Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted August 13, 2013 Share #1 Posted August 13, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Guy's and Gal's I will be the proud owner of a new Leica Monochrome when I return home from my trip in Nigeria. I used to have a M9-P and I believe that the two cameras have similar menus but I was wondering about the actual taking of the pictures. I have already been advised by some forum members to buy some ND filters for shooting wide open in daylight (which I have already bought). What about exposure compensation, would you tend to shoot under or over to get the best results and whichever one that is would that be the same for both day and night. Anyway just fishing for some experienced monochrome shooters on this forum to help get me off on the right foot. For those of you that don’t know me I like to shoot mainly street and landscape photography. Any help/tips would be much appreciated Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 13, 2013 Posted August 13, 2013 Hi Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS, Take a look here Shooting with the monochrome. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
StephenPatterson Posted August 13, 2013 Share #2 Posted August 13, 2013 Neil, I don't own the Monochrom (you lucky dog!) but have been fortunate to shoot with one on several occasions and just like shooting B&W film using colored filters can add contrast and dramatic effect. I usually shoot with a yellow or orange filter, depending on subject. As many of my lenses take E46 filters it made things a bit easier! Enjoy, and looking forward to seeing your images! PS, If you want to go for that Ansel Adams sort of dark sky look you can always get a red filter. I know how partial you are to that particular colour!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris101-MM Posted August 13, 2013 Share #3 Posted August 13, 2013 Just pick the camera up without anything, except for a favorite lens, and go out and shoot! Watch out for overexposing the sky when shooting landscape... You don't have any R,G,B channels to pull back, so a whiteout sky is kinda easy to come across - and you will. Exposure compensation I dont use, i set the aperture and shutter manually and compensate for whatever I come across - if I want to. For very bright days I use a ND4 filter. - But for most parts I don't use anything in front of the lens at all... rarely even a lens hood. Ohhhh, and buy a ThumbsUp, cut the cold shoe off, and glue the rest of it on the back of your camera, where you see fit... and buy a SF 24D and put it in the hot shoe instead = Perfect street setup! ;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted August 13, 2013 Share #4 Posted August 13, 2013 and buy a SF 24D and put it in the hot shoe instead = Perfect street setup! ;-) Thanks for the tips on the sky, I also used to just shoot in manual with my M9-P but I dont like using a flash so will miss that part. Thanks again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris101-MM Posted August 13, 2013 Share #5 Posted August 13, 2013 Thanks for the tips on the sky, I also used to just shoot in manual with my M9-P but I dont like using a flash so will miss that part.Thanks again You will soon be a believer! Btw, welcome to the dark side! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tanks Posted August 13, 2013 Share #6 Posted August 13, 2013 Unlike color with the MM you want to expose to the left as once the highlights are gone, they are gone. So either use -ve EV compensation or expose for the highlights in areas of heavy contrast. I like to use an orange filter. I find yellow not enough, and red too dramatic. Of course, you also lose a stop, so reduces the intensity of the ND filters needed if you want to shoot wide open in daylight. YMMV based on personal preferences. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm23221 Posted August 13, 2013 Share #7 Posted August 13, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) I don't use exposure compensation settings permanently dialed in - there's no need for it. Just don't blow highlights - you get used to not doing this. I'm not a fan of filters at all. Orange and red filters throws the focus off. Yellow filters don't do much other than degrade the image from the camera you've paid a fortune for. It's far better to post-process with Silver efex pro. You will enjoy this camera! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
esquire53 Posted August 13, 2013 Share #8 Posted August 13, 2013 what a nice parcel waiting at home, after West Africa ... off course depends a bit on your lenses as well. I use 8x NDs and use no compensation. As tanks mentioned expose to the left and set your histogram warning to 10% to start. I don't use any color filter, SFX2 with the structure slider get the right sky and cloud boost. good luck and share some pictures.. Uwe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted August 13, 2013 Share #9 Posted August 13, 2013 what a nice parcel waiting at home, after West Africa ... off course depends a bit on your lenses as well. I use 8x NDs and use no compensation. As tanks mentioned expose to the left and set your histogram warning to 10% to start. I don't use any color filter, SFX2 with the structure slider get the right sky and cloud boost. good luck and share some pictures.. Uwe Uwe,Sorry but what do you mean by setting the histrogram to 10%, I take it this is done in the camera menu but 10% of what ?????? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tanks Posted August 13, 2013 Share #10 Posted August 13, 2013 Uwe,Sorry but what do you mean by setting the histrogram to 10%, I take it this is done in the camera menu but 10% of what ?????? Highlight clipping. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted August 13, 2013 Share #11 Posted August 13, 2013 Highlight clipping.Thanks tanks...............I have just googled it and in the process of reading up on it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinnfell Posted August 13, 2013 Share #12 Posted August 13, 2013 I too swapped my M9 for a Mono. Now I bring it out with me every day. Vs the M9 there is really just one, but big difference: Do. Not. Overexpose. It sounds trivial but the lousy screen makes this quite challenging. A shot that looks properly exposed on screen, is pretty much guaranteed to be overexposed. Since you can easily pull up three, maybe four stops of shadows, there is really no reason at all not to stop down one extra stop just to be safe. I dont know about ND filters - if you are hell bent on shooting all your pictures at f/1.4 then yes, I guess you are going to need them. Regarding histogram, it shows in blinking red or blue if your highlights are blown or shadows are black. Forget about the shadows, its the highligts you should be considering. I got mine set to 99% which means that any value ABOVE 99% white is going to blink. Basically you dont want any pixels at all above that unless it is a light source, or you intend to white it out altogether. Other than that, you are going to LOOOVE the camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rawcs Posted August 13, 2013 Share #13 Posted August 13, 2013 Instead of the poor image on the LCD, would a histogram (i.e. shown instead of the photograph just-taken) be useful? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted August 13, 2013 Share #14 Posted August 13, 2013 As there are no colour clues on the lousy LCD review a well exposed image can look muddy. So it is important to refer to the histogram every now and again to ensure you highlights are contained and not be tempted to make the review image look like the image in your head or the scene in front of you. In this respect working with the MM is more like working with film, you need to trust to knowledge.I prefer to set -1/3 stop exposure for AE, but mostly use manual readings. One thing I am happy to do with the MM, in the right situation, is allow 'auto ISO' as the grain/noise at higher ISO looks good, and it makes going from dark to light conditions very easy. As others have said, don't worry about the darkness of mid tones and shadow too much as it can all be pulled up in post to look normal. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 13, 2013 Share #15 Posted August 13, 2013 The histogram on the Monochrom is pretty precise, as it is taken from the raw data. Most cameras use the JPG output, which gives one stop leeway. The MM not. Another nice thing is that it emulates the zone system. All in all rather informative. Have fun with your new toy, Neil. It is rather addictive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted August 14, 2013 Share #16 Posted August 14, 2013 I too swapped my M9 for a Mono. Now I bring it out with me every day. Vs the M9 there is really just one, but big difference: Do. Not. Overexpose. It sounds trivial but the lousy screen makes this quite challenging. A shot that looks properly exposed on screen, is pretty much guaranteed to be overexposed. Since you can easily pull up three, maybe four stops of shadows, there is really no reason at all not to stop down one extra stop just to be safe. I dont know about ND filters - if you are hell bent on shooting all your pictures at f/1.4 then yes, I guess you are going to need them. Regarding histogram, it shows in blinking red or blue if your highlights are blown or shadows are black. Forget about the shadows, its the highligts you should be considering. I got mine set to 99% which means that any value ABOVE 99% white is going to blink. Basically you dont want any pixels at all above that unless it is a light source, or you intend to white it out altogether. Other than that, you are going to LOOOVE the camera. SkinnfellAfter reading your reply it was like a light getting switched on in my head............thank you so much for the simple but straight answer:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOZ Posted August 14, 2013 Share #17 Posted August 14, 2013 Indeed, if you want to work with sunlight and f1.4, you will definitively need a ND 8x filter (3 stops)... It allows you to keep shooting even with bright sunlight. I always have it with me/on my lens, usefull tool, very usefull... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Lord Posted August 14, 2013 Share #18 Posted August 14, 2013 Indeed, if you want to work with sunlight and f1.4, you will definitively need a ND 8x filter (3 stops)...It allows you to keep shooting even with bright sunlight. I always have it with me/on my lens, usefull tool, very usefull... Yes - I have 4x and it's barely adequate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted August 14, 2013 Share #19 Posted August 14, 2013 Why one would set the highlight clipping indicator for anything but %100? Up to that level data is still present and allows full distribution of data across the useable range of the sensor. I only use the histogram ± highlight clipping to determine adequate exposure, not the clear but small and high contrast screen. I recently posted about overexposure and the Monochrom in another thread: The blown highlights 'lore' with the Monochrom is becoming tiresome. I don't hear too many Monochrom owners complaining about it once they have even just a little experience with the camera. One still wants to expose optimally to make the most of that glorious sensor and not ignore the potential in the right of the histogram. However, there is an enormous amount of information hidden in the underexposed depths of those incredibly robust Monochrom files - far more than in M9 files. Finally, unlike film where blown highlights may still have some texture, there are just white holes in digital images. If necessary these areas can be textured by adding some grain/Gausian noise in PP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
photomac Posted August 14, 2013 Share #20 Posted August 14, 2013 To avoid horizontal banding stay away from rapid shooting at base ISO 320. Or at least check whether your camera is affected. See http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/269666-monochrom-banding-normal-3.html#post2358917 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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