Have some spare change in these troubled economic times? Want a nice camera to go along with your sailboat? Leica unveiled two new cameras today that may just suit your needs. First off is the extremely anticipated (and expensive) successor to their M8 rangefinder and the second camera is a relatively compact camera that packs a large CMOS sensor and a fixed lens. Rangefinder/retro camera lovers will be drooling all right now; but for the average Joe, price vs feature set ratio… or even price alone, will make things like the Leica M9 one of those ‘unattainable’ items in life.

Anyway, here are their specifications. On a sidenote, you can buy a Canon EOS 1D Mark III or Nikon D3 or about four mid-range SLRs for the same price as the M9.

Leica M9
(Rangefinder camera)

• 18 megapixel Kodak CCD sensor (Full frame)
• Leica M lens mount
• 2.5 inch LCD (230k pixels)
• Built-in rangefinder with parallax correction
• Full manual controls with RAW/DNG modes and flash hotshoe
• No movie mode
• SD/SDHC memory card slot
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available now if you’re in the UK, 4850 pounds (body only) or for almost $8000

Leica X1
(Large-sensor compact camera)

• 12 megapixel CMOS sensor (APS-C)
• Leica Elmarit 24 mm fixed-lens (equivalent to 36 mm), f2.8 aperture
• 2.7 inch LCD
• Live view only; optional external viewfinder attaches to hotshoe
• Shutter speed and aperture value dials
• On-board flash; hotshoe available
• ISO range of 100 – 3200
• Full manual controls; point-and-shoot operation also available
• 11 point AF
• 3 FPS burst mode
• No movie mode (obviously, it’s a Leica!)
• SD/SDHC memory card slot
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in January 2010 for $2000

Here’s my review of the Olympus FE5010, Olympus’ latest entry-level camera with 12 megapixels of resolution and a 5X optical zoom lens. Don’t forget to check out the Olympus FE5010 photo gallery as well.

Read the FE5010 review

I’ve posted the Olympus FE5010 Photo Gallery which contains full-sized pictures taken by the camera. Be sure to check out the Olympus FE5010 review as well.

Enter gallery

Hey, I hope everyone’s having a great long weekend. But are you still feeling all excited about Canon’s new cameras? Can’t wait for our Canon PowerShot G11 review? Here’s a little something to temporarily quell your Canon G11 lust (or S90 lust) – a nice and simple comparison of the PowerShot G11’s feature set versus its predecessor (G10) and mini-G partner (S90). Hit the link to read more!

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Here’s my review of the Nikon Coolpix S220, a budget digital camera, and the Nikon Coolpix S220 photo gallery is online too! Click on the link for the full review of the camera.

Read the S220 review

Here’s the Nikon Coolpix S220 Photo Gallery containing full-sized pictures taken by the camera. Be sure to check out the Nikon Coolpix S220 review as well.

View gallery

Hey, it’s time again for DPInterface’s “Request a review” for readers! We’ve got 2 months till Thanksgiving and 3 months till Christmas (holidays, yay!) – what cameras would you like to see reviewed on DPInterface? I already know that everyone wants to see the Canon PowerShot G11 review… anything else? Leave a comment on this post!

*Note: I’ve temporarily ‘eased’ the comment system for this weekend so you can post a comment with just your name (email address is optional) to make it quick and easy for everyone to send in camera review requests!

Update from Brad: Keep those requests coming! It doesn’t matter if someone has already requested a camera review, send in yours – the more requests I get for a camera, the higher its priority will be! I’ll be working closely (hounding, rather) camera companies over the next few months for those cameras so I can their reviews out ASAP, in time for holiday shopping.