The Leica digital M’s have always been an “on again, off again” relationship. I appreciate their size, for candids they are very good, and the image quality is very good as well. But there are trade offs such as marginal ISO performance, no Live View and limited lens choices - such as no telephotos or zooms. After several months with the Leica M9 the honeymoon passed and I had doubts:

1. •Phase One simply relabeled their C1 M8 Profile as the M9 Profile, so there was no optimized C1 profile for the Leica M9. Out of frustration I tried numerous RAW editors, and the results were all about the same. To my eyes the colors were too blue, as if Leica was masking IR leakage by skewing colors towards blue.
   

2. •The full-frame sensor revealed some shortcomings in the M lenses, such as the 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH having unattractive corner bokeh at F1.4. Certainly no worse than any dSLR lens, but the Leica M8’s 1.33x crop factor hid the flaws. As they say, ignorance is bliss.
   

3. •The Leica M9’s rear LCD and image review is not sharp enough to assess focus in the field. With the thinner DOF due to full-frame, my OOF rate was increased, so a good, sharp image review was a necessary crutch - and the Leica M9’s image preview was not sharp / detailed enough.
   

4. •The Leica M8 files processed as black and white images looked more realistic to me. The Leica M9 files have a different look, and for whatever reason, I prefer the Leica M8 files. Chalk this one up to personal preferences.
   

I do not want bash the Leica M9 because there are improvements compared to the Leica M8. Its ISO performance is better, no more IR filters, lenses can be manually selected in the menu and there are options for customizing EC adjustment and the shutter button. The Canon 1Ds Mark III is not my ideal camera by any means; mostly it is just too large. The Leica M9 kit addressed that issue, but I like the 1Ds Mark III images better. If the Leica M9’s color was more to my liking, then the Leica gear would not have been sold. If Leica releases a M10 with Live View and improved ISO, I can easily foresee buying a Leica M10 when that day comes. I really do like the concept of a Leica M, and build quality and tactile experience are a very rewarding experience.

Selling the Leica M9 gear was not an easy decision, and frankly, I may regret it.  Leading up to the Leica M9‘s dismissal, this past June I bought another Contax 35-135mm Sonnar-Vario zoom lens for the Canon 1Ds Mark III (full review here). The lens is a decent zoom, but nothing special. It is just a lens I have always liked. During July 4th I took some images at an air show. Afterwards a friend asked which M lens was used. I had an “a-ha!” moment - why do I need a Leica M9 if the 1Ds3 can replicate the M “look”?

The next blow to the Leica M9 was the Contax 50mm Planar F1.4 N Auto-Focus Lens (converted by Conurus, full review here). The Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH is a brilliant lens, but its price tag is $3695! Naturally I am always thinking - there has to be something else that is “good enough” and costs less. The Contax 50mm F1.4 Planar N may be that lens. The Contax 50N is a light and small lens for the 1Ds Mark III, so the “need” for the Leica M9 slipped another notch. The final straw for the Leica M9‘s was system’s inherent lack of telephoto reach. This summer I bought the new Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS Mark II and that lens has been amazing (full review available here). The Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS Mark II is massive compared to a M, but the Canon zoom is brilliant and my most used lens at the moment.

Will I succumb to the Leica M9 again? Eh... maybe. I like the simplicity of the Leica M and I do not need fancy features like HD video. I am hoping Canon releases 1Ds Mark IV crunched into a Canon 7D like package. I detest the Canon 5D Mark II’s color as much (or more) than the Leica M9’s. Also the 5D Mark II’s shadow noise at ISO 100 is not acceptable. So Canon needs to put that 1-Series “goodness” into their 5-Series, and under those terms I would be very excited about a 5D Mark III. If the 5D Mark III see some advances similar to the 7D, such as the LCD overlay in the viewfinder and a re-worked AF system, then the 5D Mark III could be a very compelling package. If that Canon camera does not happen, then a Leica M10 could woo me back.