Mono v Mono (new Pentax Monochrome DSLR v M11M)

[nicci78]

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Excellent video playlist about K-3 III Monochrome.

 The second video about the super test is the one convincing me to buy the Pentax. 
The last video is about the reason why he ditch the M10 Monochrom in favour of K3 III MONO. 
A real love letter for the B&W DSLR. 
 

BTW : it is in Italian. YouTube can auto translate the subtitles if needed 

Edited June 28, 2023 by nicci78

[Chaemono]

His main reason for selling them M10 Monochrom seems to be because Leica is for the rich. 

[nicci78]

Yes it is the case

Leica owners can hardly be described as poor. 
He cited the price hikes. 
Also the fact that M10 Monochrom images are not more special than K3 III mono ones, mainly due to the lack of colour. 
He considers that Leica current strength is in colour science. Which is totally lost in B&W

Edited July 1, 2023 by nicci78

[Chaemono]

It may well be for him. The reasons I would have brought up to stick with the M10M would have been detail, tonality, DR in high ISO that approaches MF. 

[pgh]

On 7/1/2023 at 4:43 PM, nicci78 said:

Yes it is the case

Leica owners can hardly be described as poor. 
He cited the price hikes. 
Also the fact that M10 Monochrom images are not more special than K3 III mono ones, mainly due to the lack of colour. 
He considers that Leica current strength is in colour science. Which is totally lost in B&W

Selling a camera primarily because of its associations with wealth - ie not because of any real practical issue - is a truly bourgeois move. The irony is fantastic. 

[nicci78]

Luxury goods grow on associations with (supposed) wealth. 

Leica is the same, no matter what you think some rich people don't want to be caught with a Sony. And some aspiring to be wealthy one day may be, wants to be part of the club by putting everything they have into a Leica for exemple. It can be for the art or for the show off. 

Really I don't care which is which, to each its own reason.

However I can understand what Damian in its video is experiencing. Once you sell a lot of Leica gears you understand how much money were parked there. It frees a lot of buying power. 

Selling M10 Monochrom + Summilux 35 FLE could give him more than enough to buy K3 III Mono and the whole range of Pentax if he wanted everything 😉

It can be a shock to see how many stuff you can buy by selling just one camera and one lens. 

I sold most of my Leica gear, due to the demise of the CL. I was quite unhappy about the decision and decided to look elsewhere. I was pleasantly surprise by the new cash flow. Pentax stuff are extremely cheap next to Leicas and it is quite refreshing. 

 

Obviously Leica is better in every way. It has to be. 

[geotrupede]

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a GR mono would be really cool... (and hopefully affordable)

G

[thelivingyears]

Any more experiences with the new Pentax Monochrome camera?

 

Anymore sample shots? 

[nicci78]

What's more to say ?

Image quality wise K-3 III Monochrome is the fourth best camera for B&W after the M11 Monochrom, M10 Monochrom and Q2 Monochrom. (Discounting über expensive PhaseOne achromatic cameras).

But the Pentax Mono is the absolute best for versatility and durability :

• getting from 15mm to 690mm equivalent focal lenghts is neat. 
• it get IBIS for steady shots
• ergonomics are awesome. No need for additional handgrip or thumb rest non sense.
• sole mono DSLR and it is nice to have an optical viewfinder. Nice to use with polarizing and ND grad filtres.
• sole fully weather & dust resistant and freeze proof mono system. M lenses are not sealed and definitely not dust proof. 
• Pentax limited lenses give you almost the same look and feel as M lenses
• it is cheap you can buy a second body with colour sensor.
• B&W videos. Q2M can do that too. 

It is a real pleasure to use. It is fast, everything is near instant : turning ON, first photo taken, viewfinder blackout, etc... M11 nor M10 can be describe as instantaneous. 

Optical reflex viewfinder is still awesome, especially in bright daylight.

Overall operation is more complex than Leicas, but after initial setup it can be tailored to your specific needs. 

To sum up I love it. I also love rangefinder. I also love Q cameras. They are not the same. They each hold their own strengths. 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by nicci78

[nicci78]

Within Ricoh Pentax systems I settle with this setup : 

• GR III for 28mm compact colour camera
• GW-4 as 21mm wide angle converter for GR III
• HD PENTAX-DA 20-30mm F2.8-4 Limited WR as weather resistant trans standard lens for K-3 III Mono
• HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 PLM WR as super fast AF and weather resistant telephoto lens. Its IQ is awesome for such a low price. 
• HD PENTAX-FA 31mm F1.8 Limited as fast metal lens with aperture ring to be also compatible with film cameras such as my Pentax ME Super
• HD PENTAX-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited as fast metal lens with aperture ring to be also compatible with film cameras such as my Pentax ME Super
• HD PENTAX-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited as fast metal lens with aperture ring to be also compatible with film cameras such as my Pentax ME Super
• HD PENTAX-D FA 50mm F2.8 Macro as a macro 1:1 lens with aperture ring to be also compatible with film cameras such as my Pentax ME Super
• PENTAX AF201FG Flash. The best tiny flash ever, compatible with GR III and Pentax.

They all have their own character which is very nice. 

I never own any Pentax products before the K3 III Mono. And now I own 2 cameras, 6 lenses and 1 flash. 

Two optics are APS-C only. The other four are full frame compatible with old film cameras. 

 

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Edited September 25, 2023 by nicci78

[Olaf_ZG]

May be Leica should read this and bring us a SL2-m…

[nicci78]

They could. But would they ? 
 

However I was told by my Leica store that M10 Monochrom then M11 Mono is selling many times more than Q2 Monochrom. 
The reasons ? Fist M lenses second the optical viewfinder. 
EVF lack of contrast seems to be the culprit. Monochrom sensor has so many details in the shadows. However you still can’t see them in modern EVF. Whereas it is perfectly visible with an optical viewfinder, albeit SLR or rangefinder. 
So K-3 III as a Monochrome DSLR makes sense. 

So not sure if Leica will make another EVF Monochrom. 
 

Edited September 27, 2023 by nicci78

[nicci78]

When using optical colour filtres, M Monochrom has an edge over DSLR. You can retain bright clear view without the distraction to see the life in the chosen colour. 
It can be weird at first to see the life in Yellow, Orange or Red. 
Second drawback the colour chosen can affect more or less the AF speed. Because less light reach the AF sensor. 
 

However the K-3 III has an edge when using polarising filtres and other types of filtres. You can see their effects directly through the viewfinder.

Edited September 27, 2023 by nicci78

[sometimesmaybe]

@nicci78 any news around a monochrome GR?

[Stuart Richardson]

Truly...it is baffling to me that they launched it with their seemingly not very popular DSLR, when there is a large, rabid base of GR fans who use it primarily in black and white for street photography etc. Perhaps they just couldn't make enough of them? I have heard from several friends of mine who want to buy a GRIIIx but cannot find them because they are constantly backordered...

It seems a complete no-brainer to launch a monochrome GR...hopefully the X version too. They have such a good lens that along with a mono sensor they would make exceptional replacements for full frame compacts at that point. EVF would not really matter because the GR is a bit imprecise as a point and shoot anyway...

Edited September 28, 2023 by Stuart Richardson

[Bikie John]

If/when they come up with a mono GRIIIx (the one with the 40mm equivalent lens) I'll be fighting to be at the front of the queue.

John

[nicci78]

15 hours ago, sometimesmaybe said:

@nicci78 any news around a monochrome GR?

Who knows ? They are certainly aware of the demand. However GR III/IIIx are backorder for several months. Not bad for two 2019 & 2021 cameras.

They may release a GR IV or K-1 III first before selling their Monochrome variant. 

Then it was a genius move to create buzz and awareness about Pentax DSLR. The vast majority of K3M buyers are new to Pentax. So they are also selling a ton of extra lenses. Just like me in a few months I already own 6 brand new optics.

Anyway apparently their next camera will be a compact fixed lens camera. I will buy one for sure. 

 

[Olaf_ZG]

Had both latest GR’s but never liked the output, which is a pity cause for the rest, it was a great cam. I might try again with a monochrom version.

[thelivingyears]

I love my GRIIIx. Would love to see a monochrom version.

 

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[nicci78]

A few days from the Salon de la Photo at Paris, fautpaspousserlesiso.com a talk show dedicated to photography and video, interviewed many players in the photo market, including Yazid Belmadi, head of press relations and sales promotion at Ricoh Imaging France. They published the following podcast Thursday September 28th :

https://www.fautpaspousserlesiso.com/episode-2-le-marche-de-la-photo-en-2023/

Below is the translated transcript of Yazid Belmadi's statement (which begins around 1h23min):

"We announced last December the launch of a project on film cameras. Of course, the project is still relevant. It will see the light of day in spring 2024 with the arrival of two products.

Regarding the type of film camera that will be released next spring, it would be, in a first draft, two compacts, high-end compacts by technical characteristics but not in terms of price. They will be relatively affordable. It will be a first draft, two compacts, followed by reflex cameras, of course, which is still the cornerstone of this type of camera.

Since we announced this project in December 2022, we have had a lot of feedback from resellers, potential consumers who have told us of their impatience to see these products arrive. There is apparently a very high demand for film cameras.

Our strategy for quite a few years has been to work with very very very nested products, which we do quite well. To do this, the management in Japan is based on surveys of Japanese consumers, consumers of the brand of course but also beyond.

Just like the GR range, the project to release film cameras is the result of a very extensive consultation with many photo actors and in particular Japanese consumers since, from experience, we know that it works rather well when we make products at the request of consumers, the first concerned."