• Allows for fast tethered shooting (manually and by clicking the 'Shoot' button) through the use of the M9's built in RAM disk (no need for SD card in the camera).
• Reads and sets the ISO / Exposure Compensation / Format / Resolution / White Balance / Advance / Flash sync and Self timer.
• Stores the pictures it takes (DNG or JPG or both) in the designated folder if the option 'Store captures on PC...' is turned on. Pictures are also stored in the designated folder (if set and turned on) when the camera is operated manually (taking pictures by using the camera's shutter button).
• Shows a JPG in a window (by choice) if Format is set to 'JPG' or 'DNG + JPG'. The viewer contains some basic functionality (doubleclick to show full or fit, use mousewheel to zoom in or out, drag picture by click and hold - alternatively you can use the buttons, which pop up if you move your mouse towards the bottom of the viewer). There's also an option to not write the JPG to the transfer folder but only use it as a preview. This option is available if you have set 'Transfer captures to my PC...' and if the Format is set to 'DNG + JPG'.
• You can set your preferred application to view the results in.
• 'Guessed aperture' overwrite option on the transferred photos.
• Light trigger through web cam.
• Software exposure bracketing.
• Timed shoot with repeat function (handy for time lapse).
• Basic remote control with iPod/Pad/Phone through iTunes (requires 'M9Tether: The Album') and with wireless (or wired) mouse.
• Shows camera temperature taken from the EXIF of the transferred photos (in degrees Celsius, Fahrenheit and Delisle).
• Shows ImageUniqueID (shutter count) in the Info window, taken from the EXIF of the transferred photos.
• You can use M9Tether in combination with Lightroom by setting up an 'auto import' folder in Lightroom and directing M9Tether to transfer the pictures into that folder. After transfer they will show up in Lightroom.

• On RAMDisk mode
• On remote control through iPod
• On light trigger through webcam
• On overwriting the guessed f/stop
• On scaling the application to show the main window bigger or smaller

• Windows 7 (tested on Vista, works but with one annoying exception, see below... tested on XP, didn't work... it might work on XP after installing Windows Media Player 11, but the info on that is sketchy and I didn't test it)...
• Leica M9.
• USB connection needs to be set (through the menu of your camera) to PTP. The setting 'mass storage' will not work (if you cannot detect
  'USB connection' in the menu, make sure the profile isn't set to 'Snapshot profile' - press the 'set' button in stead of the 'menu' button, to check the 'profile' setting).
• Camera doesn't need to contain a memory card anymore (since version 2.0)

• M9Tether uses the Windows Portable Devices interface, which means the options to control the camera are limited.
• Some of the options are locked for firmware 1.138 till 1.176 (Temperature reading / ImageUniqueID reading / RAMDisk mode). When new firmware arrives I will release a new version after some basic testing.
• Your camera might freeze up due to bugs in the software. If that happens, whatever you do: do not panic! Your camera is fine! Turn the camera off, disconnect it from the PC and remove the battery for a few seconds. Pop the battery back in and reconnect/switch on the camera. Restart the software if necessary (most likely that will be necessary). Note that during regular use, your camera freezing up is unlikely. It can happen when you close the software with the camera in the middle of a transfer to the PC, or when the memorycard is full (there's detection in the software for that, but I noticed it doesn't always warn... sometimes the camera hangs in trying to write to the card and doesn't get around to signaling back to the computer that there's a problem).
• Since version 2.0, M9Tether tries to detect the memory card in the M9 at startup. The memory card, when it's present, isn't always detected. My conclusion is that this is due to the camera's PTP implementation, where the camera software - or the USB communication - gets interrupted in its startup process if there's a warning like 'battery low' or 'bottom cover removed'. The software never seems to reach the stage where the SD card is recognised through PTP. This doesn't mean the camera won't operate. The SD card still works fine, only the computer thinks there is none. This problem can be worked around by the following procedure: if you start M9Tether and it produces a faulty 'Memory card not found', disconnect the USB cable from the PC and reconnect it, without turning off the camera. Then restart M9Tether.
• The resolution setting only works for JPG. If you shoot DNG, changing it won't have an effect on the file size.
• Putting white balance to 'Manual' requires the camera to take a picture. The camera however accepts the setting through USB without nagging about taking the necessary picture. But using manual white balance without taking a picture can apparently lead to black frames. If that happens, turn the white balance back to any other setting than manual. If you do need manual, try setting the white balance to manual on the camera itself first, after disconnecting it from the PC. Then reconnect it and don't change the setting through the software.
• Setting 'Review time' to 'off' will show the 'USB connected' drawing on the LCD always (when the camera is connected to the PC). The camera's menu is locked (you cannot enter it through the buttons on the camera). However, if you set 'Review time' to e.g. 1 second, then, after taking one picture, the 'USB connected' image will drop away (no review is shown though) and after that - although still functioning through USB - the camera's menu is accessible.
• If the menu is accessible (see previous point) and you change settings through the 'menu' or 'set' button, the software will not recognise things have changed on the camera. At that point software and camera show different values for the changed setting and when you shoot, it's the settings set on the camera that will determine the outcome. The camera doesn't send events about camera menu changes back through USB, so the software doesn't have a way of knowing things changed on the camera. Best practice is to avoid changing settings on the camera directly but change them through the software. Unless (obviously) when it's a setting not shown in M9Tether. I've tried solving this problem by polling for changes, but that doesn't work because changes on the camera are only recognised after a restart. It seems the middle layer holds the values it found at startup and they don't change in between when changed on the camera.
• Obviously some of these quirks of the camera might change with firmware updates.
• Shooting tethered is a strain on the battery. If continuity is important in a tethered shoot, make sure you have some charged spare batteries on hold.
• If you're only interested in a JPG Preview, set Format to JPG (no DNG), since it saves writing time. The time between taking the picture and showing it will be shorter that way.
• Please be aware that after use of M9Tether you might want to check if all the settings are as you want them, before you take your camera out for a shoot, since settings changed through M9Tether will remain set in the camera until you change them again. This problem can partly be addressed by turning on the 'restore' option (since version 1.6).
• The software was tested on Windows 7 with a Leica M9 on firmware 1.138, 1.162 , 1.174 and 1.176. Beyond these specs I cannot guarantee proper functioning.
• M9Tether, ememsoftware and the lonely programmer behind it are not affiliated with Leica in any way.
• M9Tether is freeware and does not contain ad- or spyware.

• By downloading this software, you (downloader) agree not to hold me (programmer) liable or responsible for a malfunctioning camera after the use of M9Tether.
• By downloading you agree that the use of M9Tether is AT YOUR OWN RISK.
• If you DO NOT agree to above two points, then DO NOT download/install/use M9Tether. In fact, if you do not agree, you don't have the programmer's permission to use M9Tether and he will tell you 'I told you so!' if you come nagging at his virtual doorstep.
• The programmer (me still) does guarantee that there is no 'direct' or 'low level' communication between software and camera other than through windows WPD. The programmer has no reason to suspect M9Tether will cause any harm in any way to you, your family, your pet or your camera. After extensive testing the programmer's (my) camera is still fine (seriously - I've taken at least a 1000 shots through the software, had numerous freezes of the camera earlier on in the development, and the camera is still working fine), but a nice disclaimer never hurts (well, not for the one disclaiming anyway... :-)

Download M9Tether setup program (version 2.2d) for Windows 7 / Vista (see remark down for Vista)

Note on Vista: Testing M9Tether on Vista (Home Premium Edition) I noticed the Format setting can't be changed without the software producing an error. So far I have not received any confirmation (confirming or denying the problem) from users, but I'm assuming this is a general Vista related problem, mainly to do with the drivers.

The workaround to this problem is simple: set the Format value on the camera. Then restart the camera and the software (if you changed the value during working with the software). The value is read properly, you only can't change it. All the other settings seem to work without any problems. Shooting and previewing works as intended.

Note that for the new RAMDisk mode, on Windows Vista the camera needs to be set manually to JPG or DNG first. If the camera is set to DNG + JPG, M9Tether cannot change it automatically to DNG (DNG + JPG is not allowed in RAMDisk mode) so it will refuse RAMDisk mode.

This all does mean that the only current OS the sofware is working on without problems is Windows 7.

ememsoftware@gmail.com

See also DNGMonochrome

by the same producer...