Leica has abandoned the famous red dot logo on a re-styled version of its M9, the M9-P, in a bid to make it ?as inconspicuous as possible? for photojournalists.
Spec-wise the M9-P is identical to the existing M9, though the new ?ultra-discreet? version of the two-year-old full-frame digital rangefinder features a ?scratch-resistant, sapphire crystal covering? for the LCD screen.
A Leica spokesman claimed: ?In addition, thanks to an anti-reflective coating on both sides of the cover, reviewing images on the display during composition and after capture is further improved, particularly in unfavourable lighting conditions.?
Also new is a ?vulcanite leatherette? finish, described as coarsely textured for a ?steady grip?.
Leica says it dispensed with its red dot to satisfy professional photographers, many of whom ?have been known to tape over the ?red dot? logo to make their equipment as inconspicuous and discreet as possible?.
?For this reason, the Leica red dot logo and the M9 lettering on the front have been omitted.
?Instead, the top-plate is engraved with the Leica name in classic script form.?
Like the original M9, the M9-P carries an 18-million-pixel, 24x36mm, Kodak-made CCD imaging sensor.
When it was announced in September 2009 the Leica M9 cost £4,850.
The Leica M9-P is due out in June – in a silver chrome or black paint finish – priced £5,395.
?Leica has also today announced a new lens: the Super-Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 ASPH.
Aimed at reportage, architectural and landscape photographers, the 279g lens is said to be small and light enough for travelling.
Claimed improvements on board the eight-elements-in-seven groups optic include ?extremely effective flare characteristics?.
It uses a single lens boasting two apsherical surfaces, plus four lenses with ?anomalous partial dispersion? aimed at minimising aberrations.
Due out in June priced £2,025, it is designed as a ?worthy successor? to Leica?s Super-Angulon-M 21mm f/3.4 launched in the 1960s, which Leica described as an ?ideal tool for available light photography and photojournalism?.
