Morning
I'm an S user so will naturally be slightly biased towards the camera, having used the 006 commercially for the last year I absolutely love the camera and have invested heavily with now 5 lenses. If the 007 delivers the same image quality but extends the shooting window with decent higher ISO performance then I will be buying. I have shot everything from bands to architecture to personal landscape projects and the only area it falls down is ISO over 400 for images I am happy to deliver to clients.
As with all cameras, familiarity can only come from experience, I like Michaels review, very informative although I think if he had spent time shooting with the 006 he would have felt more comfortable with the new camera with regards to usability, I find that with the camera I only need access to a couple of things, exposure comp I have on top right button so I can use it without removing camera from my eye, ISO is top left but I have it almost always on base and very rarely change, focus on bottom right although I have it almost always on manual with auto set to the rear joystick and bottom left for shooting delay, I flick between single shot or 2 second delay. Apart from formatting cards, they are the only functions I have ever used in the last year, I have never gone in to the menus for anything else. Obviously that is only my way of working but I have never used a camera that is so easy to control, I'm hoping the 007 retains the same characteristics.
Viewfinder is totally amazing on the 006, you can easily manual focus, until you spend time with it you don't realise that things like focus peaking in the viewfinder just aren't necessary, you can see easily what is in focus, I hope personally that this never changes.
As with all cameras, there is no one size fits all, people will love it, people will hate it, it's a business expense to me and one that is easily justified with usability and file output, it's just the perfect camera for me, not that it doesn't have its issues, I had a sensor failure but received a replacement camera from my dealer within 24hrs whilst mine was fixed, I've had a couple of lens issues too, all replaced immediately so whilst you hope they would not ever have a problem at this price, things do go wrong sometimes and I'm interested in how the company respond when it does go wrong. It's heavy for sure, I just returned from 2 months shooting UN troops in Mali, the body and 3 lenses was at times awkward but that pain disappears immediately when you see the files and the invoice is paid!
I'm on the list for a demo camera, hopefully soon and will be buying if it allows me to work better, won't if it doesn't, it's just a tool and I would not own it just because it was a Leica, I have no interest beyond how it works for me.
Anyway, exciting times with so many cameras, I hope others find a solution to their problems that works as well as the S does for mine!
Mat