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My page 29 on the Leica M 246 and dynamic range (at overgaard.dk)


Overgaard

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Very enjoyable reading, and also lots of beautiful pictures—as usual.

 

In particular, the suggestion to use Camera Raw's/Lightroom's Process 2010 for the M Monochrom (Typ 246) pictures made me prick up my ears. I immediately tried it for one of my own Typ 246 pictures (not my own camera; I just borrowed it for a day) ... and I'm sorry to say I cannot approve.

 

Here's why:

 

 

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JPEG file out of the camera, unprocessed.

 

 

DNG file, processed using Camera Raw 9.7 Process 2010

 

 

DNG file, processed using Camera Raw 9.7 Process 2012

 

 

As you can see, the capture is significantly under-exposed. I wanted to avoid burnt-out highlights but I'm afraid I did a bit too much. One f-stop more—or at least 1/2 more—would have been better. Anyway, the M Monochrom has plenty of exposure latitude in the shadows so let's see what can be done.

 

Using Process 2010, I cranked up Exposure by +3 stops and pushed the Fill Light slider up all the way to 100. I also used Recovery 65 and Brightness -60. Compared to the ooc JPEG, the result is impressive ... but still far from acceptable. Macro contrast is still high while micro contrast is poor. And look at those dreaded haloes around the bars in the metal construction in the frame's upper right area!

 

Using Process 2012, I pushed Exposure up to +2.5, Shadows to +95, and pulled Highlights down to -80, in order to render the skin tone of the gentleman to the left at about the same brightness as in the Process 2010 version. The result is even better shadow detail and at the same time better mid-tone separation, and no unwanted haloes anwhere.

 

Of course, that's just one example. I'm not saying that using Process 2010 for M Monochrom (Typ 246) files was always a bad idea. But it's a bad idea to always use Process 2010! When struggling for good rendition of shadow tones then Process 2010 might be useful for some files but not for all.

 

 

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I read these articles with interest but never take them as a real guide or as good advice. Sorry Thorsen. Just my opinion. You haven't crushed my enthusiasm for the monochrome or any future monochrome which I hope Leica continues. To dismiss the M246 just because doesn't fit your photography, which is how I read it, oh well. You are entitled to your opinion. The monochrome is not for everyone and in a way that is a good thing. Makes using it and mastering it even more special. You can't replicate with the M240 what the monochrome, I.e either the mm1 or mm2 can do. And it isn't a camera for all situations. You first have to appreciate the look it gives, which is different, and then work with it.

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Thorsten, thank you very much for this review.

I do have personal relations with M246 and still can not define my attitude to this camera. 

During last 6-8 months i was considering this camera as the second camera along side with my M-9P and M-P240.

I like black and white photography despite the opinion that "monochrome photo is failed color photo converted in B&W".

So, finally i purchased M246... came home, opened the box, spent whole the day with the camera and returned it to the store. 

Actually, 90% of my photos i made during my trips -  I am rarely photographing in Moscow, so all my cameras are actually the travel cameras.

Any trip for me is the opportunity to take the Leica with me and make some photos during my travel.

That maybe was the main reason why i decided to rid off m246 -  as the only travel camera its just does not work for me. 

Its the shame to loose fantastic colors of the world shooting it only black and white, but at the same time i do belive that some scenes are looks great only in B&W.
So, given the DR of M-240 I always can convert my files in RAW using the lightroom and hardly defne difference with M246 shots. 
I belive that M-246 is great artistic tool for special mood and special needs for special projects and defenitely will find its place in Leica' family. 
But as only one camera for travel its just dont work for me. Maybe i need to grow to that camera, really. 
 

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It's a shame to lose fantastic colors of the world shooting it only black-and-white, but at the same time I do belive that some scenes look great only in B&W.

Shooting black-and-white isn't about 'losing colour.' Neither is it about tracking down those scenes which 'look better in B&W than in colour.' Instead, it's a state of mind. If you actually believe all scenes fall in one out of two categories, those which look better in colour and those which look better in B&W, and it's the photographer's task to decide which is which then a monochrome camera is not for you.

 

The only reason I don't own a Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is because my 'M Monochrom' currently is a silver-chrome Leica M-A, loaded with B&W film. Should I become fed up dealing with film (which I re-started using two years ago, after ten years of shooting digital exclusively) then I shall acquire an M Monochrom.

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Thorsten,

 

I have enjoyed many of your on-line reviews and images so I post this response with all due respect and in good spirit. I do appreciate your stating in your post here that this is your own view of using the camera

 

Your statement:

"Getting a Monochrom camera is not necessarily a matter of getting the most or the best monochrome tones. It's about narrowing down what you can do and giving yourself some obstacles to overcome. That's the game."  

 

The word "narrowing" is applicable to anything one would chose to leave out of the frame whether color or B&W. And while we're at it, as photographers we might choose to suppress information that we allow into the frame, whether by angle of view or level of exposure. And then to call this a "game"seems unfortunate in that the word packages and therefore limits one's expression by some predetermined rules of whatever that "game" is supposed to be.

 

We all have or recognize limitations or parameters of what we do in the field or "darkroom" in the capture and production of our work, but we overcome obstacles that we encounter rather than impose them as part of a "game", unless I suppose that is what drives or enhances ones activity.  And that would apply regardless shooting a camera loaded with Kodachrome or Tri-X. 

 

While my post here might come across as a semantic or academic exercise, if I thought for a second that picking up my MM to go out and shoot was limited to what your statement above suggests, I'd hang it up!

My experience with the Monochrom involves developing the discipline to see in B&W which when I am successful involves appreciating and striving to capture an expanded tonal palette and how that plays into whatever image I am attempting to capture. And it also involves seeing deeper into the subject matter because there is not the distraction of the color that is in front of me. Again, all photography is about editing through the viewfinder/ground glass whether color or B&W.

 

I did note and appreciate your positive comment that using a Monochrom might "get your juices flowing".  And I agree that using post processing tricks NIK lead to a look that can be tiring (to paraphrase your comment).  This is of course true of what people do with color photography as well.

 

David

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Thorsten, thank you very much for this review.

I do have personal relations with M246 and still can not define my attitude to this camera. 

During last 6-8 months i was considering this camera as the second camera along side with my M-9P and M-P240.

I like black and white photography despite the opinion that "monochrome photo is failed color photo converted in B&W".

So, finally i purchased M246... came home, opened the box, spent whole the day with the camera and returned it to the store. 

Actually, 90% of my photos i made during my trips -  I am rarely photographing in Moscow, so all my cameras are actually the travel cameras.

Any trip for me is the opportunity to take the Leica with me and make some photos during my travel.

That maybe was the main reason why i decided to rid off m246 -  as the only travel camera its just does not work for me. 

Its the shame to loose fantastic colors of the world shooting it only black and white, but at the same time i do belive that some scenes are looks great only in B&W.

So, given the DR of M-240 I always can convert my files in RAW using the lightroom and hardly defne difference with M246 shots. 

I belive that M-246 is great artistic tool for special mood and special needs for special projects and defenitely will find its place in Leica' family. 

But as only one camera for travel its just dont work for me. Maybe i need to grow to that camera, really. 

 

Actually, I happened to write a little article on the Monochrom as a travel camera, back when the MM1 came out:

 

http://www.the.me/henri-in-africa-the-leica-monochrom-as-a-travel-camera/

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  • 4 weeks later...

I still don't get this claim that the M246 is no good in bright conditions because it is weak in zone X. Yes, I understand that a colour sensor with three channels may be able to retain some highlight detail at a particular exposure that the M246 cannot because one of the three channels may have recorded something that the M246's monochrome sensor cannot. That seems very obvious, and is obviously something to be considered. But why not just expose for the highlights then? Why not just ensure that highlight detail is recordered?

 

Obviously, this would lead to a seemingly underexposed frame, but given that there is the ability with the M246 sensor of digging out shadow detail what is the problem? Providing the dynamic range in the scene is not well beyond the range of the sensor, there should, in principle, be no difficulty having highlights and shadows as intended. Even if the DR of the scene is beyond the sensor DR, it is still possible to make the choice to sacrifice some of the subtlety of tonality in the shadows in order to keep a range of tonality in the highlights. Using a filter or inherently lower contrast, older lenses, may well make this even easier. What exactly is the problem here?

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 What exactly is the problem here?

 

As 01af suggests, part of the issue may be Thorsten's insistence on sticking with his preferred older LR process version 2010.  I concur and would couple that with Thorsten's overall workflow preferences, which he has freely discussed.

 

Thorsten prefers a simplified workflow that suits processing many images simultaneously, without laboring too much on individual pictures and edits, and without having to use the full range of controls that LR provides, particularly with iterations beyond LR 3.  He likes the older LR version and the look it provides him.

 

Each of us has workflow preferences; nothing wrong with any choice.  It's clear to me that he gets terrific results with the gear and the workflow he prefers.

 

In this instance, I think Thorsten's simplified workflow using the older LR processing engine may not demonstrate the best the M246 has to offer.  [i consider in-camera exposure....to your point....to be just one part of one's overall workflow.]

 

I've discussed this with Thorsten several times following various other blog posts, including a prior article on the M246...

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/247997-third-article-on-the-leica-m-246-on-overgaarddk-the-monochrome-goes-to-paris/?p=2857426

 

Jeff

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I'm using M246 for about 18 months.  Most of the time it is equipped with 35 mm Cron IV and a dark orange filter.  

Yes it is less resistant to highlight overexposure, that RGB sensor. But there is no problem of Chromatic Aberations (purple fringing) at all, and this might be an issue for RGB matrix with some lenses. 

 

Orange filter performs a great job to increase suhshine contrast (yellow light and blue dark side of objects). 

 

Exposure to the highlights works well, if the dynamic range of scene is not to wide. Otherwise I just blow out highlights according to the previsualised final result. 

 

Usially my raw files are underexposed and I have to tweak them before editing (selection) process. I'm trying to do as mach selection before taking as possible - so there usially a picture per subject.  Thus amount of selection work is not that huge. 

 

There is a new 10th version of Capture One on the market, and it demonstrate great results with M246 files - so I'm thinking to switch to this software for raw development.  

 

As a general - I do consider monochrome pictures as something special in todays color world.  It is like a single malt. And I like to take monochrome pictures just to see them in mono, to see naked truth. 

:)

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There is a new 10th version of Capture One on the market, and it demonstrate great results with M246 files - so I'm thinking to switch to this software for raw development.  

 

 

Hi

 

Do you have some on-line article or review about this? I've v9 but haven't seen any real reason to upgrade but if there's something in the new version that improves handling of MM-246 files then I am curious.

 

Joakim

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Do you have some on-line article or review about this? I've v9 but haven't seen any real reason to upgrade but if there's something in the new version that improves handling of MM-246 files then I am curious.

 

 

Joakim, I need to take a decision regarding purchase of new version. I'll try to make comparisons and will post them somewhere at this forum.

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