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shujert wrote:
Shooting at high ISO is going to be the biggest adjustment and pain point for me, I think. I'm coming from a Df that can shoot ISO12,800 with relative ease. Do you guys have any tips for getting the cleanest possible shot at high ISO with the M9? A trick I've used in the past is to lower the exposure compensation by a stop or so and just fix in post, but Thorsten Overgaard recommends against this with the M9.
Here's a shot from this evening at ISO2000. Even using LR's excellent NR tool, the noise is quite pronounced and something I'll have to become accustomed to.
...Show more →
I know what you mean... I don't really worry about using my 1DX at 3200+ but with the M9 it was always a matter of finding the right balance between high enough shutter speed and not too high ISO. It's a reason IMO for buying the fastest lenses you can afford.
The M9 is particular in low light situations, and is one of the major complaints about it... The cleaner the light (broader spectrum), the better it will be. But, often that's not possible and you'll probably notice splotchy skin tones where some areas are stubbornly red/magenta. The easiest solution is to convert to B&W. 
Perhaps a year or two ago we had a discussion here, and also at the Leica User Forum, and was blogged by Jim Kasson, who did a very methodical review, that there is no quantifiable advantage to setting the M9's ISO value above 640. Between 160-640 there is a very slight, hardly perceptible advantage to setting ISO in-camera. Beyond 640, one can instead leave the camera at 640 and push the DNGs in post. Apps such as LR have better NR capability than whatever Leica applies to the files in-camera. The additional benefit to this approach is that you will be able to push exposure by only as much as really needed vs. estimating the ISO value you expect to need while shooting, which might end up being higher than necessary, resulting in greater noise and lower dynamic range. A disadvantage of this approach is that previews on the LCD will be quite dark and scary looking.
The M240 is better with higher ISO performance. In the 1600-3200 range it looks a lot more like contemporary DSLRs. The luminance grain is finer and colors don't tend to be splotch like with the M9. That said, at least with mine, at 3200 banding starts to become evident, something I don't have to worry about with the 1DX.
Unfortunately there is no easy low light, high ISO solution with the M9...
When it comes to situations around the home, you have control over what you're using for lighting fixtures, or more specifically, the kinds of bulbs used. It may be an opportunity to explore whether there are brighter and broader spectrum bulb options available.
Charles - thanks for the info and insight. I agree that service is a critical aspect to the usability of a system and it's unfortunate that Leica lags tremendously in this respect, with very inconsistent service quality around the world. It's just not realistic to expect repairs to be done in Germany for customers outside the EU. Repair service is another reason I'm sticking with a dual system kit for the foreseeable future. Canon's CPS service is very fast, well priced and here in Canada they've made considerable improvements to service quality over the last 5-10 years.
That said, I've been relatively happy with Leica NJ's service. In the past 6 months I've visited them twice in-person for same-day servicing of the M240. Both times were for user induced problems. The first was a stubborn spot on the sensor that I wasn't able to remove (though this wasn't necessarily my fault). The second time I was careless with the camera and the RF was knocked out of alignment. It was explained to me by the very helpful and friendly Leica CSR that as of the M240, Leica as established a very strict set of inspection and service requirements for any M240 servicing. Even for something as simple as a sensor cleaning, the camera must go through a bank of tests and adjustments. And that is done on a 'special machine' which I interpret as meaning something that allows much more precise calibration. It involves both the RF and sensor alignment. My guess is that the fledgling Leica office in Australia does not have this machine. Where Leica NJ is not so great is lens service turnaround... at 1-2 months.
M240 & 90 Summarit, ZM50/2, 90, 28 Cron
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