Leica M9

The basics

The Leica M9 is a digital Rangefinder camera with an 18MP full frame sensor, through-the-lens metering and manual focus. It's expensive but it's also one of the most stylish cameras on the market.

The good

The M9’s image quality is jaw-droppingly impressive – something which’ll come as no surprise to fans of the old film M-series Leicas.

The M9’s huge sensor and the superb quality of the Leica lenses mean its images are packed with sharp detail, amazing contrast and noise-free up to around ISO 400. And all in a camera that is far easier to carry – and much more discreet – than a DSLR.

If you don’t want to feel conspicuous while you shoot, the M9 is an ideal partner.

The bad

The image quality might be to die for, but in comparison to even the most entry-level DSLR, the M9 is incredibly light on features: no autofocus, slow continuous shooting speed, no video, no live view, no through-the-lens viewfinder and no support at all for lenses longer than 135mm. It’s not the easiest digital camera in the world to live with, in other words.

The bottom line

The M9’s 1950s-esque feature set won’t put off the truly serious photographer. Got the cash and the skill? Then this is one of the best cameras you can buy.