Which older Monochrome to get for high iso low light landscape?

[Besprosvet]

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58 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Never choose CCD for high ISO. As @Jeff S said, M10M is still the queen of monochrom high ISO, but M246 is also acceptable. There will be *some* banding at 10.000 ISO, but still much better than the original Monochrom.

Three M246s (two from my fellow photographers who upgraded to M10M) have just sold for 3000 euros. The fourth is still available for that sum.
 

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Hi, I already got one. But out of curiosity do you have a link for that one? Or maybe you posted it and I can't see it since the forum looks a bit funny from the phone 

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[Besprosvet]

Hello guys, is there any way I can check the actuations of my Leica M?

[a.noctilux]

10 hours ago, Besprosvet said:

Hello guys, is there any way I can check the actuations of my Leica M?

Not "easily" possible with M246.

[Besprosvet]

11 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

Not "easily" possible with M246.

It's something possible only at Leica stores?

[a.noctilux]

3 hours ago, Besprosvet said:

It's something possible only at Leica stores?

Or ask in the Leica Store if they can do.

Lately, only sending to Wetzlar was (is) the only way to know the magic number.

As the M246 allow using liveview, the magic number "would" be wrong if counting LV actuations.

[Besprosvet]

21 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

Or ask in the Leica Store if they can do.

Lately, only sending to Wetzlar was (is) the only way to know the magic number.

As the M246 allow using liveview, the magic number "would" be wrong if counting LV actuations.

I read that using color filters gives focusing shift since the wavelenghts involved are different. I was planning to shoot some environmental black and white portraiture wide open with a simple red filter (not deep red, for now), is there any way to fix this (like special filters that correct also the diopters) or any other solution?

[Ouroboros]

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Curious as why anyone would want to photograph landscapes at iso 6500- 10000 and then use noise reduction software to try to improve the output.

 

 

[a.noctilux]

43 minutes ago, Besprosvet said:

I read that using color filters gives focusing shift since the wavelenghts involved are different. I was planning to shoot some environmental black and white portraiture wide open with a simple red filter (not deep red, for now), is there any way to fix this (like special filters that correct also the diopters) or any other solution?

Now that you have the camera, just use it (= stop reading stuff ...), then judge from the results.

 

Red filter that I use can behave differently with different lenses.

Apo corrected lenses can give far less focus shift than normal lenses.

[Besprosvet]

1 hour ago, a.noctilux said:

Now that you have the camera, just use it (= stop reading stuff ...), then judge from the results.

 

Red filter that I use can behave differently with different lenses.

Apo corrected lenses can give far less focus shift than normal lenses.

I just can't wait to have it (is not home yet!), I wanted to spend the weekend roaming around with it, but delivery is late since I live in a "remote area", according to UPS at least.

[a.noctilux]

Yes Capri is remote area, but so nice place.

With which lens it will be used?

[Besprosvet]

Just now, a.noctilux said:

Yes Capri is remote area, but so nice place.

With which lens it will be used?

Have you been here?

Lenses wise: for now the 7artisan 35mm 1.4, I can calibrate it myself with a small screwdriver and... and I found it used in mint condition for 250 euro shipping included, fairly good price. It's already home. On the downside I can tell it's pretty heavy and build quality is just ok (my Pentax 55mm 1.8 manual focus ring is way more enjoyable to use).

Then I hope next week is going to come home the Jupiter-12 with the adapter, I wanted something more easygoing and light to carry my camera while going out on grocery shopping without overthinking about lens performance etc... Also, for zone focusing at f8 I don't need a heavy and protruding 1.4 lens

I'm looking also for a 50mm and a 28mm. For the former I'm torn between the Jupiter-3 and the Canon 50mm 1.8 (some people say it often has haze, Idk). The latter it may be the Industar 28mm 2.8, because with flash portraiture at high iso at night that heavy vignetting may look good. I can gamble 2/30ish euro on that, just in case it's not going to be a big loss, I'd just resell it.

The first period is going to be getting to know the rangefinder taking the Monochrom everywhere I go (like I do with the X100V) then, maybe next year, I'll get some more serious Leica/Voigt/Zeiss stuff if it's the case

[a.noctilux]

No never been to Capri, but heard since so long "Capri c'est fini" ( popular song of 1970's) and I've seen so many images that I can say it would be nice to live there.

Many times, I saw Capri from far, ferry to Sicilia from Napoli.

 

About lenses:

- yes Canon LTM 1.8/50 that I have is prone to haze and not cleanable

- Jupiter 3 is not bad, I prefer J8 (f/2) but these light weight 50mm are not a joy in use, very "crude" even if the files are ok.

- I have some Takumar and SMC Takumar ( Fish-Eye 17mm to 300mm ! ) much better built and smooth, I think they are the closest to Leitz/Leica lenses rendering.

 

As examples here with Monochrom and 17mm Pentax

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

seen here

 

[ramarren]

On 10/29/2022 at 6:03 AM, Besprosvet said:

Have you been here?

Lenses wise: for now the 7artisan 35mm 1.4, I can calibrate it myself with a small screwdriver and... and I found it used in mint condition for 250 euro shipping included, fairly good price. It's already home. On the downside I can tell it's pretty heavy and build quality is just ok (my Pentax 55mm 1.8 manual focus ring is way more enjoyable to use).

Then I hope next week is going to come home the Jupiter-12 with the adapter, I wanted something more easygoing and light to carry my camera while going out on grocery shopping without overthinking about lens performance etc... Also, for zone focusing at f8 I don't need a heavy and protruding 1.4 lens

I'm looking also for a 50mm and a 28mm. For the former I'm torn between the Jupiter-3 and the Canon 50mm 1.8 (some people say it often has haze, Idk). The latter it may be the Industar 28mm 2.8, because with flash portraiture at high iso at night that heavy vignetting may look good. I can gamble 2/30ish euro on that, just in case it's not going to be a big loss, I'd just resell it.

The first period is going to be getting to know the rangefinder taking the Monochrom everywhere I go (like I do with the X100V) then, maybe next year, I'll get some more serious Leica/Voigt/Zeiss stuff if it's the case

The lens you're using on a camera will color your opinion of the camera. So be careful ... The M Monochrom(s) are all fine performers, using "cheap" lenses can often make them not seem worth the money that the body costs.

I tried a 7Artisan 35mm lens and returned it. Felt crummy to me, and I didn't like its rendering much. I'd found at about the same time an old and slightly beat up Summilux 35mm from 1972. I had it serviced and coded, total cost about $1500. It is a wonderful lens, not modern but lovely rendering and feels great. 

Before I could afford the recent vintage Summicron-M 50mm f/2, I bought a Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.5 (LTM so I use a mount adapter)... That was about 2012 ... I managed to afford a current series Summicron 50 about 2018. Both are excellent lenses with slightly different rendering qualities. Color-Skopar 50mm are pretty available at about $600 in perfect condition. See "Summicron vs Color-Skopar 50mm lenses" for some comparison shots with the Summicron and Color Skopar. 

My current 28mm lens is another fine old Voigtländer ... Color-Skopar 28mm f/3.5. This lens works very nicely on film and on APS-C digital, but on FF digital it is a bit underwhelming. I'll eventually add a Summicron 28 or a Voigtländer Ultron 28mm ASPH II, both of which I've seen the results from and find excellent. The latter is new at about $900 so quite approachable; the Summicron-M 28/2 is a bit pricey even used. 

A surprise performer on the M10 Mono is the MS Optics Aporia 24mm f/2. I bought it for compactness and use on the Leica CL digital primarily but trying it on the M10 Monochrom I am delighted that it is a remarkably good performer, amazing for such a tiny lens (barely larger than a body cap). While it's illumination across the field isn't particularly even (and particularly not wide open), it's very sharp and has very nice bokeh overall, which you can see in this two-frame panorama merge using it at f/5.6 in the near range focus zone: 

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Good luck with your M246! 

G

[Besprosvet]

On 10/29/2022 at 3:30 PM, a.noctilux said:

No never been to Capri, but heard since so long "Capri c'est fini" ( popular song of 1970's) and I've seen so many images that I can say it would be nice to live there.

Many times, I saw Capri from far, ferry to Sicilia from Napoli.

 

About lenses:

- yes Canon LTM 1.8/50 that I have is prone to haze and not cleanable

- Jupiter 3 is not bad, I prefer J8 (f/2) but these light weight 50mm are not a joy in use, very "crude" even if the files are ok.

- I have some Takumar and SMC Takumar ( Fish-Eye 17mm to 300mm ! ) much better built and smooth, I think they are the closest to Leitz/Leica lenses rendering.

 

As examples here with Monochrom and 17mm Pentax

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

seen here

 

Thank you for the sample photos, if you ever want to come on my island (it's a very inspiring place for a photographer) feel free to contact me, I'd be happy to help!

3 hours ago, ramarren said:

The lens you're using on a camera will color your opinion of the camera. So be careful ... The M Monochrom(s) are all fine performers, using "cheap" lenses can often make them not seem worth the money that the body costs.

I tried a 7Artisan 35mm lens and returned it. Felt crummy to me, and I didn't like its rendering much. I'd found at about the same time an old and slightly beat up Summilux 35mm from 1972. I had it serviced and coded, total cost about $1500. It is a wonderful lens, not modern but lovely rendering and feels great. 

Before I could afford the recent vintage Summicron-M 50mm f/2, I bought a Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.5 (LTM so I use a mount adapter)... That was about 2012 ... I managed to afford a current series Summicron 50 about 2018. Both are excellent lenses with slightly different rendering qualities. Color-Skopar 50mm are pretty available at about $600 in perfect condition. See "Summicron vs Color-Skopar 50mm lenses" for some comparison shots with the Summicron and Color Skopar. 

My current 28mm lens is another fine old Voigtländer ... Color-Skopar 28mm f/3.5. This lens works very nicely on film and on APS-C digital, but on FF digital it is a bit underwhelming. I'll eventually add a Summicron 28 or a Voigtländer Ultron 28mm ASPH II, both of which I've seen the results from and find excellent. The latter is new at about $900 so quite approachable; the Summicron-M 28/2 is a bit pricey even used. 

A surprise performer on the M10 Mono is the MS Optics Aporia 24mm f/2. I bought it for compactness and use on the Leica CL digital primarily but trying it on the M10 Monochrom I am delighted that it is a remarkably good performer, amazing for such a tiny lens (barely larger than a body cap). While it's illumination across the field isn't particularly even (and particularly not wide open), it's very sharp and has very nice bokeh overall, which you can see in this two-frame panorama merge using it at f/5.6 in the near range focus zone: 

Good luck with your M246! 

G

Thanks for the insights

-

I have a question for you. My M246 is already delivering happiness on the first day of use, but I'm a bit puzzled by the burst on C, I use it when shooting people and it is way slower than the ones where people burst the M240 on youtube (I already use classic metering mode, not the advanced), the card tried are a couple of sandisk extreme (90mb/s and 170 mb/s) so very fast, formatted in camera before use

[Besprosvet]

Maybe it's the battery, I didn't charge it when I received it (it's at 55%, doesn't seem low but whatever). I'll charge it tonight and tomorrow I'll see if the burst is still 2fps(ish).

Here's a video of my M246 shutter behavior I just uploaded. Is this normal?

Edited October 31, 2022 by Besprosvet
I added further information

[sometimesmaybe]

12 hours ago, Besprosvet said:

Here's a video of my M246 shutter behavior I just uploaded. Is this normal?

looks and sounds normal to me 🙂 the m246 is not exactly fast beast

i usually shoot a short burst of 2 to 3 images and recompose thereafter (to reduce the blackout period). but my use case is prob really different to most M shooters

[Besprosvet]

38 minutes ago, sometimesmaybe said:

looks and sounds normal to me 🙂 the m246 is not exactly fast beast

i usually shoot a short burst of 2 to 3 images and recompose thereafter (to reduce the blackout period). but my use case is prob really different to most M shooters

I noticed that with a freshly charged battery the burst is faster and everything is back to normal. So with lower battery levels the M 246 (likely 240 and 262 as well) burst gets slower. Couldn't find this info anywhere. I hope my experience can be useful to other users as well.

Anyway, I noticed (as shown in the video) that sometimes the shutters "stutters a bit" and the shutter is like slower to get back in position for another shot, but it seems "normal" according to many users that own this generation of Leicas. I'll just go out enjoying my monochrom, it already delivered magnificence yesterday on its first day, and I have a so so lens, nothing special

[a.noctilux]

16 hours ago, Besprosvet said:

if you ever want to come on my island (it's a very inspiring place for a photographer) feel free to contact me, I'd be happy to help!

Thanks for your very kind offer.

...

I never use mine in "C" so I don't have opinion.

If we record in "DNG + JPEG" the recording time is longer than only DNG.

 

Have fun with your "new" M246.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[ramarren]

I also never use Continuous mode capture. (To me, the whole point of making still photographs is to release the shutter at the correct time by intent, not just capture a sequence of exposures and find the one that you think is pleasing ... but that's my aesthetic.  )

However, several things interact when it comes to the speed of sequence capture, notably whether you're capturing raw only, JPEG only, what size and quality JPEG, both together, and currently available power. With my M9 and M-P240, I found that camera behavior degraded slightly from optimum whenever the battery was below about 30% capacity. With my M-D262, I never noticed any degradation but of course that camera has neither LCD nor JPEG capability so it's hard to judge. The M10-M does not show any degradation in behavior at all ... I was doing a series of copy captures the other day and ran the battery down to 5% inadvertently: didn't even notice until I checked the battery at the end of the session. My take on this is that Leica have indeed improved the electronics by a substantial amount in the M10 line compared to the M9/M240 line. 

All of that being said, whenever I get a camera, regardless of what specs I read about it, I spend a week or so testing all operational modes that I am interested in using to see what its practical, real world performance is like regardless of what a spec sheet says. The spec sheet is a nominal list of what it should perform like, written by a technical writer based upon specs produced by engineers while the device is in development ... It should always be considered an "idealized" summary of what the design is intended to be, but unless it is verified at the end of the development cycle with performance analysis and qualification and then re-edited to reflect actual performance data, it will likely diverge from actual performance. This is very rarely the case.

I say this because I was, for part of my career, a technical writer producing manuals and specifications for hard goods products that were being developed for sale to the public, so I'm just reporting the facts as I know them from experience...

G

Edited November 1, 2022 by ramarren

[Besprosvet]

I mean, I'm just glad my unit is not defective.

I'm noticing having a different attitude with a Leica M in my hands after just a couple of days. I shoot differently and "slowly", predicting where people are going to be with manual focus trying to catch them. It's so much fun! And it somewhat reminds me being carefree shooting a few rolls on my old Pentax MX. I like this Monochrom more than I expected.

Another aspect I've always undervalued until today is having a black (and relatively small) camera, it makes you invisible, mostly ignored. With my silver X100V everybody stares at me, it literally screams for attention compared to the Monochrom