Erwin Puts on the Monochrom

[mervynyan]

I have yet to seen a picture of M9 B&W conversion vs MM, with identical histogram, curve, etc. but i am saving money slowly for MM, can always shoot Velvia for color.

 

[bigeye]

Part II (It's hard to find).

.

 

[leicashot]

Maybe. But I doubt the image quality is so sufficiently superior as to make it worthwhile to shell out another $7,000. And the M9 allows me the option of shooting in color AND B&W (with a little processing, of course....)

Thats up to you to decide, not a reviewer. For me it was worth it and it's now my only M. For color I'm happy shooting with my D800E, but when I shoot M, I've almost always shot it in B+W in film and digital.

The M Monochrom is not for everyone, and I like it that way.

 

[bigeye]

If anything, being unique and quite po-tent as Mr. Puts describes, I'd say it is the easiest Leica to justify.

-Charlie

 

[Richard G]

Thats up to you to decide, not a reviewer. For me it was worth it and it's now my only M. For color I'm happy shooting with my D800E, but when I shoot M, I've almost always shot it in B+W in film and digital.

The M Monochrom is not for everyone, and I like it that way.

See Leicashot's MM Melbourne thread from yesterday and weep. It is the most convincing argument for the MM there is. It ends the discussion about whether this camera offers anything worth pursuing.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=123208

 

[_goodtimez]

You here ?

You here ?

He speaks "Leica" and this is why no one understands him. Ha ha.

Hey Tightsqueez, nice to see you on line. I'm writing from Turkey now.
Are you fancying a Mono ??? I thought you got vaccinated and sticked to film just like I did 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

"When you take a M9 image file and transfer it to black and white there is always a slight color cast."

Amusing.

It's in Erwinese. I can tell that this was not originally written in English, or at least the thoughts are not originally in English.

He still won't a proofreader hire: "loosing the ability to shoot in color" is either very existential or just another symptom of my years-old crisply-defined observation.

That, and it's really as style hard of reading shown. Syntax and grammar not highly rendered.

 

[icebear]

Here part II of his evaluation:
http://www.imx.nl/photo/leica/camera/styled-9/M%20Monochrom.html

That he's not a native English speaking guy is well known and the translation is sometimes "really funny" to put it mildly but the color chart comparison shots and bw conversion of M9P , MM and for reference film Delta 100 are pretty interesting, especially in the dark brown patch area there are obvious differences on how the results look. This is telling more than the text.

Btw the grain on the Delta 100 chart is quite drastic vs the super clean digital files...

The clarification that the M9 sensor is loosing about 30% resolution vs the non Bayer filter Monchrome also seems to be accurate according to his test shots. So any claims of 100% better for the MM were clearly marketing BS.

 

[wosim]

Erwin Puts Monochrom Review Part 3

Erwin Puts Monochrom Review Part 3

Here is Part 3 of Erwin Put's Leica M Monochrom review:

Leica M Monochrom: tonal scale and reproduction

 

[wosim]

Another very interesting review

Another very interesting review

Here is another interesting review (partly with comparison to Leica M9 b&w):

f/Egor: A Fetishist's Guide to the Leica M Monochrom Part 1 - Part 2 -

 

[wosim]

Steve Huff has finished his Monochrom review

Steve Huff has finished his Monochrom review

Steve Huff has finished his M Monochrom review:

Steve Huff, The Leica Monochrom Review

• Part 1. Understanding the Camera and vs FILM
• Part 2: Low light, High ISO and Filters - More Leica Monochrom Sample Images with Full Size -
• Part 2.5: More thoughts on the camera, on Leica and many more sample shots -
• Part 3: My final words and samples ... for now

 

[Vince Lupo]

Here is another interesting review (partly with comparison to Leica M9 b&w):

f/Egor: A Fetishist's Guide to the Leica M Monochrom Part 1 - Part 2 -

Really good review, as well as Steve's. I can't wait until mine shows up!

 

[MCTuomey]

Here is another interesting review (partly with comparison to Leica M9 b&w):

f/Egor: A Fetishist's Guide to the Leica M Monochrom Part 1 - Part 2 -

Very enjoyable read - thanks for the link. Interesting how the author easily and practically reconciles B&W film use with B& W digital use. Also interesting; have read that some see the M9 as digital kodachrome, and now we have the MM as digital tri-x. Leica is so gracefully wed to photographic tradition. It will be awhile before my number comes up - well into next year - so I'll have time to continue saving. Can't wait.

 

[Rangefinderfreak]

Am I right in thinking that English is not Mr. Puts's first language?

he is Dutch, European, intelligent and straightforward... does not distribute other`s opinions. maybe therefore a bit hard to follow.

 

[Archlich]

Hmmm It is not quite as strange as it seems at first sight.:
http://shutha.org/node/840

That's for who use only the "desaturate" command I guess. Convert RGB channels into a single grayscale one is a breeze for those who know how to work with channels and color modes.

Hard to imagine how possibly there is a "color cast" when even the color profile from a M9 had been converted to grayscale ones like Dot Gain 20%. More like pseudoscience or simply a bad monitor.

 

[jaapv]

I agree that desaturate is about the worst possible way to convert to B&W. The problems with colour casts he mentions are because he is playing silly buggers with colour management.

 

[wosim]

f/Egor Part 3

f/Egor Part 3

Here is another interesting review (partly with comparison to Leica M9 b&w):

f/Egor: A Fetishist's Guide to the Leica M Monochrom Part 1 - Part 2 -

Here is Part 3 of f/Egors very interesting review.

 

[icebear]

Hello Wolfgang,

I haven't decided in which of his fetish categories I put myself in 😎 but the 3 rd part was definitely the most enjoyable of the three and I pretty much agree with his conclusions about the MM. Thanks for posting, more useful in my book than the E.Puts input so far on the Monochrom.

 

[Rangefinderfreak]

Egor could make a living as a writer... Not too sure about as a photographer...