New Digital Leica M-P with new features over M 240

107 Comments

1. Just got one.
   A Simple word: Fantastic!
   Every single picture depend on me and only me.
   Have to be back to understand light, shadow, light and shadows…. light….
   Everything goes back to me. Everything depends on me.
   I will have some fun for the next 25 years. 🙂

2. Might be a slightly different sensor as the specs are different.

   The M-P 240 states: Max Resolution 24MP: 5976 x 3992, while the M240 states: Max Resolution 24MP: 5952 x 3976

3. Bring back the 1/8000 shutter please!

4. befor going inside put the camera in a plastic bag and seal it.
   wait until it has warmed up before opening the bag again.
   you can’t shoot anyways because the cold lens would constantly
   fog up. if the temperature difference is larger the wait will be longer.
   if you know you will be shooting in the cold for a longterm project it
   is worth sending in the camera and lenses and get the moving parts
   greased up with matching grease for that temperature range…

   • I had a shoot earlier this year, January to be exact; a construction site. We shot 30 feet underground in a 6′ x 6′, 300′ long tunnel where it was a humid 55 degrees F. Also shot above ground where temps were hovering around 10 degrees F, with a 20mph wind. No problems with the M below or above ground. I will say that in the transition I did not dare change my lens. Shot with the 21 biogon throughout.

5. Sapphire glass is nothing new for Leica so why didn’t they just put it on the 240 originally. What a turn off. Amazing how people get excited over getting screwed.

6. Can someone comment, do the M9 – M240 work in cold winter -30ºC. I keep the spare warm battery close to body, but the moisture condensation when you shoot outside and go in for a nice hot cafe. Will the warranty cover possible damage?

7. I recently bought a mint used M9 and a couple of lenses and now realise I never have to read another comment on a photography blog again. I’ve found what I wanted all along and the indecision over what camera to buy is gone.

   What were you guys saying anyway? I’ve been busy cleaning my sensor.

   Ciao,
   Don

8. I get mine tomorrow from Leica DC.
   FOR THE HATERS I HAVE ONLY ONE PIECE OF ADVISE: hate yourself!
   Leica is the best! THE BEST!

   • I am thinking about getting the MP from Leica DC tomorrow. How do you like it?
     I’ll be adding it to the Fuji 100 (which I love) – have always wanted a Leica and this seems to be “the one.”

     • It is a beautiful camera for sure! Same as the M 240, with cosmetic and buffer improvements.

     • It is beautiful! I used to have two Leica M240 – in silver-chrome and in black. Sold both. But I keep M-P. Design is stunning. And increased memory buffer really helps when, for example, I take pictures of my kids in a continuous mode.

9. I’d buy a Fuji and then take a European vacation with the leftovers. $8K for a camera with no autofocus. Strange.

10. I agree — it looks ‘odd’ with that “bolt”/screw on the front face. Like a Frankenstein. That screw certainly diminishes the elegance. Yeah, I know there’s always a screw there, but without that ‘other window,’ it’s so much more prominent. So much so, that I didn’t even remember it being there on the analog MP.

    More silliness with Leica, only including the ‘new’ LCD material on this model, after it had been available years ago on previous models. Their accounting relies on suckers.

11. When EURO was strong, it cost more US dollars to buy the older M. When dollar is strong, it cost even more to buy the new M. It’s new business model.

    The upgrades cost less than $200. The 2GB memory buffer don’t help any if you take still pictures only(3fps continueous drive for 27.78sec to fill up 2GB?). For the videographer, you can do VGA in 30P now. The HD only support 24P and 25P as M240.

    Leica boss claimed “they had solved the overheating problem” before lauched M240. The way they solved it was to slow it down. So no 30P or 60P in HD.

12. leica goes insane. How they manage to stay in business nowadays with those astronomical price tags is a big mystery to me

    • They have been with these prices for many many years, it is nothing new. Yet the new M-P will sell well. Not in large amounts, no, but enthusiasts will buy them up. They did the same with the M9-P years ago. Was a hot seller for them.

    • Hello: The same way Apple stays in business; they don’t cater to the “bottom-feeder” mindset of retail pricing. There’s always a vendor that will whore their pricing. It’s just a quick path to monetary obsolescence. They’re premium products wether you like or dislike the features of the brand.

13. LOL, it needs a new sensor. One that doesn’t show banding at 3200 ISO.
    Didn’t they claim that the screen on the M 240 was gorilla glass?
    I think this is tougher than sapphire…

    http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/gorilla-channel/Corning®-Gorilla®-Glass-vs.-Sapphire

    • My 1st M 240 LCD was horribly scratched from a slight fall. The Sapphire glass is much stronger as my old M9-P that fell in the same manner never had any hint of a scratch.

      • Good to know.
        I’m hoping for the day that Leica does a deal with Sony and puts the best sensors in their cameras.
        What a thing that would be…

14. Best M ever! When I’m tired of my M240, I take my MM. Just for fun I still use M8. I sold my M7 to buy M6 TTL, but I prefer my Leica CL, for it is more compact and has much better viewfinder. I will drop it off soon, since my Nikon F100 is more convenient with 40mm manual Voightlander. And I will sell my Monochrom, because one camera is what one must have in his bag. And this camera is NEW LEICA M-P!!!✌️✌️✌️

15. on the bright side maybe the current m240 and used ones will finally start dropping even more in price now that a new camera is out.

    in a couple of years the m240 should be selling for a few thousand less meaning more people can start to like leica so that isn’t bad.

    • good point. However, in a couple of years I guess most enthusiast cameras will have ISO performance like the A7S. A reasonably priced M240 may then be totally outdated like the M8 today. But the M240 will still be a good camera then.

16. “New Long Battery”. I presume they meant long life battery. Not sure there’s the room in the body for a physically longer battery.

17. So you could take pictures with a “normal” camera that you could never take with a Leica M? I have no idea what you mean.
    Are you aware that you could use all your Leica lenses on a new , or used, M? Are you aware that a new M-E costs not that much more than an M7? And that in terms of versatility and flexibility, it will far exceed any of the film cameras?

18. So yet another couple dozen posts from folks trying to make themselves feel better by pointing out how many bags of Fuji, or Sony or Nikon etc cameras and lenses they can buy for the cost of a basic M-rig. Seems as though you cannot read a review of any Leica equipment without having to struggle through yet another round of sour grapes from people who feel they cannot afford it, so instead drone on and on about how ripped off owners are. Or about how they are dilettantes or rich amateurs who don’t really care about their pictures and just want to be seen with a red dot.The DPreview of the “T” was a true low-point in camera reportage where a fart-can Subaru owner who was actually assigned to review it opined that the camera costs multiples of his car and he wouldn’t have one for free. FWIW I love my “T” and find it a natural companion for my M240 and lenses.

    Really…

    I carry a Montblanc pen as well since I hate using public pens that have been held by who knows who right after their hands have been who knows where. I don’t look down on Bic-users, just that I enjoy a well-balanced instrument with my cooties on it.

    Leica-phobes…. please get a life that you’re happy with and take great pictures with the other great gear that is available. Cameras, as any other design-build equipment have certain characters. All manufacturers have devices capable of excellent results. I use Canon’s 6D too when it’s the proper tool for what I’m doing. But try to get over your envy and frustration because someone can afford to use a Leica, likes its output and you feel you cannot justify the expense.

    I’d tell you stop trying to re-design every model too, but that seems a favorite pastime regardless of manufacturer. “Why didn’t they include______ “(fill in with whatever you’re feeling angry about}. When its obvious that most of these cameras are engineering marvels and if you included the desired feature it would be larger or cost more… and then you’d bytch about that! As if you all knew better than the really sharp people who have made a life of designing such items.

    Cheers…

    • Very well put indeed. I shoot & make $$ with my M240, M9 & 4 lenses and yes, the kit did cost more than the car I purchased new, 5 years ago. I also shoot with Canon when necessary. I’ve grown tired of responding to individuals demanding why I’ve blown my retirement on a camera system that is not worth the money. Maybe people just have too much time on their hands reading blogs; me included apparently 🙂

    • Leicas sell well and take great pictures because they are very good cameras. All the carping, complaining and so forth is just that. Blackstone invested in Leica in order to make money, and they will. Someone raised the old saw that Leica is on the brink of bankruptcy, when all the public data shows a company doing very well financially. By way of contrast, the Leica carpers should look at the recent press release of Nikon, available at “Nikon Rumors”. Nikon has suffered the last few years and its stock price has declined markedly. Who knows whether the camera division of Sony is doing well since it’s results are buried in a giant company.
      Facts are durable things, hard to argue with. Leica is doing well financially, they are still making the best cameras in the world, and every M ever made takes great pictures in the hands of someone who can use it. The S, the T and the old Rs aren’t half bad either. Hell, the X Vario output is very hard to beat.
      The anti- Leica stuff is ruining this blog.

    • Finally a “bright” thought written out “loud”… Thank You !

    • you may have some valid points. But let others express their opinion. No need to be rude.

      • well, No….! Opinions are fine. Cliche-ridden presumptions are not so good.

        The rudeness is on the part of the Leica-phobes. With their constant chatter that doesn’t really express anything but their sensation of inadequacy. This is really pretty open and shut from a Psychologic point of view.

        I don’t go around commenting on other folk’s equipment. If they like Nikon… fine. If they like Oly or Sony or Panny… fine. Please use it well and be happy. Just don’t make inaccurate and silly presumptions about Leica users because you are not and insecurity forces one to say something silly instead of just zipping the lip about things they know nothing of..

        It’s easy… be happy… enjoy photography. Nothing rude about that. You do yours, I do mine…

19. I have shoot film Leicas for 15 years and I love Leica. However, I’m sorry to say that, with every new lens or camera release, a Leica makes lesser and lesser sense as a photographic tool. Imagine what you can do with such huge amounts of money. Traveling with a normal camera is one that comes in my mind. I could take photos which I could never do with a digital Leica M-P.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the Leica is overpriced. Because it is not. Low volume production of such a precision instrument is expensive. We all know that.

    Of course, my thoughts may not apply to the few wealthy people like Steve. A Leica makes a lot of sense to someone who can afford a pair of sonus faber guarneri. (I do not mean that in a bad way, Steve.)

    But for the rest of us …

    • Not over priced?

      • No, as nothing which sells is over priced. This is simply a function of supply and demand. That`s why Leica increases the price of the M240 in the US. In contrast lack of demand made them lower the price for the X Vario rather steeply.

20. Jesus, why couldn’t they make the movie button black and make the magnification button black also?! While at it, make the lens mount release button black too. Oh and stop engraving LEICA on the top of your cameras..

21. When you remove the screw, you might be able to calibrate the RF with special tool when it’s off. You may not need to send it in for service.

    • How does the RF lock work? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgboxtZ3Dvs
      In video it seems RF moves freely just by poking it and turning, but where is the locking mechanism, or will it be done with soldering iron?

    • No not at all.. The screw is for vertical alignment. Not actual calibration.

22. I just over my 50ths. I fill myself betwwen two dimensions, One is the the old Leica Fans and other is the new Nikon and canon Photographers. The first one can not see how the leicas are not just old fashion, but not confortable to grip. The leica factory seem not to understand important tecnologies that makes photographing faster AND more pleasant. The Nikons and Nikoners just doesn’t know leica and it’s superb lens qualities…

23. Hi Just a very quick comment ! Somebody mentioned “Rich fanboys”! I just want to mention ALL the people I know who own Leicas are like me poor ! and some of them are women.

    Best Wishes

24. It’s nice to see the improvement in buffer capacity though I never shoot fast myself.
    More weather proofing, better sensor dust resistance, better focus peaking, better flash with SF58 and improved battery technology would appeal to the pro shooters as well and maybe encourage more to try out the Leica as a system camera. This is more true now as we have the new 50 Apo and maybe other similar lenses to follow?

    I would not expect these improvements to suddenly appear on an – P model. These will have to wait for a new M whenever? BTW Leica should be grateful to it’s band of followers for their mostly positive advise for future product evolution as comments on this forum have nearly always been IMO accurate. I would imagine the “improvements I have suggested are well within the engineering capacity of Leica.

    If I had an M or an MM I would not be looking at camera upgrades or other cameras Sony A7 etc ( maybe an new Leica M lens )………….. I would be out shooting !
    Hope everybody who gets the new M-P enjoys their photography as there are worse things in the world to be spending your money on.

    Best Wishes

25. Horrible. Just another way to take $ 8000 out of the pockets of people who fall for the Leica philosophy.

26. Nice buffer upgrade; it is a good extra feature. Other features not so much from a utility point of view, but they’re very nice cosmetic-wise (frameline lever is just making a ‘re-appearance’). I think the term “newly developed” when referring to the sensor is (marketing wise) just re-emphasizing that it’s a (relatively) new sensor….they’re just capitalizing on the fact that it was totally new for the 240. What always surprises me however are the number of posts on various forums from either a) haters (when this kind of stuff is no big deal) and b) moaners and groaners who are upset about the cost. Leica M is expensive. For better or worse. Old news. It cracks me up (and annoys me at the same time) when people go on and on about ‘wishing Leica would release an M with twice the features at half the price…you know, like Sony/Nikon/Canon etc.’. I say to those people – please hurry…buy one of those cameras then and be happy and move on. I’m happy with my M9 and MP(analogue), and will get one of the new MP240 when I can. Looks gorgeous. Regardless of how awesome the a7s is, I can’t get over stuff like ‘smile detection mode’ being present in it, and I think ‘features’ like that are so patently ridiculous and insulting in a ‘pro’ camera that I’d pay a thousand dollars more to NOT have it. Feel, handling, aesthetics, glass – along with IQ – are important to me. Every M made has that in abundance. But that’s just me. I don’t spend my time wishing Leica didn’t do the things they do. All companies do tweaks, cosmetics, rebrands etc. and make ‘announcements’ about it. Apple and Sony too – a lot. And we gush and coo over those things.

    • Totally agree!

      • well said

27. Leica Camera has just celebrated the 100th anniversary. But will they ever be able to celebrate a 200nd one? Leica’s history contains a very long record of mismanagement due to the wrong shareholder-ship and odd marketing decisions. Ever since Leica sold their cutting edge AF-knowledge to Minolta, they have been fighting to stay in business. The current setting is now to combine a bit of the magic Apple style-approach & shop-marketing model with a certain conservatism around technologies. I personally don’t believe in a very solid future for the T and X-ranges and other rebranded Lumix stuff in an already overcrowded market segment where much more competent companies are fighting the keep the numbers on the track. And the M-series are technologically more and more drifting behind the same competition. No AF (that’s an obvious choice, most Leica fans will say they don’t need it), but also mediocre metering and AWB concepts, no advanced built-in viewfinder declination like f.i. Fuji does while any change is merely some external window-dressing for keeping the richest fanboys hot. Not so sure this kind of non-technological improvement is going to keep an eternal light in the Leica business model. I think the time has come to partner up with a company that can do more for them in the camera-world than Jenoptik – they should understand in 2014 it’s not only fine mechanics, good optics & premium class finishing that makes the story in defense of their excessive pricing.

    • It is a very exclusive leica club to be in and there are nothing out there to compete with the feel of the camera. It is true from IQ point of view, the camera has lots of competition but not the lens. Leica lens are still number one. I only many of the leica lens, zeiss lens, voigtlander lens plus all Nikon professional lens.
      I do agree leica need to put out more features. AF is good for sport, wedding etc but necessary for landscape, street photo, etc. I prefer MF because I know for sure I nail the shot. When it comes to AF, not sure of the algorithm each one is using for sure.
      sf

    • YOU MUST HAVE ACCESS TO FACTS THAT OTHERS ARE NOT OTHERWISE AVAILABLE. ALL PUBLIC FACTS STRONGLY INDICATE THAT LEICA IS DOING VERY WELL FINANCIALLY AND IS HARDLY FIGHTING TO STAY IN BUSINESS. THE M AND S CAMERAS TAKE FABULOUS PICTURES, AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF PROS AND SERIOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO AGREE, INCLUDING THE SPONSOR OF THIS BLOG.
      AND ISN’T TAKING FABULOUS PICTURES WHAT PHOTOGRAPHY IS ALL ABOUT? AND DON’T COME BACK WITH THE TIRED SAW THAT “ITS THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND NOT THE CAMERA” BECAUSE GOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS IN FACT ARE NOT USING CHEAP EQUIPMENT OR IPHONES BUT THE TOP OF THE LINE FROM SONY, CANON, NIKON, LEICA AND MANY OTHER COMPANIES.

28. The Saphire glass on my M9p is nice but it’s just a copy of the mineral not the real thing.

29. I changed the Giant Red Dot of my M240 for the Giant But Discrete Black Dot – and it looks brilliant. Frame selector would be nice to have…but the rest of the updates don’t look like $600+ value to me.

30. 9000 $, that’s a lot.
    M 240: $ 8236
    New M-P: $ 8900

    New M7: $ 5307
    New film MP: $ 4643

    • How about getting a real camera, some good primes, and saving a wad of money?

      • You´ve forgotten a good printer, several gallons of ink and a few thousand sheets of fine art paper 😉
        This company is beyond belief… but it will work. Too much money in the world and too few ideas what to do with it. That´s life 🙂

      • There is no better looking camera than Leica M range, other than R9 and R8.
        But looking purely at quality issue, the need to recalibrate focusing accuracy makes me uneasy. First the recalibration takes too long and second i don’t find it pleasant if strangers touch my Leica (for me it’s like a child to mother, maybe i’m too hardcore Leica nerd).
        I can have New Leica M7 and Sony a7s for the money of new digital M-P.

31. Still waiting for a 100-150 gram lighter, 2mm thinner “M240 pure” with a new CCD sensor, state of the art external EVF, dedicated iso dial and no movie mode. Now that could make me send some money to Solms again. But Leica folks seem to be busy with deploying costly German labour for 45 minutes hand polishing aluminum blocks, replacing red dots with clumsy screws and glueing USD 1k sapphire glass to M bodies these days rather than with evolutionary product line extensions.

32. I am sure it is a great Camera…but $8,000 is way to steep for all but the rich. I will stick with my already very expensive but relatively inexpensive Sony 7r and 7s

33. So with the introduction of the last M, Lecia says there will be no more suffixed M cameras, don’t call this an M10, M’s are just M from now own. But if you need to distinguish, then this is Typ 240 model.

    Now, they introduce the suffixed M-P, so that didn’t last long. More illogically, the M-P is also called the Typ 240 model.

34. Seems lika a must-have!
    Actually this screw looks sexy, IMHO
    🙂

35. -Sigh- Thanks for the name, Leica.

    [Scene at camera store]:

    “I’m thinking about buying a Leica. Do you have any MP’s in stock?”
    “Those aren’t out yet.”
    “What do you mean? My friend has had one for a decade now.”
    “The M-P was just introduced, sir. We don’t know when we’re getting any.”
    “No, not the M-P, the MP!!!”
    “The only thing we have in stock is M-E.”
    “Did you just proposition me?”
    “Yes, sir. It’s much more affordable than an M-P…”

36. Wonder would leica offer upgrade programme like those from M8s and M9s to their respective “P” versions…

37. Looking forward to seeing this (with a 35mm lens mounted) in a comparo to a Sony RX1

38. My M9 and M Monochrom keep me in bliss. Until Steve shouts he has found a new out of body experience in a camera, I’m likely to sit tight. Next stop logically is the 240 and lens.

    • Lol

    • I’m so happy with my M-E that this stuff is all a complete non-issue for me any more. Could be forever. My M-E does what cameras did since the development almost of color film. But much more because it takes more images and faster and I can see what I’ve got on the back of the camera. It’s all I need and all I’ll ever need. Nothing is going to make me happier or better at what I do for the kind of photography I do. I’m sure I’d be happy with a 240 or the new MP. But I’m more looking forward to the new M-E and knowing I can replace this one or add to it someday. If I could ever stop buying other stuff like Musicman Stingray’s and Gibson Les Pauls. 😉

39. Dear Steve,

    xcuse me, but where did you find the Leica claim about a new sensor?
    I can not find it in any official Leica publication.
    Kind regards,
    M 8 Guru

    • In the details of the camera they said “Outstanding image quality thanks to newly developed LEICA MAX CMOS Sensor”

      So it create some confusion.

      • Dear Steve,
        with all due respect, apart from an advertisement by Tamarkin which was open to a slightly ambiguous interpretation, I did not find a n y other source worldwide that might have claimed there is a new sensor.

        Wouldn’t it be fair under these circumstances to change your introductory text to this blog?

        T h a t creates confusion and not any Leica statement which does not even exist.

        Thank you.

        Kind regards
        M 8 Guru

        • It was posted on Leica France website, Leica Store Miami, etc. As I stated it said “Newly Developed MAX 24 Sensor” and they still use this term. When the M 240 was launched they did not say “Newly developed MAX 24 sensor”, they added this later. Also the 1st line in the Leica Store Miami blurb features list says the same “Newly Developed MAX 24 Sensor”. To many, this is misleading making it sound like a new sensor. The blurb for the M-P should say “24 MP CMOS sensor”, not “Newly Developed”. Leica themselves use this line, so yes, they are being misleading to those who do not know any better.

    • CMOSIS who make the sensor have called it the Leica MAX 24MP CMOS Sensor since 2012 launch, I’m thinking the new is relative in Leica terms, I’m sure they would have made more of the fact had it been new.

40. The horror… the hor…ror… of my M240 without sapphire….!!!

    I feel faint, fetch me a chair… now I have to decide… MM or MP… the shame if I don’t upgrade first

    Curse you Solms… curse you

    ehhh, I put black tape over all my red dots, even the T. Carry them in cheap but well padded bags. No extra attention needed. I’m a photographer, not a fighter…

41. That is ok but I will hold on to my M9-P, classic and yes CCD, which I prefer anyway.

42. It’s a screw not a bolt.

    • whatever it is, its ugly

      • I think it looks better than the red dot.
        Clearly… If you’re put off by the aesthetics of one little screw… Your photography prioprites are way out of wack.
        (Ps- that screw is there for rangefinder allignment purposes. Its on all leicas, its just not covered with a red dot decal on this model).

      • Use black duct tape to cover it 🙂
        I personally prefere the red dot.

        • Well, I guess you could use red tape…

43. So it’s mean on the actual 240 we don’t have the saphir glass ?

    • 240 has even stronger glass “Corning Gorilla Glass”

      • It’s not stronger nor is it scratch proof. My 1st M 240 screen scratched badly with one small drop.

44. …. I would say D4s!

    • or df

45. Steve

    A question about the M240. Is the sensor as susceptible to dust as the M9? My M-E gets dust on it just from apparently sitting at home in the camera bag. Leica is aware of the problem but has no fix apart from an email mass mailing they sent out to all registered owners, recommending them to use apertures of f 5.6 or larger.
    This is not really helpful when I am shooting in bright light and want a large depth of field to the image.

    Thanks
    Huss

    • Cant tell about this new one, but i do have the m240 and is a dust magnet. Is killing me…

      • Thanks for the reply ailukewitsch

        I then have no interest in this M. I am shooting my film Leicas and medium format cameras much more than my digital M now, because I am sick and tired of either being restricted to a few apertures, or having to deal with dust spots all over the images.
        My scans from film are much much cleaner than the stopped down images from my M-E. Ridiculous.

        Best regards
        Huss

    • Is that true regarding the dust issue? Rats. That’s unfortunate. I was thinking of getting into the Leica realm via the M-E. Huge disappointment.

      • Lol you guys are killing me…

        Take off the lens of any digital camera from any brand and the sensor is exposed just the same. One is not more of ‘a dust magnet’ than another.
        You guys need to work on your lens changing skills. Unless your swapping lenses in a windy desert, you should be able to figure out a way to protect this quick 30sec process from the elements. Try throwing a towel/jacket/shirt over your head/camera.
        Or better yet, step inside somewhere. Even a port-a- potty will suffice.

    • While my M240 does collect dust (but nowhere near the quantity of my M9), I find gently blowing a little air with my Rocket on the sensor (holding the camera mount side down) gets rid of most if not all dust. The same procedure on my M9 gets rid of almost none of the dust. I’m guessing there’s a better coating on the M240 sensor than on the M9 sensor.

46. $8,000….

    Meanwhile, back on planet Earth….

    • Haha

47. So they removed the red Leica logo and put a huge 12inch bolt instead, Steve is it just cosmetics upgrade or there is really something new with the sensor, because on the Leica official website they are saying its a new sensor??

    • And the bolt Is not even lined up on either a vertical or horizontal axis. It looks unfinished. Lke the red dot fell off and they put that there instead.
      They should have made the red dot black.

48. Ah no upgrade for existing M240 owners!

49. I’m very pleased with my M240 for various reasons and would not find the extra $1000 in cost worth the upgrade or a second M body. IMO, given the cost of sapphire, that would be the primary reason for the extra cost? What I find most intriguing about this announcement is the fact that Leica continues to pour money into product upgrades. They must be doing something right.

50. Sexy.. oh very sexy!

51. Very nice but just too unaffordable. I’ll stick with the A7 and A7r with native and adapted lenses. If Sony or Zeiss can get out a killer UWA lense that is small that works with their sensor (unlike my current 15, 21, and 28mm ZM lenses) I will be happy.

    • Wait for the new Zeiss MF lens line for FF-CSCs to be announced at Photokina 2014.

    • I agree Steve. Sony is on top of their game providing a camera for photographers that is very functional with superior image quality/sensor capabilities.

52. Id love to hear your comments Steve, after you’ve had a trial.The big question of course is it worth parting with a fair bit of cash to upgrade!.Ive had my M240 since june 2013 and been well pleased with the results.John P

    • Basically you will get the style of the MP, sapphire glass, bigger buffer and thats it. If that is worth 1k to you then go for it but you will lose on the M 240 as you can get one new these days for $5800 or so if you look around.

    • definitely, it will make your photos twice as good. of course, we have to wait for steve or another 3rd party to verify this for you

53. I read elsewhere Leica will increase the price of the M240 to $7250 effective Sept. 1. M240 specs refer to the sensor as MAX 24-MP (product literature from last year), which is the same sensor in the new M240 M-P, so aside from doubling the buffer size, possibly the same sensor in the M and M-P cameras.

54. But they added an awful, huge bolt at the front! 🙁

    • Look at any leica without a red for and you’ll see there is a screw on the front. It’s normally hidden behind the red dot, and is involved with calibrating the rangefinder.

    • This screw has been on every M since the M3 ! It was visible on the M2, M3, M4 and M5. The red dot appeared with the M6.

55. Very nice, i see the silver info button on black body has been replaced with black info button.

    • Nice but based on my M240 experience is very hard to get one that works. On the other hand the images are fantastic. They should make this screw a working reset button; I bet that is hard for Leica that’s why the charge that much money for just an extra GB.

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