Getting back into Leica - M10 or M240 or something else...?

[pgk]

.....with used 50mm f2.5 Summarit (c£800) to start with.

These are very thin on the ground and prices are rising. You will be lucky to find one at £800 although you might. Personally I'd snap up a 75 or 90 Summarit (I have), whilst prices are low because I have a suspicion that they will not remain this way for long.

 

[f.hayek]

For £800, I’d rather go for a collapsible 50 Elmer M. As seer as the Summarit 75 is (hate the rubber focus ring), a Voigtländer 75 is almost a stop faster. The new CV 90 is also newer and slightly more compact though 1/2 stop slower.

 

[wlewisiii]

800 Pound? If I had 800 pound (ok, $USD equivalent right now) I'd get a Canon 50/1.4 or the best Summicron I could con someone out of if I had to have Leica on the ring. The Canon would be a far better lens (I have one & have had a Summicron. I know the Canon is better, even wide open) it's my number 2 daily carry lens after my Chiyoko 50/2 Super Rokkor 🙂 but I have a thing for the bokeh of that lens design (just ask Sonnar_Brian LOL!!!!!) or it would be number one easily. It is easily the single best fast Japanese lens prior to 1970. There is a reason that lots of the Youtube Yahoos call it the Japanese Summilux. The only real problem with that is that it denigrates the Canon lens... 😱

 

[leolab]

Just my opinion…
I had both the M240 and M10 concurrently, i sold the M10 and kept the M240, the thickness difference is noticeable but slight, the weight feels similar, i prefer the framelines in the m240, and as far as IQ i did not see much difference at or below ISO1600…The difference in price is significant however (roughly 2x in my case).

I put the $ into lenses, especially some of the newer Voigtlanders, the 50mm f2 APO Lanthar is the best 50 ive ever shot, same goes for the new 28mm f2 Ultron…the tiny 35mm f2 Ultron and 21mm 3.5 Skopar are also excellent, you could get all four lenses used with an M240 for close to the price of the used M10 alone.

 

[d_c]

Have you thought about the M262 - basically the same sensor and overall body dimensions as the M240, but no video, and a similar weight to an M6?

 

[mrtoml]

Have you thought about the M262 - basically the same sensor and overall body dimensions as the M240, but no video, and a similar weight to an M6?

Yes. But I found that these are hard to find and not any cheaper than the 240. But it is an alternative as I don't care about video.

 

[mrtoml]

I have succumbed. I have bought an M10 in near mint condition for a good price with a warranty. However, I got it on one of those buy now pay later deals so I can use the camera for 4 months before I have to pay for it, which will be after I retire and get my pension payout.

If I find I don't like it I will just sell it before I have to pay and probably won't lose any money. If if find that I use it a little, but not enough to justify the price I might 'trade down' to a 240.

I also picked up a couple of Zeiss lenses at good prices. A Planar 50/2 and a Biogon 35/2.8. I will also use these on my Sony A7R2.

Thank you all once again for your sage advice.

I am getting used to the feel of the RF again and the raw files take a bit of getting used to. It also seems easy to overexpose, but shadow recovery is very good. Here are a few snapshots taken this weekend:

Planar 50:




Biogon:

 

[james.liam]

If and when it makes financial sense, I'd recommend a CV 3.5/21 and/or CV 75 or 90 to complement the two superb lenses now in your possession.

 

[mrtoml]

I am looking at the CV longer lenses. I guess I should start another thread on this...

 

[raid]

Congrats on getting an M10. I love mine.
Get a back-up battery for the M10.

 

[raid]

Choosing lenses to buy depends on which lenses you already own and the type of images you target to capture.

 

[Archiver]

@mrtoml Congratulations! May your new M10 give you many years of pleasure and service. From my understanding, it is better to shoot to protect the highlights with the M10 and bring up the shadows in post. The M240 has shadow banding issues where the M10 has not, so you made a good choice.

 

[mrtoml]

@mrtoml Congratulations! May your new M10 give you many years of pleasure and service. From my understanding, it is better to shoot to protect the highlights with the M10 and bring up the shadows in post. The M240 has shadow banding issues where the M10 has not, so you made a good choice.

Thanks. I have programmed the thumb dial to exposure compensation so I can dial down the exposure easily. This works well enough. Lifting the shadows in Photolab works well In cases of slight underexposure.

 

[pixie79]

I've used Leica-M for most of my life! I think it's great for quick reportage! 1,5m to5m! Personally a SLR/DSLR runs circles around my Leica.
I cannot get to be young again! Nor you! My most reliable camera was the Asahi Pentax Spotmatic! Never repaired, serviced or arrive in non working condition! My M3 reqd further assembly...1967! It's your money. I'd rather use it for a long trip.

 

[mrtoml]

I've used Leica-M for most of my life! I think it's great for quick reportage! 1,5m to5m! Personally a SLR/DSLR runs circles around my Leica.
I cannot get to be young again! Nor you! My most reliable camera was the Asahi Pentax Spotmatic! Never repaired, serviced or arrive in non working condition! My M3 reqd further assembly...1967! It's your money. I'd rather use it for a long trip.

I hear what you are saying. It is a valid argument. As I said to Mike above I also have a fair amount of money for trips. My wife is also retiring soon and we are planning several long vacations. You have reminded me to start a new thread on that. Taking a Leica with me will be the icing on the cake for me after a frustrating end to my career.

 

[kshapero]

Thank you, both. These are very good points. I had not considered the lack of support issue.

That does push me more into M10 territory.

I have had a 240 M-P used for about three years. I love it. Nary a problem and the battery life is awesome.

 

[Freakscene]

I have had a 240 M-P used for about three years. I love it. Nary a problem and the battery life is awesome.

There are lots of good things about the 240 series cameras. The battery among them. I sold my 246 and 240 as soon as the M10 came out, though, to stop perennially fighting with shadow banding when I tried to raise dark areas in underexposed or high ISO photos. It drove me insane. A photo would look great, then I’d print it big, and the pinstripes would be there, staring at me from the shadows. It was worse than the M9/MM corroding sensor for me - at least the M9 or MM worked when they worked. The 240 and 246 they seemed like they were working, but every photo was sabotaged in the shadows, waiting for me to edit. I’m bitter, as you can tell.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

mrtoml, do you still have your Fujifilm X-T2?

If you do you may want to hang onto it for when the M10 becomes a bit of a drag and you want to take quick and easy JPEG pictures. Just a thought! 🙂

In all seriousness I hope your new dream camera (the M10) brings you much joy and happiness!

All the best,
Mike

 

[shawn]

There are lots of good things about the 240 series cameras. The battery among them. I sold my 246 and 240 as soon as the M10 came out, though, to stop perennially fighting with shadow banding when I tried to raise dark areas in underexposed or high ISO photos. It drove me insane. A photo would look great, then I’d print it big, and the pinstripes would be there, staring at me from the shadows. It was worse than the M9/MM corroding sensor for me - at least the M9 or MM worked when they worked. The 240 and 246 they seemed like they were working, but every photo was sabotaged in the shadows, waiting for me to edit. I’m bitter, as you can tell.

Wonder if hardware/firmware maybe changed over the life of the M240? I never saw this on mine and just dove into my LR library to go looking for it on dark ISO3200 shots and even pushing the shadows and exposure as far as I can I'm not seeing banding. This is from DNGs.

 

[Freakscene]

Wonder if hardware/firmware maybe changed over the life of the M240? I never saw this on mine and just dove into my LR library to go looking for it on dark ISO3200 shots and even pushing the shadows and exposure as far as I can I'm not seeing banding. This is from DNGs.

I have no idea. In Lightroom 6, which I was using at the time, it drove me insane. It could be the particular combination of adjustments, but I never figured out a way to edit my dngs so that it didn’t do it. It was the same with my 246, so I don’t think it was camera-specific. I saw a lot of photos on flickr and elsewhere that had it too. I’ve only ever resented one other camera as much. It almost made me give up photographing for myself.