Leica M10 Mono for Astronomy?

[mmalik]

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I come from astro imaging background and have done extensive imaging with Sony alpha (a7S and alike) cameras. I am new to Leica and wanted to explore Leica M10 mono for astronomy but was quite disappointed to learn it can't take long exposures (...3-5 minutes or longer). Is that true? If yes, why would Leica do that? Why offer a mono camera and then hobble it? I am at a loss learning this at the outset of my discovery into Leica. Is this on purpose to keep Astro use out of Leica? What would be the logic? What would be the reason? Please elaborate if you know and if you can shed some light on this critical matter. Thanks in advance. Regards

[jaapv]

No Leica camera will do long exposure. Leica finds the image deterioration unacceptable. Additionally, due to the legacy construction, Leica M cameras would run into heat management trouble. It has led to long and fruitless discussions in the forum.

[mmalik]

So if I understand correctly, Leica M10 mono is NOT suitable for long exposure astro, correct? Can you please provide the link to those astronomy discussions? Has anyone attempted long exposure astronomy on this camera? What were the results? Is it correct to assume Leica M10 mono is NO GO for astro? Regards

[jaapv]

The forum has a search function. Some people do use M cameras for star trails, some may even do some limited astro work with much ingenuity but in general these cameras are not designed for this use.

[mmradman]

Try downloading full specification or manual, both are freely available, try Leica website.  It will inform you on maximum exposure time and corresponding ISO value, it is usually longest at base ISO and progressively decreases as ISO goes up.

A while back I used SL601 which could expose up to 30minutes with obligatory black frame subtraction effectively doubling time between two successive exposures, I think SL mk2 improved on this. Back to M, M10 series improves over M240 in this respect, I think M246 can do 1 minute max in Auto Exp mode.

What are the exposure times used in Astro-photography, minutes, hours, longer?

[jaapv]

This might be of some help:

https://clarkvision.com/articles/astrophotography.and.exposure/

[digger1914]

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AFAIK both the M10 M and M10 R have longer maximum exposures than other M10s.  You should ask your question in the Monochrome forum, as the people there will certainly know 

Edited November 24, 2020 by digger1914

[John Miranda]

For wide field, say 50mm, my Leica M10M does great with foreground and the Milky Way above, especially as you can get lenses with say f1.2 (Voight at $1k) and get decent exposures in 10 seconds or so that minimize star trails on a fixed tripod.  The M10R does pretty well too.  If you are into B&W photography beyond astro imaging, the M10M is a really enjoyable camera, but for just astro-imaging, I would think there may be better options that let you free up money for other things such as a better motorized mount / platform, etc. 

[dkmoore]

On 11/24/2020 at 12:40 PM, jaapv said:

No Leica camera will do long exposure. Leica finds the image deterioration unacceptable. Additionally, due to the legacy construction, Leica M cameras would run into heat management trouble. It has led to long and fruitless discussions in the forum.

M10 Mono has 16 minute exposure. For most applications I would think that is adequate. 
 

Maybe not if you are trying to do time lapse, etc. 

[Mikep996]

Heck, I couldn't even come up with an adapter for an M10/Questar scope so I just kept using the Nikon DSLR for that...   I agree with the comments - it's just not an optimum camera for that purpose.  HOWEVER, you can use a shutter release cable and lock the shutter open/unlock whenever to get any long-exposure that you want.  I used to do that in the "old days" for star trails and such...