Not to sound like a total Star Wars dork... but it's "TIE Fighter" and "X-wing." I can imagine that those wouldn't show up in the TUAW style guide, but trust me, there are people who notice these types of things.

Hrm. Give me a full-frame sensor module with my choice of mount ("M" mount for me, please!) and you suddenly have a compact, modular camera system that can meet the needs of many enthusiasts who may have legacy glass laying about.

$1700 sounds steep when you're talking about being locked into a 50mm Macro, but would anyone scoff at say $2000 for a body this size with a full-frame sensor? Bueller?

This approach offers many, many advantages over Micro 4/3rds.

Someone who prefers using a rangefinder to an SLR.

@coolblue & @razor

The focusing screens in modern DSLRs are terrible when you compare them to classic manual focus film SLR.s They're optimized for the in-camera autofocus systems. They lack a split-prism for focus confirmation -- it's much easier for me to focus a lens on a 30+ year old Pentax KX body than it is to focus a D700.

Once mastered, a rangefinder focusing patch is much faster and more accurate to focus when compared to a traditional SLR split-prism screen. Compared to a modern DSLR's focusing screen, it's night and day.

@terhost Spoken like someone who has never used a Leica. They are renowned for their rangefinders -- film and digital -- not their SLRs. The M8 isn't a perfect camera, the need for UV/IR cut filters is my biggest complaint, but the image quality is fantastic and it's a dream to focus.

If you want zoom lenses, autofocus, pop-up flash, and other bells and whistles, a rangefinder is not for you. But for taking photographs, it's a great option for anyone is a fan of quality, compact prime optics and manual focusing & exposure.

If the M9 does drop on Tuesday, expect prices on used M8 to drop in kind. A used M8 is a viable option for anyone who is intrigued by the idea of using a digital rangefinder.

The obvious: the sensor. I'd like to have the option of buying a Pentax DSLR with a 24x36mm sensor. I'd like to use my 31mm, 43mm, and 77mm prime set as they were actually intended to be used, without having to run a roll of film through one of my KX bodies.

I shot a bit with the K-7, but decided that, for the amount of time I use an SLR system (I primarily use a rangefinder; the SLR gets broken out when I need autofocus and flash, generally if I'm shooting an event or the like), it wasn't worth the cost of upgrade from a K10D. A nice, 12-15MP full-frame sensor would make me bite, though.

When the price on this body drops to the $500 range in a year or two, I might consider picking it up. Hopefully by then I'll have the option to drop two grand on a FF body.

Come on guys, you need to give this one to me. Seriously, think about the pretty panos I could make with this and the ol' M8.

@Dummy00001 - Actually, there are two zooms available for the Leica M system -- a 16/18/21 and a 28/35/50 -- not traditional zooms, but the same concept applied to the rangefinder.

Voigtlander makes a zoom external finder that covers 15-35mm, designed for use with the film & digital rangefinders -- it even has focal length conversion settings for the crop sensors found in the Epson RD-1 and Leica M8/M8.2.

While your review mentions the availability of the external finder, it does not state that said finder is useless with the kit zoom -- it is a fixed finder with brightlines that match the field of view of the 17mm pancake. An important point, as it currently reads as if said finder would be a general accessory for the camera, rather than a specific accessory for the camera+17mm combo.

The easiest solution to the Wi-Fi issue is to pick up a dedicated Wi-Fi bridge. It's a hardware device that plugs into your Ethernet port. No drivers required, you can use it on other devices (ie, DVR, Xbox, etc), cheaper than the PCI card (in the $75-80 range), and you don't have to open the machine up to install it. Linksys makes a model -- WET610N -- that supports dual-band N.