Monochrom 246 images, post them here.

downstairs · July 7, 2019

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No, I upgraded from MM1 to the 246. I only keep two bodies going at any time. My second right now is M10. Since 1958 I’ve got through nine Ms. With digital, upgrades are speeding up.

July 7, 2019

Hi downstairs,

Take a look here Monochrom 246 images, post them here.. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!

mmradman · July 7, 2019

10 hours ago, downstairs said:

No, I upgraded from MM1 to the 246. I only keep two bodies going at any time. My second right now is M10. Since 1958 I’ve got through nine Ms. With digital, upgrades are speeding up.

It would be interesting to hear your view as former and current user of both models, there seem to be two entrenched camps extolling virtues of one or the other.

downstairs · July 7, 2019

3 hours ago, mmradman said:

It would be interesting to hear your view as former and current user of both models, there seem to be two entrenched camps extolling virtues of one or the other.

I would feel ashamed to present a blank and white print shot on colour. It could be cheating. But that’s just me. So I’m on my second Monochrom.
Obviously I’ve tested it against a greyscale conversion from the M10. The Monochrom has more ‘cream’ in the shadows. The M10 hangs onto the highlights better. Since I’m after what goes on the the penumbra, I don’t have to regret my scruples.
That said, The M10 is a way better camera. The buffer, the menu layout, the size & shape. Leica is getting close to the ideal no-fuss tool. Looking forward to the M10-Monochrom.
After setting up and shooting with the MM, I shoot two sheets of 8x10 Fomapan with a field camera (the hassle-free way to make negatives for ptpd contact prints). I’ve been shooting large format b&w for fifty years but I still can’t get onto film the sort of tonal range and mid-tone contrast that that comes with ease on Monochrom raw (developed with Iridient).
Back to colour. Doing a single-shot still-life at arms length needs f.22 or more for focus. That rules out window light because of background noise and some diffraction. Now, with the M10 buffer I can use my window, shoot at f2.8, bracket for range and stack for focus, 18 frames in all, in 15 seconds.
Doing the same thing in b&w with the MM requires patience to avoid flooding the buffer. On film, I close down to f45, open the shutter and go out to lunch.
An ugly feature I would look forward to: a way to get at the memory card without having to take the camera off the tripod to remove the bottom plate (yes I have used an SL for couple of years and that was what I appreciated most).
I do acknowledge misuse of Ms and non-conformance to the market target. But my first M3 in 1958 was sold a general purpose camera.

jkcampbell2 · July 7, 2019

50 minutes ago, downstairs said:

I would feel ashamed to present a blank and white print shot on colour. It could be cheating. But that’s just me. So I’m on my second Monochrom.
Obviously I’ve tested it against a greyscale conversion from the M10. The Monochrom has more ‘cream’ in the shadows. The M10 hangs onto the highlights better. Since I’m after what goes on the the penumbra, I don’t have to regret my scruples...
... Now, with the M10 buffer I can use my window, shoot at f2.8, bracket for range and stack for focus, 18 frames in all, in 15 seconds.

I respect your "scruples" and no offense intended, but at a little bit of a loss to understand that making a B&W print from a color file is "cheating" but "focus stacking" 18 images and blending them in Photoshop is fine. We all make our own rules I guess. Cheers, jc

a.noctilux · July 7, 2019

49 minutes ago, jkcampbell2 said:

I respect your "scruples" and no offense intended, but at a little bit of a loss to understand that making a B&W print from a color file is "cheating" but "focus stacking" 18 images and blending them in Photoshop is fine. We all make our own rules I guess. Cheers, jc

I don't think that "rules" are always required.

If one takes a whole process to attain projected result and use the hardware and software (or wet processing : dodge/burn) for that,

I think it's the way to go.

Having found the way, then use this way to obtain what we want, it's magic not "rules".

downstairs · July 8, 2019

12 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

I don't think that "rules" are always required.

If one takes a whole process to attain projected result and use the hardware and software (or wet processing : dodge/burn) for that,

I think it's the way to go.

Having found the way, then use this way to obtain what we want, it's magic not "rules".

Never mentioned ‘rules’. Misgivings are not rules.
What does a collector want to know when he is offered and black & white print?
What’s more, I have no problems stacking b&w. I was doing it with a register punch, and unsharp masks decades before photoshop.
Neither did I have misgivings trying out trichrome (colour from b&w - Leica once had a digital trichrome setup).
I just feel that a b&w print is an abstraction and part of a simple historical linear process. B&w from colour is a facsimile.
Colour photography lives in a different perceptual dimension. Making digital colour prints, you share your craftsmaship with all those bright people listed on photoshop’s opening page.

Peter_S · July 11, 2019

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My wife and her daughter. Burgenland/Austria