9 weeks with an M9

[tashley]

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To add some perspective to the banding.

I can also induce banding at high iso and under exposer with my 1DsmkIII and that performs very well at high iso. You can see on Jono's shot with the banding the Girls face looks under exposed, what should be a highlight is more midtone.

I would like to see some 2500iso images in colour to see how the croma looks.

All in all I think it's a decent camera and looks to produce salable images at the higher iso's, not as good as the best at high iso, but good enough and there are other reasons for owning a M.

 

Kevin.

 

I couldn't agree more - I have had the 1DsIII and now have the 5DII and I have seen very subtle evidence of banding even at ISO 100. So far for me, the M9 is not especially culpable though it struggles to hide the bands more when there's not enough light in the blue channel. I have seen a stripe, though, at ISO 1600 but only once and the adjacent frames didn't have it...

[Overgaard]

Hi Thorsten

 

I'll do my best.

Colour Space

I'm pretty sure that 'color space -1' in the exif information actually relates directly to Adobe RGB.

 

File Output

I've been using compressed DNG, I find that the results are perfectly acceptable, and the considerable file saving is worth the possible very slight loss in quality (obviously others may disagree)

 

Exposure.

I've been using -2/3 in bright outdoor light, and 0 EV compensation in low light - this seems to work for me, but it's possible that my test camera is not perfectly calibrated.

 

If I'm using auto-iso, I set it to max of 1250, but I've happily used 2500 on occasions.

 

Otherwise it works pretty much in the same way as the M8, the extra menu options are great, I have two user settings, one called Daylight (where I also set the WB to daylight and the ISO to 160 ) and one called Evening (where it's all on auto)

 

I hope this helps

 

Thanks, that was the "expert user staring point" I was looking for.

 

I've been wondering how you got Adobe RGB 1998 as in uncompressed DNG which is what I have been using all week, I can't make that choice. not that it matters that much as my entire workflow is sRGB now (as it's the most safe for clients. web browsers and end users not knowledgeable about color spaces)

 

Meanwhile I've read your Word - and I must say it's great. It sums up the feeling of the camera, and in my opinion not much else matters. It's a lovely camera to use, and that make all tweaks to get the proper technical results much easier. Thanks for the gallery and word.

[johnbuckley]

Jono - I have always loved your photographs of the English countryside, but I have to say, the M9 images in the Suffolk gallery, as well as in the B&W gallery, are glorious. I remember when the M8 came out and there were comparisons to a MF camera, and people laughed. I bet if you told someone your Suffolk images were taken with a MF camera, people wouldn't doubt it. Nice work. As always.

[jonoslack]

Hi There

Thanks, that was the "expert user staring point" I was looking for.

 

I've been wondering how you got Adobe RGB 1998 as in uncompressed DNG which is what I have been using all week, I can't make that choice. not that it matters that much as my entire workflow is sRGB now (as it's the most safe for clients. web browsers and end users not knowledgeable about color spaces)

I think it's just that I've got Aperture set up to work in Adobe RGB - all the output to web pages is in sRGB, and then I can choose if I need to export files.

Meanwhile I've read your Word - and I must say it's great. It sums up the feeling of the camera, and in my opinion not much else matters. It's a lovely camera to use, and that make all tweaks to get the proper technical results much easier. Thanks for the gallery and word.

 

Thank you - hard for me to do a real review, as so many of the pictures were taken with different firmware versions and anyway, there are plenty of much more experienced people around like Sean Reid, no point in my treading on their toes.

[jonoslack]

Jono - I have always loved your photographs of the English countryside, but I have to say, the M9 images in the Suffolk gallery, as well as in the B&W gallery, are glorious. I remember when the M8 came out and there were comparisons to a MF camera, and people laughed. I bet if you told someone your Suffolk images were taken with a MF camera, people wouldn't doubt it. Nice work. As always.

 

Hi John - Thank you - Of course, medium format and large format cameras produce better results, but they aren't so good for dragging through hedges (and some of those shots were taken from horseback . .. which would be okay if I was a good rider!).

 

For me, even with landscape, it's about catching the moment . . not necessarily the moment it happened, but the moment I see it - if I have to start faffing about with tripods etc. whatever inspired me is generally long gone by the time it's time to press the shutter. The M9 is wonderful for that - the bit of extra resolution, and the wider wides do make a difference.

[c6gowin]

Hey Jono,

I really enjoyed your user report. I am sure it was very exciting for you. I know it was rewarding for the rest of us to ready about your experience and enjoy your photos. Thank you.

 

Mark Gowin

[twittle]

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Those are some wonderful B&W landscape shots. And who knew Leica made a P8?

[thpeters]

Hello Jono,

 

Great rapport about the new M9 and the pictures are great too.

 

But looking to all of them, to much dust.

 

And I hate that, special the pictures in the landscape and B&W.

 

I keep repeating it, the next (M10 ) camera need a sensor cleaner.

 

Special NOTE for Leica: for sure you have already look in to it, but please get it fixed the next time, included the sensor cleaner

 

Theo

[Overgaard]

Could you please link to one with dust. I would like to see it.

 

I was inside an owen the other day with lots of dust and haven't had problems with dust on the M9 yet. Will post a horror video later on my owen shooting which will make grown men cry - as least the fumblers who try not to scratch their equipment

[jonoslack]

Hey Jono,

I really enjoyed your user report. I am sure it was very exciting for you. I know it was rewarding for the rest of us to ready about your experience and enjoy your photos. Thank you.

 

Mark Gowin

Hi Mark

Thanks for the kind words, it was, indeed exciting, and there is still a buzz in seeing things in the firmware which one had a hand in changing.

 

Those are some wonderful B&W landscape shots. And who knew Leica made a P8?

Ah yes - it was actually called the P864 to start with. Glad you like the landscapes - more of those to come.

 

Hello Jono,

 

Great rapport about the new M9 and the pictures are great too.

 

But looking to all of them, to much dust.

 

And I hate that, special the pictures in the landscape and B&W.

 

I keep repeating it, the next (M10 ) camera need a sensor cleaner.

 

Special NOTE for Leica: for sure you have already look in to it, but please get it fixed the next time, included the sensor cleaner

 

Theo

Hi Theo

thanks for the kind words.

 

Quite right about the dust, but in this case it might be right to shoot the messenger. I've found that the Arctic butterfly does a great job with the M9 (just as it does with the M8) but if you don't actually use it . . . . Added to which, de-spotting is not too much to ask on occasions.

 

I do agree that it would be nice to have a sensor cleaner, but a brush once a week really does the trick, and I've been much lazier than that!

 

Could you please link to one with dust. I would like to see it.

 

I was inside an owen the other day with lots of dust and haven't had problems with dust on the M9 yet. Will post a horror video later on my owen shooting which will make grown men cry - as least the fumblers who try not to scratch their equipment

 

Hi Thorsten

Mine was a bit dusty to start with (my cameras always seem to be a bit dusty to start with!). Otherwise I haven't had too much bother either, but I have been lazy.

 

Should you really post the video? . . . will it be too much for us to take! (can't wait)

[coup de foudre]

hi, Jono, welcome back!

 

my favourite by far was Snoozing in the Sunshine but i wasn't able to find the exif data elsewhere on your site. would you mind supplying it?

 

i hate being nerdy but sometimes i can't resist....

 

merci,

cam

(who found out for herself how gorgeous the new shutter is! sigh)

[Guest malland]

...my favourite by far was Snoozing in the Sunshine...

I also like it, but dare I say it looks "film-like?"

 

—Mitch/Potomac, MD

Bangkok Hysteria©: Book Project

[jonoslack]

hi, Jono, welcome back!

 

my favourite by far was Snoozing in the Sunshine but i wasn't able to find the exif data elsewhere on your site. would you mind supplying it?

 

i hate being nerdy but sometimes i can't resist....

 

merci,

cam

(who found out for herself how gorgeous the new shutter is! sigh)

 

Thank you Cam

28 'cron ISO 640 (it was dark in there).

Sorry it wasn't there - one or two shots had to be processed for people before the camera was released - this was very early stuff.

 

xxx

[jonoslack]

I also like it, but dare I say it looks "film-like?"

 

—Mitch/Potomac, MD

Bangkok Hysteria©: Book Project

 

Hi Mitch

You couldn't say anything nicer . I use silver efex pro these days with my b&w conversions, with this one I think I was using 100 ISO Ilford Delta.

[coup de foudre]

I also like it, but dare I say it looks "film-like?"

LOL! that's why it stood out for me

 

Hi Mitch

You couldn't say anything nicer . I use silver efex pro these days with my b&w conversions, with this one I think I was using 100 ISO Ilford Delta.

 

thank you, Jono, and for the exif. of all the images, this one had the look and feel of what i strive for. not that i often come across such lovely light....

 

a quick play with the M9 let me see more detail in the highlights than i usually get with the M8 (which is evident here as well); but this also shows more nuance in the shadows -- impressive at 640!

[Guest malland]

Jono, yes, I use Silver Efex as well under Aperture. I feel it's easier to get good colors with Aperture than with Lightroom and to get better highlight recovery for the M8. I've also tried Aperture vs C1 and did not find that the latter gave me the better results that most people think it gives. Have you tested Aperure vs C1m either for the M8 or the M9, and what were your conclusions (albeit off-topic for this thread)?

 

Your excellent blog M9 pictures together with Sean Reid's review and, believe it or not, the boxing photo eassay in the Leica brochure were what pushed be across the line to buy the M9, which I hope to receive shortly after I arrive in Paris on 29 September.

 

The Leica brochure essay, shot in very harsh Cuban sunlight made me think that the M9 could handle harsh light and blown highlights in a way similar to film, which is important for me because I don't want to be limited for color shots to the golden hours of early morning and late evening in the harsh tropical light of Bangkok.

 

—Mitch/Potomac, MD

Scratching the Surface©

[lars_bergquist]

You know, I did not find the Cuban light 'harsh', quite the contrary. The large amount of light in the shadows -- genuine light, not flare -- was probably due to the high air humidity which tends to diffuse the light even when the sky is clear. Admittedly I used Kodachrome 64, and in the beginning of the hurricane season too.

 

The old man from the Age of Kodachrome