This is the shortest post ever on THEME, but a great many of you are eagerly awaiting the first true real official Leica M (M240) JPEG and DNG sample images. Still too early and the few maverick samples available on the Net are of rather poor quality — which probably has more to do with not knowing how to handle the hardware… So I asked Leica when to expect the first samples and this is the answer: not yet, but very soon.

Asked whether first images samples are finally available, Stefan Daniel, head of product management at Leica, told me:

Leider noch nicht, wir sind derzeit am “letzten Schliff” der Bildeinstellungen. Ich gehe davon aus, dass dies Ende Jan / Anfang Feb soweit sein wird!

Meaning:

Unfortunately not yet, we’re currently putting the “final touches” to the image settings. I assume that it’s gonna be ready by the end of January / beginning February!

Well then, happy waiting! Until then, let the CCD vs. CMOS speculation continue, but I’m sure there’s nothing to fear. Even without sample images available yet it looks like the M’s preorder waiting lists are filling up nicely.

Expect first deliveries? Says Daniel:

Wir rechnen mit Lieferungen frühestens ab März ’13.

First M deliveries at the earliest beginning March ’13.

+++ BTW, you can preorder the Leica M from Amazon (black/silver), B&H (black/silver) or Adorama (black/silver). First batches should reach dealers in March.