Not 100% convinced the MM gives better B&W images than say a M240/Nikon

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

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Hi I wanted to show you guys, especially Steve how you can take a completely flat MM image out of the camera and with a few tweaks here and there in Lightroom you can completely transform it into an artistic image that has loads of "pop"

What i did first Steve was to open the image in Lightroom and change the file names (you maybe want to remember that one) then in the development mode make your changes starting from the top to bottom until you have that unique MM artistic look.

See below;

 

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[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Here Steve, one more for you to take a look at................you will notice that I made this one a square crop just to give it that magical artistic look.......sweet

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

This is a typical result with the Red filter on a nice Winter day,

 

Mt_vernon_side1 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

Another, Spring day,

 

L1001288 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

Blue sky and white clouds. If the sky is hazy, you will not get as much contrast.

 

Gunston Hall, M Monochrom by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

Orange filter, hazy day. The Red would have improved things a bit. This is where Infrared cameras tend to be more effective. "In the day" of film photography 101, the Yellow filter was to match the scene to how the eye would perceive it, Orange to exaggerate, and Red for Drama.

 

Use filters to get the picture as close to the final image as you can; post-process for the final result. All of the above shots are straight LR exports to JPEG, no adjustments made for exposure/contrast. I do know how to use LR, Photoshop, Photostyler, and write my own software for image processing. I just prefer doing as much as possible optically. 

 

On clouds picking up the Blue in the sky: I would be tempted to try a Polarizer with the Color filter.

Just love the first one Lenshaker...........is that just straight out of the camera after using the red filter or did you work on them some more?

[250swb]

I don't recall asking anyone for advice on making my pictures look better..............I like them the way they are.

 

 

I guess you forgot what the title of the thread is, or that you complain about the MM images being flat grey out of the camera, or that you complain about doing post processing, or that you have taken advice and bought some filters to make them 'look better'. It's a fast moving world I know, but even kids who want to get famous quick on talent shows can remember the words.

 

Steve

[Lenshacker]

Just love the first one Lenshaker...........is that just straight out of the camera after using the red filter or did you work on them some more?

This is straight export to Lightroom, 35mm Ultron at F4 with a Leica Red filter.

 

The Red filter is the most difficult to simulate using a color camera, as only 25% of the pixels end up getting used and the red dye used in the Bayer filter does not have such a sharp cutoff.

 

[HUMOR]  This is the Internet, and a LEICA FORUM on the Internet! We perceive every post entered as a request for giving advice to someone else, and advice given can range from random keystrokes to old geezers geezing.[/HUMOR]

Edited April 20, 2015 by Lenshacker

[MarkP]

 

I've done the same but am now finding that the orange filter is not giving me enough separation between clouds and sky. Living in the tropics, clouds close to the horizon pick up the blue from the ocean and photograph a darker gray than I'd like when using the orange filter. I plan on experimenting with yellow(for lighter skies) and red (for darker skies) to see which one gives me more separation. It may turn out that neither one works.

I see you live in Oz. Have you experienced this?

 

 

 

Hi, I realise this was a question for Mark, but to add my two cents worth.....when I first got the MM, a year and a half ago now, I tried yellow,

orange, medium red and dark red filters on the APO50, and finally settled for the medium red as being the best compromise for sky detail, while still not losing too much

in the way of stops (as I hate tripods and I'm looking for as much dof as possible). However I've found that the difference between the filters is not huge and the

skies will always require some judicious work in post processing. Our Australian light is very contrasty and the skies can all too easily be a complete wipeout, particularly

if there is no cloud available to give at least some definition, just a blazing blue! 

 

 

Dee pretty much answered it for me except that I wanted a just bit more control over contrast with the orange filters, as it's easy to add contrast but harder to remove.

 

She is spot on about the harsh Australian light which certainly pushes more of our photography to the earlier and later parts of the day.

Edited April 20, 2015 by MarkP

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

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I guess you forgot what the title of the thread is, or that you complain about the MM images being flat grey out of the camera, or that you complain about doing post processing, or that you have taken advice and bought some filters to make them 'look better'. It's a fast moving world I know, but even kids who want to get famous quick on talent shows can remember the words.

 

Steve

hahahahahaha

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

 

 

She is spot on about the harsh Australian light which certainly pushes more of our photography to the earlier and later parts of the day.

Same here in KL mate

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

 

 

[HUMOR]  This is the Internet, and a LEICA FORUM on the Internet! We perceive every post entered as a request for giving advice to someone else, and advice given can range from random keystrokes to old geezers geezing.[/HUMOR]

its like taking candy off a bairn :)

[Jeff S]

I think a red filter would look best with a red strap.

 

Jeff

[kkcsm]

Hay lensshacker.

The Y52 filter you are talking about ........is the 52 the filter size or a number for the color. I take it Y is for yellow right??

Maybe I should try a filter or two on my MM and see if that will change my mind

Later

 

I'm a recent Monochrom purchaser, it is confusing that there isn't an Official Name for different colored filters.  The Wratten Number wikipedia page was instructive; I came up with the following notes when I was researching:

 

WN: Wratten number

FF: Filter factor

ST: Stops

 

yellow         WN(8)  FF(2) ST(1)   :  b+w 022 yellow 495, Y, K2, Y48, 022

yellow-orange  WN(16) FF(4) ST(2)   :  b+w 040 orange 550

red            WN(24) FF(5) ST(2.25):  b+w 090 light red 590

deep red       WN(29) FF(8) ST(3)   :  b+w 091 red 630, F, 091

ND 0.3         WN(96) FF(2) ST(1)

ND 0.6         WN(96) FF(4) ST(2)

ND 0.9         WN(96) FF(8) ST(3)

[jaapv]

B&W and Heliopan give transmission graphs of the various filters on their home page.

[Lenshacker]

The Nikon R60 filter is an equivalent of the Wratten 25.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

I think a red filter would look best with a red strap.

 

Jeff

Hay mutton deaf.....................I tried to get a red strap for the MM but they didn't have any stock so I just ended up getting a boring brown one. Still got red on my 240 though and it looks way cool brother

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

I'm a recent Monochrom purchaser, it is confusing that there isn't an Official Name for different colored filters.  The Wratten Number wikipedia page was instructive; I came up with the following notes when I was researching:

 

WN: Wratten number

FF: Filter factor

ST: Stops

 

yellow         WN(8)  FF(2) ST(1)   :  b+w 022 yellow 495, Y, K2, Y48, 022

yellow-orange  WN(16) FF(4) ST(2)   :  b+w 040 orange 550

red            WN(24) FF(5) ST(2.25):  b+w 090 light red 590

deep red       WN(29) FF(8) ST(3)   :  b+w 091 red 630, F, 091

ND 0.3         WN(96) FF(2) ST(1)

ND 0.6         WN(96) FF(4) ST(2)

ND 0.9         WN(96) FF(8) ST(3)

KKCSM (sorry I don't know your name) but I got the B+W 040 Yellow/Orange......will give them a go first

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Forgot I need this for my 21mm Lux................just as well its free shipping

On another point...............why is it that you can order a 55mm or 77mm  filter for 38 bucks but need the same filter for the Noctilux or 21mm Lux and its 3 times the price ??

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[jdlaing]

They secretly know you spent all that money on those two lenses and charge you extra.

[Lenshacker]

I think a red filter would look best with a red strap.

 

Jeff

No, the red strap would look white through the red filter. Too much contrast with a black camera shooting a selfie in the mirror.  

[Lenshacker]

Forgot I need this for my 21mm Lux................just as well its free shipping

On another point...............why is it that you can order a 55mm or 77mm  filter for 38 bucks but need the same filter for the Noctilux or 21mm Lux and its 3 times the price ??

Series VIII filters are not as popular as they once were? These are big filters, and not a lot of manufacturers make lenses to use them.

 

Look for a Step-Up ring. These screw into the lens and have a threads for the larger filter. I use a step-up filter to go from 58mm to 62mm, I had a lot of them for the Nikkors. The step-up rings are much less cost than the filters.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Too much contrast with a black camera shooting a selfie in the mirror.  

 

My MM is silver............  with soon to have a silver thingie hanging off the end with Yellow/Orange sunnies on..........super duper cool