The Leica M9-P
M9-P in Venice: The Making of from leica camera on Vimeo.
Magnum photographer Alex Majoli took the new Leica M9-P on a journey through Venice. Alex Majoli accompanied one of the around 700 gondolieri for several days and captured a sensitive portrait of the gondolier and his city. Here is a behind the scenes view of Alex’s journey through Venice.
Leica M9-P from leica camera on Vimeo.
Introducing the new Leica M9-P.
The Leica M9-P in black finish with a Leica 50mm Summilux-M f1.4 ASPH lens.
On June the 21st, Leica launched the M9-P. In a nutshell, it’s an M9 but with a different top plate and a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal covering on the rear LCD. The design is a much simpler design, similar to the MP and mirrors the M3 too. What I love about the ‘new’ look of the M9-P is it’s simple and clean. No red dot, no writing on the front at all. My choice for work would be the black version (although the chrome does look extremely gorgeous!). Therefore, for the pro shooter or anyone wanting to remain a bit more discreet, there’s no need to tape up the front; no red dot, no M9, nothing. It’s just clean, elegant and simple. There’s a lovely engraving at the top taken from the old Leica script and that’s about it. Less really is more.
The rear screen of the Leica M9-P with the sapphire crystal covering.
The rear screen sapphire crystal cover is said to be virtually indestructible, so this camera seems to be a clearer choice for the photographer working in more hazardous conditions. In my opinion, the M9-P is definitely aimed more towards the pro who uses his camera as a tool and I feel with it’s stealthier look and toughened screen, will serve well. The M9-P is slightly more expensive than the M9 and comes in at a UK suggested retail price of £5395.00.
Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 ASPH with the hood fitted
One of the other announcements was a very compact 21mm lens; the Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 ASPH. Looking at sample images, it’s extremely low distortion with really rather nice image rendition. The UK suggested retail price is £2025.00.
Lastly and perhaps just as importantly as the product launches was an announcement that Magnum Photos and Leica have signed a technology and photographic co-operation agreement. From it’s very early days, Leica and Magnum Photos have had a bond; a historic bond that continues to this day. The great Magnum photographers like Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastiao Salgado created their most memorable work on Leica cameras. It’s great to see this relationship continue and I’m really looking forward to seeing what this collaboration produces in terms of work. One of the early fruits can already be seen on the first video in this article, on Alex Majoli’s trip to Venice.
Leica & Magnum: Past Present Future from leica camera on Vimeo.
A core principal which framed the establishment of Magnum Photos in 1947 was the belief that photographers should have a point of view in their imagery that transcended any formulaic recording of contemporary events. This tradition continues today with the new series of photographic essays being produced by Magnum and Leica.
Burning curiosity breeds evocative expression and it is precisely this spirit which Magnum and Leica will be supporting through this new agreement to create and publish new multimedia essays that will take a deeper look into the stories behind the photographs.
The stories will cover new works by Magnum photographers addressing contemporary themes as well as investigations into the archives of photographers career-long obsessions to share Magnum photographer’s individual journeys and unique ways of storytelling.
The voice on this movie is that of Alice George, former head of Magnum.
New stories will be presented on online at http://www.leica-camera.com, http://www.lfi-online.de and http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/.
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