Leica has announced a tweaked ‘professional’ version of its M10 rangefinder camera with a super-quiet shutter and touchscreen controls.
The Leica M10-P’s new mechanical shutter is apparently “almost inaudible”, and is the quietest of any M series camera so far.
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That’s particularly handy for a camera that’s mainly built for street photography and portraits. Many mirrorless cameras now offer a completely silent electronic shutters, but after hearing a comparison with rivals like the Sony A7 III we can confirm that the M10-P has one of the quietest mechanical shutters we’ve heard.
Unlike the standard Leica M10, which was introduced in January 2017, the M10-P also has touchscreen controls, which let you swipe through shots and check your focus in Live View.
Otherwise, it’s very similar to the M10, with the same 24-megapixel CMOS sensor, processor, ISO range (100-50,000), connectivity and rangefinder viewfinder as the M10.
That viewfinder, which lets you see outside the photo’s frame lines so you can watch for things coming into the shot, is one of the main reasons why the M Series has been prized by street shooters and photo journalists since its debut in 1954.
Another reason is the M Series’ tactile, manual shooting experience – there’s no autofocus, so to nail focus you need to look through the viewfinder, put the focusing patch on your subject, then move the focusing ring to line up the two images in the viewfinder.
It sounds complicated, but after some practice it can match autofocus speed and is, arguably, a more rewarding shooting experience.
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The M10-P also has some very minor design differences from the M10, with a simple screw replacing the famous Leica red dot on the front, and a special logo on the top plate (which you can see above). There’s also now a handy virtual horizon in the viewfinder and the 3-inch screen to help avoid wonky shots.
As with all Leicas, the M10-P’s brass-and-magnesium build and heritage comes at a considerable cost – the M10-P is available from today in black chrome or silver chrome finishes for £6,500. Time to dig out that old film-based Leica in your loft and put it on eBay.
Are you looking forward to buying (or perhaps renting) a Leica M10-P? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.