Lessons of the Monochrom

[AbbeyFoto]

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I do not have a MM - yet but I use a back that came with several curves preprogramed as well as several curves I added for specific purposes such as extra shadow detail or midtone boosts. I'm sure the same type of adjustment curve could be worked out for Lightroom or PS.

 

Here's an example or two:

 

Clearly I out of my depth here. Sorry about that, but your images gave me little clue as to what was happening. Be good if you had time to give some further explanation.

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I disagree that color covers multitudes of sins and can just as easily argue the same for black and white creating interest when there is even less in the color image.

 

The generalizations for what works better for black and white I don't really see either..

 

Lastly and I'm probably alone on this one but as someone who pretty much only interested in black and white photography, I don't 'see' in black and white...I see shapes, imagery, and juxtapositions that may or may not hold interest and usually don't.

 

To me, it always sounds so 'lofty' to speak about 'seeing in black and white'..Maybe some do or maybe I do too but I am completely unaware if I am doing it.

 

Can't wait to get my Monochrome and see if it makes any difference knowing that I am shooting without color...I actually think it might, even as said I only care about black and white...yet maybe this is like the difference of walking a tightrope with or without a net.

[Printmaker]

Clearly I out of my depth here. Sorry about that, but your images gave me little clue as to what was happening. Be good if you had time to give some further explanation.

 

There are several good profiling tools available but most are aimed for color. I use my profiling system - EyeOne Publish - to profile my cameras, scanners, monitors and printers. Once I have a profile that gives me the result I'm looking for, I load it into the appropriate software.

 

The same system works in monochrome. Like the zone system, you use exposure to set your white and black. Then you use the software (like film developers) to move the curve about to produce different effects.

 

Most of the Leica MM shots I've seen to date have the soot and chalk look. They seem to lack information in the 3/4 tones and the 1/4 tones are too close to the highlights for my taste. That is where you use the curves to gather more tonal information. Think of this as using plus or minus development to control contrast. You can push the midtone portion of the curve or try a "S" shaped curve to get the tonal response you find pleasing. Then, once you have a few curves that work, save them and load them in your software.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Tom

[Wolfgang Chuck]

My MM gets here next week. I can't wait to get back to using filters. I really enjoyed it when I shot film. Just as the M9 slows me down the filters slow me down even more. I end up with more keepers and less waste....digital waste that is

[johnbuckley]

I love this post. Thanks, Jaap, and so happy yours arrived. What I have found most interesting is how my desire to reach for one or the other camera - the M9 or the Monochrom -- is forcing me to think about light in a way I never did when the option was the M9 and I could make decisions about the image in post processing.

 

I have to use two musical metaphors to explain how my thinking has been affected by the Monochrom. First, I now think of light in different scales -- when it is quite bright, I think in terms of color, and when the light is subtler, greyer, I'm thinking in terms of B+W -- something I haven't had to do since I traded in an M7 for an M8.

 

The other musical reference, apropos of your reference to bold forms, is that B+W photography is like listening to music where you don't pay attention to the words. The rhythms and music matter, the words are there but are reduced to rhythms. So it is with color; it's still there, but doesn't matter.

 

Anyway, hard to think of photography in such terms, but maybe the most important thing about using the Monochrom is it makes us think!

[jaapv]

Jaap,

 

I recognize your experiences wrt Light and Composition. On a slightly different note, B&W for me often means the use of colour filters, mostly orange for wide angles and sky - but occasionally others. Have you tried those on the MM?

 

Kind regards,

 

Christoph

I am trying out middle yellow and orange. Orange does not seem to render as strong an effect on the MM as it does on film. Middle yellow appears very suited as standard filter.

[Jeff S]

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Gosh, I'm glad I don't need to spend $8000 to force me to see in black and white; forty years with b/w film did that just fine.

 

The MM may offer technical advantages over the M8 or M9 (e.g., high ISO), but I'm frankly astounded that experienced folks here (so I thought) are having to rely on the MM to think and see in b/w. When I switched from film to the M8.2, my brain didn't stop working; the adjustment to digital was relatively easy after learning the basic differences and requirements.

 

I expected this thread to be about technical lessons folks have learned about using the MM as a new digital tool. I sure didn't expect excitement over what I see as rudimentary b/w skills and habits.

 

Different strokes, for sure.

 

Jeff

 

PS Jaap's post immediately above, which happened while I was writing, is more what I expected.

[jaapv]

Stay tuned to this thread, then

[Jeff S]

I don't plan to buy the MM, so no need to follow intensely; I was merely curious. My reaction is to what I briefly scanned, including your first post, and the surprise won't be diminished by whatever follows.

 

Jeff

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I would disagree that one needs to "see in b&w." For me it's the opposite; most everything can be easily photographed in b&w because of the process after (see below) but seeing color can be much more tricky because of color balance etc etc.

 

My list as priority goes:

 

composition

subject or moment

lighting

 

Now all three work together, but one can have poor lighting and make it better/more interesting later (post processing), and without good composition even the most amazing subject/moment can be rendered poorly, though just mere composition without intent of subject can be just an exercise in masturbation.

 

Where seeing b&w comes in is after the fact - the negative in the darkroom, now the file in the computer. If one doesn't master that aspect (or have somebody who has it done for them) then even the greatest photograph can appear mediocre. What is done to the file/negative sets the mood (ie "lighting") and the intent of the image.

 

I do have a feeling that the monochrome may be a difficult tool for those not well versed in this process and may actually create b&w images worse than if just shot with a color digital camera and converted normally. So far that is what I've mostly seen though I'm sure there's photographers out there proving otherwise.

 

Missed this post..You said it much better than I did and I agree with your conclusion..

 

I don't think (I know actually) that the Monochrome will not make much diference in my photography other than helping to provide better looking examples of my hits and mostly misses.

 

It's a non issue same as really any camera...except maybe the better ISO...

 

More importantly, when is it getting here!

[jaapv]

Another interesting aspect: the strong impact the Clarity slider has in CS6.

[Photoskeptic]

I am trying out middle yellow and orange. Orange does not seem to render as strong an effect on the MM as it does on film. Middle yellow appears very suited as standard filter.

 

Jaap, as far as filters for bw go, I've found a yellow-orange to work well. I currently use a B+W 40 4x MRC. Good luck.

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Reading over this thread has me thinking. That when I finally receive my Monochrome, I can now much better imagine using the M (when I get it) or the X2 to 'seek out' color shots!

 

Not being facetious here at all..I don't 'see' in black and white but I certainly see in color...and while I rarely use any of my images in color there are times when it makes sense...and we look at a photographer such as Vivian Maier, a fine recently discovered super talent, her work was almsot primarily black and white...and yet there are a few color images that were really outstanding..

 

I have a small handful of images I think look better in color and I do look forward to slowly and eventually expanding and having some more.

 

anyway, popped into my head and just wanted to share my (new) perspective how the Monochrome might effect how or what i shoot.

[snooper]

I started to use the MM just a couple of days ago, so I have less than 200 shots.

 

It feels like discovering a whole new range of films that can go up to 5 or 10K ISO, more than discovering a new camera.

 

I'm wondering if a color M with the same ISO range would not generate the same interesting lessons, as one is really tempted to explore the corners of what was said to be some "unreachable light" up to now.

 

Perhaps, it's when it gets darker that light and composition are requiring bolder forms?

[Paulus]

I started to use the MM just a couple of days ago, so I have less than 200 shots.

 

It feels like discovering a whole new range of films that can go up to 5 or 10K ISO, more than discovering a new camera.

 

I'm wondering if a color M with the same ISO range would not generate the same interesting lessons, as one is really tempted to explore the corners of what was said to be some "unreachable light" up to now.

 

Perhaps, it's when it gets darker that light and composition are requiring bolder forms?

 

 

What I learnt from shooting with B&W is, that it has to do with " finding the light in the dark"

 

There are aways spots in a picture which subtract more attention through special light. That works as a contrast in B&W .Find the light, forget the colours.

 

exemple:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/menschen/173360-bellen-blasen.html

[wda]

I've been shooting it in these last few days and learnt a few things:

 

Lesson 1: Light

Color photography has made me sloppy with light. Photographs without interesting light can often be saved by interesting color. With the Monochrom: forget it. Dustbin.

 

Lesson 2: Composition.

Like before, with B&W film, the best compositions have bold forms. Busy detail, not so good.

Back twenty years

 

What are the lessons this harsh mistress has been teaching you?

With respect, I don't think you need a Leica Monochrom to relearn these lessons. While the quality may be slightly inferior, setting any digital M camera to show mono jpegs on the LCD provides a sharp reminder of the need for a different mind-set. I find it very difficult to attempt mixed shooting (colour and mono) in any one session. Often lighting, coupled with interesting content, will influence my decision to shoot mono.

[brianv]

With black and white film, I found the contrast characteristics of the lens was important. High contrast lenses were too harsh, medium and low contrast lenses gave results that were more pleasing. This is even more important for Digital cameras to prevent intensity clipping.

[jaapv]

Just to clarify: this is NOT meant as a combative thread. The intention is to discover the ins and outs of this rather special camera. Please get into film vs digital, interpretation of esthetics and other controversial topics elsewhere. Such posts will be deleted or moved.

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Hallo,

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[brianv]

When my M Monochrom arrives- I intend to try out lenses ranging from the lowest contrast (Summar, Canon 50/1.9 Serenar, Summarit), to medium contrast (Rigid Summicron, Canon 5cm F1.5, uncoated Sonnars), to higher contrast (Nikkor, Noktons, coated Sonnars). I believe this to be as important as using the correct filter with the camera. I've also loaded up the M3 with B&W film.

 

There is a difference between digital and film in how it responds to the shadows and highlights. Matching the optics to the characteristics of the sensor is important.

 

No combat, just a comparison in order to optimize my shooting combinations.

[downstairs]

I did TriX/D76 for a few decades and switched to Retro-Tonal/Rodinal recently. The TriX negatives printed straight out of the tank onto normal contrast bromide paper with all the necessary 'edge'. The Retro-Tonal gives a wide range of possible interpretations but all the 'edge-work' has to be done printing or in post-production.

 

The Monochrom raw image, developed with RPP/Lightness/L* rather than with a preset curve, is like the Retro-Tonal/Rodinal combination; It's all there, but edge, punch and interesting gradations need to be brought out in post-production.

 

Presets will do the job for you up to a point - my favorites are A25 in RPP and BW-look-2 in Lightroom - but they definitely need extra tweaking in the mid-tones, for which the PS/clarity slider (a colour slider?) and the Efex/mid-tone structure slider, seem effective. Do sliders add an extra layer of interpolation? RPP/Local-Contrast seems to do it right in the development process with no overhead.

 

I test with plenty of reflective metal, white cloth and heavy shadows in the setup and I don't use fill. I find that the Monochrom has latitude that puts a single MM shot on a par with a three-shot tone-map from an M9, with less hassle and greater resolution. However, the Monochrom is not a free lunch. To do better than an M9 with B&W presets does require a bit of research and effort.