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Leica M10-R: Review by Jonathan Slack


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@jonoslack as always, great review backed up by some truly wonderful photos.  I wanted to resist the camera, but you're making it very hard!

Incidentally, the first photo on your website review, entitled Penberth, might need correcting.  I don't think it was taken with the Monochrom 😳 but I really like the photo.  Wonderful colours, and brilliant focusing with a rangefinder.  I think I might have missed the critical focus on that one!

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in many cameras in the move to higher MegaPixel I find myself to shoot at 1/250 min shutter speed until IBIS came along .

Can anybody comment how it will be got M10R and M10M with no IBIS?

 

@Photoworks minimum 1/250 Sec, acceptable ISO @3200 according to a friend of mine he who hands-on M10-R yesterday.

My experience with Apo-Summicron-M 1:2/50 ASPH. mounted on M10 Monochrom is 1/180 Sec @ISO 800 got a clear shot.

FYR: on the M10-P, my highest record was 1/30 Sec @ISO 100/f6,8 and it would be relatively easy to manage(Manual mode) control shutter speed under 1/250 Sec in the low light scenario.

Edited by Erato
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1 hour ago, T25UFO said:

@jonoslack as always, great review backed up by some truly wonderful photos.  I wanted to resist the camera, but you're making it very hard!

Incidentally, the first photo on your website review, entitled Penberth, might need correcting.  I don't think it was taken with the Monochrom 😳 but I really like the photo.  Wonderful colours, and brilliant focusing with a rangefinder.  I think I might have missed the critical focus on that one!

Thank you ! it's possible it wasn't taken with a Monochrom (and it certainly wasn't taken in Penberth!). I use Muse for the website, and copy a previous page to make the next one (easier with all the anchoring etc. sorted). But there's always a danger of making a mistake, and if there's a hole to fall into I can manage! (like billy-0h)

 

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On 7/16/2020 at 4:00 PM, wlaidlaw said:

Jono, 

Any thoughts on the reason for the vignetting? Has the chamber tighter dimensions than earlier M cameras or are the now very small micro lenses just less effective? As principally a wide angle user, this is of some concern to me. 

Wilson

 

HI Wilson

I'm really not sure, but I don't think you should be worrying about it, the difference is small, it's easy to fix, and any noise in the corners should easily be compensated for with the extra resolution

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On 7/16/2020 at 4:39 PM, jjb said:

Hello Jono:

Your review is succinct and thoughtful, and very helpful!  Excellent photos too!  Were you shooting an “early” firmware, or the final version?   
 

 

Hi, yes, early firmware, although I just got a camera with the final version. 

PS I very much like to be considered succinct and thoughtful. . . . although I'm not certain that's how everyone would describe me!

Edited by jonoslack
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Thank you Jonathan, for your nice review as always.

I use M10P right now. I work mostly with newspaper work but on my time off I'll do some landscape photography. Maybe I'm old school, and I'm also shoot analog, but think about what you do with your pictures after you put them on instagram, twitter or facebook. I don't see any progress in quality on Jonathans pictures on my screen when I look at them from my M10P. If I'd printed the pictures I'm sure there would be some difference but not now. That sade, I might buy the P- version 😊

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On 7/16/2020 at 3:57 PM, Jeff S said:

Thanks for all feedback, Jono.... much appreciated!

It seems that you have a more positive reaction to the M10-R vis a vis the M10 than you did comparing the SL2 to the SL. You seem to have really bonded with the SL, including its controls, so maybe the SL2’s extra resolution wasn’t as much of an attraction. At least that’s my reading between the lines!

Jeff

Ah, yes well, hmm! It's perhaps worth mentioning that I've had the M10r longer than I had the SL2 before it was released. 

Since the review I've fallen solidly in love with the SL2, and my SL has gone to the best new home. 

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On 7/16/2020 at 4:49 PM, Louis said:

Hello there, Jono,

As always, great review of an incredible camera.

Now that you are done with serious stuff; are you going to be busy with a new CL? ;)

Kind regards,

Louis 

Hi there Louis - thank you - I'd love to be busy with a CL2 but I need to be sent one first!

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On 7/16/2020 at 5:09 PM, LocalHero1953 said:

Thank you for the enlightening review, Jono. As always you just happen to address those issues I'm interested in and don't waste space on the issues I'm not! And, as always, illustrated by your superb colour compositions!

I'm unlikely to buy the M10R - attractive though it is, I don't think I can find space for it between the CL and the SL (where my M240 was squeezed out), but the M10R is a signpost to what to expect in the next Leica model upgrade, which I hope will be a CL2.

The improved highlight control is a really good step forward. Where does this come from, do you think? Is it to do with IR and UV elimination, or is it the higher 'photon capacity of the sensel' for want of a better phrase?

Did you see any sign of the impact of the new sensor and bigger image files on battery performance?

Hi There

thanks for the kind words, I'm not self confident about what I write, and it's lovely to get a bit of positive reinforcement!

I hope there will be a CL2 too

I'm not sure about the highlight control, it could have been that they made a mistake with the old sensor doing the 'pull', I don't think it's to do with IR or UV

The battery performance seems fine ( equivalent to the M10 )

All the best

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On 7/16/2020 at 6:11 PM, Bo-Sixten said:

Thanks Juno for your quick review of the M10R. Very good reporting as always. Appreciated as we are all very anxious to learn how M10R performs. Have you done any comparison on how it matches the M10M in a BW conversion?

Well, yes, I have done comparisons, but it's hard to quantify. For me, the ability to convert on different channels is more valuable than the extra resolution the M10-M certainly gives. But that's just me!

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On 7/16/2020 at 6:29 PM, roma said:

Thank you for the review Jono!

A quick question. How does the Leica DNG file pre-cooking on the M10-R compare to M240 files vs the original M10 files. I'm probably not in the majority here, but like the flatness of the M240 files more because I can do more tweaking with them than I can with the M10 files.

To me, the M10 files, while trying to look more like files from the M9, are too pre-baked out of the box to my liking.

Hi There

Well, I'd say that the M10-R files are just what you want - a bit flatter - more DR, excellent in post processing 

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7 hours ago, bert c said:

You're absolutely right! I've checked my batteries also ... all three are the 1100mAh version. So there is obvious some misinformation in the Leica M10|M10P specs pdf file on their website where the batteries are stated as 1300 mAh ...

Issue solved  🙂

Battery capacity varies with temperature so if you draw current from a fully charged battery at, say 23C, it will last longer than if you draw current from the same at, say 0C.  This is quite normal because all a Li-Ion battery does is produce current from chemical reactions and the chemical reactions are more efficient at warmer temperatures than they at lower temperatures.

The milli-Ampere-hour (mAh) rating is an estimate of the battery's capacity, which will change with temperature and age.  So a (nominal) 1300 mAh battery will produce, say, 1300 mA for an hour at 7.4 Volts at 23C but it will only be able to produce 1300 mA at 7.4 Volts for, say, 50 minutes at 0C.  (The important thing is actually to keep the voltage as close to 7.4 Volts as possible because that's the bit that's likely to cause the camera to go to sleep but, thanks to Ohms Law, as the capacity decreases the internal resistance of the battery decreases and the voltage inevitably drops.)

The difference in capacity between 1100 and 1300 mAh is really not a lot in real terms so Leica might choose to rate a (1300 mAh @ 23C battery) as "1100 mAh" so that the photographer isn't disappointed when using it at 0C rather than rating it at a nominal "1300 mAh".  The marketing department would much rather it was called 1300 mAh, which is probably why there's a discrepancy between spec sheets. (Anyone still awake? :lol:)

Apologies for the lengthy and rather 'dry' reply.

Pete.

Edited by farnz
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On 7/16/2020 at 8:33 PM, chris_tribble said:

Jono - thanks for the insights.  Chapeau!

Having just got the SL2 - and at last REALLY enjoying an L mount camera, how do you compare the SL2 sensor to the M10R's.  Are they equivalent to one another?  I have to say that I do like the files the SL2 produces... But I think I may have to wait a bit before stumping up for the M10R!

Hrumph - how do you do that kind of comparison, and if you do, how do you evaluate the results? I think they're fairly different, and I think that the SL2 makes a good companion to an M10. 

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22 hours ago, Tailwagger said:

Hi Jono... I'm curious around any thoughts you might have about keeping an M10 as a compliment. Finances and the obvious advantage of having multiple bodies aside, could you find  any significant reason(s) to retain the M10 along side the R?  I also didn't see any mention of the EVF.  Presumably all is pretty much as it has been, but I'm curious if you used it at all and if so, did you note any differences in low light performance or black out times, for example. 

Ugh - you've just hit my particular nail on the head - the M10 works well as a backup (because the operation is basically the same), but I guess that for me it would be just that. You're right - I didn't use the EVF, I don't believe that there are any changes 

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20 hours ago, HRJ said:

Jono

Great in depth review as per your usual balanced look. I hope you had a chance to see my images that were used for the Leica website and blog. Strangely, I seem to say more or less the same as you.

Best to you, Huw

www.palmant.com

 

Hi There Huw - I hadn't seen your Leica blog post, but I have seen it now! So many good photos . . . and then this:

 

he never goes looking for pictures: he simply observes; and if something catches his attention, he takes the picture.


We need to get together and talk sometime - First time thinking and Serendipity! 

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15 hours ago, bert c said:

Hello Jono. Thanks for sharing your review. 
I have a question on the battery life. Is this new M10.R less powerconsuming than the M10 | M10.P ? In the specs it seems to have a battery of [...] nominal voltage 7.4V, capacity 1100mAh [...] whereas the others have a larger capacity of 1300mAh ... 
Did you notice this difference working with the new M10.R ... did you have to change batteries sooner? 
In advance, thanks for your reply. 
Bert | NL

Hi Bert

I have to confess I didn't do a big test, but my instinct is that there isn't any difference

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