The colors on the M240 is on the warm side and I'm still learning and adjusting. I can't correct it with the wb color temp or tint settings in LR4 easily as the shadow tint seem inconsistent, so I'm back to using a white balance card whic works for me. However, Someone needs to tell Leica to provide a few custom white balance memory settings like the other manufacturers....at the moment if you select other WB settings, you can't go back to the custom profile without needing to calibrate again. But for someone who uses AWB and then complain ... I have nothing more to say ..
Dean - great set, love the first two.
Michael - really vibrant colors! Have you done a side by side test with and without the IR filter? I'm curious now...
Joakim - wow, sorry to hear it's taken so long! This is one aspect about Leica that worries me from a professional user perspective. At least in Germany/EU, you can opt for expedited service (for an extra charge), but the equivalent does not exist here...
Joe - my experience with the M9 is that precise WB is lens dependent. For example, the 28 Cron is the odd-lens-out in my Leica lens collection with a noticeable bias towards magenta. The other lenses are more consistent between each other. BTW, I see the same inconsistency with my Canon lens collection.
Re-reading your comment, perhaps it could be firmware related...
The colors on the M240 is on the warm side and I'm still learning and adjusting. I can't correct it with the wb color temp or tint settings in LR4 easily as the shadow tint seem inconsistent, so I'm back to using a white balance card whic works for me. However, Someone needs to tell Leica to provide a few custom white balance memory settings like the other manufacturers....at the moment if you select other WB settings, you can't go back to the custom profile without needing to calibrate again. But for someone who uses AWB and then complain ... I have nothing more to say .....Show more →
To be honest, I was able with a couple of clicks to get very nice WB from several raw files I downloaded online. The color palette is obviously different from the M9, but not necessarily better or worse. Color is always very subjective but I like what I see so far.
Joe, If I haven't get M240 yet is not because of color and profile, but really the budget. I do feel color is very subjective, a different Raw converter or profile can easily change file's look. Most time, people just want match color they used to, which require quite a bit experience to do so.
I brought old 35/50cron, 21biogon and 90Elmarit. and My wife packed 50lux ASPH M for my D700, which is really nice
Ron, TBH, I haven't done any scientific test. I feel the difference might be small that I can't tell if I did not pick right condition and right color to do so. But I notice when shooting black clothe with M9, the color is purplish. So I know the problem is there. How serious is it? I don't know. Also, under full sun, remember my kids play under sun in yellow flower ground I post a while ago, I have really wired color balance which is very hard to correct. one of Bobu's post a while ago coincidentally reinforce my suspicious about M9's IR problem. It could also be just something in my imagination.
For me, there are another reason I want use the IR filter, because of two cron I have are some old silver lens. The silver ring give me problem at some angle. Add black ring definitely help reduce flare in that regards.
Zhangyue, very nice color combination with light blue and strong yellow. The crow adds an interesting element to the composition. This shows that even after you broke the lux, you were still in control
Michael, next time pack your camera bags on your own? Both the 90Elmarit and 50Lux shots above are really nice. I like the yellows on the first one.
There seems to be pinkish hue/layer to the M240 color which is hard to get rid off but I'm sure it will be corrected with a firmware update just like the previous Leica cameras. I've seen this light pinkish hue in my pics and also in the prototype samples from the good Dr.'s boat series and others that have been posted everywhere. Even if you look at the new Leica M catalog, you can see some slight reddish/pinkish color cast in some of Jean Gaumy's stunning pics - download the pdf at http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/m_new/
My quick workaround now is to desaturate, shift hue and increase orange luminance. Seems to work as a quick fix.
Ron, I think the only way to have color and aperture consistency across the entire range of focal length is to get a set of Cine primes, but this is not practical for photography I guess.
See for instance on both of these uncorrected pics, both with the same WB. #1 is 35Cron ASPH #2 50CronV5. The 35Cron has magenta tint on the shadows and 50Cron has a greenish tint. But again, not a difficult fix in post.
USPS dropped off a box yesterday CV 21 1.8 Ultron. Some initial shots when I picked up my son from Pre-School this afternoon.
Seems to work great on the M240. All of these were shot at f/1.8 with a 3stop ND filter. Coded 21 Elmarit 11134 manually and doesn't look like there is noticeable color shift on the edges. I also did not need to apply lens correction in LR4 and seems to work well. Definitely a keeper lens for me!
Joe - congrats on the new lens! Seems to be a great performer. I have not noticed this pinkish hue yet but I have probably only taken 25 shots with my new camera. Must get out this weekend if the weather is good! One thing I quickly noticed with the M240 is the rather limited fast shutter speed compared to my M8. I guess I got used to shooting wide open in daylight withouth using ND filters. 1/8000 is pretty handy sometimes with fast glass....
Michael - sorry to hear about your accident. These things sometimes happen I suppose...
joe88 wrote:
Michael, next time pack your camera bags on your own? Both the 90Elmarit and 50Lux shots above are really nice. I like the yellows on the first one.
There seems to be pinkish hue/layer to the M240 color which is hard to get rid off but I'm sure it will be corrected with a firmware update just like the previous Leica cameras. I've seen this light pinkish hue in my pics and also in the prototype samples from the good Dr.'s boat series and others that have been posted everywhere. Even if you look at the new Leica M catalog, you can see some slight reddish/pinkish color cast in some of Jean Gaumy's stunning pics - download the pdf at http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/m_new/
My quick workaround now is to desaturate, shift hue and increase orange luminance. Seems to work as a quick fix.
Ron, I think the only way to have color and aperture consistency across the entire range of focal length is to get a set of Cine primes, but this is not practical for photography I guess.
See for instance on both of these uncorrected pics, both with the same WB. #1 is 35Cron ASPH #2 50CronV5. The 35Cron has magenta tint on the shadows and 50Cron has a greenish tint. But again, not a difficult fix in post. ...Show more →
Hi Joe - I see an overall difference in WB tint. For example, the sky in the 35 Cron image is more magenta and there is an overall slightly reddish cast to the image compared to the one with the 50 Cron. This is also what I see on the M9 with the 28 Cron vs. my other Leica lenses.
Glad you like the lens! As I think I commented in my 21mm shootout review, the CV21/1.8 is certainly the best value when you consider how good its performance is, and that other than the CV21/4, is the least expensive. Wide open it rivals the 21 Lux in sharpness and subject isolation while stopped down past f/4, is pretty close to the SEM and ZM21/2.8, if slightly lower in contrast. It's a good multi-purpose lens, without doubt. If I didn't already have the 21 Lux and SEM... The crazy thing is I often go out with both the Lux and SEM in the bag. In theory the CV should replace both, but I'm quite attached to the two Leica lenses, even though I could save about 90% of their cost.
rscheffler wrote:
In theory the CV should replace both, but I'm quite attached to the two Leica lenses, even though I could save about 90% of their cost.
Make me almost want go out and grab one You have plant the seed in my mind.
Sorry to hear about you 50lux Michael. Leica's service center does great work FWIW. I actually notice some purple in my blacks as well, do you notice a significant improvement with the IR filters?
It is interesting to read about lens colors casts. I had always assumed that the lens were neutral and the white balance finicky, but maybe that assumption was wrong.
A couple graffiti shots from lunchtime today. I tried JPG with these and it worked out very well. Live view sure helps with framing when using wider lenses. Both with M240 and 21SEM.
Andy, I don't want start a internet rumor from here I can only say I 'feel' there is a difference. And look like we all know there is problem there. Just how much it will affect images. who knows.
Gary, I am sure 21SEM can survive the first brick wall torture. Nice color!
A BIF, the same crow. I am waiting for the moment.
Edward - Yes, pretty much SOOC JPG with default settings. I should probably check what they have them set at from the factory - probably "medium" for all. I added 5 Clarity, a smidge of Vibrance (probably didn't need it), a bit of contrast, and a bumped the darks down a little. The colors were not adjusted at all. They were both taken in fairly shady dark alleys but the first one had some decent light filtering through...
Some more with M240. Using LV with this combo is such a treat! There is a great option (if enabled) where as soon as you turn the focus ring (when in LV mode), it automatically magnifies the centre portion (5X or 10X) along with focus peaking to nail the focus. It works great once you get the hang of it.
Both the 90Elmarit and 50Lux shots above are really nice. I like the yellows on the first one.
