M9 review (updated)

Mike Reichman reviews Leica M9.
"Using a digital M Leica also means not being able to shoot more than 2 FPS, having limited high ISO capability, needing to remove the camera's bottom plate to get at the battery and even the SD card, not having dust shake removal or image stabilization.... In other words, a digital M Leica is in many ways a limited camera from the perspective of the all-singing, all-dancing polycarbonate wonders that are available for a tenth the price from any of the major Japanese camera makers. Get over it! Why?" ...

Michael has been a major Leica user and fan, even professionally, for many decades, so he knows whereof he talks. He sez Leica has now made the Digital M Leica which is worthy of the name.

Me, I have never used a Leica, so I could be wrong, but I'm not sure I could live without exact framing and autofocus. But then there's the mysterious newly announced Leica X1 which seems to have both, not being a rangefinder. But then, is it really better than for example the Micro-Four-Thirds cameras? I'm sure it has an outstanding lens, but Panasonic's lenses are excellent also, and I doubt the difference will be such that you'll notice it if you're not really looking for it.
Ah, it's a tough job being a connoisseur, but somebody's gotta do it. I think. Maybe. Well, let's not go there.

Update: I'm a bit shocked to see that the 18MP Leica is clearly sharper than both a Canon 21MP camera, and a Sony 24MP camera. I'd like to know more about how much of this is due to the lens, and how much is due to Leica being, so far as I know, the only maker of a 35mm-sized camera who has chosen not to put a "low-pass" (or "AA") filter in it. That filter is a solution to the colored sheen (like oil on water) one can sometimes get when photographing fabrics, due to interference patterns. However, this is not a common problem, it can be solved later in software if it occurs, and worst, the filter lowers the sharpness of the pictures. I hope more makers will choose to do without it in the future. Why work so hard to put more and more megapixels in the things, and then put in a blurring filter?

Another quote:
"In the case of the M9 I have no doubt that the combination of the sensor and Leica M lenses is producing image quality that is easily equal to the best that I've ever seen for any camera with the exception of 39MP and 60MP medium format backs, which are also CCD based devices without AA filters. And yes, this includes the Canon 1Ds MKIII and Nikon D3x."
[...] "A Nikon D3x or a Canon 1Ds MKIII can be used as a point and shoot. For all of their sophistication and complexity, with these and similar cameras one can completely remove oneself from the process and just press the shutter. With an M9 that is not the case. Because it is resolutely manual focus the camera demands that you become involved in the photographic process. This is another aspect of the Zen of Leica M Photography. There's no slacking off. There's no fully auto-everything mode. You must at least manually choose an aperture and you must always focus by eye."
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