RustyBug
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 Re: Leica M11 Monochrome Dynamic Range | |
highdesertmesa wrote:
Fred Miranda wrote:
highdesertmesa wrote:
Random thought of the day: the unedited DNGs from the monochrome sensors remind me of Ilford XP2 printed at a 1-hour lab back in the day. XP2 was/is a C41 process color film that you could have developed at any color lab to produce b&w negatives. I always liked the smooth tones and lower contrast of that film and how it looked when printed to color paper from the lab. It was also great for darkroom printing to high contrast gloss b&w paper.
Perhaps because the XP2 is known for its wide dynamic range and smooth tonality. It's convenient that the XP2 can be developed using the C41 process.
One of the distinctions between using XP2 film vs a monochrome digital camera is the level of latitude in the highlight area.
It's interesting that you mentioned this, as I read an article a while back that discusses this topic:
"Scanned XP2, especially when dust reduction or grain suppression software is applied, can look somewhat 'digital', i.e. very clean, almost 'waxy'. The behaviour of the grain mentioned above plays a part here too. If you dig into and lighten those shadows too much unpleasant textures can emerge (of course, all this is subjective, you may want to do that). Economical Leica Monochrom anyone? One could get a second hand Leica M6, a Nikon Coolscan film scanner, a couple of rolls of XP2, and satisfy both digital and darkroom black and white yearnings. "
https://www.richardpickup.com/blog/tag/xp2+vs+hp5
Good point. I remember it being nearly impossible to ruin an XP2 exposure even with the cheap point-and-shoot film cameras of the time.
I wish Leica would offer a more aggressive and more accurate version of Highlight Weighted metering. For example, Nikon's highlight weighted meter is extremely aggressive on the Zf, but it also is not easily fooled into underexposing by too much. And in combination with that, Leica needs to add a robust dynamic range tool like Nikon, Fujifilm and others have. Fujifilm calls it D Range Priority with settings of Auto, Strong, Weak, or Off. That would go a long way to making the Leica monochrome exposures looking better on the LCD and for the JPEGs. As it stands now, many scenes taken on a Leica monochrome look terrible as JPEGs when exposed to retain the highlights. I know it makes no difference to the final image, but it sure helps evaluate the shot on the LCD.
Highlight weighted metering with a -1 EC ... Voila, you're there. 
Way simpler than a bunch of menu changes / mode changes / program adjustments for diff scenarios.
That's how I've got mine set. Depending on scene contrast, I may adjust my EC if it is inherently low DR lighting / scene.
Set EC to taste for how much you want to offset things.
Also, it's easier to train your brain to take control, than it is to get Leica to setup their gear like Nikon or Fuji. 
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