Tempted

[Bertie boy]

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Hi, am tempted to buy my first full frame m, a 240 I've seen at a reasonably close dealer. Price seems OK but obviously 10 years old. Am I asking for trouble but has 6 months warranty. Btw, I have no knowledge of computers and software but do I realy need one? It's just just that I'm not using my film cameras but have many m lenses which I'd like to put back in action! 

[ECohen]

…

Edited October 10, 2023 by ECohen

[dpitt]

Welcome to this forum. You will find there is a lot of knowledge to be found here, about anything Leica for film as well as digital users,

If I understand it right, you own an old  film M with some lenses and you are about to buy your first digital camera?

IMO you need a computer to use a digital camera. If you shoot only JPEGs and accept the images as they are shot in camera, you could go to a shop and have them printed directly from a SD card. But I think there are much easier and better ways to go that road if you need to.

The bare minimum for any Leica M user is an iPad Pro (or similar android tablet), although I recommend taking it one step further and buy a computer. For the iPad, you would need to buy a SD card reader to transfer your images from the M to the iPad. Apple's free Photos app will be one of the easiest ways to start viewing and editing the results from your M. It supports DNG files as well as JPEGS. In Photos you will be able to do basic edits like cropping and adjustments to exposure like you can do in a wet darkroom. It also is a fine tool to organize and select images for printing.

If you can bring up the courage to learn a dedicated photographic tool like Adobe Light Room, I think you will find that it might not be too complicated. Of course it will have more options, but you do not need to use all of it to enjoy the results of your M even more. There are lots of tutorials around on Youtube about LR or PHOTOS  if you want to see how it could be.

If you spend the money to enter the digital M world, I would also invest in a nice Macbook (does not have to be Pro) to manage your results. If you feel more for a desktop system, then have a look at the iMac systems or Mac mini options.

In my experience Mac OS is very intuitive to learn, even for inexperienced users. If you use a Apple iPhone, it is certainly the way to go, because it integrates seamlessly with the iPhone. If you have more experience with Windows, then a decent laptop can be a better solution for you. In case you have not much knowledge about either, and more importantly do not have support from a friend in the know (Mac or Windows) then I would recommend going for an Apple system.

I realise that I did not answer your question about the M240. in short, I think any digital M will give a nice experience and the M240 is probably the cheapest entry today. One of the things you might appreciate is that digital M's user experience is as close as it gets to the old film shooting experience. All important settings are done in the same way as the old manual camera's and it is often a matter of setting up the menu and then forgetting it. After that I often use the camera as if it was a film M.  Of course the M240 is around 10 years old now and has its limitations, but some users like me are still using M8's that are almost 10 years older. Use your warranty period to check that the M240 is functioning  properly and chances are that it will serve you for several years without issues.

 

[Ernstk]

17 hours ago, Bertie boy said:

Hi, am tempted to buy my first full frame m, a 240 I've seen at a reasonably close dealer. Price seems OK but obviously 10 years old. Am I asking for trouble but has 6 months warranty. Btw, I have no knowledge of computers and software but do I realy need one? It's just just that I'm not using my film cameras but have many m lenses which I'd like to put back in action! 

Welcome to the forum.

The M240 would be a great choice. It's still an extremely capable M, with no known reliability issues.

Ideally, you need a laptop or PC running Adobe Lightroom, so that you can process your images, preferably from DNG files rather than jpeg.

Ernst

[Ernstk]

22 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Your exact question about buying the M240 in 2022/2023 has been answered at least a dozen times in this forum, use the handy (yet rustic) search function for some proper answers.

Does that suggest that the answers above are improper ones?

[ECohen]

If the 240 if is gently used and many are, it's a great camera,still.

Yes, a bit of simple photo computer knowledge is useful.

And makes digital photography more fun..... it's easy to learn.

When I made the change from film to digital I used Photoshop and "took small bites" only learning to mimic what I did in the darkroom  before you know it you are up and running and wondering how you did without the a computer. Today there are cheaper easier programs than PS and great free tools for learning.

Take the plunge;-)

Edited October 11, 2023 by ECohen

[Davidjohndavid]

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I just bought my first digital Leica and chose the mp240. It’s an amazing camera. I have gone back and forth over whether or not I should’ve bought an m10 or m11, but in the end and for the price(in terms of Leica), it’s an outstanding camera and I’m glad I purchased it. I’m more than happy with the results. The resell value will not change much in the next year or two as well. As long as you get in at a reasonable price on a low use copy, you’ll be able to get back what you paid for it. Like a previous user stated, search this site for similar posts. There’s a ton of good info within quite a few threads. 

[Davidjohndavid]

I just bought my first digital Leica and chose the mp240. It’s an amazing camera. I have gone back and forth over whether or not I should’ve bought an m10 or m11, but in the end and for the price(in terms of Leica), it’s an outstanding camera and I’m glad I purchased it. I’m more than happy with the results. The resell value will not change much in the next year or two as well. As long as you get in at a reasonable price on a low use copy, you’ll be able to get back what you paid for it. Like a previous user stated, search this site for similar posts. There’s a ton of good info within quite a few threads. 

[Bertie boy]

On 10/10/2023 at 7:55 PM, dpitt said:

Welcome to this forum. You will find there is a lot of knowledge to be found here, about anything Leica for film as well as digital users,

If I understand it right, you own an old  film M with some lenses and you are about to buy your first digital camera?

IMO you need a computer to use a digital camera. If you shoot only JPEGs and accept the images as they are shot in camera, you could go to a shop and have them printed directly from a SD card. But I think there are much easier and better ways to go that road if you need to.

The bare minimum for any Leica M user is an iPad Pro (or similar android tablet), although I recommend taking it one step further and buy a computer. For the iPad, you would need to buy a SD card reader to transfer your images from the M to the iPad. Apple's free Photos app will be one of the easiest ways to start viewing and editing the results from your M. It supports DNG files as well as JPEGS. In Photos you will be able to do basic edits like cropping and adjustments to exposure like you can do in a wet darkroom. It also is a fine tool to organize and select images for printing.

If you can bring up the courage to learn a dedicated photographic tool like Adobe Light Room, I think you will find that it might not be too complicated. Of course it will have more options, but you do not need to use all of it to enjoy the results of your M even more. There are lots of tutorials around on Youtube about LR or PHOTOS  if you want to see how it could be.

If you spend the money to enter the digital M world, I would also invest in a nice Macbook (does not have to be Pro) to manage your results. If you feel more for a desktop system, then have a look at the iMac systems or Mac mini options.

In my experience Mac OS is very intuitive to learn, even for inexperienced users. If you use a Apple iPhone, it is certainly the way to go, because it integrates seamlessly with the iPhone. If you have more experience with Windows, then a decent laptop can be a better solution for you. In case you have not much knowledge about either, and more importantly do not have support from a friend in the know (Mac or Windows) then I would recommend going for an Apple system.

I realise that I did not answer your question about the M240. in short, I think any digital M will give a nice experience and the M240 is probably the cheapest entry today. One of the things you might appreciate is that digital M's user experience is as close as it gets to the old film shooting experience. All important settings are done in the same way as the old manual camera's and it is often a matter of setting up the menu and then forgetting it. After that I often use the camera as if it was a film M.  Of course the M240 is around 10 years old now and has its limitations, but some users like me are still using M8's that are almost 10 years older. Use your warranty period to check that the M240 is functioning  properly and chances are that it will serve you for several years without issues.

 

 

[Bertie boy]

Hi thanks for that elaborate reply! Unfortunately Ive no knowledge of most of those things you've mentioned so I'm even more confused now. I do have a sony  laptop bought years ago which I'm told was good at the time but probably not now. I also have light room which was sent to me when I bought a leica dlux 6. I've used the camera but never the lightroom as I didn't have a clue how to use it. Sounds like I've got to spend far more than the cost of the camera on a room full of computer gadgets and pay someone to try and teach me how to use it! I don't think I've got the time or inclination to do that anymore. I think I'll may buy the camera, have a go, but likely go back to film and a wet darkroom which I've been doing for nearly 50 years. 

 

[dpitt]

I did not want to discourage you, nor confuse you. I can confirm that the shooting experience with the digital M camera's is very close to using a film M. The 'problem' is that the M was also geared towards semi-professional, ambitious amateur use. So it was designed with some computer assistance after the shoot in mind.

It is a good thing that you have a Sony laptop, and that you have used a Dlux 6. This means you are not a complete novice to digital camera's. I am not sure how you used the DLux6, but I think you can do the same with the M240. You will probably find the M240 easier to use than the Dlux6, because it depended much more on using the menu than the M240 does. Leica 's 'Less is more' approach really helps here. And if it really is not your thing, you can sell it for around the same as you paid for it.

I suppose that you use the Sony to access this forum now. This means you can at least take the SD card (I suppose the Sony has a card slot) from the M240 and transfer it to your Sony. Use the M240 in JPEG mode first, and see if it works for you. I recommend looking  at Picasa to start with. It will help organizing the pictures and do simple things like cropping and tweaking it a bit. If you then want more options the Light Room that came with the Dlux6 can be an option, even though it is old.

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by dpitt

[ECohen]

5 hours ago, Bertie boy said:

Hi thanks for that elaborate reply! Unfortunately Ive no knowledge of most of those things you've mentioned so I'm even more confused now. I do have a sony  laptop bought years ago which I'm told was good at the time but probably not now. I also have light room which was sent to me when I bought a leica dlux 6. I've used the camera but never the lightroom as I didn't have a clue how to use it. Sounds like I've got to spend far more than the cost of the camera on a room full of computer gadgets and pay someone to try and teach me how to use it! I don't think I've got the time or inclination to do that anymore. I think I'll may buy the camera, have a go, but likely go back to film and a wet darkroom which I've been doing for nearly 50 years. 

 

 

I have a friend in your exact position, 50 years of dark room and love of photography as a hobby. But doesn’t want to make the jump to digital. Sounds like your passion is the wet dark room? The unfortunate part of this is that one day you know everything about photography/film. And the next day you’re sitting in front of a computer with zero knowledge trying to learn digital. It is a bit overwhelming.

There are tons of free YouTube videos. Lots of free help.  Lydia learning from the library is free as well. And there are several very inexpensive videos for learning Lightroom. If you ask this forum, I’m sure they’ll give you a list of everybody’s favorites. Google Matt Kloskowski he’s got lots of free information to get you started. Stick your toe in buy a basic course in Lightroom turn on your Sony and play.

If your passion is shooting and playing and enjoying photography Lightroom is wonderful. You shoot /download into your files light room with some simple instructions and play with the sliders. It feels like the dark room only you don’t get your fingers wet. There are you are you’re doing digital photography.
If your passion is printing well that’s a bit of an issue because actual digital printing is harder and expensive. In the beginning just like the dark room, there’s a lot of trial and error. There I would say get your files where you want them and use a lab like Walmart or a Costco  for prints.

What you’re searching for is the joy of photography. Digital is easy, even easier than dark room.

In terms of cost, a subscription to Lightroom or PS it’s about $120 a year. A That’s a lot cheaper than couple of boxes of paper. ( there are also programs you can buy that are not subscription) Look into Photoshop Elements that program might feel more like the dark room

Unfortunately, computers are here to stay. 

 

How else can we help you? Asks specific questions. We all love this wonderful hobby of photography and we are a wealth of information. As we have all been where you are right now. Don’t give up photography take the jump it’s worth it.

 

Hope this helps

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by ECohen

[ECohen]

Not to confuse the issue. Attached are three screenshots of the actual 240M menu. If black and white dark room, is your passion, set your camera to black and white JPEG‘s and just shoot, You’ll feel like a Edward Weston. Black and white right out of this wonderful camera is fabulous.

 

ps. Excuse the iPhone photos, I didn’t take much time with them.

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

[Alan R]

On 10/10/2023 at 2:55 PM, dpitt said:

Welcome to this forum. You will find there is a lot of knowledge to be found here, about anything Leica for film as well as digital users,

If I understand it right, you own an old  film M with some lenses and you are about to buy your first digital camera?

IMO you need a computer to use a digital camera. If you shoot only JPEGs and accept the images as they are shot in camera, you could go to a shop and have them printed directly from a SD card. But I think there are much easier and better ways to go that road if you need to.

The bare minimum for any Leica M user is an iPad Pro (or similar android tablet), although I recommend taking it one step further and buy a computer. For the iPad, you would need to buy a SD card reader to transfer your images from the M to the iPad. Apple's free Photos app will be one of the easiest ways to start viewing and editing the results from your M. It supports DNG files as well as JPEGS. In Photos you will be able to do basic edits like cropping and adjustments to exposure like you can do in a wet darkroom. It also is a fine tool to organize and select images for printing.

If you can bring up the courage to learn a dedicated photographic tool like Adobe Light Room, I think you will find that it might not be too complicated. Of course it will have more options, but you do not need to use all of it to enjoy the results of your M even more. There are lots of tutorials around on Youtube about LR or PHOTOS  if you want to see how it could be.

If you spend the money to enter the digital M world, I would also invest in a nice Macbook (does not have to be Pro) to manage your results. If you feel more for a desktop system, then have a look at the iMac systems or Mac mini options.

In my experience Mac OS is very intuitive to learn, even for inexperienced users. If you use a Apple iPhone, it is certainly the way to go, because it integrates seamlessly with the iPhone. If you have more experience with Windows, then a decent laptop can be a better solution for you. In case you have not much knowledge about either, and more importantly do not have support from a friend in the know (Mac or Windows) then I would recommend going for an Apple system.

I realise that I did not answer your question about the M240. in short, I think any digital M will give a nice experience and the M240 is probably the cheapest entry today. One of the things you might appreciate is that digital M's user experience is as close as it gets to the old film shooting experience. All important settings are done in the same way as the old manual camera's and it is often a matter of setting up the menu and then forgetting it. After that I often use the camera as if it was a film M.  Of course the M240 is around 10 years old now and has its limitations, but some users like me are still using M8's that are almost 10 years older. Use your warranty period to check that the M240 is functioning  properly and chances are that it will serve you for several years without issues.

 

This is all excellent advice.