The Leica Monochrom is IN STOCK

33 Comments

1. Hi Steve,

   After reading your comments about liking the new M better than the MM for B&W I was wondering if you will still keep your MM?

   • Well, i did not really say I like the new M better for B&W because it does better for B&W. I said the MM does better for dedicated B&W but since the M is $1k cheaper and does very good B&W it is the better buy IMO. I sold my MM as no way I can keep both and the M was not going to be the one to go. I miss the MM though (as it always goes with anything Leica), lovely camera.

     • Steve keep new cameras less than a year. He is in good position to play with new cameras first once it released.

       • I kept my M9 for 3 years. Whatever my #1 is, it stays. Others have to be sold to fund new models for review. Not everyone sends me samples and if they do I get them for a week to ten days. I do not like being rushed. I am also not wealthy so no way to afford it all. My 60 hour a week job is here. It is what I do. New cameras HAVE To come and go just as they do at all review sites. But the M will be here until the next one..when it will be sold for whatever is new (so I can do long term reviews). 🙂

         • I admire your passion and commitment for this site. It help a lot of people select a good camera.

           I still enjoy my Sony NEX 5N a lot. With the Metabones Speed Booster and Leica R lenses, the bokeh is so wonderful at all stop especially on the 50mm Sumicron.

           In the past two years, there are several new cameras released. All of them can take nice pictures. I think another year or so there will be even better cameras available. I like to read all your reviews.

2. http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/leica-m-monochrom-camera-body.html

   • Not really. You only save less than$150 after VAT.

     • You’re right,I’m looking at £’s and thinking in €’s,my mistake.Still that’s a nice memory card as a present.My enthusiasm to own one of these getting the better of me.

3. The monochrom is now selling witha thousand pounds off retail at Robert white in England http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/leica-m-monochrom-camera-body.html

4. The monochrom is now selling witha thousand pounds off retail at Robert white in England

5. Why can’t someone apart from Fuji, take up the gauntlet and demystify the great and powerful Oz, I mean Leica??! An affordable digital rangefinder, in a similar price range to a DSLR body. the Japanese did it once before with some great Canon and Nikon rangefinder bodies, that still fetch relatively high prices compared to their SLR equivalents, so,,why can’t they do it again? The time is right, retro looking cameras are in, Fuji have proven it, we want stylish cameras, not hulking lumps of plastic, which we are retrofitting with old glass like never before, in an attempt to inject a little soul, a little bit of historical gravity and uniqueness.
   Come on Canon, come on Nikon, stop giving us these plastic millstones that punish our necks and backs, give us a choice, give us style, give us compactness, and functionality at a price that isn’t close to the GDP of a small independent state!

6. Along with questionable marketing comes poor after sale service. I sent in a six month old 135 APO Telyt for a 6 bit upgrade 86 days ago (at Christmas) and it still is not done. They told my dealer they are out of parts, yet told another dealer that they are simply overwhelmed with service items.

7. IMHO MM is a great tribute to famous photographers like Bresson.
   You like Leica style and BW photos but don’t want all that mess with a film? Get a modern classic digital BW Leica and pretend to be Bresson roaming the streets looking for THE PHOTO.
   If I was a fan, I’d buy it in a second.

8. Also, the Leica Soho store gets them very frequently. I got mine from them on Feb 7th. I walked in the wednesday before and they said they’d call in a week.

9. No thanks. It’s just another Leica marketing trick.

   • Geez Ron…tell us how you really feel. I’m curious though…where’s the ‘trick’. It’s sold as a B&W camera…nothing more nothing less…..how do you think Leica is trying to ‘trick’ you? Personally I wouldn’t buy one for $8k but don’t begrudge people that do.

     • Ah, Leica has predominantly been serving wealthy Asians for the past few years. People who don’t really care about photography, but who do want Leica’s latest fashions, like the Paul Smith X2, and the Monochrom. I have nothing against Leica, by the way. I regard their design team as the very best when it comes to cameras. And they have a great marketing team. 🙂

       • Actually Leica’s marketing team is kinds of..well..IMO..they suck. One area where they need massive improvement.

         • Leica’s marketing is Deutche Gründlichkeit. 🙂

         • IMO, Leica’s market aim for new user, due to not so many people own more than one Leica camera and 1 or 2 Leica lens, especially the 50mm more available than other focal lens. 🙂 The real Leica users seem do not care about their marketing, but get angry because of long waiting list.
           Leica is not about price, luxury, or quality built, but it’s about something else precisely built, IMHO. 🙂

           Steve, some of your reviews increase the sell of 35mm:)
           thx

           Panha

         • Although I’m a huge Leica fan I have to agree with you Steve, their marketing could be improved including the pre release publicity shots for the MM which for me came a little short compared to the Cuban shots for the M9. Keep up the great work Steve!

         • Can’t wait for this week’s crazy comparison! $10K v $3K v $1K. Should be an interesting read though I suspect the Fuji is going to fare better than people might expect given the nine thousand dollar disparity in price.

           I look forward to the day (if it happens) when a nine thousand dollar price premium or even a seven thousand price premium BLOWS MY MIND. C’mon Leica! …make it so!

         • Leica marketing people tried their best to clean up the M9,M9P inventory by releasing some magnum photographer’s pictures with below average quality. That made some people upset and disappointed to give up waiting for M240. Then they release it .

           The images on the M240 is nothing better than other CMOS cameras. If you prefer RF that is the only choice.

     • I know Ron I got sucked in and now I am sitting in Vancouver waiting for that commission cheque that will never come I must of been tricked!!! ……Have you read Amy’s post? Perhaps soften you up Ron. It never ceases to amaze, why do you bother even punching in Huff’s site in the browser?

       • Well, perhaps because I also have the right to voice my opinion, Greg.

         • Well I am sure your “Contribution/Statement” is welcome here. If you had the opportunity to shoot with the camera you wouldn’t of posted in that fashion. It’s not an “opinion” from a man who has…….

         • Wow, you’re psychic. Actually, I have used the Monochrom. A friend let me use it this past weekend. But, hey, no worries. You seem offended by my opinion. That wasn’t my intention. My sincerest apologies.

         • No worries Ron. Appreciated.

           The only slower/painful to watch than molasses travelling up hill on a cold December day in New Hampshire is being brainwashed by a VERY poor marketing company LOL!! + Agreed

         • I really think Leica’s marketing strategy is brilliant. It caters to a certain audience… people (like me, sometimes) who can be blown away by the design, the logo, the heritage. For a niche product it’s quite outstanding what they do. I visited Photokina in Cologne, Germany in September and Leica had the largest, most luxurious space of all. With the best lighting as well… it was really dark. 🙂 It was a strange sight because of the relatively small appeal to the brand.

         • But not many will travel to Photokina to see Leica. If they do then they are already aware of the brand and what they offer and already plan to buy one. They do very little to market their products and usually make silly mistakes like they did with this 240 release. Was very odd IMO.

         • True, Steve. But I think their point of view is that people who like the brand will know anyway. And, somehow, I have the feeling they want to build some excitement and market their products, like the 240, that way on purpose. It’s like they don’t care because they know Leica lovers will buy them regardless. They don’t produce the quantities of Nikon, Canon or Sony, and just seem to do it the way they do with a clear understanding. As someone who works in marketing, I find it very interesting. A radio station hired me two months ago as their consultant, and I’ve been saying to them to not become too mainstream and to keep the station a little mysterious. Yes, I copied this from Leica. 🙂 I actually liked the Monochrom when I had it for two days this past weekend, but couldn’t help but think that the 240 is probably also very capable of shooting beautiful B&W. Or any other high end (but still more affordable) camera.

         • I fully agree with Ron. In marketing there are mistakes and on “purpose mistakes”. All of them create a buzz which works in favor of the brand. In Leica they know that the product is good, so a little “bad” advertising is good to engage the blogs/review sites/FB start writing about the product and when the real samples come everybody feels relief that the product is matching their fame and sells as it should be.Steve do you think that out of that “bad” marketing lost any sales?

10. Devil on left shoulder….. “Buy it Buy it!!!” I did sweet machine,,,,

Comments are closed.