You get what you pay for - cachet included - Leica M9 Digital Camera - BODY ONLY

The Leica M9 is the camera I've been waiting for the last 10 years. While tinkering with other small form factor digital cameras to carry with me where my SLR rig wouldn't work, I pined for the solid reliability of my Leica M6 without the costly chemicals and film and the labor involved in having to develop each frame to see which I wanted to keep for printing. No more! I received my unit from OpticsPlanet a few days ago and it has revolutionized my street photography and documentary photography workflow. While I still use my SLR for sports, low light, and other specific tasks, the M9 has taken over the heart of my work. Build quality is top-notch as one might expect from such a pricey camera, but there's a reason you buy Leica much as there's a reason people buy Maybachs or A. Lange & Sohne timepieces. The shutter release is the familiar firm click, and it works beautifully with my existing Summicron lens lineup, producing tack sharp results and excellent color rendition. The omission of an antialiasing filter and the presence of a proper IR filter fix some of the major issues I had with the M8 and M8.2 - this is the one to buy and keep. It's not expensive if you amortize the cost over the 10+ years you're likely to use it!
Pros: Excellent image quality, build quality, legendary Leica optics
Cons: Price!

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.