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Leica Monochrom Field Test

algrove

Well-known member
Like the video a lot. Even getting interested in an MM.

In the meantime, what I discovered experimenting with the X2 yesterday is that if I want a classic handling B&W only camera ...

- switch it to one of the two BW modes
- set it to manual focus and pick a nice zone at f/5.6 or so
- turn off raw, turn off the LCD, fit optical finder
- set Auto ISO to run to 1/15 s and ISO 6400, or set exposure manually

Voila! Mini-MM one lens camera... very very appealing.
Now you have given me a great idea. Convince my wife to use her X-2 for B&W just as you suggest and then she will no longer need the MM her dealer has for her.

As you say, et Voila, now I have her MM for me! Thanks ever so much! And I'll tell her it was your idea.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
If anyone is going to do a more affordable B&W camera, I'd expect Fuji to do it. They've been successfully banking on nostalgia with the X series, and their 'film emulation' modes would make perfect sense on such a camera. I'd be very tempted...
Dan at maxmax is looking into converting sensors from mirrorless cams (Sony and Canon) to monochrome.

It is good to have the MM in the market as a catalyst. :thumbs:
 

mervynyan

Member
It has been announced for some long yet to see it in store, what gives? other people's review is nice but i certainly want to hold it before any commitment.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
It has been announced for some long yet to see it in store, what gives? other people's review is nice but i certainly want to hold it before any commitment.
The is human time and there is Leica time. One is much slower than the other. :)

-Marc
 

StephenPatterson

New member
It has been announced for some long yet to see it in store, what gives? other people's review is nice but i certainly want to hold it before any commitment.
Honestly holding it is not going to tell you anything, as it is exactly the same as an M9-P, other than the black chrome finish. The decision making process for the M Monochrom all comes down to the images, and for that I would suggest reviewing the excellent sample images posted here by Jono Slack. His gracious offer to allow GetDPI members to download and edit his original DNG files is an amazing opportunity to see for yourself if the advantages of the M Monochrom over the M9 are measurable.

Or you could just buy an MM, fly to China, take the train or bus to XingPing and shoot your own images, but I highly recommend saving the $15,000+ until you're sure it's the camera for you.
 

algrove

Well-known member
Make it the camera for you. Go out and shot nothing but B&W. Hold it in your hand, put on your own lens and start capturing images.

I can think of one place to go. How about the morning wholesale food market somewhere in France with a French chef to help you break the ice with the agricultural representatives-the farmers?

Now which lenses will work? 35FLE for sure-I like the subject in his or her world and surroundings, 50 Noctilux-I like the feel of the lens on the MM, but the shots will be difficult to hit. 75? No too long here. 21/1.4-could be good for in close and personal-some might say 24/1.4.
I will only take 3 lenses and maybe 2 bodies. The action will be fast and I had better be zone focused more often that not. Exposure? It will be dark early on, but there will those morning rays of light filtering through from time to time. I will start with the 35 and see if I need the 21. Should I think about taking the 28/2 and boost the ISO a bit?

Do I even think about color? No, just take the MM and start recoding life. Do I take 2 MM bodies then? Can't-only have one. You always should have a back-up. Ok I'll take the M9P and set it to DNG +Jpeg Fine in B&W.

Decisions, decisions.

Wait! How about just going to a Leica Akademie B&W workshop and try out the MM, hold it in your hand, put on any lens they have, and go out and start capturing images. Now that might jusy be a $500 lesson, but priceless.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Great video and nice to see such enthusiasm. When that is said, there is an alternative ways to b&w. It's called film. One roll of film plus development cost me less than $10 and close to half if I develop myself. That's between 50 and 100,000 shots with the gear I already have or what can be bought for virtually nothing for the $15,000 or so the Leica and a couple of lenses would have cost me. I do lose ISO 10,000 or whatever, but photography works surprisingly well at lower ISOs also.

Just sayin'...
 

fotografz

Well-known member
$10 for 36 pics and maybe one or two keepers. $5 per film keeper adds up pretty quickly.

Plus, while considerably less expensive, a film body isn't free, and "apples-to-apples", the lenses cost the same if you've using a M rangefinder. So, it really isn't film M verses $15,000 digital MM system. It is a $1,500 M body verses a $7,800 MM digital body ... which puts it at about $6,300 difference.

$6,300 divided by $5 per film keeper = $1,260 worth of keeper shots on film, not 50,000 to 100,000. Non-keeprs on digital cost nothing additional except the time to delete them.

That said, IMO, film has its own look and feel even compared to the MM and is still a good reason to use it. Plus, as mentioned, not many have the money to pay for multiple years worth of images up-front, which a $7,800 MM basically represents. With film you pay as you go.

Just sayin' ;)

-Marc
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
This same old debate just keeps on going, doesn't it?

If you really want to stop spending money, stop doing photography at all. It's an expensive habit. If you don't have the money, don't start doing photography.

Of course, if you bought a digital camera and all the gear that goes along with it, and you ran out of money, you could still be doing photography for a long time.
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
This same old debate just keeps on going, doesn't it?

If you really want to stop spending money, stop doing photography at all. It's an expensive habit. If you don't have the money, don't start doing photography.

Of course, if you bought a digital camera and all the gear that goes along with it, and you ran out of money, you could still be doing photography for a long time.
As hobbies go it's actually pretty cheap to be honest, even at Leica prices..
 

algrove

Well-known member
As hobbies go it's actually pretty cheap to be honest, even at Leica prices..
Ben, can surely I attest to that statement.

A weekend of vintage auto racing (for a lesser class of car and i.e., a lesser cost than many others) can easily cost a Noctilux and MM combined and that assumes you did not break anything.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Ben, can surely I attest to that statement.

A weekend of vintage auto racing (for a lesser class of car and i.e., a lesser cost than many others) can easily cost a Noctilux and MM combined and that assumes you did not break anything.
Try a weekend of vintage airplane racing sometime ...
But if you have that kind of money, AND you're worried about an $8000 MM, you have other issues. =8^\

I don't worry about price too much, as long as I can afford the gear I want to buy. My other 'hobbies' cost pennies by comparison to the price of a Voigtländer lens, never mind a Leica lens.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
I probably couldn't afford vintage shoe racing. Still, I believe in paying for something that is going to reward you more than the sticker price. I am happy to buy a really great camera that is going to give me years and maybe decades of enjoyment. And one really great camera is better than two OK cameras.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I probably couldn't afford vintage shoe racing. Still, I believe in paying for something that is going to reward you more than the sticker price. I am happy to buy a really great camera that is going to give me years and maybe decades of enjoyment. And one really great camera is better than two OK cameras.
Just like one truly superb lens is far nicer than a half dozen mostly mediocre ones.

For the body, I don't know about decades, but years of enjoyment certainly. Lenses should last forever. ;-)
 

Brian S

New member
Forever is a long time.

My oldest lens lined of for use on the M Monochrom is only 80 years old. 60 years older than my oldest still working DSLR. But just a little older than my oldest 35mm RF.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
This same old debate just keeps on going, doesn't it?
Ooops.. sorry for starting that. Not my intention. I just needed an excuse for not buying the MM (or other Leica gear for that matter) :rolleyes:

Maybe I should blame the racing. I don't, but doing photography for those who do race (and crash) cars will not make me a rich man (at least not in this part of the world). "About payment for the last (insert random two digit figure here) races... you see, we blew up two engines during practice last week and..." :banghead:

Great chaps to hang out with though :chug:

And I would absolutely love to have an MM (and a Noct), but even an OM-DM would do fine for me. I would even consider skipping colour photography all together, at least for a couple of years, to improve my skills in performing this purest form of photography.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Forever is a long time.

My oldest lens lined of for use on the M Monochrom is only 80 years old. 60 years older than my oldest still working DSLR. But just a little older than my oldest 35mm RF.
Forever can be eternity, if you're immortal, or as long as you like if you aren't. Certainly, after I've taken my seat for my declined years, any lens I still have then I've had forever. ;-)

Took some photos with a friend's lovely 1934 Elmar 5.0cm last October. Still going strong.
 
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