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Fun with the Leica M Monochrom

Shashin

Well-known member
In regard to Leica's latest lenses, I think that it will continue to take awhile for people to feel accustomed to what looks best to them with the combination of the MM and modern lenses ... especially as they continue to experiment with their approach to post processing.

I've shot a lot of images with the S2 and a combination of older lenses like the Zeiss 110/2 and Mamiya 80/1.9 lenses. In fact, I spent nearly 6 months with the camera where I rarely used S lenses. I think it was because I was used to trying to get a look that I was familiar with the M9.

But over time, I've gravitated back to shooting with S lenses extensively as I've really begun to like the crisp modern Leica look that is attainable with Leica's latest lenses. It's an aesthetic that is different from film and the approximation that some try to get with digital files by playing with sliders in software including adding grain. Maybe one just has to give their mind an opportunity to become more familiar with the look. I believe that it is a look that stands well on its own ... after all, we've become a high definition digital world.

Of course, it's fantastic that MM is available with an M mount so that no matter one's tastes, the only limitation to how the final image looks truly rests with the photographer.
It is simply nostalgia. Like Harley Davidson riders are trying to be rebellious, but they are using a conservative and commercial image with which to do it, completely against the idea that created the biker in black leather in the first place. And when the Leica concept came out, it was going against the grain and the cutting-edge technology of the day.

While I think it is wrong to throw the baby out with the split milk, afterall, the fundamental technology works and works well, there is a lot to explore with new innovations, even as simply as just really well made optics. I find it amusing how many people complain their optics are not perfect and then condemn a lens as "clinical" because it is. When change and innovation is ignored over tradition and the status quo, you have a dead art.
 

JeffWarren

New member

erudolph

Member
Two Grays

A gray, gray day. 50mm Cron-M with yellow filter. This first shot is meant to explore the possibility of maintaining the "grayness" of the image while keeping density. With shots like this one, the pixel-peeping richness of detail is so lovely that I really just want to upload 100% crops.



This cropped shot has its problems but for me also has its retro charms.

 
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erudolph

Member
Two more gray shots.

Both with 50mm Cron + yellow. The night shot (ISO 1600) is just an exercise. Comments on tonal scales appreciated.




 
I like Kurt's thinking as well - and I've gravitated to modern Leica lenses, bascially because I found it tricky mixing the aesthetic, so that the 28 'cron Asp is about the 'oldest' looking lens I have.

As for the Noctilux / 50 APO trade. I guess it depends on which Noctilux you speak of. If it's the 0.95, I really think you might find it tricky to distinguish between the two lenses at f2. I've had a similar anguish over the new 50 'cron APO - it's gorgeous, and I've been lucky enough to have one to play with for a couple of months. I was going to sell my granny, and also my 50 'lux and 24 'lux to finance it . . . but I found myself increasingly grabbing the 'lux or the noct instead, just in case I wanted the faster lens.

I decided that the 50 APO Asph 'cron is not an 'instead of' lens (at least for me), and as I can't afford it to be an 'as well as' lens, I'll stick with what I've got for the time being (however beautiful the 'cron might be).

all the best
Jono,

It's too bad that Leica makes so many good lenses, isn't it? Every time I think I should sell the Noct (I have the 0.95) because of its weight, etc., I take a photograph that couldn't have been made with anything else, and I decide to keep it. You're probably right that the summicron should be cabined to the "as well as" category. I certainly don't need my own "fiscal cliff."
 

jonoslack

Active member
Jono,

It's too bad that Leica makes so many good lenses, isn't it? Every time I think I should sell the Noct (I have the 0.95) because of its weight, etc., I take a photograph that couldn't have been made with anything else, and I decide to keep it. You're probably right that the summicron should be cabined to the "as well as" category. I certainly don't need my own "fiscal cliff."
But you are a Lawyer . . and I'm only a humble software developer, so different rules may apply :)

but we agree absolutely about the 0.95 Noct - it's possible one should never have spent the money, but getting rid of it is unthinkable!
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I like Kurt's thinking as well - and I've gravitated to modern Leica lenses, bascially because I found it tricky mixing the aesthetic, so that the 28 'cron Asp is about the 'oldest' looking lens I have.

As for the Noctilux / 50 APO trade. I guess it depends on which Noctilux you speak of. If it's the 0.95, I really think you might find it tricky to distinguish between the two lenses at f2. I've had a similar anguish over the new 50 'cron APO - it's gorgeous, and I've been lucky enough to have one to play with for a couple of months. I was going to sell my granny, and also my 50 'lux and 24 'lux to finance it . . . but I found myself increasingly grabbing the 'lux or the noct instead, just in case I wanted the faster lens.

I decided that the 50 APO Asph 'cron is not an 'instead of' lens (at least for me), and as I can't afford it to be an 'as well as' lens, I'll stick with what I've got for the time being (however beautiful the 'cron might be).

all the best
Me three.

In anticipation of high ISO M cameras, I sold my 0.95 and secured a 50 Lux ASPH which I've always loved anyway. $10K+ tied up in a lens for the once in a blue moon need was bit much for my needs. Yet, 50/2 is a bit too slow, and lacks the shallow f/1.4 DOF I want.

Now the only lens in question since working with the MM is the 90/2.8. I don't use a 90 very often, so it's an open question.

The only other lenses I use on the S camera are the Hasselblad H series ... especially the newer ones like the 50-II and 150N, which have a similar aesthetic to the S lenses when using the Leica provided DAC software corrections.

BTW, I am absolutely stunned by how good the post work is on the MM photos posted here. :thumbs: Seems I have a lot to learn about this camera yet.

-Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
My humble attempts.

On a little pre-holiday decompression trip to St Petersburg Florida I took the MM because we go there every year, and I've shot color M stuff to death. B&W was a nice break, and it gave me a chance to start learning the camera.

Interesting how B&W only makes you think differently ... subjects I may not have shot with a color camera spurs new interest when thought about in B&W. Closest creative experience to my long gone M film camera yet.

Need to hone my B&W instincts, and work on the post processing ... but that'll come with time and use. The camera is most certainly a long term keeper. I will say that I was stunned by the DR when exposed properly.

-Marc

Of particular fun was a side trip to the little town of dog friendly Dunedin, featuring buildings painted with doggie images.
 

erudolph

Member
Corner of 16th and 7th

I've been wanting to see more MM images and nobody's put anything up for a day. This is taken in a corner of San Francisco where some streets end and others curve to follow the bay. The northern part of San Francisco is definitely not laid out on a grid. This particular shot was at the corner of 16th and 7th Streets, about a half a mile from the intersection of 3rd and 4th Streets. 50mm Cron-M, yellow filter, ISO 1600

 
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m_driscoll

New member
My MM's in NJ being checked out for it's 'locking up' problem. I had to go back a bit to find something that i hadn't processed/posted.

MM; 35mm f/1.4 FLE; 1/45s; ISO 6400


Cheers, Matt
 

xdayv

New member
After months of lurking in this forum and watching in awe to the photos posted here, finally I got first my Leica M, my very first encounter with an RF actually, and loving it.





 

erudolph

Member
18th Street, Potrero Hill

This was shot after sunset around 5PM yesterday walking home. Thought I'd see how much detail could be got. The camera was still at ISO 1000 after shooting the skateboarders at the bottom of the hill. Exposure was 1/2000! Processed in ACR 5.7, 50mm Cron-M, yellow filter.

 

erudolph

Member
Ocean Beach, storm coming

A large storm is coming in. In weather like this, at this time of day, all cameras approach monochrome. 50mm Cron-M, yellow filter, ISO 800.

 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
BTW, I am absolutely stunned by how good the post work is on the MM photos posted here. :thumbs:

-Marc
I absolutely agree - stunning work here and I know for a fact that it didn't leave the camera looking this good. :thumbs:

I would say that this thread has some of the best superb imaging that I think is only matched by some of the great work a few people are also doing with their X100's over on the Fuji forum. It is certainly the artists in both fora that get the very best from their tools and captures.

Btw, I hope you're all proud of yourselves because I fell hopelessly in love with this camera when I tried it and also saw the great work here too. I ordered one a few months ago with the plan of it being my ONLY M for the future. My digital MP so to speak. Thanks. My wallet hates you all :ROTFL:
 
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