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Leica M Menu settings - New article on overgaard.dk

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in Leica M (Type 240 / 262)

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Overgaard

Overgaard

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I've expanded my article on the Leica M 240 with a Page 39 with the basic menu settings of the Leica M9 with the latest Firmware update.

 

And also gone a little into the built-in digital color filters and vintage filters in the Leica M240.

 

Enjoy!

 

leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - Page 39 - "The Menu Settings of the Leica M240"

 

It's a long an boring tale, but it's somewhat necessary to take a look at. I suggest having a camera nearby to get reality on what it is and does.

 

As always, feel free to comment and suggest things to add! My next two articles are in the making about the colors f the Leica M240, as well as using the EVF-2 vs RF. And a 50mm APO interview with Peter Karbe coming up soon as well.

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dem331

dem331

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Thanks for this. It is really great. Shame it was not available 4 weeks earlier since it would have helped me with the set-up for my new M-P! The instruction booklet is not good for someone who wants to learn how everything works in 15 mins, which is perfectly feasible, so your instructions are really good.

 

I do not understand what is the point of shooting b&w jpeg, aside from the in camera preview, since the DNG conversion will always be better. Am I missing something?

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Overgaard

Overgaard

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Thanks for this. It is really great. Shame it was not available 4 weeks earlier since it would have helped me with the set-up for my new M-P! The instruction booklet is not good for someone who wants to learn how everything works in 15 mins, which is perfectly feasible, so your instructions are really good.

 

I do not understand what is the point of shooting b&w jpeg, aside from the in camera preview, since the DNG conversion will always be better. Am I missing something?

 

I understand.

 

As for DNG+JPG it is something that particular was true for the Leica M9 and also mostly true (80% or so) for the M240 in my view.

 

The camera firmware makes a decision as to what tone a red will be, a blue will be and so on. The conversion to B&W from DNG in LR does the same, but with different values. In many cases, the look I get from the camera JPG B&W, I prefer. In other cases the result may be slightly better when done from DNG in LR, then again at other times a nice skin tone becomes too dark in LR conversion and/or will present spots in the skin. The JPG B&W from the camera never does. But conversion in LR may get more details in some cases.

 

But overall, one advantage shooting B&W JPG alongside DNG is that you get color and B&W side by side in LR of the same photo and can easily see if one or the other (or both) are worth using. So alone for that reason it is nice. And then you may decide if you will take the short way and tryst the JPG to be he best looking b&W, or the long road around changing the DNG to b&W and adjust color channels...

 

You may find this article about the M9 useful as a starting point:

leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - Leica M9 Digital Rangefinder Camera - Page 16: "Black and white photography with the Leica M9 - video tutorial"

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drdannn

drdannn

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Much of your article is useful and informative.

 

However your shooting technique is unusual to say the least. Always using 200 fixed iso in daylight and 3200 fixed iso at night is very limiting for a seasoned photographer. Those who want more or less shutter speed and/or more or less aperture will know exactly what I mean.

 

Also, always shooting wide open deprives any photographer of the variances available insofar as depth of field is concerned.

 

Maintaining a fixed shutter speed can be achieved by changing aperture which is impossible when shooting wide open at a fixed iso as your default.

 

The M240 has limiters on the auto iso mode. For example one can choose auto iso and limit it to 500 in daylight, and 2000 at night, or any other appropriate settings for that matter. The camera will attempt to shoot at the lowest iso under the existing circumstances . I agree that auto iso is not good for beginners since it is of utmost importance to learn how iso interacts with shutter speed and aperture, BUT a seasoned, knowledgeable photographer can make good use of auto iso in limited mode.

 

Also you do not make mention of hyper-focal or zone focusing and I understand why. If you are always shooting wide open it is constrained or impossible to do either technique.

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jmahto

jmahto

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Could someone kindly confirm whether it is possible to shoot DNG + jpeg B&W fine and get a colour display on the camera? I do not thinki it is, but just in case.

 

No, the display in camera will be in B&W if you shoot DNG + jpeg B&W. It makes the camera look even more classic. :)

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Dringo

Dringo

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Hi, can anyone confirm that shooting in DNG + B&W JPEG affects the histogram?

 

I like the idea of seeing a B&W display as I'm then able to focus more on shapes within the composition (landscape photography from a tripod) but would use the resulting RAW ultimately to process toa finished file. I have a feeling that using B&W for the jpeg would distort the histogram at capture

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jdsheepdog

jdsheepdog

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Thank you for this, it has helped my general use of the M 240. This next may be off topic to an extent that it belongs in the "Bar," but, here goes.

 

Why are German to English factory translations so uniformly bad and downright confusing? It seems there must be a single individual in Germany who has told industry in general that he speaks and writes good English and therefore gets to translate an huge variety of doubtless excellent German into execrable English?

 

Note to German manual translation contract awarders: "He can't speak English, despite what he tells you."

 

It is not just Leica. I have a German built marine generator, an excellent machine in all ways, except the manual, which, when discussing things like "exhaust back pressure," descends to downright scatological schoolboy potty humour, doubtless unintended, but real none the less.

 

Years ago it was China that produced incomprehensible instructions to go with their products, now it appears, oddly, to be be Germany.

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AlanJW

AlanJW

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I agree with Dan, unless of course one only ever takes photographs of individual people and always wants to isolate them from the background. For the majority of photographers I suspect that stopping down, hyperfocal focusing and using the lowest practicable ISO are still useful.

 

Philip

 

 

 

I think this highlights an important point. Thorsten's guidelines are perhaps a good starting point but there is a reason there are many alternatives from which to choose, depending on personal shooting style and preferences. If there were only one "proper" way to set up the M(240), there would be no need for any menus.

 

That does not detract from the effort he has put in and for which we should all be grateful.

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marknorton

marknorton

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It will be interesting to hear from Peter Karbe - and I hope you grilled him on this - on what went wrong with the APO 50 and why. My understanding is that lenses returned for re-work had a lens element changed though I don't think Leica have ever washed their dirty linen in public.

 

Most of all, it would be good to know whether, with the APO modified in this way, it is to all intents and purposes the same as current "fixed" production.

 

I doubt we will get straight talking from him though, more likely the sanitised weasel-words which make up any Leica AG corporate announcement. It's all so boring, just like I get from Porsche and Land Rover.

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drdannn

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I think this highlights an important point. Thorsten's guidelines are perhaps a good starting point but there is a reason there are many alternatives from which to choose, depending on personal shooting style and preferences. If there were only one "proper" way to set up the M(240), there would be no need for any menus.

 

That does not detract from the effort he has put in and for which we should all be grateful.

 

Conversely, and way on the other end of the spectrum, Eric Kim's street photography technique is often using f16 with a 35mm lens and an ISO high enough to get a satisfactory shutter speed. And it is true that he zone focuses by setting the focus ring at infinity. By doing so everything from infinity to 4 1/2 feet is in focus. He claims that is far faster than any "auto focus" camera, and that seems to be true. He just shoots away and never has to focus.

 

For me, I use the entire range of the capabilities of the camera --- from slow shutter speeds to fast, and from stopped down apertures to wide open, and from low to high ISO for all the effects capable of my camera. And what fun it is to really know your camera and use all of it.

 

Thorsten's blog is always informative but each to his/her own as to the way we use our cameras once we are familiar with how a camera really functions.

 

I think shooting wide open 100% of the time w/ or without the use of ND filters is limiting.

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Overgaard

Overgaard

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It will be interesting to hear from Peter Karbe - and I hope you grilled him on this - on what went wrong with the APO 50 and why. My understanding is that lenses returned for re-work had a lens element changed though I don't think Leica have ever washed their dirty linen in public.

 

Most of all, it would be good to know whether, with the APO modified in this way, it is to all intents and purposes the same as current "fixed" production.

 

I doubt we will get straight talking from him though, more likely the sanitised weasel-words which make up any Leica AG corporate announcement. It's all so boring, just like I get from Porsche and Land Rover.

 

I never heard any reason. The first delay seemed to be that it was just more difficult to make it right than they had expected. The lens is on the edge of what is possible (just like the Nocti and the Cine lenses). The only Peter Karbe ever told about the delay was "Ahm ... it's coming soon. I'm sorry!" And it did come two months later. It wasn't his problem really, he designed it, he wasn't in charge of production.

 

As for the flare issue that caused a recall, for a long time nobody could find he reason or an explanation. If they did at some point (apart from deciding to do it again and do it right this time), I'm sure it is not something they don't feel like talking more about. My guess is that it is likely an error like the one with the missing glue in some of the first screws delivered for the M 240 strap lug. Somebody didn't think and picked the wrong tool or forgot the to fasten some screw in some of the lenses.

 

The APO could be a fundamental miscalculation, a misapplication of what was supposed to be made in a certain way, or simply a faulty coating machine or so.

 

Remember the Mercedes Benz that tilted over? Or the Canon 1Ds that couldn't focus? Some things just go wrong somewhere along the line and everybody scratches their head and wonder how this well-planned product missed a point ...

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Naper

Naper

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Thank you for this, it has helped my general use of the M 240. This next may be off topic to an extent that it belongs in the "Bar," but, here goes.

 

Why are German to English factory translations so uniformly bad and downright confusing? It seems there must be a single individual in Germany who has told industry in general that he speaks and writes good English and therefore gets to translate an huge variety of doubtless excellent German into execrable English?

 

Note to German manual translation contract awarders: "He can't speak English, despite what he tells you."

 

It is not just Leica. I have a German built marine generator, an excellent machine in all ways, except the manual, which, when discussing things like "exhaust back pressure," descends to downright scatological schoolboy potty humour, doubtless unintended, but real none the less.

 

Years ago it was China that produced incomprehensible instructions to go with their products, now it appears, oddly, to be be Germany.

 

The Germans are outsourcing the translations to China

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