9 months with Leica M10

After six months of waiting, it is arrived with a huge label on the box printed with “LEICA M10 BLACK CHROME” I couldn’t describe my happiness with words. Because it has been a long mental debate of repurchasing M9 or M240 or just wait for this new camera. This has been the camera I want most after I sold my Leica M9-P and decided to wait for this new Leica digital camera.

Honestly, I love Leica in black paint way more than black chrome. It was something that initially put me on Leica’s spot. Not about the red logo, its about the creamy bokeh and the glossy black paint nicely brassed with use. The black chrome finish from M10 was so good but to a perfectionist, that isn’t something good enough.

With the brand new M10, I took some street snaps in Hong Kong. I was happy that Leica finally has a proper digital rangefinder camera. However, at the same time I was disappointed again because I thought the camera can deliver more than this.

The huge viewfinder is the thing that I love most but I prefer the frameline display in there even when the camera is switched off which it took me some time to adapt. And there is some weird LED red light showing while I was trying to half press the shutter button.

Leica M10 failed to deliver the character of the old lenses. To a person that love nearly all of the vintage Leica lenses, the picture doesn’t have the mood. It performs really well with ASPH lenses with razor sharpness and natural colour. Leica M8, M9 and M240 they all gave us great image quality even when you are using some vintage glasses. But it just missed out something. I brought it to Cuba to test it out. It is absolutely amazing under low light environment and the white balance is accurate. Images were great but I demand more than that.

Is it my problem to have expectations set too high for this US$7,300 camera? I still remember how happy I was with M8 and M9, like a kidult. How colour and dynamic range impressed me. Except the ISO performance, huge VF and yes, it has rangefinder coupling, it didn’t amaze me. I guess most of the people agree that Leica camera gave you unique “mood shot”, it gives you atmosphere that you will never find in DSLR or Mirroless world but I doubt it now.

After all, maybe this is the end of story about my fantasy on Leica digital camera. It is more about the mood shots from Leica. I am going to save my money and focus with Fujifilm X-Pro2.

2 Months later, I sold my Leica M10 and changed it to Fujifilm X-Pro2.