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Newbie MM owner... what are your tips?


w44neg

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Today, I picked up a V1 Monochrom, MM, MM9 or whatever you'd like to call it. It's a camera I always fancied the idea of, but HAD to wait several years until the right deal came along.

 

Black and White isn't something I'm new to, but shooting solely in B&W definitely is. I find myself feeling anxious about not having any colour ability at all; obviously previous B&W shooting would start as colour and then I'd convert in LR.

 

So I wondered if any current users have some tips and tricks for me? When do you find B&W works best; i.e. - which scenes/times of day/colours? Is there a simple way to avoid clipping the highlights? Do you carry a colour camera with you at the same time etc etc?

 

I'd really like to see your thoughts and shared experiences as I'm going on a trip shortly and would love to make the most of it. I should add, I've had an M9 and M240 previously; shooting with an M again is exciting for sure!

 

Lenses... my only current option is the 15mm v3 Voigtlander but I will pick up a 35mm lens before I go away. I was set on a Summicron ASPH as it's probably my favourite lens of all time, but the Voigtlander Ultron f1.7 (latest version) is so much cheaper and appears to deliver on micro-contrast if the reviews I've read are correct, so I may try to save money and go for this.

Edited by w44neg
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An important factor is to avoid high-light clipping, so check the camera histogram now and then. With the MM/M246, you can dig out lots of information from the dark shadows, but high-ligts that are clipped are forever gone...

 

Regarding post-processing, you may find these Lightroom tutorials useful. Check also Ming Thein's MM Photoshop tutorial.

 

Enjoy!

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Congratulations on your MM. Regarding exposure, I keep mine set on -2/3 for the reason helged cites; much more room in the shadows. I think that's a pretty common practice. 

 

Have you considered Zeiss lenses? I have the 35 2.8 and 50 Planar and both are excellent. Each like new for $500, and I really like the Zeiss focus tab design. 

 

Other than that, keep shooting and evaluating the results. It's great in all kinds of light. I thought I would miss color channel adjustments, but I don't at all. Enjoy it!

 

John

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 Do you carry a colour camera with you at the same time etc etc?

 

 

You'll never learn to see in B&W if you bottle it and take a colour camera as a crutch.

 

I'd have argued against you buying a Monochrom if there is any doubt at all you don't feel a prime need to see the world in the reductant medium of B&W. There is a clue in that last sentence about how to make it work for you. B&W strips back the subject to essentials, it can abstract, it can define and exaggerate the subject, and it does it by removing colour that gets in the way. So a good B&W image isn't just a colour picture minus something, it gains by being in B&W, it needs to be more enigmatic, you need to focus on what you are saying in the picture and not rely on colour being a prop. So whatever genre of photography you are interested in look at the work of famous B&W photographers and see how they don't need colour, how colour would ruin and dilute the picture, then you'll have a clue about the direction to travel.

 

Steve

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Great replies, thanks. The Zeiss M lenses always seem to have a cold cast to them and I rarely like their results; I don't know why as I know I'm in the minority. I have a couple of Sony Zeiss with my A7Rii and those I do like. I think the Summicron spoilt me so I can only hope that the Voigtlander goes some way to matching it.

 

Some very good advice Steve. I probably made myself sound a bit of a novice to B&W but I actually have images that I've taken with full knowledge that I'll be converting to B&W. Therefore I can "see in B&W" to a degree but the Monochrom will definitely test that. 

 

I'll take a look at the tutorials now, thanks.

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Great replies, thanks. The Zeiss M lenses always seem to have a cold cast to them and I rarely like their results; I don't know why as I know I'm in the minority. I have a couple of Sony Zeiss with my A7Rii and those I do like. I think the Summicron spoilt me so I can only hope that the Voigtlander goes some way to matching it.

 

Some very good advice Steve. I probably made myself sound a bit of a novice to B&W but I actually have images that I've taken with full knowledge that I'll be converting to B&W. Therefore I can "see in B&W" to a degree but the Monochrom will definitely test that. 

 

I'll take a look at the tutorials now, thanks.

The Monochrom reacts quite differently to lenses. Whilst I prefer leica lenses on my colour bodies, on the Monochrom I will use the Zeiss ZM-Biogon C 35/2.8 and Tele-Tessar 85/4.0, and the old Canon 1.8/50 LTM
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I will add, would take a lot of photos before your trip to get familiar.  You haven't had an M, I take it?  I have the M246 and it's a different beast compared to the other Ms in terms of dealing with light.  Better to under expose in most conditions.  Super easy to blow the lights.  Lots to do in Lightroom.....and fun.  My favorite lens on mine so far is the 35 Summicron Asph.  And also loving my older non Asph versions on this camera.

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I too just got the M246 version after hesitating and saving for many years. I only have a Zeiss 35f2 ZM and the first images this week are impressive. I come from the film days where using Ilford and Agfa b&w was my favorite thing. More recently I used a Nikon Df and  would use the monochrome mode about 50% of the time. I would rarely ever convert a color image to b&w. I hope to learn from some of you about other lens choices and tips on how to best use the camera.

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The Monochrom reacts quite differently to lenses. Whilst I prefer leica lenses on my colour bodies, on the Monochrom I will use the Zeiss ZM-Biogon C 35/2.8 and Tele-Tessar 85/4.0, and the old Canon 1.8/50 LTM

 

Don't you think the files are flexible enough to create just about any look you want, pretty much regardless of lens? It's more post work, of course, but the possibilities seem endless. 

 

John 

Edited by johnwolf
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Congratulations.  My top tip would be, above all else, expose for the highlights. After that, I'd say watch out for back focusing if you use a red or orange filter. Lastly, whatever you do, don't be tempted to add any sharpening, even selectively, to your final images. The MM files are sharp enough to make the eyes bleed, straight out of the camera.

 

Good luck, and enjoy!

 

Colin

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Hello, please here is a link very helpful.

http://www.overgaard.dk/leica-M-Monochrom-Type-246-Digital-Rangefinder-Camera-black-and-white-sensor-page-27-Old-School-is-the-New-School-Menu-Settings-of-the-Leica-M246.html

also for post_processing 

https://www.google.com/nikcollection/products/silver-efex-pro/#

philosophical point:

http://www.ultrasomething.com/photography/2015/04/sensors-and-sensibility/

use ND lenses, very important for day light.

I have my mm 246 dramatically interesting camera, new generation of digital camera. new look and fresh feeling.

best :)

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You'll never learn to see in B&W if you bottle it and take a colour camera as a crutch.

 

I'd have argued against you buying a Monochrom if there is any doubt at all you don't feel a prime need to see the world in the reductant medium of B&W. There is a clue in that last sentence about how to make it work for you. B&W strips back the subject to essentials, it can abstract, it can define and exaggerate the subject, and it does it by removing colour that gets in the way. So a good B&W image isn't just a colour picture minus something, it gains by being in B&W, it needs to be more enigmatic, you need to focus on what you are saying in the picture and not rely on colour being a prop. So whatever genre of photography you are interested in look at the work of famous B&W photographers and see how they don't need colour, how colour would ruin and dilute the picture, then you'll have a clue about the direction to travel.

 

Steve

It is a good comment and I agree With Steve. Let the image speaks for you, which is a very simple one, but very meaningful, less is more. I am a newbie in Monochrome too, I am learning here so that more could be argued with Steve in future. Haha! Edited by rocheung
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Don't fall for the contrast filter excess one sees so much since the MM hit the market.

Using a yellow filter in daylight works great for many things but you might not want to shoot everything and everybody with a deep red filter just because.

 

Underexpose - do not overexpose, expose for the highlights. You can easily recover one two, even three stops with the Mono if you keep your ISO speeds reasonable.

 

Don't force yourself to shoot everything at base ISO for those clean files and ruin your shots by 1/8th sec blurry vision. You can shoot the Mono with very, very reasonable image quality up to ISO 3200 and in a pinch even higher if you must.

It is at any ISO speed cleaner than same speed B&W film ever was, so use it when you have to.

 

If you find ISO320 base is too sensitive for those bright light mid summer days and you need to shoot at f11 and f16 too much for your liking, just get a 2-stop ND filter for your favorite lens.

 

Take spare batteries with you.

 

Use smaller sized SD cards and swap cards as you need rather than trying your luck with those huge SD cards that are slow to format/initiate and prone to problems in the old gen digital Leica cameras the Mono belongs to.

 

Enjoy.

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I tend to use modest local contrast and structure adjustments on my MM images to bring out the subtle variations in tones and textures.  Unfortunately Lightroom lacks a structure tool, but Silver Efex Pro 2 has a very good capability and provides additional local contrast adjustment options.  If you are still eligible for the free Leica MM software downloads the full Nik Collection is now offered.  Capture One does an excellent job with MM files on its own.

 

Also I recommend a good, calibrated monitor for working with MM files.  In some respects working with high quality B&W images is more demanding of the monitor than color work.  

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I send the recommendation of a  good, calibrated monitor.  I did just fine with the built-in monitor of my Retina MacBook Pro (15"), until I bought the Monochrom.  Now I have an Eizo and calibrate it to the ambient light each time I work on important images, but even without calibrating for the light at the moment, its still so much better with monochrom files than any other monitor I've used.  Its all about the tones, most color monitors just don't do pure blacks, whites and grays.

 

I also second the recommendation of ND filters and colored filters to mount in front of your lens.  

 

Finally, try older lenses.  Flawed glass can be wonderful on the MM.  I have a 1941 Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm f/2 Sonnar T with some pretty bad marking on the front and rear elements.  On a color camera it looks horrible when stopped down past f/5.6 (looks great wide-open), but on the MM the reduction in contrast is often just the thing to capture subtle nuances of light.

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