LEICA M10
24MP, 5FPS Full-Frame Rangefinder
Top Intro Compatibility Specifications Accessories Recommendations
LEICA M10 (23.4 oz./662g with battery and card, about $7,295) with 50/2 APO-SUMMICRON. bigger. I'd get mine at Adorama in silver, Adorama in black, B&H in silver or at B&H in black or at Amazon in silver.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally-approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. LEICA doesn't seal its boxes, so never buy at retail, boutiques or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
August 2019 LEICA Reviews LEICA Lenses All Reviews
Why Fixed Lenses Take Better Pictures
LEICA M10 with 50/2 APO-SUMMICRON. bigger.
LEICA M10 with 50/2 APO-SUMMICRON. bigger.
LEICA M10. bigger.
LEICA M10 with SUMMILUX 50/1.4 ASPH. bigger.
LEICA M10. bigger.
Introduction
Top Intro Compatibility Specifications
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The LEICA M10 may be LEICA's first "perfect 10" digital camera. The M8 was a half-frame marketing experiment, the M9 had a very noisy shutter and made horrible JPGs, the M240 was way too big, heavy and complex, and this M10 seems to finally have gotten it all right. The M10 is about as quiet as the M240, each is about as quiet as a focal plane shutter electronic camera gets. It still makes noise even in Live View, but it's not obnoxious like the M9.
The best thing about the M10 is that it finally has a decent electronic finder. Unlike the botched one of the M240, the M10's VISOFLEX typ 020 EVF looks great and has automatic EVF/LCD selection.
Like previous cameras, there are only very limited adjustments available for JPG images, simply High/Medium/Low for each of Saturation, Contrast and Sharpening.
New
Overall
Same size as the M9, not a whale like the M240.
ISO dial, but oddly it only covers Auto ISO and ISO 100-6,400 in full stops and has one more programmable M position; you don't have all your available ISOs on the dial - grr. To turn the ISO dial you have to lift it up till it clicks, adjust, and push back down.
You can press the center of the rear controller as an OK or SET button, finally as we expect.
Lens preview lever (absent in M240 but present in M9).
ISO range 100 ~ 50,000.
User-programmable Favorites menu.
Just one main menu like the M9, not a slew of menus like the M240.
Higher-resolution rear LCD.
Claimed improved weather sealing.
Live View shutter lag and blackout much less than the awful performance of the M240.
Live View electronic loupe can be moved around.
Wi-Fi for file transfer and remote control in iOS 10.2 and newer.
Finder
Claimed imperceptibly bigger (0.73× magnification).
Claimed brighter rangefinder.
Claimed 30 percent larger field of view.
Claimed 50% greater eye-relief.
Same goofy red LED digits at the bottom.
Optional VISOFLEX typ 020 electronic viewfinder (EVF)
Automatic rear LCD/EVF switching, not manual like the crummy EVF of the M240.
Higher resolution (2.4 MP) and worlds better than the crummy EVF of the M240.
Made in Indonesia, not China like the crummy EVF of the M240.
Adds GPS.
Missing
No Continuous/Single/Self-Timer advance mode control; this is now hidden in a menu.
No second card slot.
No autofocus.
No built-in flash.
Only one focus area; no ground glass in finder — but you can focus anywhere with the EVF.
No video.
No optional 0.85× or 0.91× optical finder magnifications.
No GPS unless you buy the VISOFLEX.
No rear DELETE button, but with a LEICA you never make anything other than prize-winning works of art. Delete buttons are for amateurs.
Finder has parallax correction, but still no magnification correction for distance.
Compatibility
Top Intro Compatibility Specifications
Ideally use 6-dot coded M lenses. Set Lens ID to AUTO and the M10 reads the lens and sets EXIF and lens compensation automatically.
It also works flawlessly with all other uncoded LEICA M lenses made since 1954, but with no EXIF recording of lens focal length or automated lens corrections — unless you simply enter those manually as I do. Identify your lens manually, and the M10 works just as well with my classic 1950s lenses as it does with the newest ones. (I'll have to check if it works well with the 50/2 Dual Range without interference.)
It also works equally well with all LEICA screw-mount lenses made since 1925 if you use a simple passive adapter ring and enter the lens information manually.
All of these lenses made since 1925 give perfect focussing and auto exposure with very few restrictions. Some of the early 21mm lenses before 1980 won't meter well if at all, but everything else is golden. I doubt it works at all with my classic 21/4 Super Angulon, but so what: my newest 21/3.4 ASPH is a much better lens for digital.
Leica R lenses can be used with an adapter, but why? They are big, clumsy SLR lenses with inferior performance compared to M lenses.
Specifications
Top Intro Compatibility Specifications
LEICA M10 Cutaway View. bigger.
Finder
0.73x magnification.
-0.5 diopter standard. -3 to +3 diopters if you buy a Diopter.
Four-digit 1970s style red LED display with two arrows and a flash bolt.
50.6mm effective rangefinder base length (69.31mm x 0.73 = 50.6mm).
Internally illuminated sets of combined frame lines: 28 & 90mm, 50 & 75mm and 35 & 135mm.
Parallax correction, but no distance correction:
100% coverage at 2 meters.
107.3% to 118% coverage at infinity depending on focal length.
Less than 100% coverage closer than 2 meters.
Image Sensor
24MP CMOS.
23.9 x 35.8 mm.
3:2 aspect ratio.
Infra-red cut filter.
No anti-alias filter.
1.0 × crop factor.
ISO
ISO 100 ~ 50,000 in third stops except no ISO 125 and no ISO 160 settings.
Auto ISO.
Image Sizes & Formats
5,976 x 3,992 pixels (23.86 MP) DNG.
5,952 x 3,968 pixels (23.62MP). Also 4,256 x 2,832 pixels (12MP) and 2,976 x 1,984 pixels (6MP).
Frame Rates
5 FPS.
2 GB (16 to 40 frame) buffer.
Shutter
Vertical metal focal plane.
Manual Exposure
1/4,000 to 8 seconds in half stops, to 2 minutes in full stops.
Bulb up to 2 minutes.
Time mode (use self-timer and shutter button) up to 2 minutes.
Auto Exposure
1/4,000 to two minutes, stepless.
Self Timer
12 or 2 seconds.
Remote Release
Standard threaded cable release.
Flash
1/180 sync speed.
First or second curtain.
High-speed sync system with some flashes.
External Flash
Dedicated hot shoe.
No PC (Prontor-Compur) flash sync terminal (use a hot shoe to PC adapter if you need it).
Flash exposure metering: Using center-weighted TTL pre-flash metering with Leica flash units (SF40, SF64, SF26), or flash units compatible with the system with SCA3502 M5 adapter.
Light Meter
Center-weighted.
Also Spot and Multi-Zone in Live View.
Live View
Yes.
LCD Monitor
3" diagonal TFT LCD.
1,036,800 dots.
8-bit color (16 megacolors).
Gorilla glass cover.
WiFi
For iOS 10.2 and newer.
IEEE 802.11b/g/n, channel 1-11.
Infrastructure mode.
WPA/WPA2 encryption.
Storage
SD cards to 2GB.
SDHC cards to 32GB.
SDXC cards to 2TB.
Body
Die-cast magnesium frame.
Fake leather covering.
Brass top panel and base with black or silver chrome-plated finish.
Quality
LEICA M10. bigger.
MADE IN GERMANY.
Power & Battery
BP-SCL5 Battery
VARTA BP-SCL5 rechargeable lithium-ion.
7.4 VDC
1,300 mAh.
Maximum charging current 1,000 mA.
0° ~ 40°C operating temperature.
Made in Indonesia.
BC-SCL5 Charger
Input: 100~240 VAC, 50/60Hz, 300mA - or- 12V DC, 1.3A.
Output: DC 7.4V, 1,000mA/max. 8.25V, 1100mA.
Made in China (by Guangdong PISEN Electronics Co., Ltd.).
0° ~ 35°C operating.
Size
3.1 × 5.5 × 1.5 inches HWD.
80.0 × 139.0 × 38.5 millimeters HWD.
Weight
23.4 oz. (662g) with battery and card.
Environment
Operating
0 ~ 40º C (32 ~ 104º F).
Included
100~240V charger with 12V and USA and European power cables.
BP-SCL5 Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery.
Strap.
Body cover.
Hot shoe cover.
Announced
3:10 PM, 18 January 2017, NYC time.
Promised for
19 January 2017.
Actually Shipping
It's been shipping, but typical for LEICA, as of July 2017 they're shipping cameras that were ordered back in February 2017.
If you want your M10, order it and be patient. Believe me, everyone who buys an M10 probably plays golf with LEICA's CEO, so don't expect that you'll get and special favors that everyone else isn't already getting. Just be patient.
Price, USA
$7,295, August 2019.
$6,595, January~July 2017.
Optional Accessories
Top Intro Compatibility Specifications
VISOFLEX typ 020 electronic viewfinder (EVF)
Diopters, Grips & more.Corny hand grip in black und in silver.
Lederhosen (leather bottoms) in black und in brown.
Recommendations
Top Intro Compatibility Specifications
There's no question: time to dump your old M240 while you still can. It was too big to be considered a real LEICA, and it's EVF was garbage from China. Who were they kidding? Ditch your M240 while you still can.
I never kept my M240; I sent it back and have been using my M9 ever since for its smaller size and much faster and simpler operation. Even if the M240's JPGs were better than the M9's, the M9's DNGs had much better dynamic range.
The biggest reason I'm looking forward to dumping my M9 is that the M9's shutter sounds horrible. The M10 will have the quiet shutter of the M240 with the reasonable size of the M9.
Yes!
I'd get mine at Adorama in silver, Adorama in black, B&H in silver or at B&H in black.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. xx does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.
Thanks for helping me help you!
Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.
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