Waiter, there’s a hair in my soup (an M10 review)

[enboe]

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(Apologies for the delay, but it was only last week that I was able to take a week off and really put the M10 through its paces while on vacation.)

 

·      Setup:  silver M10, Leica handgrip, 28/1.4 Summilux, 64GB Sandisk card, Leica neoprene case, Adobe Lightroom on MacBook Pro.

·      Locations:  Knott’s Berry Farm California, Universal Studios Orlando, Walt Disney World

 

    On March 3^rd through March 8^th, I had the opportunity to shoot the Leica M10 and 28 Summilux while on vacation in the Orlando theme parks.  I had previously experimented with a couple of half-day adventures where I characterized the maximum usable ISO and metering idiosyncrasies.  I was reasonably prepared to shoot for the week using one camera, one lens, one file format (DNG), and one metering method, classic-center weighted.  In six days of shooting, I exposed ~1,100 frames, and only had three throw-aways in the batch, all operator errors.  The M10 is a worthy successor to the Leica M digital throne, but let me give you more details to back that statement.

    At risk of oversimplifying the technical aspects of photography, there are a few fundamentals that if you don’t get them right, you will not get a good picture.  The first of these is exposure, too much or too little light, and you have no image or no detail to work with.  I am pleased to report that the classic, off-the-shutter, center-weighted metering on the M10 is reliable, controllable, repeatable, and predictable, as it is on all the other M digitals except my copy of the M262.  I was happy enough with the results that I did not exercise the evaluative or spot meter options that operate through Live View.  One interesting “feature” of metering is that if you turn the camera on with the cap on the lens, then take the cap off, it lags a few tenths of a second before it adjusts to the correct exposure.  This caused me to take some very over-exposed shots during my test trials before the vacation.  My remedy – using a Leica E49 UVa on the Summilux like a clear lens cap, and leave the actual lens cap in my pocket.  As soon as I clicked on the power, the metering was settling in on the correct value immediately, and no more overexposed shots due to metering lag.  I would also like to share a little bit of subjective input on the exposure latitude of the DNG files processed in Lightroom.  Pushing and pulling the files to look at details in the highlight and shadow areas of mixed-lighting pictures, I find I get around +/- 2 stops of flexibility before I start to lose detail and color saturation.  This is a little less than the M240/M262 generation, but still what I would consider generous.

    The second key enabler for photography is focus, or at least controlling focus.  I found the optical rangefinder to be spot on, and pleasant to use with a little extra room around the 28mm frame lines.  I did use Live View both with the on-camera screen and the Visoflex 020.  Live View is useful for composing, but a little less certain for my focusing needs.  I found the focus peaking to be noisy and a bit misleading at room lighting and below intensity levels, so I turned that feature off.  Another handling observation, it would be good to differentiate the lens release button feel from the focus assist button on the front of the camera.  With the grip attached, I hit the release button more than once and wondered why focus assist did not come up.

    Sensitivity is the third enabler I would like to discuss.  During two pre-vacation test runs, I had the chance to try the camera from base ISO all the way to 50,000 maximum ISO.  I found 50,000 ISO had streaking in the dark areas and 32,000 ISO had color fleck noise.  ISO 25,000 was clean of artifacts, if a little reduced in fine-detail resolution.  I programmed the M setting on my ISO dial to 25,000 and have not changed it since.  Now, call me a little lazy, but I would say for 80% of the photos I shot on vacation, I set the camera to Auto ISO, Max ISO 6,400, Max Shutter 1/60 sec.  The camera did a very good job of floating the ISO higher when needed, and the files from base to 6,400 were all very pleasing and usable.  Chalk this combination up for two to three stops of improvement in maximum usable ISO over prior M digitals.

    Color Palette is the final foundational enabler to capturing an image, and the M10 scored well here too.  Realizing this is a function of the image capture chip, firmware, and post-processing software, it takes a real chain of successes to deliver good color.  Starting with the chip, so long as you expose within the aforementioned +/- 2 stops latitude, the information in the image file will be good.  I found automatic white balance equivalent to the M240-series cameras, something that I can work well with in Lightroom, so no issues there.  If I had to summarize the M10 palette, it reminds me most of VPS, Vericolor Professional Type III, from the 1980’s.  Good colors with tons of tonal range.  This chip and camera has the potential for being a portrait monster!  (I’ll calm down now.)

    Now that I’ve provided discussion on the imaging potential of the M10, allow me to redirect into the practical aspects of its use.  Battery life is not an issue for me – there, I said it.  I had some anxiety going on vacation with one camera, one battery charge per day, but found I never used over 20% of capacity in any one day.  Caveating that I do not use image review, something I learned on the M-D 262, I extrapolate that I should be able to get nearly 1,000 images per charge.  An average day of snapping is 200-300 shots for me, so one battery is plenty.  Actually, if I had owned two batteries, I could have skipped bringing my charger altogether, something I would never actually do.  Will I buy a spare BP-SCL5?  Yes, but I don’t feel it is as urgent now, and certainly not worth paying over MSRP.

    Let’s talk about size and grip next.  As many have said, the body feels like an M7, which means that one of the larger Summilux or Noctilux lenses will feel front-heavy and a little clumsy in normal configuration.  A camera show friend showed me the grip on his M10 + Noctilux and I immediately saw the benefit.  I purchased the Leica grip and used it with the 28/1.4 all week long.  Your right hand’s position relative to the center of gravity (CG) changes just enough to make it all a very balanced-feeling set-up.  Some have questioned why the extra depth for the Leica grip, why not just the depth of the standard baseplate.  I see two benefits to the Leica design, one is that the grip attaches to the tripod socket, a much stronger attachment than the standard baseplate lock points, and you get an extra pinky’s worth of height, allowing all four fingers to rest on the grip when needed.  If you use the faster, heavier Leica glass, buy the grip.  You won’t regret it.

    Knobs, buttons, and controls come next.  I really like the 2-position on/off concentric switch around the shutter release.  Very easy and very positive to use and to know how it is set.  Very much like the M7, although I think the CNC grooves on the switch are a little sharper than on the M7 as I started to wear a new callous on my index finger.  The shutter release is standard three-position off/meter/release you would feel on any of the metered Leica M’s.  Very usable and predictable.  The shutter speed dial holds no surprises or issues, and the same can be said for the frame preview lever.  The ISO set is an interesting design, and I am sold on the idea of up-position when making regular changes, down-position locked when those changes are less necessary.  The M-D 262 implementation may be a little quicker to use as you don’t have to shift your grip to make the change, but the M10 is usable as well.  Now, I would like to mention two tiny annoyances in all the buttons and controls.  The set wheel under the thumb bump on the back is easy to accidentally bump, which is a problem if you set exposure compensation to this control alone.  I made this mistake three or four times before I went looking in the menus to disabling this way of setting exposure compensation.  Now I use front-button + thumb control wheel.  The other tiny annoyance is that the focus peak and lens release button are the same shape, size, and feel, and when you’re fumbling with a new camera body in the dark using a portrait orientation with the grip, you may find yourself pushing the wrong button.  No comments required on the remainder of the buttons on the back, they do what they are intended to do, and do those functions well.

   So, what’s on my wish list for the M11, or maybe M-10P?  Here’s a list:

1.     May we have the strap rub top plate inserts back please?

2.     Consider revising the lens release button to having a small recess in the center like on the M6.  This will give it a tactile differentiation from the focus button.

3.     Ship the camera with two batteries, raise the price $195, and eliminate this source of new ownership irritation.

4.     Sapphire screens are nice for those buying a camera to last a lifetime.  For those planning on upgrading to the M11, gorilla glass plus the Leica screen film will last you for the three to four year product life cycle.

5.     Expand the scope of delivery on the professional models.  Add a second battery, grip, and maybe thumb-rest, the latter two engraved with the body’s serial number to make a set.

6.     Maybe a tiny tweak to the firmware on the meter settling algorithm and focus peaking algorithm in low light.

   Thank you for your patience in reading nearly 2,000 words of impressions.  I like this camera a lot, and heavens forbid if I had to have just one digital Leica, this would likely be it, at least for the next few years until the M11 is released.

 

Eric

 

P.S.  Why the click-bait title?  I did note a hair on my chip which showed up for a couple of images, then worked it way loose, only to show up again 500 images later, again for only a couple of images before the shutter motion worked it loose.  I don't think we need shaker-chips like various other DSLR implementations include, as that would negate the depth benefit of the M10.

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

[pico]

[...]

 

And who said Popular Photography was dead?

 

Thanks for the image examples, too.

Edit: My error! The review was about the

camera. Lens would be irrelevant. Really.

[Herr Barnack]

Dear Leica,

 

What enboe said, particularly items #1 and #3.  As for #4, I much prefer the sapphire screen and consider it an almost mandatory feature for the flagship digital M camera.

[Surge]

Thanks for the detailed review.

One caveat - it's best not to use a UV, or any, filter in front of Leica glass. Leica says as much. If you can avoid it.

You don't need to protect the front lens. It's durable. And can always be serviced if scratched.

Think about it - a ~$100 cover in front of a multi-thousand $ lens is not advisable for picture quality.

[phongph]

(Apologies for the delay, but it was only last week that I was able to take a week off and really put the M10 through its paces while on vacation.)

 

·      Setup:  silver M10, Leica handgrip, 28/1.4 Summilux, 64GB Sandisk card, Leica neoprene case, Adobe Lightroom on MacBook Pro.

·      Locations:  Knott’s Berry Farm California, Universal Studios Orlando, Walt Disney World

 

    On March 3^rd through March 8^th, I had the opportunity to shoot the Leica M10 and 28 Summilux while on vacation in the Orlando theme parks.  I had previously experimented with a couple of half-day adventures where I characterized the maximum usable ISO and metering idiosyncrasies.  I was reasonably prepared to shoot for the week using one camera, one lens, one file format (DNG), and one metering method, classic-center weighted.  In six days of shooting, I exposed ~1,100 frames, and only had three throw-aways in the batch, all operator errors.  The M10 is a worthy successor to the Leica M digital throne, but let me give you more details to back that statement.

    At risk of oversimplifying the technical aspects of photography, there are a few fundamentals that if you don’t get them right, you will not get a good picture.  The first of these is exposure, too much or too little light, and you have no image or no detail to work with.  I am pleased to report that the classic, off-the-shutter, center-weighted metering on the M10 is reliable, controllable, repeatable, and predictable, as it is on all the other M digitals except my copy of the M262.  I was happy enough with the results that I did not exercise the evaluative or spot meter options that operate through Live View.  One interesting “feature” of metering is that if you turn the camera on with the cap on the lens, then take the cap off, it lags a few tenths of a second before it adjusts to the correct exposure.  This caused me to take some very over-exposed shots during my test trials before the vacation.  My remedy – using a Leica E49 UVa on the Summilux like a clear lens cap, and leave the actual lens cap in my pocket.  As soon as I clicked on the power, the metering was settling in on the correct value immediately, and no more overexposed shots due to metering lag.  I would also like to share a little bit of subjective input on the exposure latitude of the DNG files processed in Lightroom.  Pushing and pulling the files to look at details in the highlight and shadow areas of mixed-lighting pictures, I find I get around +/- 2 stops of flexibility before I start to lose detail and color saturation.  This is a little less than the M240/M262 generation, but still what I would consider generous.

    The second key enabler for photography is focus, or at least controlling focus.  I found the optical rangefinder to be spot on, and pleasant to use with a little extra room around the 28mm frame lines.  I did use Live View both with the on-camera screen and the Visoflex 020.  Live View is useful for composing, but a little less certain for my focusing needs.  I found the focus peaking to be noisy and a bit misleading at room lighting and below intensity levels, so I turned that feature off.  Another handling observation, it would be good to differentiate the lens release button feel from the focus assist button on the front of the camera.  With the grip attached, I hit the release button more than once and wondered why focus assist did not come up.

    Sensitivity is the third enabler I would like to discuss.  During two pre-vacation test runs, I had the chance to try the camera from base ISO all the way to 50,000 maximum ISO.  I found 50,000 ISO had streaking in the dark areas and 32,000 ISO had color fleck noise.  ISO 25,000 was clean of artifacts, if a little reduced in fine-detail resolution.  I programmed the M setting on my ISO dial to 25,000 and have not changed it since.  Now, call me a little lazy, but I would say for 80% of the photos I shot on vacation, I set the camera to Auto ISO, Max ISO 6,400, Max Shutter 1/60 sec.  The camera did a very good job of floating the ISO higher when needed, and the files from base to 6,400 were all very pleasing and usable.  Chalk this combination up for two to three stops of improvement in maximum usable ISO over prior M digitals.

    Color Palette is the final foundational enabler to capturing an image, and the M10 scored well here too.  Realizing this is a function of the image capture chip, firmware, and post-processing software, it takes a real chain of successes to deliver good color.  Starting with the chip, so long as you expose within the aforementioned +/- 2 stops latitude, the information in the image file will be good.  I found automatic white balance equivalent to the M240-series cameras, something that I can work well with in Lightroom, so no issues there.  If I had to summarize the M10 palette, it reminds me most of VPS, Vericolor Professional Type III, from the 1980’s.  Good colors with tons of tonal range.  This chip and camera has the potential for being a portrait monster!  (I’ll calm down now.)

    Now that I’ve provided discussion on the imaging potential of the M10, allow me to redirect into the practical aspects of its use.  Battery life is not an issue for me – there, I said it.  I had some anxiety going on vacation with one camera, one battery charge per day, but found I never used over 20% of capacity in any one day.  Caveating that I do not use image review, something I learned on the M-D 262, I extrapolate that I should be able to get nearly 1,000 images per charge.  An average day of snapping is 200-300 shots for me, so one battery is plenty.  Actually, if I had owned two batteries, I could have skipped bringing my charger altogether, something I would never actually do.  Will I buy a spare BP-SCL5?  Yes, but I don’t feel it is as urgent now, and certainly not worth paying over MSRP.

    Let’s talk about size and grip next.  As many have said, the body feels like an M7, which means that one of the larger Summilux or Noctilux lenses will feel front-heavy and a little clumsy in normal configuration.  A camera show friend showed me the grip on his M10 + Noctilux and I immediately saw the benefit.  I purchased the Leica grip and used it with the 28/1.4 all week long.  Your right hand’s position relative to the center of gravity (CG) changes just enough to make it all a very balanced-feeling set-up.  Some have questioned why the extra depth for the Leica grip, why not just the depth of the standard baseplate.  I see two benefits to the Leica design, one is that the grip attaches to the tripod socket, a much stronger attachment than the standard baseplate lock points, and you get an extra pinky’s worth of height, allowing all four fingers to rest on the grip when needed.  If you use the faster, heavier Leica glass, buy the grip.  You won’t regret it.

    Knobs, buttons, and controls come next.  I really like the 2-position on/off concentric switch around the shutter release.  Very easy and very positive to use and to know how it is set.  Very much like the M7, although I think the CNC grooves on the switch are a little sharper than on the M7 as I started to wear a new callous on my index finger.  The shutter release is standard three-position off/meter/release you would feel on any of the metered Leica M’s.  Very usable and predictable.  The shutter speed dial holds no surprises or issues, and the same can be said for the frame preview lever.  The ISO set is an interesting design, and I am sold on the idea of up-position when making regular changes, down-position locked when those changes are less necessary.  The M-D 262 implementation may be a little quicker to use as you don’t have to shift your grip to make the change, but the M10 is usable as well.  Now, I would like to mention two tiny annoyances in all the buttons and controls.  The set wheel under the thumb bump on the back is easy to accidentally bump, which is a problem if you set exposure compensation to this control alone.  I made this mistake three or four times before I went looking in the menus to disabling this way of setting exposure compensation.  Now I use front-button + thumb control wheel.  The other tiny annoyance is that the focus peak and lens release button are the same shape, size, and feel, and when you’re fumbling with a new camera body in the dark using a portrait orientation with the grip, you may find yourself pushing the wrong button.  No comments required on the remainder of the buttons on the back, they do what they are intended to do, and do those functions well.

   So, what’s on my wish list for the M11, or maybe M-10P?  Here’s a list:

1.     May we have the strap rub top plate inserts back please?

2.     Consider revising the lens release button to having a small recess in the center like on the M6.  This will give it a tactile differentiation from the focus button.

3.     Ship the camera with two batteries, raise the price $195, and eliminate this source of new ownership irritation.

4.     Sapphire screens are nice for those buying a camera to last a lifetime.  For those planning on upgrading to the M11, gorilla glass plus the Leica screen film will last you for the three to four year product life cycle.

5.     Expand the scope of delivery on the professional models.  Add a second battery, grip, and maybe thumb-rest, the latter two engraved with the body’s serial number to make a set.

6.     Maybe a tiny tweak to the firmware on the meter settling algorithm and focus peaking algorithm in low light.

   Thank you for your patience in reading nearly 2,000 words of impressions.  I like this camera a lot, and heavens forbid if I had to have just one digital Leica, this would likely be it, at least for the next few years until the M11 is released.

 

Eric

 

P.S.  Why the click-bait title?  I did note a hair on my chip which showed up for a couple of images, then worked it way loose, only to show up again 500 images later, again for only a couple of images before the shutter motion worked it loose.  I don't think we need shaker-chips like various other DSLR implementations include, as that would negate the depth benefit of the M10.

Hi!

Pls. provide some picture of M 28 f1.4 on M10! I i tend to get this len for my M10!

Thanks!

[jaapv]

Thanks for the detailed review.

One caveat - it's best not to use a UV, or any, filter in front of Leica glass. Leica says as much. If you can avoid it.

You don't need to protect the front lens. It's durable. And can always be serviced if scratched.

Think about it - a ~$100 cover in front of a multi-thousand $ lens is not advisable for picture quality.

This is quite controversial in internet discussions but in real life the image degradation ranges from not measurable to unnoticable.

 

Be aware that "servicing" a scratched front element of a Leica lens comes with a serious price tag running up to over 1000 Euro on some lenses. 

 

The real negative effect of filters is flare and reflections, which is eliminated to a large extent with present-day ultra-thin and nano-coated protective filters by B+W and Heliopan. So take the filter off in extreme light conditions if you like.

 

Plus, as Pico said, this is about the M10, and not about the lens.

[enboe]

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Not trying to keep an old thread afloat, I did want to offer a link to data that was not available at the time of my original posting.  LensRentals has performed a transmission test on a wide range of filters, with the data being shown here:  https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/06/the-comprehensive-ranking-of-the-major-uv-filters-on-the-market/.  Bottom line, the new Leica UVa II was at the top with 99.9% transmission.  Of course nothing can escape Snell's law, and when you reach the critical angle, light will reflect, but I have not seen that effect except in the rarest of occasions.

 

Off to vacation, wish me luck shooting.

 

Eric

[tonyniev]

Not trying to keep an old thread afloat, I did want to offer a link to data that was not available at the time of my original posting.  LensRentals has performed a transmission test on a wide range of filters, with the data being shown here:  https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/06/the-comprehensive-ranking-of-the-major-uv-filters-on-the-market/.  Bottom line, the new Leica UVa II was at the top with 99.9% transmission.  Of course nothing can escape Snell's law, and when you reach the critical angle, light will reflect, but I have not seen that effect except in the rarest of occasions.

 

Off to vacation, wish me luck shooting.

 

Eric

Thanks for UVa filter recommendation. I always had filters in all my other lenses, was thinking of not using on the Summarit 50, but this thread convnce otherwise. Ordered filter today plus lcd protector.

 

I got my M10 last Thrusday evening and twice I started shooting with lens cap on and had to wait for 30 sec noise reduction plus long shutter time :-)

 

Yesterday when I switched back from 28 to 50 I did not notice that I had not turn the lens enough so all my shots were out of focus, lesson learned.

[OR120]

Hi!

Pls. provide some picture of M 28 f1.4 on M10! I i tend to get this len for my M10!

Thanks!

 

just commenting on your review ----

skip the gorilla glass degrade request

and- thank you very much for sharing your test drive --- very helpful to me

[phongph]

just commenting on your review ----

skip the gorilla glass degrade request

and- thank you very much for sharing your test drive --- very helpful to me

Hi OR120!

I misunderstand your mean!

I really need the users to review or share the test of M 28 Lux 1.4 on M10.

I intend to get M 28 Lux to couple with my M Apo 50 & M Lux 75 for my M10!

Have a nice day!

Thanks!