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Leica M-E (Typ 220) - A User Review

Leica Camera AG , a German optics company, manufactures Leica cameras .

The predecessor of the company, formerly known as Ernst Leitz GmbH, is now three companies: Leica Camera AG, Leica Geosystems AG, and Leica Microsystems GmbH, which manufacture cameras, geosurvey equipment, and microscopes , respectively. Leica Microsystems AG owns the Leica brand and licences the sister companies to use it.

Digital M (rangefinder) - History

M8 – 2006–2009. The M8 was the first digital M introduced, featuring a 10.3 megapixel sensor. The sensor is a 1.3 crop of standard 35 mm film, which gives the M8 an enlarged perspective in comparison to its predecessors.

M8.2 – 2008–2009. A slightly updated edition of the Leica M8, featuring a quieter shutter, sapphire glass LCD screen cover, new leather coatings, etc.

M9 – 2009 – The first full frame digital camera in the series, introduced on September 9, 2009.

M9-P – 2011 – current model. The full frame digital camera with a classic look, introduced in June/July 2011.

M Monochrom – 2012 – Announced in May 2012, scheduled to ship in July 2012. A version of the M9 that shoots exclusively in monochrome. The sensor lacks both a color filtering array and an anti-aliasing filter.

M-E – 2012 – Announced in September 2012, entry-level model in the Leica M full-frame digital camera range.

M – 2012 – Announced in September 2012 (newest & baddest !!)

Design & Specifications:-

 The M-E measures 3.1 by 5.5 by 1.7 inches (HxWxD) and weighs 1.3 pounds. Its body uses the same magnesium chassis as the M9 and M Monochrome, and its top plate  brass. The M-E is only available with an anthracite gray paint finish, which will most certainly wear over time to show the brass underneath.

The physical differences between the M-E and the M9-P are limited, bar the top and bottom brass plate covers. Leica eliminated the USB port (needless, IMO) from the body; using a memory card reader to offload photos, as well as the absence frameline preview lever. This switch, located on the front of the M9-P, allows you to manually change the framelines that show in the finder in order to preview what a scene would look like with another lens (ie a different focal length). It's a feature that while useful, does not take away any pleasure from the user experience with an M-E. While the M9-P protects its rear LCD with a shatter-proof sapphire glass coating,  the M-E makes do without that benefit. Therefore, you'll want to add an aftermarket glass screen protector if you're concerned about damage; Giottos sells one for the M-E for around US$20.

The viewfinder is identical to those found in other digital Leica rangefinders at 0.68x magnification design, housed in the top right corner. When you look through the finder you'll see a bright "translucent/opaque" square in the center. Showing a double image, which changes as you manually focus a lens; when the images line up, your shot is in focus.

If you've not shot with a rangefinder/SLR before this may seem very odd and discomforting, however, with a little practice you'll find it to be a quick and accurate manual focus method; like other M cameras, the M-E has NO support for autofocus.

Because you're not viewing images through the lens (so no TTL here as well ...), framing is approximate, and indicated by a bright white outline shown in the finder. There are three pairs of lines that change based on the attached lens: 28mm and 90mm, 35mm and 135mm, and 50mm and 75mm. The frameline pairs are illuminated by a frosted window on the front of the camera.

You'll need to move up to the M (Typ 240), or hunt down the limited edition M9 Titanium on the used market, if you want LED framelines. Those are a recent innovation, but are clearly visible when shooting in extremely dim conditions; if there's very little ambient light, the M-E's framelines will be a bit hard to see. Made worse when one is trying to shoot at a wide aperture with a rzor thinn DOF, making focusing a time consuming task.

The M-E only has a few controls. There is a shutter release, power switch, and the shutter speed dial on top, and the rear houses a spattering of buttons related to image playback and menu settings. The lone rear button that directly changes a shooting setting is the ISO control, although it is possible to set the rear control wheel to adjust exposure compensation (a setting which I highly recommend for quick shooting).

The menu system is text based and fairly straightforward. You can adjust the shutter advance mode, JPG resolution, and manually tell the camera what lens you have attached, but chances are you won't be spending a ton of time diving through settings once the camera is configured. If you are using newer, 6-bit coded lenses (which I higly recommend, or if u don't get an aftermarket coder and a sharpie pen is all u need to convert non 6bit coded lens into one ... simple) — these have a series of white and black dots on the inside of the lens mount that the camera can read to identify the focal length and maximum aperture—you can just set lens detection to automatic.

The rear LCD is the weakest point of the M-E. The same 2.5-inch, 230k-dot display that Leica first used on the M8, a camera that was released in 2006. You can magnify images during playback, but even in doing so it's not feasible to confirm you've nailed focus on a shot via the display.  (just like the good old film days !)