glad you found what works for you

[@fabiolee6698]

I hate my M10-p, don't like digital leica at all, love using my film leica iif and iiib.

[@ZoneFocused]

Old school!