Leica M-E Typ 240 Comparison Review

The Leica M-E (Typ 240) is a rangefinder-focusing mirrorless camera that was announced in June 2019 and is equipped with a full frame sensor. It offers a resolution of 23.7 megapixel.

Is the Leica M-E Typ 240 a good camera? The M-E Typ 240 has a Camera Elo of 2009. This rating puts the M-E Typ 240 among the top 50 percent of all rangefinder cameras. In terms of its sensor size category (full frame cameras), the M-E Typ 240 ranks below average. Based on its within category standings, the camera earns a 3-star performance rating.

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, reception by expert reviewers, and how it compares to other digital cameras.

Body comparison with a credit card

An illustration of the physical dimensions of the Leica M-E Typ 240 vis-à-vis a credit card is provided in the side-by-side display below. Three consecutive perspectives from the front, the top, and the back are presented. All size dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the Leica M-E Typ 240 alongside a set of similar cameras. If you want to review a particular camera pair side-by-side, just move across to the CAM-parator tool and choose from the broad selection of possible comparisons there.

Body Specifications

		Camera Model	Camera Width	Camera Height	Camera Depth	Camera Weight	Battery Life	Weather Sealing	Camera Launch	Launch Price	Street Price
1.		Leica M-E Typ 240	139 mm	80 mm	42 mm	680 g	500	Y	Jun 2019	EUR 3 949	ebay.com
2.		Fujifilm GFX 50R	161 mm	97 mm	66 mm	775 g	400	Y	Sep 2018	EUR 4 499	ebay.com
3.		Leica M Typ 240	139 mm	80 mm	42 mm	680 g	500	Y	Sep 2012	EUR 6 199	ebay.com
4.		Leica M Typ 262	139 mm	80 mm	42 mm	680 g	400	Y	Nov 2015	EUR 5 499	ebay.com
5.		Leica M10	139 mm	80 mm	39 mm	660 g	210	Y	Jan 2017	EUR 6 499	ebay.com
6.		Leica M10-P	139 mm	80 mm	39 mm	660 g	210	Y	Aug 2018	EUR 7 499	ebay.com
7.		Leica M10-R	139 mm	80 mm	39 mm	660 g	210	Y	Jul 2020	EUR 7 999	ebay.com
8.		Leica Q Typ 116	130 mm	80 mm	93 mm	640 g	300	n	Jun 2015	EUR 3 999	ebay.com
9.		Leica Q2	130 mm	80 mm	92 mm	718 g	370	Y	Mar 2019	EUR 4 799	amazon.com
10.		Leica V-LUX 5	136 mm	97 mm	131 mm	812 g	350	n	Jul 2019	EUR 1 199	amazon.com
11.		Sony A9 II	129 mm	96 mm	76 mm	678 g	690	Y	Oct 2019	EUR 5 399	amazon.com
Note: Measurements and pricing do not include easily detachable parts, such as add-on or interchangeable lenses or optional viewfinders.
Convert to Imperial

The listed prices provide an indication of the market segment that the manufacturer of the cameras have been targeting. The Leica M-E Typ 240 was launched in the US market at a price of $3,999. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down. Then, after the new model is out, very good deals can frequently be found on the pre-owned market.

Check M-E Typ 240 offers at
ebay.com

Sensor comparison with a 35mm slide

The size of the sensor inside a digital camera is one of the key determinants of image quality. A large sensor will generally have larger individual pixels that offer better low-light sensitivity, provide wider dynamic range, and have richer color-depth than smaller pixels in a sensor of the same technological generation. Further, a large sensor camera will give the photographer additional creative options when using shallow depth-of-field to isolate a subject from its background. On the downside, larger sensors are more costly to manufacture and tent to lead to bigger and heavier cameras and lenses.

The Leica M-E Typ 240 features a full frame sensor and has a format factor (sometimes also referred to as "crop factor") of 1.0. Within the spectrum of camera sensors, this places the Leica M-E Typ 240 among the large-sensor cameras that aim for top notch image quality.

Consistent information on actual sensor performance is available from DXO Mark for most cameras. This service is based on lab testing and assigns an overall score to each camera sensor, as well as ratings for dynamic range ("DXO Landscape"), color depth ("DXO Portrait"), and low-light sensitivity ("DXO Sports"). The table below summarizes the physical sensor characteristics and sensor quality findings and compares them across a set of similar cameras.

Sensor Characteristics

		Camera Model	Sensor Class	Resolution (MP)	Horiz. Pixels	Vert. Pixels	Video Format	DXO Portrait	DXO Landscape	DXO Sports	DXO Overall
1.		Leica M-E Typ 240	Full Frame	23.7	5952	3976	1080/25p	25.2	14.2	2821	94
2.		Fujifilm GFX 50R	Medium Format	51.1	8256	6192	1080/30p	25.7	14.4	3169	98
3.		Leica M Typ 240	Full Frame	23.7	5952	3976	1080/25p	24.0	13.3	1860	84
4.		Leica M Typ 262	Full Frame	23.7	5952	3976	none	24.8	13.7	2478	90
5.		Leica M10	Full Frame	23.8	5952	3992	none	24.4	13.2	2133	86
6.		Leica M10-P	Full Frame	23.8	5952	3992	none	25.1	14.1	2739	93
7.		Leica M10-R	Full Frame	40.9	7864	5200	none	25.3	14.3	2924	95
8.		Leica Q Typ 116	Full Frame	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.3	12.7	2221	85
9.		Leica Q2	Full Frame	46.7	8368	5584	4K/30p	26.4	13.5	2491	96
10.		Leica V-LUX 5	1-inch	20.0	5472	3648	4K/30p	22.2	12.4	584	65
11.		Sony A9 II	Full Frame	24.0	6000	4000	4K/30p	25.0	14.0	3434	93
Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age.

Many modern cameras are not only capable of taking still images, but can also record movies. The M-E Typ 240 indeed provides movie recording capabilities. The highest resolution format that the M-E Typ 240 can use is 1080/25p.

Feature comparison

Apart from body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. For example, the M-E Typ 240 has an optical viewfinder that provides a field of view of 100% and a magnification of 0.68x. The adjacent tables list some of the other core features of the Leica M-E Typ 240 along with similar information for a selection of comparators.

Core Features

		Camera Model	Viewfinder (Type or 000 dots)	Control Panel (yes/no)	LCD Specifications (inch/000 dots)	LCD Attach- ment	Touch Screen (yes/no)	Max Shutter Speed *	Max Shutter Flaps *	Built-in Flash (yes/no)	Built-in Image Stab
1.		Leica M-E Typ 240	optical	n	3.0 / 920	fixed	n	1/4000s	3.0/s	n	n
2.		Fujifilm GFX 50R	3690	n	3.2 / 2360	tilting	Y	1/4000s	3.0/s	n	n
3.		Leica M Typ 240	optical	n	3.0 / 920	fixed	n	1/4000s	3.0/s	n	n
4.		Leica M Typ 262	optical	n	3.0 / 921	fixed	n	1/4000s	3.0/s	n	n
5.		Leica M10	optical	n	3.0 / 1037	fixed	n	1/4000s	5.0/s	n	n
6.		Leica M10-P	optical	n	3.0 / 1037	fixed	Y	1/4000s	5.0/s	n	n
7.		Leica M10-R	optical	n	3.0 / 1037	fixed	Y	1/4000s	4.5/s	n	n
8.		Leica Q Typ 116	3680	n	3.0 / 1040	fixed	Y	1/2000s	10.0/s	n	Y
9.		Leica Q2	3680	n	3.0 / 1040	fixed	Y	1/2000s	10.0/s	n	Y
10.		Leica V-LUX 5	2360	n	3.0 / 1240	swivel	Y	1/4000s	12.0/s	Y	Y
11.		Sony A9 II	3686	n	3.0 / 1440	tilting	Y	1/8000s	20.0/s	n	Y
Note: *) Information refers to the mechanical shutter, unless the camera only has an electronic one.

Connection comparison

For some imaging applications, the extent to which a camera can communicate with its environment can be an important aspect in the camera decision process. The table below provides an overview of the connectivity of the Leica M-E (Typ 240) and, in particular, the interfaces the cameras (and selected comparators) provide for accessory control and data transfer.

Input-Output Connections

		Camera Model	Hotshoe Port	Internal Mic / Speaker	Microphone Port	Headphone Port	HDMI Port	USB Port	WiFi Support	NFC Support	Bluetooth Support
1.		Leica M-E Typ 240	Y	mono / -	-	-	-	2.0	-	-	-
2.		Fujifilm GFX 50R	Y	stereo / mono	Y	Y	micro	3.0	Y	-	Y
3.		Leica M Typ 240	Y	stereo / mono	-	-	-	2.0	-	-	-
4.		Leica M Typ 262	Y	- / -	-	-	-	2.0	-	-	-
5.		Leica M10	Y	- / -	-	-	-	-	Y	-	-
6.		Leica M10-P	Y	- / -	-	-	-	-	Y	-	-
7.		Leica M10-R	Y	- / -	-	-	-	-	Y	-	-
8.		Leica Q Typ 116	Y	stereo / mono	-	-	micro	2.0	Y	Y	-
9.		Leica Q2	Y	stereo / mono	-	-	-	-	Y	-	Y
10.		Leica V-LUX 5	Y	stereo / mono	-	-	micro	2.0	Y	-	Y
11.		Sony A9 II	Y	stereo / mono	Y	Y	micro	3.1	Y	Y	Y

Expert reviews

While the specs-based evaluation of cameras is instructive in revealing their potential as photographic tools, it remains partial and cannot reveal, for example, the handling experience and imaging performance when actually working with the M-E Typ 240. At times, user reviews, such as those published at amazon, address these issues in a useful manner, but such feedback is on many occasions incomplete, inconsistent, and unreliable. This is where reviews by experts come in. The following table reports the overall rankings of the cameras as published by some of the major camera review sites (amateurphotographer [AP], cameralabs [CL], digitalcameraworld [DCW], dpreview [DPR], ephotozine [EPZ], photographyblog [PB]).

Review Scores

		Camera   Model	AP   score	CL   score	DCW   score	DPR   score	EPZ   score	PB   score	Camera Launch	Launch Price	Street Price
1.		Leica M-E Typ 240	..	..	..	..	..	..	Jun 2019	EUR 3 949	ebay.com
2.		Fujifilm GFX 50R	5/5	..	5/5	84/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2018	EUR 4 499	ebay.com
3.		Leica M Typ 240	4/5	..	..	..	4/5	..	Sep 2012	EUR 6 199	ebay.com
4.		Leica M Typ 262	..	..	..	..	..	..	Nov 2015	EUR 5 499	ebay.com
5.		Leica M10	4.5/5	..	..	..	4/5	4.5/5	Jan 2017	EUR 6 499	ebay.com
6.		Leica M10-P	..	..	3/5	..	..	4/5	Aug 2018	EUR 7 499	ebay.com
7.		Leica M10-R	4.5/5	..	4/5	..	..	4/5	Jul 2020	EUR 7 999	ebay.com
8.		Leica Q Typ 116	5/5	..	..	80/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	Jun 2015	EUR 3 999	ebay.com
9.		Leica Q2	..	..	4.5/5	84/100	4.5/5	4/5	Mar 2019	EUR 4 799	amazon.com
10.		Leica V-LUX 5	..	..	..	..	4/5	4/5	Jul 2019	EUR 1 199	amazon.com
11.		Sony A9 II	..	..	5/5	90/100	5/5	5/5	Oct 2019	EUR 5 399	amazon.com
Note: (+ +) highly recommended; (+) recommended; (o) reviewed; (..) not available.

The review scores listed above should be treated with care, though. The assessments were made in relation to similar cameras of the same technological generation. Thus, a score needs to be put into the context of the launch date and the launch price of the camera, and comparisons of ratings among very different cameras or across long time periods have little meaning. Also, kindly note that some of the listed sites have over time developped their review approaches and their reporting style.

Check M-E Typ 240 offers at
ebay.com

Camera to camera comparisons

If you would like to see a side-by-side review with another camera, just make your choice using the following search menu. There is also a set of direct links to comparison reviews that other users of the CAM-parator app explored.

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