About a week ago, Leica Camera AG finally released the most recent version of firmware for the M digital camera. This, of course, provoked many angry comments from non-Leica users about how backward Leicas are. It could be said, though that people who buy on specifications, technology, and making reasonable and difficult-to-question choices will buy something like a Lexus. People who are gunning for a different feel and are less risk-adverse might go for Jaguars. The functional differences between a Leica M and, say, any other 24mp camera are fairly minimal. The sensors, imaging process and electronics are very similar. The big difference is in metering and focusing systems. There no way, whether by firmware or otherwise, to make a rangefinder-equipped camera emulate a DSLR with its own equally primitive mirror and phase-detect system or a mirrorless with its contrast-detect focus. And although one could always make the argument that 1,000-segment metering is very accurate, it is not the experience of this writer that it is appreciably more accurate than five segments. And that is not, in itself markedly superior to centerweighted averaging and a modicum of human intervention……

Source: themachineplanet.wordpress.com