Week One with the MM

[Winedemonium]

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I have just got back from a wine business trip in Burgundy, France. I acquired the Monochrom just a few days prior and this was my first chance to use it. I also took the M240. I used the M240 extensively during the day in good sunlight, but really preferred the MM in two key situations - 1. strong directional light, 2. very low and difficult light.

 

Having only acquired the APO-50 a couple of days ago, the lenses on this trip were - 28mm Cron (used about 70% of the time - which surprised me), 50mm LUX ASPH (about 28% of the time), and 90mm Cron-APO (about 2% of the time). I was travelling with a colleague, and I think if I'd had more time to shoot for the sake of it (instead of grabbing moments between appointments) I would have used the compression ability of the 90 more for some landscape shots.

 

I have yet to process the RAW files, having not yet worked out a workflow for that. So these are Jpegs post-processed in Aperture 3.

 

Impressions?

This is my second Leica digital. My first was the M240, so I have absolutely zero experience of the M9 or M8. So as someone used first to the M240 ergonomics, display and controls, I found those on the MM a bit crude. But in the end I realised that after the initial set up, all I needed was control over ISO (easy), and the histogram - which on the MM I found terrific. One "channel"!

 

I didn't miss LV, which I hardly use, except for difficult angles and near the close focus limit where parallax error makes framing via the VF tricky at times.

 

I liked the lighter weight a little more than I thought I would notice (cf M240) - the camera felt race car in comparison to the M240 limousine. I like the feel of both, but on several hours' use, did actually notice the difference.

 

I really liked the stealthy black - the camera eliciting fewer comments than the M240. And I liked that, because I feel a bit shy and prefer the camera to be seen as an odd shaped point and shoot, especially in a social setting.

 

I didn't like the noisy shutter cycle mechanism. I know there is a silent function, that allows the big noise to be delayed, but knowing this noise, I sat through some indoor classical music performances with the camera, and didn't take any picture while they were playing, as I hated the idea of a head turning to notice, or the thought of disturbing the otherwise pin-drop-silent hall. I think if I'd had my M6, I would have been happy to click away. In every other situation this noise didn't bother me, or anyone else.

 

Of course, all these are peripheral observations. The main reasons for this camera are - 1. the special files and low light performance at high ISO, and 2. the way the camera makes me think about luminance over color.

 

I've yet to really work with the files from RAW through to print yet, so it is too early for me to offer any observation on file quality. What I can say though right away, is that I love the performance at 5,000 ISO, and that some files at 10,000 ISO look usable. For me, shooting a lot in low and awkwardly lit cellars, tasting rooms and so on, this has been a terrific bonus. I don't think the noise looks film like as such, but it has a shape that is more 'organic' looking than colour files. I like it, and I look forward to printing it.

 

I'm a relative novice amateur enthusiast. I offer this brief note on my initial experience - and excitement - with the MM as simply that. I'll leave expert opinion and 'reviews' to the experts.

 

Below are some photos from the camera from last week. The last one I over-exposed for my subject, but didn't have time to adjust to grab the shot as he walked through the beam of light.

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[digitalfx]

very nice. I just acquired my first MM and am also enjoying it. I would suggest installing Lightroom and learning the workflow. Its very simple and can be learned in an hour. Processing images is very fast. Then discard the jpeg images and stick with DNG, this is what the monochrome and M240 are meant for. I have jpeg turned off on both, first the cameras perform much better and second it prevents me from being lazy. jpeg files are not meant to be processed and do not let you enjoy the camera. Discard them asap and be free

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[richfx]

Glad to hear you're enjoying the MM so far. I imagine that its post processed RAW files will blow the JPEGs away.

I'm waffling between an M7 and a MM for my B+W work. To date, I've been converting M9 files with Siver Efex Pro 2, which is pretty darned good.

My experience has been that Aperture works very well with M9 and MM files, so I don't know that you'd need to install and learn LR for the MM.

[digitalfx]

My experience has been that Aperture works very well with M9 and MM files, so I don't know that you'd need to install and learn LR for the MM.

 

Aperture is EOL...and LR and Silver Efex come with the MM. Very simple program that is very easy to learn.

[skinnfell]

Nice photos, thanks for sharing your experience.

[Lee Martin]

Nice tonality in 4 and 5

[retapi]

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Funny, your remark about that 'loud' shutter

I just switched from nikon and I love the smooth and silent Leica shutter

[Winedemonium]

Funny, your remark about that 'loud' shutter

I just switched from nikon and I love the smooth and silent Leica shutter

 

Absolutely - no mirror slap. But compared to the M240, the MM is loud, and very loud compared to the M film cameras.

[richfx]

Aperture is EOL...and LR and Silver Efex come with the MM. Very simple program that is very easy to learn.

 

I hope so, as Apple has left Aperture users with no choice. Shame on them - very disappointing and hard to understand that they'd hang so many users out to dry. Steve Jobs, a Leica user, would never have done that. Maybe someone should give Tim Cook an M to play with.

[digitalfx]

I hope so, as Apple has left Aperture users with no choice. Shame on them - very disappointing and hard to understand that they'd hang so many users out to dry. Steve Jobs, a Leica user, would never have done that. Maybe someone should give Tim Cook an M to play with.

 

But LR is included with every Leica camera...try it, you won't miss Aperture.