Today the new Leica Monochrom is being presented at Leica in Wetzlar. This will be the third version of this special rangefinder camera. The perfect time to write about my short but very loving experience with the first version of the Leica Monochrom. I bought this shortly before Christmas at a good price and condition. And if after reading this article you're interested in getting a camera like this: there are still a few based on the M9 directly from Leica – i.e. with a stainless sensor.
Maybe you're actually interested in the new Leica Monochrom. The first monochrome that actually gets its own sensor. Until now, Monochrome Ms were always current rangefinder cameras that lacked the so-called Bayer Pattern.
Technology blah blah to monochrome
So a quick bit of technology: Sensors in digital cameras can only convert the intensity of the incident light into electricity. You only see light to dark, but no color. That's why a filter film with the three primary colors is placed on the sensors: red, blue, green. So the pixels of digital sensors actually consist of four. So that the digital chip can display color information, the color filter film in the Bavarian pattern is placed on the sensor. One pixel each in red and blue, and two pixels in green. Due to the different intensity of the incident light, all colors can be represented from the three primary colors. This happens by interpolating the signal strength and colors.
That's a lot of technology and I only really understood the principle when I used a Leica Monochrom and photographed color charts with different lens filters. Because with a Leica Monochrom the Bayern pattern described above with the three primary colors is simply missing. This means that what was once an 18 megapixel M9 becomes an M9M with what feels like 36 megapixels. Every pixel is used and no longer converts a group of four with the three primary colors into one pixel. This also means that the camera produces sharper images. The interpolation from RGB to all other colors is no longer necessary.
Except for the sharpness point, you can of course also use any color image and convert it to black and white in the image editing program of your choice. Some cameras offer great black and white emulations for the JPGs directly from the camera. Technically speaking, a Leica Monochrom offers almost no added value! This is typical of Leica: technically unnecessary or even outdated products are offered at excessive prices. And that is also typical of Leica: it works. Because now comes the decisive sentence from a Leica photographer:
None of this matters when it comes to photography.
You walk through a colorful world, look through a colorful viewfinder, press a (perhaps colorful) button and the display shows an image in black, dark gray, light gray and white. You simply concentrate on the situation. It's almost as cool as putting a white sheet of paper in the developer bath and suddenly grayscale values produced an image. Here you don't have to think about any processes. You immediately see on the display what your surroundings look like in black and white. And that's the great thing about the Leica Monochrom: the most important thing is the light. Photography actually means "painting with light" and the Leica Monochrom reduces photography to the most important thing: the light!
No matter how technically pointless the monochrome is, Leica has once again managed to limit photography to the essentials. Probably only Leica can do something like that, because the brand serves a niche of photographers anyway. A camera that only takes photos in light and dark is a niche within a niche.
And what does it mean for me to take photos with the Leica Monochrom?
I'm learning to pay attention to light again and I'm also getting direct feedback. I also like to take photos directly in the right format. I only upload photos from the Hasselblad to Instagram because they were taken square. I created a Lightroom preset for the Leica Monochrom and with one click I can use my images on the go without much effort.
The beautiful sunset with its golden-yellow colors when photographing with the monochrome interests me less than the long, hard shadows that arise. The gentle, cloudy sunrise often appears dull when photographed with a color camera, but with a slight twist of the contrast control the image can be made into something special when photographed in monochrome. Everything that interested me in photography in my younger years Tri-X or T-Max fascinated me, and now it captivates me again. Only with the convenient difference that I was currently taking photos at ISO320 and soon at ISO6400. And with only a minimal difference in quality – despite being completely outdated CCD sensors the Leica M9M.
With the Leica Monochrom I am rediscovering my old love of photography in black and white.
I was able to test the first version with the Leica APO-Summicron-M 1:2/50 mm ASPH and really had a lot of fun with it. I would also love to try out the current version - let's see if I can do that this year :D.
I had the new version in my hand on Friday. This is a completely different number to the first version. Really great camera and great results. Even ISO12500 is absolutely usable. Of course the lower ISO values too. 🙂
For me, the M10M is the first digital FineArts camera in XNUMXmm format! I've had it for three weeks now and I feel like I'm in tech time. Pan moved back. The resolution is gigantic, focusing on pixel sharpness becomes a real task, EVF is almost unavoidable, at least with the open Nocti. A must for every monochrome fan!
After 9 shots, the Leica M 320 Monochrom unfortunately has the “virus infection” of corrosion on the sensor glass.
The SCHOTT BG 39/BG 61 – Galas could be considered for an exchange. The cutting shouldn't be a problem either.
But what kind of engineering could be trusted here in the country or in Europe?
Does anyone know any advice? As we all know, good advice is expensive…Kolari in the USA does this at an increased cost.
Thank you for this fascinating insight into your experiences with the Leica Monochrom! As a photographer, I can completely understand your enthusiasm. The ability to concentrate fully on light and shadow without being distracted by color information is really something special. The description of how you rediscover the essence of photography through the Monochrom has inspired me to focus my own work even more intensively on the play of light and contrast. Your comments definitely make me want to work with a Leica Monochrom myself!
Thank you very much for your great comment. Some cameras have the option of taking JPGs in black and white. Maybe that's a good first step.