Lavidaleica contacted me to say that they have insider info about a new Leica camera called “Leica ME”.
UPDATE: The site posted some more info. “The “ME” name however is subject to change. It is a real Leica, not a clone or a re-badge. It will cost less than the M9 and feature a regular VF (no EVF and not EVIL). In fact, it’s more like the M9 than it is different – it’s a scaled back M9. M mount. So there it is – sorry EVIL fans. We’re trying to confirm, but it should have a full frame sensor. Available shortly after Photokina.“
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All the news about the M mount are welcome. We need a middle between the Nex-5N and Leica M10. A smart and affordable middle.
Maybe a Pana clone?
It’s not a Panasonic clone. It’ll be at least APS-C & Panasonic don’t make anything like that.
Nope, not a clone – a real Leica. 😉
Leica confirmed a while ago that they were working on a new mirrorless system. The first reports said launch at Photokina 2013, but Leica have later said the new system was delayed. They might still publish details at Photokina though. The new system is expected to be less expenive than M-series, more expensive than their fixed lens models. It will be interesting to see pricing and specifications, I’d expect aps-c sensor (at least on the first model) and M-compatibility through adapter, or maybe a modified M-mount to support AF on some lenses.
http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/no-mirrorless-cameras-with-evf-from-leica/
My Money is on it being called MX
Given Leica’s penchant for badge engineering, how about a Leica-branded Fuji X-E 1 with an M mount?
Or a rebadged Lumix G5 with the Leica price tag and dot.
That’s why the name will be “Leica ME TOO”
Lots of cute names being tossed around- iM1 or 2 and the like.
This rumor site says it isn’t a rebadge. http://lavidaleica.com/content/new-leica-products-photokina-2012.
Personally, I’d prefer a traditional rangefinder vf and a crop sensor, if it’s all about keeping the price down. I don’t like manual focus and evfs.
More Expensive
Leica ME: A full frame mirrorless camera with electronic viewfinder. Lets think about the price together. Fuji and Sony approaching with a full frame mirrorless camera in 2013. Not in Photokina but in the middle of 2013 there will be a Sony Nex type full frame camera. It should be around $2,300-2,500 (usd1000 more expensive than Nex 7, and smilar price approach to FF Nikon D600 and FF Canon 6D which are expected around usd2000). If Sony market approach to a FF mirrorless camera is $2,300-2500, than at least double Sony price is good approach for a mirrorless FF Leica ME. That means between $5000-5500. Cheaper than M10 and cheap enough to hold the camera market for Leica.
Just a clarification – La Vida Leica is not a “rumor site.”
And the ME will have an optical VF.
Aaaa damn… No built in ERF for another 5yrs from Leica then…
I wonder how will they differentiate it from the expensive M10 if ME will also be a rangefinder.
I owned the Leica CL at one time: Small, less expensive, great, not-that-expensive lenses. TTL exposure was great. Rangefinder was great, but needed service once a year.
(Later I got a Contax G1 a TRUE RF with AF. I liked this camera better – don’t really know why.)
No sale succes though. It’s life was extended by Minolta CLE.
Maybe Leica wants to try this again? But without RF. The competition is fierce: Fuji X, Nex, PanaGX, Oly Pen…..
Leica Millennium Edition ? A product of year 2000? LOL
So what does scaled back M9 really means … a regular VF, its not like the M9 had anything special in their VF. Its the same basic since M3 , and the M9 is not really all plastered with extras. I can hardly understand what scaleback mean .. its not like there’s anything to scale back at all AFAIK, but correct me if you would
Its ridiculous for Leica to done another specific system for mirrorless. The M platform is already mirrorless, put in a sensor that can do liveview and the control to utilize it. With the space the RF occupied, there’s ample to put in a EVF, how hard is it to add electronic contact to the M mount. Pentax had no issue doing that to the K mount and Nikon to their F mount. And without the need for a mirror, the M mount can easily accommodate. Then we can have the M mirrorless ( what a satire ) and even lens that AF and not to speak of all the possibility. Its not like this would invalid the old mechanical M lens.
The only burden is Leica themselves who refuse to change for the better
I don’t get it either.
Not much to scale back from M9, no rangefinder would the best thing to remove to make another series.
But the rumor is it’s not that.
Maybe it’s gonna be rebadged M9 sold as new series at $4500…
It could be that Leica will remove the projection illumination window and do painted lines ala Canon P. there is a LOT that can be scaled down from an M3. Again as mentioned above, simplify the rangefinder by making the new model more like the CL: smaller, less complicated RF, smaller base length, etc.
Lots to simplify. If you don’t use a rangefinder, you will have no idea how scaled down one can be. What’s interesting is that the simpler the RF, the less prone to damage it is. My Canon P gets out of whack from time to time, but a single screw is all it takes to fix it. Amazing.
If Leica could adopt a simpler mechanism, it would be easier to manufacture, cheaper, and be easy to fix. I’m in.
This. I don’t understand a “lesser” version of an already stripped down camera. Unless “lesser” means CMOS instead of CCD which will be a debatable downgrade and actually may outstrip the M9 in many ways (unless Leica cripples/mangles/misuses the faster CMOS readout.
Yeah, the only scaleback they could is to remove the RF viewfinder and go EVF-only. Or back-LCD-only like most m43 cameras.
It won’t happen but I’d like to see, as a scaled M9, a digital CL with no LCD screen priced under 3000 euro …
Actually no LCD would be a nice touch if it ere to have EVF.
It could definitely pass as an old camera then. 🙂
Not a bad idea. If they got rid of the back LCD but made a hybrid projection LCD for the optical viewfinder, it would maybe be cheaper. They’d still have to scale down the rangefinder to cut costs, though. A digital camera should have some sort of viewing ability, especially as the Leica isn’t TTL.
But cool idea. If it could be small like the CL but retain the essence of a rangefinder including the basic technology, I think it could transform the market for a lot of people who bought into NEX or other systems to use M-mount lenses. If IQ is good enough, I could see this happening.
LCD screens are mass produced so they’re cheaper ATM. Hybrid VFs are not.
Right, but see also what’ s happening with spare parts for the old M8s. The less complicated the camera is, the cheaper the product management will be in the future.
I still see a digital CL with only “manual” controls with simple Ovf with a rf mechanism a-la CL with no LCD a way to scale down a m9 and get a market segment of the ones that still enjoy the rf experience.
I like the Pentax ME, so this should be even better 😛
I guess it’s like upgraded M8. There seems nothing else they could do to lower price.
the evf hot shoe cube of the leica m 10 is a rebadge of the olympus evf for micro 43 ….those of you knocking m 43 dont have a clue about its iq ….
you are the real fanboyz…..minolta cl, cle for those who care to get their camera history correct
micro 43 its the future …. and your aging Luddite leicas? but a niche
” get it right brian !! “{league of gentlemen}