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Monochrom SL2-Who Would Buy?

jplomley

By jplomley
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jplomley

jplomley

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Sign me up! Loved my M9M, have an M10-R and SL2, thinking of adding the M10M, but I'm wondering what the probability might be we see a 47MP Monochrom sensor in the SL2 anytime soon? Personally, I would buy in a heartbeat for my landscape photography, over half of which I am already converting to B&W from the SL2. I can only imagine the resolution of such a sensor with the L primes! Please Leica, please.....don't stop at the M10M and Q2M.....

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Spodrasky

Spodrasky

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I would buy the SL2 Monochrom for sure. I am looking at the Q2 monochrom or the M10M for my street work. Change from the M10 since I shoot all my street photography black and white and with a 28 summicron. Not sure if I really need the resolution boost however for my street work. 

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Jon Warwick

Jon Warwick

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I love the tonality and other non-Bayer benefits of Leica’s Monochrom sensors. I also love the handling of my SL2 and tier one image quality of my SL Summicron prime. Personally I won’t buy an M10M, because I’m still hoping (rightly or wrongly) for a Monochrom SL2, which for all those reasons would probably become the best camera I’ve ever owned. So yes, 100%, I’d be thrilled if it was ever launched. For my use it would be for city architecture  and landscapes.

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justru49

justru49

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vor 5 Stunden schrieb XRayGuy:

I would jump at an SL2 Monochrom.  I love my M10M and can only imagine what you could do with that kind of sensor performance paired with the SL Summicrons.  Now that they have prepped the sensor with the Q2M it feels like they are so close....

+1

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Jeff S

Jeff S

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Leica has set the stage for a SL2 Mono by blacking out the logo on the SL2-S. Now, cosmetically, they merely need to delete the red dot.

As I mentioned in the SL2-S thread, a Monochrom version might tempt me for landscapes and such, as the majority of my work is already b&w. But the counter argument for me is that the SL2 conversions are already superb, and adding more gear would create more choices, at a time when I’m more inclined to simplify and follow the less-is-more approach.  
 

On the M side, I have the M10 and M Monochrom.  But I never shoot with both on the same outing.  The Monochrom is as much or more about mindset and process as about IQ differences.  I walk around with one or the other, no bag.   But when I’m shooting with the SL2, I often work out of my car, packing 2 zooms and the SL75, then hiking from there (urban ‘landscapes’ are covered with my M). The SL2 has become my more jack-of-all-trades tool, color and b/w, bad weather, etc. Unlike with the M Monochrom, I think I’d base my decision more on IQ differences than b/w process mindset.  Given that I don’t make huge prints, the benefits would have to be demonstrated. Meanwhile, my results are only limited by me.

Jeff

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johnbuckley

johnbuckley

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I’m with Jeff. I’ve had all three Monochroms and I find myself using the M10 Monochrom as much, if not more, than the M10-R. I use the Monochrom in sprees, in particular weather, for certain predetermined settings. It is an attitude, a mindset, as well as a tool. I go out of the house with black and white in mind and the Monochrom over my shoulder. But that’s not the way I use my SL2.

I use my SL2 principally for landscapes - including urban landscapes. I seldom go out into the wild with with SL2 thinking in terms of black and white. Instead, I may know, even as I’m shooting, that I’m going to convert the image to black and white.  (And as Jeff says, the b&w conversions of SL2 images are wonderful.) But my SL2 is a jack-of-all-trades, and for that I want the option of color or black and white.

I’ve just spent three weeks taking my M10 Monochrom out on DC streets almost every day. This past summer, in Covid escape to Wyoming, when the clouds were huge in the sky, I would rush from my home with my Monochrom in hand, and the SL2 either left behind or in a bag. Alternatively, when going out to explore the environment in good light and weather, I’d reach for the SL2 and all its possibilities. 
 

Sebastiao Salgado should shoot with an SL Monochrom (or S Monochrom.) But I think I can say - never say never? - not me.

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Jeff S

Jeff S

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59 minutes ago, johnbuckley said:

Instead, I may know, even as I’m shooting, that I’m going to convert the image to black and white.  (And as Jeff says, the b&w conversions of SL2 images are wonderful.) But my SL2 is a jack-of-all-trades, and for that I want the option of color or black and white.

 

We differ here. I shoot b&w with intent, regardless of camera, almost always knowing in advance that I’m making a b&w pic (and print if worthy). It’s not an occasional thing. I like having the color option with the SL2 as well, but that’s similarly deliberate, albeit much less frequent. The majority are still b&w, by design. My habits and way of seeing were long ingrained with film and darkroom.  Digital gave me the option for color, but didn’t change my intent from picture to picture. The difference with the Monochrom (I use the original MM) is that there is no choice, and that creates a more singular mindset without being distracted by color.

Jeff

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Arrow

Arrow

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I use the SL2 for digitalising b&w negatives. Would be fun to try out an SL2M for that purpose :) I surely would not buy it only for that application. Like others have already mentioned, I quite like b&w conversions from color sensors. With digital, I do not see a significant difference or tremendous aesthetic advantage of a digital monochrome sensor over a color one. Shooting b&w film alongside digital, including hybrid processing, is a more significant alternative for me providing best of booth worlds options.

 

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markforce

markforce

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On 12/9/2020 at 4:48 AM, Spodrasky said:

I would buy the SL2 Monochrom for sure. I am looking at the Q2 monochrom or the M10M for my street work. Change from the M10 since I shoot all my street photography black and white and with a 28 summicron. Not sure if I really need the resolution boost however for my street work. 

Mind sharing some of your street work? Just for some inspiration.

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hillavoider

hillavoider

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1 hour ago, Arrow said:

I use the SL2 for digitalising b&w negatives. Would be fun to try out an SL2M for that purpose :) I surely would not buy it only for that application. Like others have already mentioned, I quite like b&w conversions from color sensors. With digital, I do not see a significant difference or tremendous aesthetic advantage of a digital monochrome sensor over a color one. Shooting b&w film alongside digital, including hybrid processing, is a more significant alternative for me providing best of booth worlds options.

 

Agree totally 

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Jon Warwick

Jon Warwick

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5 hours ago, Arrow said:

I use the SL2 for digitalising b&w negatives. Would be fun to try out an SL2M for that purpose :) I surely would not buy it only for that application. Like others have already mentioned, I quite like b&w conversions from color sensors. With digital, I do not see a significant difference or tremendous aesthetic advantage of a digital monochrome sensor over a color one. Shooting b&w film alongside digital, including hybrid processing, is a more significant alternative for me providing best of booth worlds options.

 

It’s an interesting point. In my case, i think I do see better tonality of greys off a Monochrom sensor vs color conversions, and it will likely push me in the direction of an SL2 Monochrom if it was released, but admittedly think the general digital aesthetics are more similar than they are poles apart, and that both colour and Monochrom digitals have a quite different aesthetic versus 35mm film specifically. When one goes increasingly bigger in size of film formats, I find they tend to look more like the digitals due to higher resolution and less grain masking any of the details. This thought came to a fore recently for me when I was sorting out some family photos taken around 1900. I assume the photos are directly off large plates (some photos are c 12” x 8”, and presumably with zero enlargement factor in those days). Resolution is soooooo high on these old photos that it feels like it’s more than the eye would naturally see, and the print is complete free of any grain .....aesthetically these old images look digital to me for those reasons. It’s made me reconsider my personal view of what aesthetics mean in photography, and how there is an example of the very most “analogue” process of around 1900 (using plates and zero loss from enlargement factor) looking aesthetically to my eyes exactly like it was taken off a modern day digital!!

 

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FlashGordonPhotography

FlashGordonPhotography

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19 hours ago, Jeff S said:

We differ here. I shoot b&w with intent, regardless of camera, almost always knowing in advance that I’m making a b&w pic (and print if worthy). It’s not an occasional thing. I like having the color option with the SL2 as well, but that’s similarly deliberate, albeit much less frequent. The majority are still b&w, by design. My habits and way of seeing were long ingrained with film and darkroom.  Digital gave me the option for color, but didn’t change my intent from picture to picture. The difference with the Monochrom (I use the original MM) is that there is no choice, and that creates a more singular mindset without being distracted by color.

Jeff

A really nice explanation here and one I also share.

Gordon

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