Is the M246 better than the M240 at B&W...

[Belle123]

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I prefer monochrome as well. 

 

Having thought about it, I'm a bit confused about Jaap's post in #5 above. With a colour file out of the M240 you can play to heart's content with channels and things - SEP for example offers a whole spectrum of control - but take the colour data away and you've lost that ability. Dodging and burning won't do it, or luminance manipulation. As I see it I would need filters at the time of capture to do the stuff I'm doing to my 240 images in post.

 

As has been said, you could write all day about this but the best way is to try it.

First, the information your getting is better out of the 246 for monochrome.  Then, takes a bit of learning to do what you want, I use Lightroom.  Am not familiar with SEP.  You might find helpful watching a tutorial on this on Youtube.  Some good demonstrations working with files out of the monochrome.

[John Black]

Can you get something aesthetically pleasing from the M-240 via B&W post processing?  Of course.  Is the result accurate / faithful to what you'll get with Monochrom + orange or red filter?  Nope.  I've gone through the paces with my own M-P and M246, doing side by sides, using a full ensemble filters and then trying to match the M-P a-la post processing to the M246.  I had to prove it to myself.  I found enough of a difference often enough to justify keeping the M-246.  And FWIW, I'm LOVING the new firmware and finally being able to zoom in to the DNG to make sure focus was on target.

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[BBHewee]

Can you get something aesthetically pleasing from the M-240 via B&W post processing?  Of course.  Is the result accurate / faithful to what you'll get with Monochrom + orange or red filter?  Nope.  I've gone through the paces with my own M-P and M246, doing side by sides, using a full ensemble filters and then trying to match the M-P a-la post processing to the M246.  I had to prove it to myself.  I found enough of a difference often enough to justify keeping the M-246.  And FWIW, I'm LOVING the new firmware and finally being able to zoom in to the DNG to make sure focus was on target.

 

 Would you have examples of this by any chance?

[asiafish]

Yes.

[Herr Barnack]

I have GOT to stop reading about the M246 - I'm starting to need one!!

 

[Ernstk]

I have GOT to stop reading about the M246 - I'm starting to need one!!

 

Me too. Wish I hadn't read threads like this...

[Mike Rawcs]

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Me too!

[Giulio Zanni]

I did not owned M colour cameras after the M8, which I didn't like. I went to different brands and when the 246 was announced I went straight for it. My main reason was that I wanted to shoot in black and white and I wanted black and white file straight out of the camera without having to convert and fiddle with sliders as I used to do with my previous cameras. It just made the workflow more complicated and there was no reason for it. For somebody that want to shoot also in colour the compromise to use a colour sensor and convert could be an acceptable compromise. I don't use colour filters on my lenses, I prefer to dodge and burn selectively. I find that the raw files straight out of the 246 have more pop than those of the MM1, which I find are more flat. This might be the reason why SEP is not included anymore with the camera. I can achieve images to my liking with very little post-processing compared to what I used to do when converting colour images. So great files and less post-processing to me a worth the 246.

 

Giulio

[250swb]

I think not including SEP in the package is more to do with it being free software and anybody can download it whenever they like.

 

But we've been through this discussion about the advantages of a Monochrom file compared with an M246 file before. And while both are good up to a point if the files aren't stress tested the Monochrom file is able to go much further if more radical alterations need to be made. The simple example is posterisation that occurs if post processing runs out of suitable pixels to manipulate and a hard edge forms between two similar tones. With an M246 file you are dealing with three colour channels so there are even fewer pixels to manipulate between shades of say blue sky, so posterisation can appear very soon if you want to increase the contrast of the sky. With a Monochrom file you have all the pixels all working all the time in post processing so these problems are less likely to occur, indeed I haven't seen posterisation creep into any of the images I am working on.

 

So while there is the 'I want an image that looks good straight from the camera' school of thought, the other side would be the Ansel Adams school who want to do more work on the tonal balance and this is where the Monochrom (either version) truly shines and shows what it is capable of.

 

 

Steve

Edited May 20, 2016 by 250swb

[Joakim]

Steve, you might want to edit your post and replace M246 with M240

[Giulio Zanni]

I think not including SEP in the package is more to do with it being free software and anybody can download it whenever they like

 

NIK became free only recently, way after the 246 was introduced. But of course only Leica knows why it was not included in the package anymore