Further price slash on Leica M9 and M9-P…up to $1500 off…

34 Comments

1. hello, is that a new one for the black m9 $5999? and how can i make a deal? thank!

2. I Think Leica Lowered The Price MAYBE The New “M10” Will Be Around That Price Range..Cuz If We Talking About The Rumored 24MP CMOS Sensor And Video Capabilities..Alot Of Camera Have That At A Cheaper Price..The Only Reason They Lowered The Price Just MAYBE Because They Don’t Want The New “M10” To Slaughter The M9 Sale..Maybe They Just Don’t Want History To Repeat Itself..These Are Just My Thoughts By The Way..

3. Why didn’t Leica send you an M Monochrom? I think LeicaLiker got one before you.

   Seems like your friends there have run their course. Wasn’t so smart to burn that bridge, eh?

   • I got to test the Monochrom months ago, well before “LeicaLiker” who also tested a “pre-production” model, lol. Why do you keep posting your same nonsense? Also got an invite from Leica to Photokina from Mr Kauffman himself – hotel and all..but could not attend as I am no on a flight to new york to start my photo cruise that I will surely enjoy. I’ll get a monochrom when I return. 🙂 Enjoy your day Mr Negativity! Oh, not so sure what bridges you refer to as I burned none with anyone. There were a couple people who burned them with ME but not me with them. Smile, you may feel better 🙂

     • Enjoy the cruise. I just live one mile from the cruise dock in Boston so I may see your boat coming in. Weather right now is perfect. Dirk

   • Joe,

     Perhaps you missed this article, it would be a good read for you.

     http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2012/09/04/the-power-of-negative-thinking/

     I’m sending aloha and happy thoughts your way.

4. This is basic Economics 101 and it applies to every consumer product ever made. When a new model is announced, the prices on old models drop. Cars, televisions, even houses … no exceptions.

   Is Leica expensive? Absolutely. Overpriced? Not for me. My Leica M9 shoots images as good in quality as many medium format cameras – and the cheapest digital MF I’ve seen is $10K without a lens.

   I own a $3,200 Nikon D800, I love the camera and the 74MB raw files it yields. But time and again, when I shoot an identical scenic/landscape shot with the D800 and M9 – the M9 images wins every time. Hands down.

   So, I for one will seriously consider the new M10 if there are enough improvements to upgrade from my M9. Otherwise, I may never part with the M9.

   Below is a link to some of my favorite M9 shots.

   http://www.flickr.com/photos/mauiholiday/7969268294/in/set-72157628028358239/lightbox/

   Beauty, as they say lies within the eyes of its beholder. For me, I have never owned a camera that captures images with the quality of an M9.

   • wow!!! nice shots!

     • Mahalo (thank you)!

   • Someone said “Let them eat cake”. I would love to have one but Leica’s are for the wealthy and he pros. I taking my $5K plus buying the new Fuji and going to Alaska for wonderful photo safari. Thanks though for the info. Only on your site!

   • @glen thuncher,

     what lenses did you use? I love those palm-tree beach-pictures at dawn. Would you please tell me? Thx

     • Aloha Takeo,

       And thank you, the majority of the photos were taken with my 35mm Summicron F2 ASPH – and a few have been taken with a Voigtlander Super Wide Angle Ultra Wide-Heliar 12mm f/5.6 Lens. Each of the photos on my Flickr photostream is tagged with the lens that was used.

       Foe about $800- the Voigtlander 12mm is very impressive when used with a manual lens selection of 21 F/2.8 11134.

       S sincere mahalo for checking out my photos.

       • Hi Glen,

         thanks for the info – I didn’t see any tags, so sorry. Good job. Some of them will be my wallpaper on my MacBook Pro Retina if you don’t mind 😉

         Thanks for the hint at the Voigtlander, will remember it.

         Cheers,

         Takeo

5. I thought the point was to spend too much money. A discount removes the cache.

6. Leica can not keep on selling these overpriced cameras with their lousy and out of date electronics against the newer models coming into the market. Sony is playing intelligently, sticking to their strenght in electronics and combining it with excellence of Zeiss lenses. You can not cheat all of the people all of the time(A.Lincoln)

   • I would suggest that Leica is not cheating anyone, yes, they’re pricey, but you know what you’re getting for your money, so you’re not being cheated. Some people will happily pay a lot for an M9, I’m not one of them, it’s not for me, but nobody is being cheated, they’re not lousy, and newer is not always better. The M9 sells because not everybody has the same taste, it’s that simple.

   • I have an M9 and a D800E. I shoot the M9 more. Not because it has a bettor sensor or whiz-bang electronic gadget. I shoot it more because I like using a rangefinder. I also have a turntable and like listening to vinyl. I’m sure you’d think that was stupid too. My suggestion: don’t insult something you don’t understand. Keep an open mind. It will serve you well.

   • Leica is not cheating. With the M9 they gave people exactly what they were looking for; a simple, great quality, full-frame rangefinder with digital output. That was three years ago and still this camera works very well. Is it dated now? Yes it is, but not outdated. It will be interesting to see how Leica will compete now that other players are entering that segment. Sony has made a nice camera with the RX1 but using a screen to focus, even an electronic viewfinder, it is just not the same as using a calibrated rangefinder. When I shoot people with a M9 I can see perfectly if I am getting the right expression or even a slight movement of the eye when I press the shutter. I have been using the Nex 7 for 9 months now and screen or electronic viewfinder both don’t give you that connection with your object. I wish the camera would, but it doesn’t and it makes me miss shots. And I am not sure how the RX1 will improve on that. The optical viewfinder is good for evaluating but you can’t focus with it. I wonder how much a Sony would cost if they would have to use the same lower production numbers that Leica has. Sony has the advantage of scale. I honestly think that the Leica cost that much because it is just pricy to make a machined, almost hand-build camera in Portugal and Germany in low production numbers. The actual margins on the M9 and the RX1 may be closer than we often believe. Still I congratulate Sony on that move because it will open doors to better cameras in that small form factor. Remember, a few years ago a Canon G7 was the only option between a DSLR and a compact. And next week we will learn how Leica will position itself for the next three years. D!RK

   • why do panasonics cost twice as much when leica sells them? So how much would a Leica M10 cost if sony sold it?

     • You have no idea what you’re talking about.
       Leica does not manufacture the lenses for Panasonic, in fact they only do the math and calibration for Panasonic. If you buy a real Leica, you get a hand-manufactured device. And yes, even the D Lux is different to the Panasonic equivalent and has a different glas.

       • “And yes, even the D Lux is different to the Panasonic equivalent and has a different glas.”

         Sorry but that last part isn’t true at all. The Leica branded versions of the Panasonics are the same camera and same lens, all made in Japan by Panasonic on the same production lines. The only difference is better software and warranty with the Leica.

         Now real Leica cameras like the X2, M9 and S2 are another story of course.

         • You can take my word. I had both cameras in hand. They use different glass. Just hold them up against the light, the Leica lens will reflect blue. The Panasonic in white. I know, it’s not known, but it’s true and i checked on as many as possible.

7. So basically, Leica has been charging an extra $1500 for years, waiting for someone to announce another compact full-frame camera. Imagine how much extra money people have donated to Leica, just because no one else made anything similar.

   • They are the only rangefinder. Whether that means anything to you doesn’t matter. The fact is, they are and will be, the only maker of a digital rangefinder.

     • Most people actually do know what a rangefinder is. In fact, since we have been reading this site for a few years, we not only know about the Leica, but about the Epson RD-1, which Steve more-or-less reviewed.

       I think the Leica is a great camera, but it is outside my current price range. I am not convinced by the argument that it costs more to make a rangefinder. I have never tried to make one, so I don’t know, but it just seems unlikely that the only thing stopping Sony from making a Leica clone was the cost of the rangefinder.

8. I’ve said it quite often but it never gets old: THERE IS NO PRICE REDUCTION! 🙂

   The price has just been altered according to the Euro/Dollar exchange rate. The weak Euro works in favour of all of you based in the US.

   To do the maths: 6499$ = 5033€ When adding the 20% VAT (or “Mehrwertsteuer” as it’s locally known) I end up at ~6040€ which is 40€ more expensive then what a M9-P costs here in Austria.

   so you should be happy that we have our little debt crisis here – makes our products much cheaper for you 😉

   • +9000

9. Wow, still unaffordable (to me), but if you will, less unaffordable.

10. I’m surprised that the price is going down like that as some rumors say that the M10 will not be available before April 2013.
    Few possibilities:
    1. This is just a temporary price cut (like apple “back to school” :-). Then, normal price will come back until M10 availability.
    2. M10 will be available very soon after announcement. So, they cut M9 price to make space.
    (the M10 might be already in the supply chain ready to be delivered …)
    3. M10 will be available in April 2013 but Leica ME will be available just after announcement and could kill the M9 sales.

11. They need to chop another $2K off…

    • Yes probably that will help them to get read of the stock, but lenses are expensive so people will chose ather companies like Fuji, Sony, Nikon with there full frame sensor cameras rolling out.

    • the way the european debt crisis is going that might even happen 😉

    • thats all the price drop for a 4yr old camera design?

      while other makers are sure to catch up to and even bypass the m9 sensor. a more compact fullframe nex-mirrorless, fuji ff, pentax ff all with a new generation of sensors at a fraction of the cost of M9?

      • i could understand if it had crocidile skin and individually numbered, but not that price for the layman’s M9 model.

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