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Black and White Stands for Freedom While Color Is a "Cage"


Herr Barnack

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I don't know if I would go so far as to call color photography a "cage," but the I find myself more and more drawn to black and white photography and images; I find myself longing for a Monochrom typ 246 these days. 

 

This video ad for the Monochrom 246 certainly doesn't help matters.  :rolleyes:
 

 

 

Black and White Stands for Freedom While Color Is a Cage, Says This Stunning Leica Ad 

 

http://creativity-online.com/work/leica-everything-in-black-and-white/51394

 

 

 



 

 

 

Edited by Carlos Danger
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Didn't see advertising video clip but exactly my sentiment.

 

Fulfilling a dream of having a dedicated monochrome camera is getting easier by the day. As we know there are two models produced by Leica, even current M246 is available secondhand in quantity in U.K. Market at very attractive price - must be emergence of M10 and that sexy ISO dial that makes people dump their M9M and M246.

 

I see you are in USA, I suspect market situation is similar to U.K. and good deals are avalable on both new and s/h cameras.

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When I started in photography I shot everything on B&W film.  Color film was not an option.  Later, when color film became affordable I shot everything in color.  Then digital happened and I still shot everything in color.  But my photography skills dramatically improved due to the immediate feed back that digital provided.  And as I became a better photographer I started to consider what made me enjoy the better images I was capturing.  In some cases it was the colors and in others the textures and tones.  I started to convert the latter shots to B&W and often found I preferred that version. I now have a better sense of what I want to emphasize in the shot and whether color or B&W will achieve that emphasis.

 

I would never shoot entirely in one or the other, since neither is optimum for everything I enjoy shooting.  Having said all this you would think that my M-240 or an M-10 would be the perfect Leica for me.  And it might well be if I had not gotten a Monochrom.  Without belaboring the details, I cannot achieve a B&W converted image from my M-240 that is as satisfying as the same shot from my M-246.  If I had never experienced the images from my Monochrom I think I would be perfectly happy with the B&W shots from my M-240. But now I can't go back, so I will just have to live with the understanding that both a Monochrom and a color Leica will be in my kit.

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Having said all this you would think that my M-240 or an M-10 would be the perfect Leica for me.  And it might well be if I had not gotten a Monochrom.  Without belaboring the details, I cannot achieve a B&W converted image from my M-240 that is as satisfying as the same shot from my M-246.  If I had never experienced the images from my Monochrom I think I would be perfectly happy with the B&W shots from my M-240. But now I can't go back, so I will just have to live with the understanding that both a Monochrom and a color Leica will be in my kit.

I feel the same about my M9M. Although conversions from my Canon 6D are really, really good, the Monochrom images are still noticeably better and substantially better than the ME images in BW.

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When I started in photography I shot everything on B&W film.  Color film was not an option.  Later, when color film became affordable I shot everything in color.  Then digital happened and I still shot everything in color.  But my photography skills dramatically improved due to the immediate feed back that digital provided.  And as I became a better photographer I started to consider what made me enjoy the better images I was capturing.  In some cases it was the colors and in others the textures and tones.  I started to convert the latter shots to B&W and often found I preferred that version. I now have a better sense of what I want to emphasize in the shot and whether color or B&W will achieve that emphasis.

 

I would never shoot entirely in one or the other, since neither is optimum for everything I enjoy shooting.  Having said all this you would think that my M-240 or an M-10 would be the perfect Leica for me.  And it might well be if I had not gotten a Monochrom.  Without belaboring the details, I cannot achieve a B&W converted image from my M-240 that is as satisfying as the same shot from my M-246.  If I had never experienced the images from my Monochrom I think I would be perfectly happy with the B&W shots from my M-240. But now I can't go back, so I will just have to live with the understanding that both a Monochrom and a color Leica will be in my kit.

 

 

@Luke,

Your path in photography sounds very similar to mine with the exception being that I do not have a Monochrom 246.  Yet, that is.

 

There are many worse things in life than having both an M240 and an M246 in your camera bag, you know; try to not lose too much sleep over it...  ;)

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  If I had never experienced the images from my Monochrom I think I would be perfectly happy with the B&W shots from my M-240. But now I can't go back, so I will just have to live with the understanding that both a Monochrom and a color Leica will be in my kit.

 

Aye, indeed.

 

The circle closes.  And you end up shooting like you did back in the day... with one body for color; and one for B&W.

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