[mst]

As a matter of interest ...... do you own a Leica .. at the moment ??

I still have my M9 and the M Monochrome (1st version with CCD)... but only because I haven't managed to clean the sensors properly, take images of both cameras and list them on eBay. The M9 I bought new when it was released, so it was my casual fun camera for around 10 years. The Monochrome I bought used last year (and learned a lot with it... it's basically a fully manual camera, the metering is useless when you use colour filters).

I have also used several other digital M cameras, as well as a TL that I owned for a while and I was able to take a few shots with a friend's S2.

None of the "modern" Leica systems (like TL, SL or S) I find tempting, in my eyes they offer less features than any competition combined with twice or three times the price of the competition. I also never saw the magic that others see in the image quality of Leica glass. In fact, I found many Leica lenses sub-average when it comes to flare and bokeh.

The M system can be fun and definitely helpful in improving photographic skills, since it's the most feature-reduced system there is. It's not a system, though, that is in any way tempting for gearheads. Nor is it meant to be.

One thing where Leica is way ahead of the competition, though, is build quality. Anything they build feels incredibly solid and high quality.