Leica M9-P review in 2025 – the magic goes beyond the CCD sensor.

By Keith Wee on July 10, 2025

Introduction

Unlike many experienced Leica M users who probably started with the Leica M9, the 'oldest' Digital M I reviewed until now was the Leica M Typ 240 (my reviews are linked on the names), leaving an uncomfortable gap after my reviews of the subsequent M10, M10-P, M10-R and M11-P models.

It hardly helped that almost everyone I asked commented that the output from the CCD sensor was unique and I was missing out by not testing the M9 series.

It is cathartic that now, through Drew & Barry's generosity, I am finally able to review the Leica M9 series, a missing puzzle piece in my heart for almost a decade.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

tl:dr

This will not be a technical review of the Leica M9-P (or Leica M9). After all, there are already numerous reviews written on this camera, but more of a hands-on experience of how this 14-year-old camera performs in 2025, and whether it is true regarding all the praises the CCD sensor fans have proclaimed.

The one that stays with me: M10-R Black Paint

Two conclusions I can make are:

It is not only the CCD sensor, but the sum of parts, including the sensor, Leica's well-known microcontrast from the M lenses, the calibrated colour palette and the most appropriate light conditions for the Leica M9 series, that gives it the magic people speak so fondly of.
If I do come across an M9-P set with an updated sensor in decent condition, I will for sure go for it. .

Technicalities and a wee bit of history

What makes the Leica M9-P (and Leica M9) unique is its made by Kodak 18 megapixels KAF-18500 CCD sensor, much celebrated for its colour, but which later became notorious for corrosion issues.

Leica replaced affected sensors for years, but of course, production of the camera had to end one day, and by 2019, Leica ceased sensor replacements and went with encouraging owners to trade up to newer CMOS sensor models under their "CCD Upgrade" scheme.

Part of the sensor replacement scheme was the introduction of the supposed corrosion resistant ID15 and ID16 CCD sensors, prized in the preowned M9 market.

I am not going into a regurgitation of specifications for the Leica M9-P, and just a few key points:

The Leica M9-P comes in a magnesium-alloy chassis with brass top and base plates, tipping the scales at around 600 g.

Leica may have debuted lighter top / bottom Aluminium plates but I still prefer them made of brass.

2. Versus the Leica M9, the Leica M9-P LCD comes with a scratch-proof sapphire crystal, a first for a Leica digital body when it debuted.

A pristine, zero-scratch LCD after a decade of use.

3. Part of the P model aesthetics, Leica removed the red dot, engraving a classic script logo on the top plate and used a coarser vulcanite-style leather for extra grip. Available finishes were black-paint or chrome.

4. The bright-line optical viewfinder retains a 0.68X magnification and frame-line pairs from 28 mm to 135 mm. Shutter speeds run 32 seconds to 1/4000 s, with a modest 2 FPS burst rate that writes DNGs to a single SD card.

Fun fact, the Leica M9-P only supports SD cards up to 32GB capacity, and back then in 2011, also had issues with certain Sandisk SD cards similar to the M11's issues with some SD cards.

Handling

First off, I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised that the M9-P handles so similarly to modern digital M bodies that my only learning curve was learning how to work the buttons, and once my initial setup was done, I was ready to start photographing.

A potentially blaspehmous trait I noticed was that the Leica M9-P starts up and is ready to shoot faster versus the M11 series, despite the chasm of tech advancements a decade long.

The M9 had a grand total of 6 buttons, a thumb wheel with the D-pad back then

One gets an intuitive and very easy-to-understand menu system around 4 pages long.

Users of a modern Leica would obviously have noticed how the operation button and menu have been deliberately simplified over the years.

2023's Leica M11-P pushed the concept of simplifying operation further by keeping only three buttons.

Exposure meter-wise, another surprise was that the M9-P uses the same exposure meter system as the film Leica M-P / M6 reissue / M6-TTL.

This exposure meter system uses two triangular LEDs and a central circular LED for users to adjust the exposure, and while some may find it cumbersome, I quite like the way it functions.

source: Leica

While the Leica M9-P has a larger buffer than the M9's and is from an era where expectations of improvements moving from a standard model to the P model was clear but even so, with a top speed of 2 (TWO) frames per second, this is not a camera for the trigger happy users used to shooting at high continuous speeds.

fun fact, the M10-P has the highest frames per second rates of 5 FPS across the digital M cameras, with the newer models M10-R, M11 and M11-P maxing out at 4.5 FPS.

Image Quality: CCD magic

Now this is the exact heart of where all the magic is, and why some users still swear by the aged Leica M9 series bodies.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

At base ISO, the Leica M9-P produces images with saturated primaries, gentle highlight roll-off, and exceptional acuity, all qualities that felt to me akin to photographing with Ektachrome film on a day with the most beautiful light.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

The Leica M9-P outputs a rich 'film-like' colour with a distinctive magenta-red bias that is very flattering to skin tones and scenes that do well in warm lighting.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

Leica's signature micro-contrast with a crisp, almost three-dimensional rendering when paired with the right lens gives a 'sharp but not too sharp' look to the images, and at the same time, the lack of an optical low-pass filter ensures that the fine details are captured, giving a beautiful balance to the pictures.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

The straight from camera JPEGs are pleasing enough to use if correctly exposed, while the 14-bit DNGs work well so long as one protects the highlights from being blown out.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

But take note, among all the praises, the Leica M9-P is not all-powerful either. For example, as expected, it does have a narrower dynamic range (approximately 11 EV for DNG and around 7.8 EV for JPEGS at base ISO) as compared to its more modern siblings, and this does show in certain situations.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

While some reviewers will go by the specifications sheet and claim ISO goes up to ISO 2500, this is a camera I will not go beyond ISO 800 for usable output. This is a hard limit that restricts the versatility of the Leica M9-P when compared to, say, the M10, where I will happily go up to ISO 6400.

Curiously enough, files from the M9-P work very well with black and white conversions, faring very well in the tones. The shot below was from a direct black and white conversion in Lightroom Classic, with no other edits done.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

The Leica M9-P actually shines with 'just enought light' situations.

A misconception I had prior to handling the Leica M9-P was that this would probably be a camera which does best in ISO100 bright day situations, but the sharing of a piece of wisdom from the camera's owner gave me a new perspective, which is this camera's output is most magical during the just enough light' situations, for example during blue and golden hours.

Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE

Oh, I forgot to mention that the Leica M9-P doesn't have the convenience of Live View, not that it matters to me.

Conclusion

Fourteen years on after its release, with at least 5 digital M models after it, the Leica M9-P remains a camera that is unique, and I can understand why, even today, there are users still holding on dearly to their Leica M9 bodies.

A decade between them but yet so alike

I have heard so much about the uniqueness of a CCD sensor, but I will have to say that the magic here is probably not only due to the CCD sensor, but inclusive of the sensor working in tandem with Leica's M lenses, and how the colour signature was calibrated back then by Leica.

There are trade-offs, for example, the low light limitation and now non-servicable sensor and dwindling replacement parts if something breaks, but then if you are more concerned about these over the beautiful, timeless output the Leica M9-P presents, you are probably not the owner the camera is seeking.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimers:

All product photos and samples here were photographed by me. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos.

2. All images were shot with the Leica M9-P, with Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 preFLE, with the camera on loan from Drew & Barry.

3. This review is not sponsored.

4. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

5. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support me by contributing to my fees to WordPress for the domain using the Paypal button at the bottom of the page.