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I happened to discover this online essay today - the author offers some interesting insights into the M246 Monochrom and why it is still a viable choice: Why I bought a Leica M246 Monochrom https://mwwphotography.co.uk/blog/leicam246monochrom

Something bad just happened on my first day of a trip to China. After shooting normally for nearly a day, my M246 start to malfunction. 1. live view shows NO live view - lens cap is off of course. Other things, like built in level, shutter speed, iso, etc, shows properly. 2. automatic shutter speed goes to 32 seconds regardless the light condition. If feels like the sensor has been blocked by something - again the lens cap is off. 3. no matter the shutter is on auto, or manually set to any figure, there is no release of shutter. Ie, the shutter is not working. 4 the play function works well I tried to: - insert a new a SD CARD and format it - insert a fully recharged battery - tried system reset the problem stayed. I tried to use sensor cleaning function but the shutter is not opening. Just before the trip, the camera was sent to Leica Melbourne for a sensor clean. it seemed to work well after, but no extensive testing had been done before the trip. Now I don't know what to do as I don't have a backup camera Any suggestions please?

John Brockliss brings us a well reasoned essay on monochrome photography with the M cameras that are made specifically for this pursuit: The Leica M Monochrom family. The Q2 Monochrom is not mentioned, but it should be looked at closely by those who want to commit to black and white photography by digital means. The Q2 is a powerful tool, whether you choose the color or Monochrom variant. I got my M10 Monochrom in July of 2020 out of a desire to do more in black and white photography, and because I saw the M10 Mono as a breed apart, a special camera. Spring is the time for color shooting, with flowering trees in full bloom so I have been shooting color of late. Even with my desire to do more exploration of the digital black and white realm, I have been reluctant to commit to the Monochrom and black and white imaging exclusively. As I read, re-read and reflect on this essay, I'm thinking my reluctance to making that commitment may eventually weaken.

Today i experienced for the second time that my Monochrom M246 failed to capture an image. It triggered as usual, it indicates the right shutter time in playback mode but nothing was captured/registered in the image. It's just a blank (read black) unexposed picture. I've tried to google this but did not find anything about this problem, that's why i'm trying here. Nothing was captured in the sensor and it's only a black picture with no data recorded at all. Has anyone in this forum experienced something like this?

man with angel hair : ) leica 246 monchrom | summilux asph. 50mm

I'm fortunate to own all three Monochrom's. Here are a few thoughts on the M10-Monochrom, and the others, after ten days with Leica's latest. A Trifecta of Monochrom's (I regret having to make it a link, rather than posting here directly... but I believe my little sojourn exceeds forum size limits).

When a user get a Leica M body at 3x the price of a Sony or Nikon, we at least expect quality level to go with the price tag. With my M10 (2018) and M246 (2016) the least stressed parts start to fail one after another.. M10 got a cracked key frame and M246's frameline selector, which is NEVER used, is fallen off... This is more fagile than my son's LEGO... Just repaired M10, Leica judged unilaterally it is NOT under warranty so 430EUR bill just paid... then M246 got this drama. Note I am not even professional photographer and only shoot in hobby times.... Just wonder am I just the unlucky one out of distribution or any user struggling with similar bizzar M camera failures? Leica used to be life long campanion, I am afraid the latest models might end up staying at Leica service center longer than in my camera bag...

Its now nearly a year since I purchased the M246, and I was thinking to take a quick look back at how my experience has been with this camera. It was during a relative cold and dark period of the winter last year here in Norway that I was evaluating what I could do to enhance my photographic interests and capabilities. At the time I was using the Sony system, which to be fair I was very happy with. The sensors were impressive, and the lens setup had become very good, especially when taking into account all the amazing lenses from Leica and other producers that could be used with a simple adapter. Still, there was something intriguing about owning and using an M. I had always looked at Leica cameras as somewhat mystique. One the one hand I found them simple and elegant - which is stark contrast to Sony cameras. On the other hand I wondered why people would actually pay to not have features that I found so important for a modern camera. A simple thing like not having to do a black screen after a long exposure or the ability to move around the focus point in an electronic view finder was to me almost a must at the time. But I wanted to try a Leica - to find out what the fuzz was all about. I had a few choices of course. I could opt for an old M9, but knew that I would despise its low ISO capabilities. The M240 was nice, but I didn’t really see how it would change my photos from what I achieved with my Sony. So I opted for a special camera instead, a camera that only saw things in black and white and had its speciality in distinguishing between light and dark. As soon as I tried the camera I was in love. Never before had I pressed such a smooth shutter. The body was sturdy, with no plastics. Everything was manual, and apart from ISO i could always see the settings before pressing the shutter. The camera felt good to hold, and more importantly the rangefinder was a joy to use. I quickly learned that I was just as right-eyed as left-eyed, while I have always used my left eye for photography. And somewhat surprisingly, I seldom saw the need for an electronic viewfinder, and all other quirks, techs and specs from the Sony camera soon became obsolete. It didn’t take long before I discovered that the M246 was a very special camera, not only because it was only in black and white, but also because it thrived in whether conditions that most cameras despised. Not long after I purchased the M246 I travelled to Lofoten for a week with photography. Originally I hadn’t planned to use the Leica that much, but in the end 85 percent of the photos I took that week was with the M246. The key was the weather. Every day was stormy, and the weather conditions were the worst I have ever experienced. The wind was so strong that a tripod became unusable for large periods at the time, and snowstorm after snowstorm came in from the north, forcing me to run for shelter every 10 minutes. Pockets of sun were just that, pockets that lasted for minutes before they were overrun by a new snowstorm. It was in this weather I discovered why the M246 was so special. The camera loved bad weather. The darkness, the storms and the wind was captured in a beautiful way that no other camera could capture. That I only had black and white made the images more pure and raw, thereby amplifying the mood created from the lack of light. It is this that is special for the M Monochrom. It shines when light is scarce, whereas most cameras shine when light is abundant. This has opened up a whole new world of photographic perspectives for me. Since then I have never looked back. I now see shapes and light in a completely different way, and its all thanks to the M246. ISO capabilities are incredible, and it is fantastic to be able to take photos with ISO up to 10 000 without really sacrificing contrast or details. I truly believe that I have become a better photographer after acquiring it. At least I find it much more inspiring to plan new trips and projects. Are there things about the camera that bothers me? Of course. Like several others have mentioned on this forum, its easy to burn highlights with the M246. This has not been a major problem for me, because I just avoid overexposing in the way I have done with other digital cameras. Besides, the level of details in the shadows is very impressive, and its easy to adjust for under exposure in post-processing. I still miss being able to move around the focus point when using the EVF, but thats also only a minor issue as I most often use the rangefinder. Thanks for reading, and now some photos.

Just found out that my next M246 suffers from sensor issues. My first M246 was replaced because there was an error with the sensor on the first one, and now it's happening all over with the M246 which replaced the first one with sensor error; i have to send my next M246 to service. Three years ago i jumped in the water: I switched to Leica from Nikon (and a short period with Canon) after 25 years without any techinical faults or issues what so ever, and i never looked back. That is until now, because i'm wondering if i really want to stay with Leica after these experiences after all. Three years with severe errors on two different digital bodies (sensors). - Is this sufficent enough? - What would you expect from Leica's customer service in this matter? - Would you go the other way around again, turn the back on Leica and return to Nikon based upon the experiences these (first) three years? Or shall i just tolerate this?

In the street of Khiva Ouzbekistan M246/35mm Gilbert Vasseur

Boston's Italian North End, M246, 21mm SEM, B&W Yellow Filter Thanks for looking.

I just made a firmware upgrade on my less than 1y old and barely used M246 (I completely lost the mojo on the MM after having had to swap my MM to the inferior M246). Granted I use the LCD very, very little if at all (changing ISO, formatting SD cards and correcting the internal clock are pretty much the only times when I use the LCD). So I never noticed any issue with the LCD - I just never use it enough. When I started the firmware update procedure (firmware file on SD card, switching the camera on while holding the "info" button), I noticed a green colored surrounding on the LCD screen very similar in pattern to the often reported M8 LCD "coffee stain" issues. The "rectangle shifting image" while the firmware updated made this very obvious and I could not see this issue on the youtube videos you can find showing the firmware upgrade process. Well, my camera is a German model and I will not be able to show and ask about this until the next trip to Europe - any experience with broken M246 LCD screens is very welcome. And btw - the exposure compensation nonsense in the viewfinder is still there after the firmware update? Lets see if the camera at least can keep the time in sync better than an hour glass operated by a drunk sailor after the FW update (maybe the LCD is worn out by all that time setting to correct for the miserable time keeping)?

Hallo allerseits. In den vergangenen Monaten musste ich immer wieder feststellen, dass doch recht viele M246 als gebraucht verkauft werden/wurden. Die Preise sind entsprechend gesunken und ich frage mich, warum wohl ihre Besitzer die MM2 wieder loswerden wollen. Teilweise mit unglaublich wenigen Auslösungen, nach wenigen Wochen/Monaten. So viele Zahnarztfrauen kann es doch gar nicht geben Kurz nach der Einführung hat selbst Thorsten van Overgaard seine M246 wieder verkauft. Komisch. Ich glaube die Anzeige war damals hier online? Ich bin mit meiner M246 sehr zufrieden und werde sie nicht verkaufen. Daher wird mich der Preisverfall nicht treffen Sie ist meine einzige digitale M und ich vermisse nichts. Übrigens meine erste neue, frisch aus dem Laden. Vielleicht habe ich auch deshalb so eine "besondere Beziehung" zu ihr? Trotzdem würde ich gerne wissen, was ihr von der M246 haltet, warum ihr sie verkauft (habt) usw... Oder irre ich mich vielleicht und das sind ganz normale Verkaufszahlen? Ist euch das evtl. auch aufgefallen? Grüße vom Micha

Preparing food for his milk cows. MM246, 28mm Cron

We spent some days in Italy to attend a wedding in Florence. In Rome, smoking waiting for his wife, MM 246 28mm Summicron

Crazy. I did a studio shoot with the M246 and a 75 APO-Summicron. Light bank angled to the camera. The 75 flared like crazy... the 50 Summilux-ASPH didn't flare at all! Anyway, I tried LR6 "dehaze" and the results are impressive. That's all. Regards, Dean

I have tried searching on both this forum and Google as well, but haven't found the answer there, since i can't find any pictures nor videos with two M bodies and mounted lenses. There aren't any photo dealers around where i live, so i will be buying without being able to see or try to put my gear in the bag, so i rely on your help here I'm gonna need a new bag, and after looking after several brands and model, the search has been narrowed to either Billingham Hadley Small or the Billingham Hadley Pro. I will only choose the Hadley Pro if the Small is - yes, too small. 99% of the time this is the gear i have with me: Leica M Monochrom with Summicron-M 35 mm ASPH Leica M6 with Summicron-M 35 mm Version 4 Charger for the Monochrom Three 39 mm filters in plastic cases Lee Seven5 kit (filter holder, 39 mm adapter and one Filter) Cable Release 2-3 films My mind is set on the Hadley Small since i reckon it all fits in the bag without any problems. Only thing is that the Monochrom is 80 mm in the height while the bag is "only" 70 mm deep. I could imagine the bag is so flexible that 10 millimeters will be no problem, as the bag seems "spacy" according to what i've seen on the web. Do have any experiences carrying two M bodies (one digital and on analog) in the Hadley Small? How do they fit in the bag? Thanks in advance for your help

Does anybody in this forum know if it's safe to put a piece of tape over the loudspeaker holes on the left side of the top to minimize the risk of dust to enter the camera? Is there any electronic inside that heats up and that could get even hotter if tape is placed over the loudspeaker holes? Have you tried it? If yes, what's your experience?

Hi there, fellow M246 owners! I've been a Leica shooter for some years now, but "only" film so far. For a month ago i did buy the M246 and i have been testing the camera shooting some 2.000 pictures, to get to know the camera before i start to use the camera in daily shootings. Please see my questions below When i've been post processing my Tri-X pictures, i've just been doing some minor post processing. Mainly in Exposure, and if the pictures are more dull and grey for my style, i've just done some minor adjustments in the blacks/shadows and/or whites/highlights. I have a some trouble getting the result i want from my new M246. It's just so much easier to get a b/w - i'm happy with - from of my M6 loaded with Tri-X or from my Fuji X100s. Therefore i want your help as a little quick start, since my strenght nor experience isn't in Lightroom or post processing. To give you a feeling of,what i like and don't like what concerns post processing, the pictures in this review are pretty close to my own preferences: Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) Review Could you please share and tell me: How do you post process your M246 pictures? Which program do you use? Could you please describe in details what you do? What are your settings? Could you post some examples with pictures? What were the specific settings in Lightroom in the pictures? I don't want to copy your post processing style, i just want a quick starting point where i can begin, since i don't have so many experiences with Lightroom, being a film photographer for 28 years. Sorry if this question already has been asked without me noticing. I did try to search this forum before posting, but i didn't find any dedicated post regarding this. Thanks for your help in advance.