FINALLY! Amazon has finally started taking orders for the Leica M9! Order yours now!! The cool thing about Amazon is that they do not charge you until the camera ships! Use the links below to go right to the M9 pages at Amazon!
BUY THE BLACK PAINT LEICA M9 AT AMAZON NOW!
BUY THE STEEL GREY LEICA M9 AT AMAZON NOW!
UPDATE – 01/16/10 – Looks like they had a swarm of orders and already shut off the pre-orders for the grey. They are still allowing orders for the black body so if you want one, get in on it now! They are saying 1-4 weeks for shipping and you are not charged until it is shipped. I have a feeling they will shut off pre-orders for the black soon!
UPDATE – 01/20/09 – No more pr-orders! Looks like they sold all they can handle so if you got in, congrats! Hope you get your M9 soon!
P.S. Sorry for the formatting of the previous post. I did it on my iPhone and couldn’t figure out how to scroll back through my post to insert paragraph breaks. Didn’t think it was going to get so long…
Elaine,
More than 20 years ago, I bit the bullet and bought an M6 and picked up some (then) late model summicrons (35 and a 50) on the used market. I’ve been through a lot of cameras and lenses since then, but I’ve never even thought for a minute that I might sell my Leica, even though it has seen very little use these past few years. My darkroom has seen little use the past few years as I have embraced digital and my time gets divided into many places. The digital camera I have been waiting for has been the
M9, at least I think so. When I was actively shooting film, the M6 went everywhere with me. It didn’t bother me that I had taken it along even if I didn’t expose a single frame, it wasn’t heavy, it wasn’t big, my patience for doing that with an SLR is and was non-existent. So I carried the best digital point and shoot I could find and when I found a frame that I really liked, was always wishing it was of higher quality. I recently bought a GF1 (and the lovely 20mm f1.7) and absolutely love it. I also bought a novoflex adapter so I could use my leica lenses with it. From the moment I mounted the m lenses to the GF1 I knew what I really wanted as the many happy memories of always having my M6 with me came flooding back. The GF1 produces a beautiful file and the M lenses give me a nice range of focal lengths but I am kind of crazy when it comes to quality but I just won’t and can’t carry around a DSLR eveywhere I go. So I bit the bullet and ordered an M9. Financially, it’s not nearly the wise choice that an M camera was 20 years ago but then neither is any digital camera you may buy today. I’ve rationalized digital cameras really akin to buying a giant box of film, but this is indeed expensive film if you don’t make use of it. But I figure the camera I always take with me will be cheaper than the camera that sits in the trunk of my car or my closet.
All that being said, buyers remorse can always be rectified by reselling. It’ll cost you a few bucks but think of it as having done a rental and compared to the rental schedules it may be a wise way of taking a month long test drive.
I just placed an order for the black Leica M9 body. I’m excited and scared. I ordered a 50mm 1.4 lens from another vendor. I hope they arrive soon. How long is the wait?
I’ve never owned a truly nice camera like this caliber before. This set me back quite a bit, but if this is nirvana, I would prefer it than mediocre cameras and lenses. I’m sick of compromising on equipment. I guess I really didn’t compromise this time. Holy cow! I am so nervous!
FYI, I placed an order at Amazon on 1/15 when they started taking orders, and just got a mail estimating delivery 1/29-2/9.
Thanks for the heads up. Spoke to Stan Tamarkin yesterday and he was estimating a 3-4 month wait for black; 2-3 months for silver. We’ll see if Amazon can beat him… I’ve had my M6 for over 20 years and it has gathered dust these last few years and I will never, ever, ever sell it. I recently acquired a GF1 and a Novoflex LEM adapter. From the moment I twisted a Summicron on to that camera I knew what I’ve been missing and longing for. Bye, bye, 7k…