Finally ...

A review of the M(240) with someone who knows about video.

Sadly, it's not very positive:

"Did Leica Camera f... up?
 

"In my opinon, short and simply yes."

...

"Why would Leica produce a number of prototypes to send out to photographers so as to use their response to fine tune the Leica M camera concept, but never involved any videographers in the development of their first Leica M with video?

"I'm taking a bold standpoint here and saying that they didn't. So many things are not designed for video in the Leica M Type 240 that it indicates that Leica Camera AG simply tried to resemble the Leica D-Lux 6. A consumer camera that is very good for consumers, but unlikely to be used for videographers or professional filmmakers ..."

Oh dear.

Some colleagues at the TV station wandered over to look over my shoulder as I played the accompanying video, and we agreed that the same could be done with a DSLR for a half the price required for the Leica.  Why get it then?  Well, I said, if you wanted to go to the wilds and do, say, a multimedia documentary project while carrying just one large camera bag, this would work.  But, they countered, couldn't you do that with a Canon D5?  Uhhhhhh.