The DPReview samples are interesting. A few things I noted. The horns on the truck shot is at ISO 1600 and is extremely clean. Looks noise-free to my eye (the portrait at 1600 isn't as clean but who knows what the processing was.)
This isn't indicative of anything, because we don't know how DPReview processed the images, but I was surprised to see several examples in the sample shots of blown highlights and blocked shadows. The pic of the girl in the car, for instance. I know that in car-out of car range can be extreme at times, but her whole nose is blown out and there is absolutely no detail in her hair. There are a few other images where highlights are clipped. Now, it's entirely possible the data is there in the DNG, but they didn't pull it back, but it's surprising to see nonetheless.
Detail looks good, but nothing truly exceptional to my eye, except at higher ISO, where it's pretty impressive.
That's the thing, we don't know how the files were processed. Given that it's basically the same sensor as in the normal M9, there is hope it retains similar characteristics of the M9, which at least at lower ISOs, allows one to pull a huge amount of info out of the shadows. The M9 is basically a camera you shoot to avoid clipping highlights and let the shadows go dark, then recover in post. As the preview notes, once highlights are clipped with a monochrome sensor, there's no additional recovery, so it would seem the M9-M would work best with a similar workflow.
The ISO 1600 images look very nice and much better than the normal M9, in terms of noise/grain.
atran wrote:
It's even more expensive than the excellent 50/1.4 Lux
I'd hazard a guess that most Leica customers are not worried because of the price. They may however, be a bit annoyed because of the 2.5" 230,000 dot rear LCD in the MM.
The Summilux isn't APO, right? Crazy price bump over its faster brethren. The MTF looks fantastic straight from wide open though. It seems like they could have gone in two directions with the Summicron and the direction that would have led to a price lower than the Summilux is already occupied by the 50mm Summarit. So it makes sense they went balls out with the Summicron.
Ummm wtf where's a M10 with improved processing/screen/sensor/live view. Taking away the Bayer filter is cute but not revolutionary when other cameras manage superior DR and high-ISO (and resolution) with color anyway.
Who cares if the MTFs on that 50AA are crazy since the rangefinder is only ~2/3 DoF accurate (on par with a rebel's AF). Plus the Summilux outresolves the M9 at F/2 already and is APO. Basically no discernible difference from the Lux except a higher price tag, smaller size, and slower aperture unless you put it on an Nex or something.
Gross. And there's on-camera presets. Also like a rebel.
The M-Monochrom sadly has exactly the same disappointing 230,000 dot rear screen.
This puts it on a par with contemporary $100 compact cameras. For reference, the first 920,000 dot screens started to appear on DSLRs around 5 years ago.
Sp12 wrote:
Who cares if the MTFs on that 50AA are crazy since the rangefinder is only ~2/3 DoF accurate (on par with a rebel's AF). Plus the Summilux outresolves the M9 at F/2 already and is APO. Basically no discernible difference from the Lux except a higher price tag, smaller size, and slower aperture unless you put it on an Nex or something.
Gross. And there's on-camera presets. Also like a rebel.
I'd say the Summicron is a forward thinking lens. Probably meant to be paired with the M10 if it has Live View and a very high resolution sensor. Especially if this design is meant to last another 30 years.
That is expensive. The 50, no the M9-M. Yeah that's expensive too, but what I expected. But $7k for a 50/2? The 50/1.4 is awesome enough - I'd sink $7k into something like the 21/1.4 instead.
I'd love to have an M9-M, but sadly for me, $8k is too much for a camera for me.
I don't wanna sound as ignoramus, but that Leica premium 'aroma' makes the sense and logic fly away from the planet Earth into the open space. Sure, I'm not their target audience, but if people didn't lose the last bits of their brains, they'll likely choose CZ Makro Planar instead, just as a high precision workhorse (the key word in this sentence). Even if I were a rich man, I'll never put an eye on that chtonic APO-Summicron, no way. For those, who have no collection of legacy Porsches, the dream of hi-end system is fading away and soon Leica-branded tools will cover the shelves of aristocrates or oligarches only. The most of us do not care if they look at the screen of mobile phone when the time check is needed. Breguet is great, but it is too far of being the tool for everyday.
And to paraphrase an ad slogan of Patek Philippe, "You never actually own a Leica. You merely look after it for the next generation".
Leica Monochrom prints - an exclusive service for M Monochrom customers
In collaboration with WhiteWall, the premium photo finishers, the Leica M Monochrom print service offers customers an opportunity to have exclusive black-and-white prints made from their images. With this service, digital images from the Leica M Monochrom can be printed on premium-quality baryte photographic papers. Thanks to development in the classical wet-chemical silver halide process, the prints are hardly distinguishable from their analogue counterparts printed from negatives.
$7,195.00
I am curious as to what a DNG taken with this lens would look like.
I think it was on the L-Camera forum where somebody said (paraphrased): "Who introduces both an achromatic body and an apochromatic lens at the same time?"
Ofc it's hard to tell how much they are processed, but the tonality sure looks good.
The Leica M-M (?) ships with Silver Efex Pro, and those look like they were processed with this. Very nice look, but not really different than what you would get from a normal M9, at a glance.
I am sure that the RAW results are out of this world in cleanliness and loads of tonality, but the tricky thing is of course how to convert this to better end-results. Large DR and so on don't look good natively, necessarily.
Sp12 wrote:
Ummm wtf where's a M10 with improved processing/screen/sensor/live view. Taking away the Bayer filter is cute but not revolutionary when other cameras manage superior DR and high-ISO (and resolution) with color anyway.
Technician wrote:
I don't wanna sound as ignoramus, but that Leica premium 'aroma' makes the sense and logic fly away from the planet Earth into the open space. Sure, I'm not their target audience, but if people didn't lose the last bits of their brains, they'll likely choose CZ Makro Planar instead, just as a high precision workhorse (the key word in this sentence). Even if I were a rich man, I'll never put an eye on that chtonic APO-Summicron, no way. For those, who have no collection of legacy Porsches, the dream of hi-end system is fading away and soon Leica-branded tools will cover the shelves of aristocrates or oligarches only. ...Show more →
many touring musicians use PRS and Gibson custom shop guitars. that's not including the many who use vintage instruments where 5 digits is the starting price.
if it's the best tool, and you're a honest to goodness professional who's livelihood rests on delivery the highest quality product, you will find a way to afford it.
a Leica isn't even remotely comparable to a Patek (as nice a watch as it is). people who make their livings timing things are using computers and clocks costing many, many times more than those watches. but a Leica can legitimately be used as a pro tool.
