Leica ME (Leica M9) Today

I bought my first digital Leica back in 2016 in London. I got a good price from it with very few actuations and in perfect cosmetic shape. It is the Leica ME.  For those unfamiliar, Leica decided to make a "more affordable" digital camera and created the Leica ME. It is essentially a Leica M9 with a few software changes, a different color paint but still the same Leica quality (both good and bad but that is a story for another time). 

I knew a bit about the Leica sensor issue, but since (at the time) Leica was replacing the sensor free of charge I did not worry too much.  I never needed the sensor changed and after a recent check have seen that mine was built with one of the newer sensors but still CCD.  There are some differences between the CCD and CMOS sensor, some positive and some negative but as with most photography related things, it is a subjective discussion.

A few years ago I purchased a Leica M10 but cannot seem to allow myself to sell the Leica ME and the reason is that little CCD sensor.  It produces a color that I cannot get from another camera. So I carry a heavy, old camera with a horrible back display screen and suffer through slow reaction times and horrible low light performance. All this for a color treatment I cannot seem to replicate. 

Couple the Leica ME with a Zeiss Planar 50mm f/2 lens and you have a magical combination. Open it wide open and watch the background detail fall away, and the colors just seem to fall into place.

So on a recent trip to Argentina, I found myself carrying three film cameras (Nikon F2, Rolleiflex 2.8 and the Fuji GW690III) my iPhone and my Leica ME. The film cameras all were loaded with Ilford HP-5 and the Leica had a single 32mb card with just the 50mm lens. 

It was winter in Argentina and while I was able to capture some bright sunny days, I needed the color photographs to capture the subdued tones of winter. When color really matters, it is the Leica ME that gets dusted off and used. 

So how did my trip go? Great however my batteries are getting old (hey they lasted since 2016) and would not hold much of a charge. But it was enough for a half day worth of shooting.

The colors were nailed to perfection and the broad range of the Zeiss glass left me plenty to shoot for.  

I keep my shots at or below ISO 800 and usually leave shutter speed to automatic with a minimum of 1/60 sec (with this camera I can drop to 1/30 sec without movement but want to manually set this up) and then select my aperture based on my aesthetic desires.

Even with the technological advances this camera lacks, it is still a powerful artistic tool. Compared to the film cameras I like to use, this camera has a great deal of technology wizardry. So even today, in 2023 with a Leica M10 available, when color counts I reach for this relic.  With 18Mp it has enough for me to enlarge to any size I like, and plenty of detail to salivate over. Just keep it to the lower ISO and you have an amazing tool to use.