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Monochrom: First pics from Melbourne


leicashot

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Had a few hours with my Monochrom in some odd (normal) Melbourne weather today. All processed in Silver Efex Pro 2, selecting the Tri-X film processing option. Please no negative comments here. I am not asking for critique and certainly not wanting this to turn into a Monochrom bashing exercise.

 

I know some people may be skeptical of this camera and want to believe it's no better than a color camera, and that's fine, so all I'll say is that the files are fantastic and allow a LOT of room for processing. There is so much flexibility with mid and shadow tones should the photographer wish to really tailor the picture to their desire.

 

All shot with the Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH FLE

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

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Edited by stuny
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Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited by stuny
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I like them, but on my laptop the shadows look a bit blocked up.

 

Thats how I shoot, in high contrast, leaving little shadow detail. Amazingly, the one thing this camera does well, is retain, or recover large amounts of shadow detail, so I added a little contrast to match the way I shoot by using the Tri-X filter which gave me back the feel i was aiming for while shooting.

 

For shadow detail lovers this camera delivers, but you won't see it in my photography, sorry. ;)

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Kristian, to my eyes and on my calibrated screen, your images appear overly heavy. ie. exaggerated dark areas. I realize this may be your preference, as I know it is of at least one other photographer on this forum, but I sense you have lost a significant amount of what I believe the MM has to offer with this technique.

 

I am suspecting your use of SFX pro 2 may be the culprit here. A gentle adjustment of levels in PS to the MM files may be preferable, but you are the final arbiter.

 

P.S. I just read your comment about shadows which you posted while I was typing. You can probably therefore ignore my earlier opinion.

Edited by erl
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This is about the camera, not the street photography.

 

So, what are you illustrating about the camera here ?

 

I've seen many great shots from you in the past, so not questioning you producing what you like, but struggling to find anything informative about the Mm here. :confused:

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So' date=' what are you illustrating about the camera here ?

 

I've seen many great shots from you in the past, so not questioning you producing what you like, but struggling to find anything informative about the Mm here. :confused:[/quote']

 

To be honest it's not meant to be informative. I'm just contributing and what people get from it, they get.

 

People will believe anything they want regardless of what I say, especially Leica shooters, so I think it's best to post a few pics, leave a comment about my overall impression and leave the rest to others.

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Kristian, to my eyes and on my calibrated screen, your images appear overly heavy. ie. exaggerated dark areas. I realize this may be your preference, as I know it is of at least one other photographer on this forum, but I sense you have lost a significant amount of what I believe the MM has to offer with this technique.

 

I am suspecting your use of SFX pro 2 may be the culprit here. A gentle adjustment of levels in PS to the MM files may be preferable, but you are the final arbiter.

 

P.S. I just read your comment about shadows which you posted while I was typing. You can probably therefore ignore my earlier opinion.

 

I always push my street pics to the extremes of underexposure and its the way I see things. if you think this is extreme, have you seen the FLI edition with the Monochrom samples? They were literally BLACK and WHITE....LOL

 

Let me put it this way. The Monochrom is IMHO, TOO GOOD at retaining shadow information and mid-tones. As much as I was trying to get contrasty pictures, the files had heaps of shadow information and i had to use the Silver Efex Pro 2 filters and processing to get the pictures looking how I'd like them, how they'd normally look without adding contrast on say the M9.

 

The Monochrom is NOT an M9 with the color filter removed. The amount of tones and information is very high and while people (including myself on announcement) thought that it was crazy paying more for less, I am nicely rewarded with more than what the M9 offers, only with a Monochrom only output.

Edited by leicashot
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Kristian, I'm a lover of high contrast B&W, but I want to constructively echo some of the criticisms. It is fine to block shadow detail, but if what you have blocked looks like it could add to the image, it is frustrating, and in a couple of these I found myself wishing the dark secondary subjects were a bit lighter in order to add balance and harmony. But mostly, I think you have a great eye for using the light just at the crucial moment. Your work reminds me of another B&W street photographer who is a member, Neil Ambrose, who practices a similar, but not so extreme, aesthetic on film (36photos.org if you're interested).

The clarity of the images certainly showcases the MM.

Edited by digbyhp
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Kristian, I'm a lover of high contrast B&W, but I want to constructively echo some of the criticisms. It is fine to block shadow detail, but if what you have blocked looks like it could add to the image, it is frustrating, and in a couple of these I found myself wishing the dark secondary subjects were a bit lighter in order to add balance and harmony. But mostly, I think you have a great eye for using the light just at the crucial moment. Your work reminds me of another B&W street photographer who is a member, Neil Ambrose, who practices a similar, but not so extreme, aesthetic on film (36photos.org if you're interested).

The clarity of the images certainly showcases the MM.

 

Understood, and some good points, so here are the re-edited versions. Still contrasty, but I l didn't block as much of the shadows.Maybe admin could allow me to edit the original post to show these new pics or at least delete the old pic links?

 

Flickr: Kristian Dowling's Photostream

Edited by leicashot
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Thats how I shoot, in high contrast, leaving little shadow detail. Amazingly, the one thing this camera does well, is retain, or recover large amounts of shadow detail, so I added a little contrast to match the way I shoot by using the Tri-X filter which gave me back the feel i was aiming for while shooting.

 

For shadow detail lovers this camera delivers, but you won't see it in my photography, sorry. ;)

 

I like your images (I lived in Melbourne for a year and always like to see the city).

 

Do/did you use an M8 or 9? If so, given your style of PP, what does the MM offer that makes it a better camera for you? Have you done any direct comparisons, same scene, same PP technique ? I'd be very interested to see them.

 

Genuine question. I'm sure the MM offers advantages but I've only seen sample images from it which say nothing about what it does differently, even if they're good photos in themselves.

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