Best Monochrome Options 2025 - Leica? Converted Files? Converted Cameras?

[Disappointed_Horse]

Thanks, neither of these access the file luminance without demosaicing. I have Lightroom on my phone and iPad but would really like a luminance only raw converter.

You're welcome. What you're looking for is a bit over my head, but I'll be interested to learn if you find something.

 

[Freakscene]

And I'm guessing quite a few shekels too. What did they charge you?

B2 (;->

Enough that I’ve blotted it from my memory. $AU4-500 or so I seem to recall. And an unreasonably long wait.

 

[BillBingham2]

Enough that I’ve blotted it from my memory. $AU4-500 or so I seem to recall. And an unreasonably long wait.

The price doesn't seem bad for Leica. My guess is that they didn't find anything else that needed replacing or fixing. That was probably about 1/2 of your cost. I've heard the wait is killer. Those two issues have scared me away from getting a digital CL.

Thanks for the data points.

B2 (;->

 

[Freakscene]

The price doesn't seem bad for Leica. My guess is that they didn't find anything else that needed replacing or fixing. That was probably about 1/2 of your cost. I've heard the wait is killer. Those two issues have scared me away from getting a digital CL.

Thanks for the data points.

B2 (;->

The CL is fantastic, and doesn't have this problem because you can clean the sensor yourself. The feature set and interface are tremendous - it is a camera that, like the Leica M digitals, really makes you really understand that most digital camera interfaces and software (especially those in cameras made by companies that are primarily electronics manufacturers and don't have a long history as camera makers) are really unnecessarily complicated.

 

[Shadams]

Don't know if this has been mentioned, but I've on occasion set the camera up to shoot RAW+JPG. Set the jpg colour scheme to B+W. That's what I'll see on the LCD. And in the finder on the mirrorless bodies. You'll still have the RAW if you bail out later and want to stick the colour back in.
All the comments about filtration, etc., probably apply... Grab an old D70 and convert that? D7100 has no anti-aliasing filter.....

 

[Godfrey]

The CL is fantastic, and doesn't have this problem because you can clean the sensor yourself. The feature set and interface are tremendous - it is a camera that, like the Leica M digitals, really makes you really understand that most digital camera interfaces and software (especially those in cameras made by companies that are primarily electronics manufacturers and don't have a long history as camera makers) are really unnecessarily complicated.

I agree about the CL ... an excellent camera, beautifully designed and simple in operation. I used one for many thousands of photos over about a three year period. I only sold mine to help finance buying the M10-R, after I bought the M10 Monochrom and just liked it too much to not have a color version of the same thing. Probably foolish, but eh?

Nice thing about the CL is that you can use a lot of third party batteries with it, at $20 a pop or less. Only negative, and it's a minor one, is that it's an APS-C format sensor which limits DoF control to a degree. Other than that, it's just a brilliant camera.

G

 

[Peter_S]

I’ve used both. I find that essentially all conversions take the highlights too far back from the actual point where they become white to meet publication standards (I deliver ready to publish both in print and on the web jpgs with a prescribed overall contrast and a prescribed contrast within 4 density ranges) and I can’t easily recover them (my own ineptitude is evident here). It’s why I continue to use a monochrome camera. I’m shooting at high (sometimes very, occasionally extremely high) ISO under artificial lights that I can’t control. On desktop applications I can get things how I like if I can use a luminance only conversion without demosaicing, or with a Silver Efex pre-set that I built very carefully a long time ago. Other programs haven’t worked for me. Speed complicates everything; I need to deliver the photos before the show is finished. I’m not allowed to take a laptop into most venues, and I’d prefer not to shoot, leave the venue (always complicated, sometimes impossible) and work on the photos on a laptop in my car; a lot of the venues are in places where this isn’t safe.

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I just got a 25 hr subscription on Macincloud. This does not contain admin rights but I can run Monochrom2DNG when dragged to Desktop, as it is self-contained. This may or may not be a solution for you, but you (or I) could check if Iridient works there. Editing via Remote Desktop on IPad may be too cumbersome to be practical. For me it works, as all monochrome files are batch-converted and loaded to cloud, where I can get them into Capture One Mobile. I stopped using SEP years ago and prefer C1, but that is subjective.
Laptop is better, but it’s same for me - for some trips, taking the Laptop involves too high a risk.

 

[Timmyjoe]

You are the pro and I should listen. Should. But I have an old M8 that is great in mono. The M9 and M240, too, but the M8 seems a bit more authentic. I shoot both RAW and JPG but use just JPG. I am just about as lazy as a man can be without an iron lung to breathe for him so JPG is great.

I understand I can go through the RAW > mono conversion but for my amateur eyes I do not see the advantage over letting the camera do it. And, also, I am not out there competing to sell images so can be way more relaxed. Oh, wait, Pixii shoots RAW mono. It is often good. I have not shot PIxii in a long while. I'll have to find it, upgrade the software and shoot some RAW mono to see. You always find work for me. ;o)

I do have regrets from selling my Leica M8.2. I agree, the files coming out of the M8.2 converted beautifully to monochrome, better than the ones from my M9. Unfortunately I struggled with the crop factor and the few Leica lenses I had, none were wide enough.

Best,
-Tim