The Leica M9-P is a digital rangefinder with an 18MP full-frame CCD sensor. It’s the same camera inside as the M9, with a sapphire glass screen cover and a plainer front.
Leica M9-P
Full-frame digital rangefinder, 2011–2012
Updated
Quick facts
- Brand
- Leica
- Type
- Full-frame digital rangefinder
- Made
- 2011–2012
- Preceded by
- Leica M9
- Followed by
- Leica M-P (Typ 240)
Production
Leica announced the M9-P on 21 June 2011 and started shipping it that July. The M9 had come out in 2009, and the P added sapphire glass over the screen and a coarser leatherette for grip. It also dropped the red dot and the M9 name from the front, and has “Leica” in script on the top plate instead.
In 2012 Leica replaced the M9 range with the M (Typ 240). A P version of that camera, the M-P (Typ 240), followed in 2014.
Leica didn’t count M9-Ps separately. The Leica Pocket Book’s figures for the M9 include the M9-P and the M-E.
Identification
From the front there’s no red dot and no “M9” next to the frame line window. The top plate has “Leica” in script and “Leica Camera AG Germany” engraved on it, and “M9-P” is engraved on the hot shoe.
The screen cover is sapphire glass, which is much harder to scratch than the M9’s.
Gallery
Models
- Silver chrome (10716)
- Silver top and base plates, with a vulcanite-style covering.
- Black paint (10703)
- Black top and base plates, with a vulcanite-style covering.
Special editions
2011
Leica Store Vienna 20th anniversary · 20 sets made
Silver chrome top and bottom plates with black saddle leather, sold with a silver Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH. A special serial number is engraved on the hot shoe.
2011
Leica Store Futako Tamagawa 2nd anniversary · 30 made
Silver chrome with red leather covering and a matching hand grip, for the Leica store in Futako Tamagawa, Tokyo.
2011
Leica Camera Asia Pacific/Korea · 100 made
A silver chrome M9-P sold with a silver chrome Elmarit-M 28mm f/2.8 ASPH.
2012
Masterpiece Edition · 50 made
Black chrome, sold with a Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH. The engravings are grey, apart from “Meisterstück” in white.
Commissioned by Meister Camera
2012
Montreux Jazz Festival · 3 sets made
Silver chrome, with a silver Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH.
2012
Military grey · 50 made
Painted military grey and specially engraved, sold with a silver Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH and a round hood.
Commissioned by Foto Rahn, Frankfurt am Main
2012
Hermès, designed by Walter de’Silva · about 300 sets made
Silver chrome with many changes to the body and ochre Veau Swift calfskin, sold with a silver chrome Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH.
2012
Hermès, in memory of Jean-Louis Dumas · 100 sets made
The de’Silva body, in memory of the former Hermès president (1938–2010), sold with Elmarit-M 28mm f/2.8 ASPH, Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH and APO-Summicron-M 90mm f/2 ASPH lenses.
Specs
- Sensor
- 18MP full-frame CCD, 5212 × 3472
- Lens mount
- Leica M
- Lens coding
- Reads 6-bit coded lenses
- Exposure modes
- Aperture priority and manual
- Shutter
- Metal-blade focal plane, 32 s to 1/4000 s in aperture priority, 8 s to 1/4000 s in manual, B up to 240 s
- Flash sync
- 1/180 s
- ISO
- 160–2500, plus a pull setting of 80
- Viewfinder
- 0.68x
- Frame lines
- 28/90mm, 35/135mm, 50/75mm
- Screen
- 2.5-inch, 230,000 pixels, sapphire glass cover
- Storage
- SD up to 2GB or SDHC up to 32GB
- Battery
- 3.7 V, 1900 mAh lithium-ion
- Launch price
- $7,995 (2011). £5,395 in the UK.
- Dimensions
- 139 × 80 × 37 mm (5.5 × 3.1 × 1.5 in)
- Weight
- 600 g (21.2 oz). With battery. The M9 weighs 585 g.
- Hot shoe
- Hot shoe with center and control contacts
- Flash compatibility
- TTL flash with a metering pre-flash, using SCA 3000 system flashes such as the Leica SF 24D and SF 58, or through the SCA 3501 or 3502 adapter. Flash can fire on the first or second curtain.
- Launch price: DPReview on the M9-P launch
- Dimensions and weight: Leica’s M9 and M9-P technical data
Lenses for it
- Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH FLE · 35mm f/1.4 lens for Leica M, 2010–2022
Known faults and repairs
Sensor corrosion
A faulty coating on the glass over the CCD can corrode. It shows up as spots with white halos, most easily seen stopped down against a plain sky. Leica admitted the problem in December 2014. It affects the M9, M9-P, M-E and the first M Monochrom.
Fix: Leica replaced corroded sensors for years, but it stopped making the CCD in 2020 and can’t replace them any more. Instead it has offered owners a discount on a newer M through its upgrade program. Ask Leica Customer Care what the current offer is.
Where to get it repaired
- Leica Customer Care
Wetzlar, Germany. Leica’s own service. Book through the online form.
- Leica Camera USA
Teaneck, New Jersey, US. Leica’s own service in the US. Contact Customer Care before you send anything, and include Leica’s repair and service form.
We don’t have any arrangement with these shops. Ask about turnaround and price before you send a camera.
Firmware
- Latest version
- 1.216, released December 2017
- Last checked
- 11.04.26
What 1.216 changed:
- Adds the Thambar-M 90 f/2.2 and Noctilux-M 75 f/1.25 ASPH to the lens list.
External links
Sources
- Leica Pocket Book, 9th edition, Red Dot Photo Books