// This post will be updated multiple times today. Just keep hitting the refresh button on this post/page to get the latest. 9:43 - Seal had an early sample of the Leica M9 9:41 - Seal (big Leica fan) is speaking... 9:37 - the third product is the S2... false alarm... no R10 9:35 - introducing [...]"/>

Live blogging the Leica 09.09.09 event (Leica M9, Leica X1)

By LR admin | Published: September 9, 2009

This post will be updated multiple times today. Just keep hitting the refresh button on this post/page to get the latest.

9:43 - Seal had an early sample of the Leica M9

9:41 - Seal (big Leica fan) is speaking...

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9:37 - the third product is the S2... false alarm... no R10

9:35 - introducing the Leica X1 - available early December 2009

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9:33 - M9 available in the "next days" worldwide

9:31 - Leica M9 sensor is from Kodak (designed specially for Leica)

9:28 - Stefan Daniel to introduce new products...

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9:26 - 3 new Leica products.... yes he said 3....

9:21 - Leica's CEO speaking about the "Leica experience"

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9:17 dpreview has the brief hands on preview for the M9 and X1, no R10

leica-event-09.09.09

9:09 - the presentation will start @ 9:15 - I guess I am not the only one with technical problems :)

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8:56 - well Leica website is down too...

8:38 - go to dpreview and check their logo on the top left corner

8:37 - Database problems on the grid - nothing I can do

8:21 - l-camera-forum removed the R10 picture (enough censorship!), then it must be real? Also the BJP article (see first link) - when was the last time BJP put a joke online? 6:55 - Leica X1 on a dealer site

6:52 - Leica M9 price in Australia: AUD11,995 incl. Tax (10% GST)

6:47 - tomorrow a new Leica stores opens in London

6:40 - the X1 optional grip will cost US$110 6:33 - comment on LeicaRumors:

"A Leica rep ensured me yesterday that the X1 is a complete inhouse development and has nothing to do with the GF1 or any mFT or FT. It has a CMOS APS-C sensor (which is nearly twice as big as a FT sensor) delivered by an "unknown supplier” in it."

6:29 - here is the US pricing of the X1 and the M9 and those are the full specs of the Leica X1 (fresh of the press).

Related posts:

  1. Some interesting thoughts on the Leica M10 (29MP sensor, hybrid viewfinder, live view, video recording, MAESTRO processor?)
  2. LeicaImages.com goes live
  3. Chiun-Kai Shih live portrait exhibition with Leica S2 in NY
  4. Leica event in South Florida (Leica M9, S2 workshops and more)
  5. Leica event on September 17 in Cologne

This entry was posted in Leica M9, Leica R Series, Leica X1 and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.
  • http://www.blogxygen.net bO2

    Cool! I’ll be here tomorrow and once it released, i will published as well on my blog.
    Can’t wait to see what will happen tomorrow :)

  • Blaze

    What do you mean ‘tomorrow’? 09:09:09 09/09/09 EST is just 2 hours away.

  • LR admin

    this was posted yesterday – just hit refresh and you will see the new tittle

  • NikoDoby

    Ok so I’m in

  • NikoDoby

    Wait, I’m I reading “consumer DSLR” right? An R10?! Oh man. Naomi’s going to be pissed you missed that rumor admin :)

  • LR admin

    Niko, Leica played that one realaly well – first they said there will not be a R10 and then the pulled the trigger…. and they LOL on all rumor sites :)

  • Verners

    I do hope that the last price is only for Australia…

  • NikoDoby

    The R10 has my complete attention for sure. Good one Leica. Don’t worry admin I forgive you.

  • NikoDoby

    Admin, I’m getting errors connecting to this site. I guess your very popular today.

  • Erik

    Ehhh… Are you sure about this one? The R10 that is…

  • Joe

    Goog grief. That R10 picture was meant to be an obvious joke and your taking it as a fact? The R10 is dead.

  • NikoDoby

    I thought the same thing Joe, but the British Journal of Photography is saying Leica will introduce a “consumer DSLR” along with the M9 and X1. R10 might not be the actual name so that’s why Leica said the R10 was canceled.

  • LR admin

    yes, when was the last time BJP posted a joke online – don’t know, remember they said there is one more thing today…

  • WoutK89

    thanks for the hint on the dpreview logo, it must be really important for them to do such a thing

  • NikoDoby

    I think dpreview knows something we don’t :)

  • http://www.c2prods.com/ Komm

    Hey there, they apparently are confronted with some technical issue since it is reported to 9:15…

  • http://marcusphoto.blogspot.com Marcus

    While I sit here waiting for the Leica website to load… Doesn’t a streaming video seem like a dumb way to release some highly anticipated products? Shouldn’t it have been obvious that their servers will crash under the load? Unless they have some fancy way of temporarily renting bandwidth. Bittorrent is really the only form of data distribution that gets better when more people jump on it, at least that I can think of.
    Reload…
    Reload…

  • Carl

    DPReview have posted the M9 and X1 hands-on.

  • Manolito

    I have no problems viewing the webcast.

  • NikoDoby

    Three new models!!!

  • NikoDoby

    NO R10!!! Third camera is the S2!!! WTF?!

  • NikoDoby

    Seal is earning his “free” S2 and M9 :)

  • NikoDoby

    Ha he really did get presented with a free Leica S2. Wow I’m psychic :)

  • NikoDoby

    I guess BJP is looking really stupid about now :)

  • Movilla

    Well, thank god they brought Seal to chat for 10 minutes cause the other two were awful presenters. They need to watch how Apple does releases. Seal was definitely worth his free S2.

    Anyway, the X1 looks interesting but who is it aimed at? Most LX3/D-Lux4 type users wont bite at the $2000 price tag and if you’ve got that much cash, you will probably aim for a DLSR. Perhaps it’s for cash-rich, tech-phobic folk who want a stylish designer camera without spending too much time learning how to use it.

    Of course, the star of the show is the M9. Yes, it is expensive but I think it will turn out to be a classic. And no IR lens!

  • LR admin

    Trust me guys, the problem was not mine – my host has been having problems with the pool/grid service. Just bad timing and there was nothing I could do – this is why I did not update the live blog more often, it did not make sense and I could not since the site was down:

  • Anonymous

    I’ve been following your site for quite a while now. I’m really wanting a Leica camera. The post that said an announcement would be made today made me jump (thinking that Leica followers would sell their used M8′s and get the new one — yes i’m cheap, i can’t afford new Leicas, so sue me).

    But regrettably, I only opened in a nice way to make what I’m going to say go down a little bit easier.

    Here it goes.

    You don’t know how to microblog. Or run an update site while watching the event happen (lucky you). You don’t know how to update every minute or 5mins to that. I think you should post more pics or maybe type more stuff, instead of making people who didn’t (or can’t) watch the webcast wait over 30mins before any updates.

    I suggest you look at Macrumors.com and see how they microblogged at the launch date of the iPhone 3GS. Now that’s real update. Well it’s no use now. I hoped you could’ve researched a bit more on how to blog. Instead of pissing your pants in excitement that you’re going to watch the event live.

    Just a suggestion from an irked guy who’s wanting to go buy Leica cams, but got turned off by the webmaster / admin / microblogger.

  • Verners

    So you wont buy a leica because you cant afford it, but then it turns out you wont buy it because the admin of this site cant microblog?

    Why didn’t you just wait until tomorrow and then get all of the info if you don’t have the time to watch the event?
    And if you did follow the site for quite some time, what do you expect from the event that hasn’t been leaked before?

  • Anonymous

    I said I couldn’t afford NEW Leica’s.

    That’s why I’m waiting for this webcast. I was expecting how much hype it would generate that Leica owners would sell their used M8′s (so I could possibly buy one). It’s not about what I expect to see, ’cause like I said, I’ve been following the site for quite a while. It’s about how people (including me) would react when the M9 was finally announced.

    Compare this to the Macrumors update on the iPhone 3GS launch, and you can read (and see in the pictures) how much excitement the people have. This site didn’t have that. It was complete disaster.

    FYI: there’s a YouTube video of the S2 webcast already uploaded. Unfortunately it’s not from this website.

  • LR admin

    leica.com and leica forum servers were down too, feeling better already…

  • LR admin

    anon, when I get as big as macrumors, I will do an even better webcast coverage, I promise you… this was my first one and it went pretty good in my opinion (except the server issues, which were out of my control)

  • Anonymous

    Actually no. Still feeling empty from your site’s lackluster “update”.

    Despite that this is a technical issue. This is leading me believe that indeed getting a Leica (a new one) is not worth it (atleast for me, I’m sure thousands of Leica afficionados would disagree).

    If Leica knew that this is a major event for them, they could have atleast made preparations for the webcast. Or made their website accessible while the Keynote is happening. From the looks of it (and oncoming comments) the Keynote was an epic flop. I’ve watched the two YouTube videos, and all I hear is one speaker. No spontaneous claps. No big room full of hundreds of audiences. No photographs being taken. Nothing.

    For a $7000 camera, I would have wished they could atleast make a better presentation. Maybe something that could rival even the iPod announcement. Mind you all, the iPod is only a fraction of the Leica price, but you can see on their Keynote and the response of the public how well they are welcomed (I’m sure you have/had an iPod at one point — you can’t say that with a Leica, especially this one).

    I’m not disappointed in the Leica product. But with the negative response the Keynote was for me — partly because this site offered more, when it delivered much less.

  • Anonymous

    Well. Let’s not cry over spilled milk.

    The M9 has been announced. I’m hoping Leica users are thrilled by it. Enough to sell their old M8.2′s and get this one.

    I agree with you. If and when you do get as big as Macrumors, you should do better. I’ll be waiting until then. And if you do a good job, you’ll hear praises from me instead. Fair enough?

    BTW.

    Apple also has a Keynote today. Launching new iPod’s.
    Suggest you go to Macrumors.com and see (and feel — even by just reading and looking at pictures), how it’s like to be excited about the launch of a new product. Really quite a site to see, the automatic refresh, constant updates and tweets.

  • LR admin

    Actually MacRumors is not live blogging today – they have links to other sites that do. Everyone is trying to capitalize on the 09.09.09.date, did you see what Dell has to offer? A 9.99 mm notebook:

    http://www.adamobydell.com/xps/

  • http://www.tintaluz.blogspot.com Quimera

    What I appreciate of the Leica`s event today it’s precisely their simplicity and discretion. Do they need thousands of people clapping their hands or sexy ladies on the stage? I don’t think so.

    For the rest, I have enough of hearing about iPods or IPhones announcements. I bought one and the wireless app. didn’t work!! Bad luck? Not really, after that I found tons of reports in internet about this issue, so for me Apple is not so good as they say… but that’s not talking for this forum.

    The only thing that I found weird in Leica’s event is Seal on the stage with a film camera. Why a film camera? To make a direct connection with M9 camera?

  • LR admin

    I also agree that Leica did a good job today – this is also their first time with such type of online event, so just wait and see – next time they will be even better. The most important point is that they are doing 21st century marketing…

  • Anonymous

    @LR admin

    Yes, I was not aware that Macrumors was not covering the live event (I just assumed that with every Keynote they would cover it). Which coincides with my point. They did not announce that they will be covering the event. That’s why I did not expect to watch / stay updated through their site (I can honestly say I was looking forward more to Leica’s Keynote). However, your site announced to “updated multiple times” to “Just keep hitting the refresh button on this post/page to get the latest”.

    Which really is my beef. High expectations from Leica plus your site trying to hype it even more (by being there promising to keep us unlucky ones up to speed). But ended up disappointing.

    With the presentation itself, I really don’t bother with the host. I know the cameras would speak for themselves.

    @Quimera

    I agree that Leica has always been a small hands-on company, making less than a hundred camera / lens per month. But saying that they do not need the support of audience simply is absurd. It is, in the end, the audience who will buy the product, isn’t it?

    I’m just saying that, if Leica wants to really make a mark, and if this really is an important event to them, why not prepare more for the event? Like I said, the host is negligible (IMO), but come on, hiding the cameras under the podium? hand-holding it away from the audience while continuously talking? Give the camera a chance to shine. Hold it out, shut up for a while. With the prices on their cameras, they could easily recoup their expenses for advertising / production on set.

  • http://www.tintaluz.blogspot.com Quimera

    @ Anonymous:

    “But saying that they do not need the support of audience simply is absurd. It is, in the end, the audience who will buy the product, isn’t it?”

    I agree… just because I never said they do not need the support of the audience. What I think is Leica audience support the company in other ways. So, what’s for a spectacular show with HMIs, fireworks and hosts wearing smoking?

    Prepare more for the event? It was quite good for me. I m in Central America, very far from NY, and I followed the whole event without any problem, just enjoying the presentation, the funny German accent of speakers and also Seal’s histories. I don’t need more… oh yes, I forgot… maybe a X1 :)

  • NikoDoby

    Anonymous, if you can’t afford a new Leica M9 or M8.2 than I seriously doubt you can justify or afford a used M8 or M8.2. Even used Leica’s are very expensive.

    Why all the hate towards admin lately? If you guys(or gals) can do better then by all means start your own rumor site and do with it as YOU wish. :)

    Good job Leicarumors :)
    Bad job MediaTemple :( but at least Nikonrumors is running :)

  • Anonymous

    @Quimera

    “So, what’s for a spectacular show with HMIs, fireworks and hosts wearing smoking? Prepare more for the event? It was quite good for me.”

    I’m like a broken record player, reiterating and comparing to Apple’s Keynote, but I’ve just been amazed at how they do product launchings. For such an inexpensive MP3 player, they manage to generate a lot of buzz and hype. Maybe, just maybe, if and when Leica decides they can generate the same following (if not more — I think they can and should) then I can say they have given a great Keynote.

    Plus, you said it yourself, the hosts were not really up to par with the product they’re presenting. Have you seen how many times he looked at his prepared script? It’s like he doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. But hey, like I said, let the product speak for itself.

    @NikoDoby

    I don’t have to worry about lenses as I have friends who are Leica users. I’m guessing since they’re the one who influenced me into buying Leica, they can lend me a lens or two until I get my own.

    “Why all the hate towards admin lately?”

    Hate is a very strong word my friend. I’m merely disappointed is all. LR admin says it’s his first time attending this kind of Keynote, so I’ll give him that. That’s why I said up top:

    “I agree with you. If and when you do get as big as Macrumors, you should do better. I’ll be waiting until then. And if you do a good job, you’ll hear praises from me instead. Fair enough?”

    My comments might appear strong, it’s because I want this site to do more / better in the future. If and when I get my Leica, I’ll be a constant follower (more than now), and I’d hate to see this site perform any lesser than the other rumor sites.

  • Just a Thought

    Sept 29 a competing digital rangefinder system might be announced. Cmos sensor. Might have slightly fewer pixels. Interesting times we live in.

  • NikoDoby

    Fair enough “Anonymous”. I didn’t mean to single you out as being a “hater”. I was just referring to the criticism against the site lately. My apologies if it sounded “harsh”. My friends stop lending me their Leica lenses since I never give them back :)

    “Just a Thought”, do you mean the canon sept29 announcement? I believe that’s just going to be some kind of new canon copy machine or printer.

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