How do I enjoy my M240 more?

[petecarr]

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I have a Leica Q and M240 as my travel cameras. I could use my Nikon Z setup but I prefer the size of the Leica gear. But every time I go away I struggle with the M240. I’m not quick to focus with it. The preview images are seriously bad and you can’t really check the focus on them. I often wish I could disable the screen so I don’t have the temptation to check it and annoy me. I just don’t feel like I’m having fun. So yesterday I put the M240 away and just stuck to the Q and had fun. 

Maybe I’m fighting between two ways of working? I often think I should put the Q away for a while and focus on the M240 but it seems nuts to shelf a £3000 camera when it’s *such* a good camera. 

Before I had the Q I had a Fuji X100s and loved it to bits. One camera. One focal length. It made me feel like I was Joel Meyerowitz on the streets of New York. Silly but such fun. The Q is my most used camera for this decade. The M240 was bought with some money my dad left me so I feel obligated to enjoy it but it’s been 2 years now and I’m not sure I am. 

How do I enjoy it more? I’m travelling now in the Netherlands and would love to have some fun with it.

[LocalHero1953]

If you don't enjoy it, then don't use it, and sell it. There's nothing which says you have to enjoy it. If you enjoy the Q but want interchangeable lenses (and a red dot), then look at the CL (smaller, lighter, better for travelling with, but APS-C, if that worries you) or SL (larger, heavier, especially the lenses, but full frame).

Edited December 30, 2019 by LocalHero1953

[steamboat]

You did exactly the opposite of what you should have done. Put the Q away and just use the M240. Focusing does take a while but only by using will you get familiar with it. I think the M240 is a swell camera and well worth using. Try using it on the "A" setting so you can concentrate on focusing. Let the camera do a bit of the work. When I step out the backdoor I have it set on A. That gives me a quick read and I set accordingly. If it says 1/250th I usually go to 1/360 or 1/500. The previews look better that way. Oh, and be sure you are shooting in RAW. That way you can fix exposure problems easily in Photoshop. Good luck and USE that M240. 🙂

[marchyman]

Another option: take the Q out of auto focus mode.  Use it with manual focus for a while.  I'll bet you'll soon get comfortable with manual focus regardless of the camera used.   You can switch the Q to auto-focus those times you feel it's really needed.  In my case those times are rare.

[lct]

EVF and LV mode in general are sluggish on the M240. Better use this camera in RF mode for general photography and reserve LV mode for studio works and/or tripod photography. Just my opinion though as some photogs around me don't feel frustrated when using the M240 in LV mode at all...

[Peter Kilmister]

Make a point of smiling when you use the camera.

[Ko.Fe.]

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9 hours ago, petecarr said:

I have a Leica Q and M240 as my travel cameras. I could use my Nikon Z setup but I prefer the size of the Leica gear. But every time I go away I struggle with the M240. I’m not quick to focus with it. The preview images are seriously bad and you can’t really check the focus on them. I often wish I could disable the screen so I don’t have the temptation to check it and annoy me. I just don’t feel like I’m having fun. So yesterday I put the M240 away and just stuck to the Q and had fun. 

Maybe I’m fighting between two ways of working? I often think I should put the Q away for a while and focus on the M240 but it seems nuts to shelf a £3000 camera when it’s *such* a good camera. 

Before I had the Q I had a Fuji X100s and loved it to bits. One camera. One focal length. It made me feel like I was Joel Meyerowitz on the streets of New York. Silly but such fun. The Q is my most used camera for this decade. The M240 was bought with some money my dad left me so I feel obligated to enjoy it but it’s been 2 years now and I’m not sure I am. 

How do I enjoy it more? I’m travelling now in the Netherlands and would love to have some fun with it.

I have seen people who can't use RF focusing. Did you used RF before M240? If not, it might be not your thing at all.

 

Also, it is never mentioned but Leica M is good scale focus camera as well.

Unfortunately, you can't use Q this way. The focus scale on it, focus throw in MF is to short for common distances.  

 

On M it also depends which lens is on M and what for it is in use. 

If lens has no focus tab, it might still happen. But tabless lens is  more for tourist photography. Stand still, point it to your still object, try to find where to focus with RF or at DOF scale. Of course any AF camera will beat it and EVF will do.

But if you take pictures fast and on moving objects... then funny thing starting to happen. AF, EVF are no good any more. But lens with focus tab on M does it. 

[Richardgb]

Use the camera you enjoy. This is the only criteria - you will get better pictures that way and you won't be worrying about this or that.

The M is an acquired taste. Yes, it does take time to get used to the rangefinder and its metering system, and with that accomplished the results are naturally good - but this does not negate the first point. The camera should be part of you so you don't have to 'think' how to use it any more than you have to 'think' how to pick up something. Camera makers in the past, e.g. Rollei and Hasselblad, concentrated on the ergonomics, and today camera reviews typically talk about how button placement should feel natural so that their operation becomes instinctive.

So, yes by all means try and learn how to get the best out of the M, but it is as it were your servant not your master.

[Peter Kilmister]

Manual focus is the most natural thing since yeast turned grape juice into wine. Your brain uses manual focus. You focus on what your mind chooses to see. 

There is nothing difficult about learning to use a manual focus camera. You have almost certainly done things much harder than this in your life and survived. Learning to stand up without falling, walking, reading, writing, counting, riding a bicycle, arithmetic, driving, swimming, skiing. Take it in context and realise that sometimes you have to get it wrong in order to get it right.

Rangefinders were developed for accurate naval gunnery. The principle is the same as deciding whether to look at your feet , the end of the garden, or the horizon. Two eyes focus on one point. A rangefinder uses two 'eyes' and you wiggle the lens focus dial until both 'eyes' see the same thing. The stronger the light the greater the depth of field.

Just keep smiling and it is all so much easier ... and enjoyable.

[Guest Nowhereman]

petecarr - Seems you've simply have too many cameras. How serious is your interest in photography, as opposed in your interest in different cameras? Which camera do you have the best pictures from? Shooting with too many cameras, or too many lenses, can be detrimental to your photography.
________________________
Frog Leaping photobook

[jaeger]

You don't enjoy M because you haven't master your RF focus skills yet.  Try diopter and/or magnifier to enhance the speed and accuracy, at the time you might figure some new skills.   

Edited December 31, 2019 by jaeger

[LocalHero1953]

33 minutes ago, jaeger said:

You don't enjoy M because you haven't master your RF focus skills yet.  Try diopter and/or magnifier to enhance the speed and accuracy, at the time you might figure some new skills.   

Therefore, don't try to master RF focus skills, just go with the camera that allows you to develop your photographic skills instead. A rangefinder is a means to an end, not an end in itself. So is AF.

(All in a sentiment of light hearted seasonal banter).

Edited December 31, 2019 by LocalHero1953

[jaeger]

23 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Therefore, don't try to master RF focus skills, just go with the camera that allows you to develop your photographic skills instead. A rangefinder is a means to an end, not an end in itself. So is AF.

(All in a sentiment of light hearted seasonal banter).

that's what the millennials say.  it's ok you have your say I have mine.  No need to disagree with me, watch your blood pressure.

[pedaes]

6 minutes ago, jaeger said:

that's what the millennials say.  it's ok you have your say I have mine.  No need to disagree with me, watch your blood pressure.

Sentiment missed?

[jaeger]

35 minutes ago, pedaes said:

Sentiment missed?

it's not productive.

[petecarr]

On 12/30/2019 at 8:14 PM, Peter Kilmister said:

Make a point of smiling when you use the camera.

Ah the same cure for my depression.

[petecarr]

On 12/30/2019 at 8:33 PM, Ko.Fe. said:

 

I have seen people who can't use RF focusing. Did you used RF before M240? If not, it might be not your thing at all.

 

 

I have an M6 as well. I found it to be different but not too off putting. 

[petecarr]

On 12/31/2019 at 12:40 AM, Nowhereman said:

petecarr - Seems you've simply have too many cameras. How serious is your interest in photography, as opposed in your interest in different cameras? Which camera do you have the best pictures from? Shooting with too many cameras, or too many lenses, can be detrimental to your photography.
________________________
Frog Leaping photobook

I’m a professional photographer. It’s been paying the bills for 10 years and a passion for over 15.  Nikon’s for client work. Leicas for personal work. I try to keep things simple to avoid confusion and mental debate. Leica Q is my 28mm prime lens. Leica M240 with a 50 is used mostly like that for a different perspective but I try and use it like a fixed lens camera. 
 

I use all my cameras in full manual mode. I prefer to control things not the camera. 
 

I just feel like I’m missing something or doing it wrong on the M240. You hear about the benefits of slowing down but I’m not getting them. I would love to slow down, relax and disconnect from the digital world some days. 

[ravinj]

Disclaimer: I am not a pro.

Good thing is you are enjoying the Q. The "problem" is that the Q is such a competent camera. I doubt if you are doing anything wrong with your M, but if you say the preview images are hard to judge then I would disagree - at least for me, the images on M240 LCD when zoomed in show all the details. As for focus speed - try pre-focus, both eyes open then take shot when subject enters the frame. This may help nail more shots to start with.

I used to own the Q (now have the Q2) and still own the M240. I do feel that Q is some ways and Q2 is many ways makes the M240 redundant at times.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Ko.Fe.]

7 hours ago, petecarr said:

I have an M6 as well. I found it to be different but not too off putting. 

Have and Use isn't the same.