Hi Dave, Appreciate your kind words very much!
I had shot in monochrome in the business district of Mumbai in 1980 when I was a student with a Yashica Electro 35 and respooled B&W film. I could compare (from a few existing prints) how the light got registered. Even near sunset, it is quite harsh.
This shot of a vendor (he had a kitchen scale and was offering that as a service to the passerby to measure their weight) would have been nearly impossible on a monochrome film. Getting so much details of his dark skin while still getting some structures on hazy clouds (top right) out of the MM shot justified (again) how great a sensor/camera this is.
Untitled by
Vivek Iyer, on Flickr
Leica MM, Rokkor 40/2, Yellow filter.
Walking around Mumbai with the MM was very very safe. Everyone and anyone noticed the camera but most thought it was an old camera as it does not look like a DSLR. Only once it got identified (by a Britisher) as a Leica M9. Photographing anyone was easy and most were more than willing to be photographed. Super photo friendly surroundings. One does have to be careful to be with a camera near certain buildings. There are major security checkups while entering any mall for instance (not my place of interest, anyway).
The man on the right noticed that I was photographing the two flower vendors (them) and the older one had moved away to potential customer. He called him by his side and asked me to try again!
Untitled by
Vivek Iyer, on Flickr
Leica MM, Jupiter-3 5cm f/1.5