Saturday, February 29, 2020

FOLLOWING LEICA'S LEAD or IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM




Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) - Black Chrome 


 By Heinz Richter

 I can still hear the mockery when Leica introduced the first Leica Monochrom.   Many of the comments stated that Leica was crazy to introduce a black and white only camera.  Well, not crazy enough, because surprisingly many photographers did embrace the camera, to the extent that a second version has been on the market for a while already.

 

Unlike conventional digital sensors, the Leica Monochrom does away with the Bayer filter.  This way the sensor allows all available light to be captured unaltered and unobstructed and thus focus purely on capturing absolute detail, luminance values and subtle tonal beauty. The result is black and white images with a quality unobtainable with conventional digital sensors.  While the first two M Monochrome cameras simply used the sensor of their color counterparts, without the Bayer filter, the M 10 Monochrom went one step further by using a specially designed sensor for just this purpose.

As crazy as this idea might have seemed to some, Leica obviously had the right idea.  For several years the Leica Monochrom was the only camera that offered this extra step to ultimate quality black and white digital photography.  This was underlined solidly when Phase One introduced a monochromatic sensor of their own, the IQ3 100MP Achromatic interchangeable back.  Just like Leica they took the same approach by eliminating the Bayer filter to obtain strictly black and white images.

                                               
As with all of Phase One’s cameras and digital backs, this is a medium format sensor, and while it has a higher resolution than the Leica Monochrom, at €50,000 it is also considerably more expensive.  Taking that into consideration, the price of the current Leica Monochrom is almost cheap.


More of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em


As soon as the Leica SL was introduced, it was criticized for being a mirrorless camera, not a DSLR.  The thoughts were that mirrorless cameras were for advanced amateur photographers at best, that professionals demanded a DSLR.  Along with that came “opinions” that the camera was way too big.  That was dispelled rather quickly when size comparisons showed that the Leica SL was effectively noticeably smaller than the top model DSLRs from Canon and Nikon, especially the camera body but also when equipped with similar lenses.


Since then the Leica SL has proven itself many times over and has evolved to the Leica SL2.  Leica has definitely shown with this camera that a professional caliber mirrorless camera can be made.

The fact that professional caliber mirrorless cameras likely present the future of interchangeable lens cameras was further underlined when Hasselblad introduced a medium format mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses, the Hasselblad X1D.  This camera had been rumored about for a while, and many thought that it might be a derivative of a Sony or Fuji camera.  But this camera was entirely designed by Hasselblad and it is handmade in Sweden like its famous predecessors.

Hasselblad-X1D-medium-format-mirrorless-camera
Hasselblad X1D

Similar to the Leica S line of medium format cameras with their sensor size of 30 x 45mm, the Hasselblad X1D uses a sensor of 33 x44mm in size which allows both cameras to be the size of a conventional full format sensor camera rather than the common medium format digital cameras which are substantially larger. The success of this approach has been clearly shown by the Leica S cameras and the new Hasselblad is very well on its way of being a formidable competitor.

After the fiasco with the rebadged Sony cameras, Hasselblad has rejoined the camera market with an interesting new product, one that does not rely on their previous film cameras.  The advantages are obvious.

Another new entry into the mirrorless professional camera market is the Fujifilm GFX 50S.  Similar to the Hasselblad, it features a 43.8 x 32.9mm CMOS sensor.  The design of the camera simulates a DSLR which makes it a bit larger and heavier than the Hasselblad, but all three of these miorrorless cameras are similar in size and weight.  However, the electronic viewfinder of the Leica SL has still the highest resolution of any on the market.

Fujifilm GFX 50S 51.4MP Mirrorless Medium Format Camera (Body Only)
Fujifilm GFX 50S

The latest newcomers to the field of mirrorless cameras were introduced by Canon and Nikon.  Nikon was first with the Nikon Z6 and the Z7, followed soon after by the Canon with the Canon EOS R.  
Nikon Z6

Nikon Z7

EOS R
Canon EOS R

So it seems that the initial criticism of the Leica SL was indeed premature.  Sales figures in general have shown that the only market that has shown definite growth is that of mirrorless cameras.  While not considered a typical mirrorless camera as such, the Leica M line of cameras must be included in those figures as well.

Even though Leica is considered by many as being stuck in their history of rangefinder cameras, it should be obvious to anyone by now that Leica is still capable of developing products that are clearly at the forefront of what is possible today and even their M camera line has proven to be able to compete with virtually anything on the market.

But any camera can only perform as well as its lenses allow it to do.  As of late, Leica has introduced several lenses that are substantially ahead in performance of anything their competitors have to offer. When it comes to the lenses for any of their cameras, Leica has proven to still be the market leader.  It is still the case that nobody is able to beat the manufacturing process and the extremely tight tolerances as applied by Leica.  Anyone looking for the best that photography has to offer cannot ignore Leica.



For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right

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Friday, February 28, 2020

WHY I BYPASSED THE LEICA M9 WHEN UPGRADING FROM AN M8





By Heinz Richter

 Should I upgrade from an M8 to an M9? I see this question asked quite frequently.  The M9, as the follow up model of the M8, certainly must be considered an improvement with its full frame sensor and 18 megapixels, compared to the APS sized, 10 megapixel sensor of the M8.

This switch is quite often recommended and in many cases it appears to be also based on the still prevailing idea that CCD sensors are superior to the now common CMOS sensors. That issue was thoroughly debunked with a comparison test by David Farkas of Leica Store Miami. (see "THE GREAT DEBATE: CCD VS. CMOS")

Leica M8 with 35mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH

Leica M9 with 50mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH

My first digital M Leica was a Leica M8 and it worked better than expected.  The smaller sensor and the relatively low resolution of 10 megapixels had much less of an affect than expected.

What bothered me the most is the crop factor of the smaller sensor.  I grew up with 35mm cameras and have gotten used to the effects of certain focal length in relation to the image.  With the smaller sensor this no longer applied and I found myself forever calculating what any focal length on the M8 would translate to on a full frame camera. Of course this is something one can get used to, but 40+ years of experience with film didn’t make that any easier.

But there was more.  When using my film Leicas, I often used lenses beyond the standard, rangefinder coupled lenses.  I did close-up work as well as using lenses longer than 135mm.  This made the Visoflex an important part of my camera outfit.

Leica M5, Visoflex III, Leica Bellows II, 560mm f/6.8 Telyt

Photograph taken with the above combination

Of course the Visoflex can be used on the Leica M8 and M9, but I had always hoped for a more elegant solution.  The Visoflex definitely adds a considerable amount of bulk and it takes up a fair amount of space during transport.  Subsequently I was hesitant to go with the M9 and I am glad I waited.

Leica M240 with 50mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH

The introduction of the Leica M240 was the answer for me.  Full frame, an even higher resolution of 24 megapixels and a CMOS sensor, offering live view.  This allowed me to do close ups and the use of long lenses without any additional accessories, using the screen in back of the camera.  Of course that soon proved to be less than ideal.  But the solution of that problem lay in the electronic Visoflex.  Added to the accessory shoe, I now had a well working viewfinder that easily allowed focusing for close up work as well as long lenses.

Leica M240 with attached electronic Visoflex

Granted, using the electronic Visoflex is not as nice as an optical viewfinder, but I don’t let that bother me.  Focusing is quite accurate, especially with focus peaking, and the slight delay in the image refresh when moving the camera is negligible to me.  My first digital Leica was a Digilux 2 and its electronic finder is light years behind in comparison.  I got used to it and subsequently had no problem at all with the electronic Visoflex.

The M 240 also has the advantage of electronically illuminated viewfinder frames. This makes it independent of the relative ambient brightness which illuminated all previous Leica M models.  Under adverse lighting conditions this sometimes made it difficult to see the viewfinder frames. 

But I discovered another advantage of the M240 over the M9 and especially the M8.  Since no zoom lenses are available for Leica M cameras, we are forced to change lenses quite often out of necessity.  With the higher resolution of the M240 I found that I have been able to curtail that need to quite an extend.  For most of the work I do, 24 megapixels is more than enough.  I rarely make very big enlargements and therefore was actually quite happy with the M8.  However, with virtually all of the Leica lenses we have a performance potential that is often not being taken advantage of.

I am talking about cropping.  I found that using a shorter lens, in my case often a 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit or a 50mm f/2 Summicron, I can shoot and crop to the field of view of a longer lens to quite an extend without sacrificing overall quality of the image.  In many cases this has allowed me to get a shot that I otherwise might have missed while changing lenses.

Leica M240 with 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit, full frame

Same frame cropped

Extreme crop of the same frame

Leica M240 with Novoflex 200mm f/3.8, full frame

Same frame cropped

Same frame cropped for small detail

Same frame cropped for small detail

Since I bought the M240, Leica has presented us with the M10.  Is it worth to change to it?  Not for me.  Of course the M10 has several advantages.  For one thing it is smaller, having gone back to the dimensions of the Leica M film cameras and there are several operational improvements.  But to me that is not enough to justify the expense.  The larger size of the M240 has never bothered me.  I was even happy using the huge Zeiss Contarex years ago.

One other advantage of the M10 lies in its better high ISO capabilities.  It definitely display less noise in such situations.  However, since I rarely use images straight out of the camera, this is less of a problem for me.  I always optimize my images in post production, including noise reduction with the help of Photoshop when necessary.

Does that mean the M 240 is the end of the road for me?  Well, I’ll have to see.  Rumors are of an additional M10 model, supposedly with a sensor of over 40 megapixel.  I would consider it for its even greater cropping capabilities. Until then, the M240 is an ideal camera for me.  Of course your mileage might vary.



For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right

To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.

All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.

_______________________________________________________________________

 www.leicastoremiami.com  


Woman wears brown elk-leather camera strap around her shoulders.
      www.eddycam.com        

      



Buy vintage Leica cameras from 
America's premier Leica specialist 
www.tamarkin.com

                          
           http://www.tamarkinauctions.com/               http://www.tamarkin.com/leicagallery/upcoming-show



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Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography

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