Leica M Monochrom: best pics

[airfrogusmc]

Lookin good Pechelman, keep posting...

Agree and congrats on the 246....

 

[pechelman]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.
Will try to keep contributing at a level that you all have established. Pretty high bar in this thread, imo!

 

[cz23]

Welcome to the thread, pechelman, and very nice first contribution. My reaction was that I'd like to see your blacks blacker. But I have not calibrated for a while, so maybe it's just my monitor. I'm going to do that now. Look forward to more posts from you.

John

 

[pechelman]

Thanks for the feedback, John! Lately I've been backing off adding too much contrast in all of my images just a tad, and trying to preserve more tones between pure white\black, but maybe I need to reevaluate that amount. To be honest, I was wondering if my whites werent white enough. Hard to judge based off the "skin tone" of a manequin.

Still getting a feel for processing the mono files and same issue over here with calibration.

Phil

 

[airfrogusmc]

 

[Vince Lupo]

On Main St. by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

 

[Vince Lupo]

I've been shooting with the Monochrom 246 and the SL for the past couple of days. I really like the SL (sorry to say!), and I think it's a super camera. If I could afford to have both, I would. I still love the Monochrom 246, but this SL is tempting....

I'll try to post a couple of side-by-side comparisons, but for now here is one shot with the SL (I will not corrupt this Monochrom thread with too many SL photos). ISO 400, 50/2 Summicron, 1/4000th @ f/2 :

[
The Shanti Bus by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

 

[airfrogusmc]

 

[fabio_rf]

Peter Brötzmann & Heather Leigh @ Cafe Oto, London, 20th February 2016 by Fabio Lugaro, on Flickr



Peter Brötzmann & Heather Leigh @ Cafe Oto, London, 20th February 2016 by Fabio Lugaro, on Flickr

 

[Vince Lupo]

My Catholic guilt is getting a workout on this trip....


In the Garden of Gethsemane by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Chimayo4 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Chimayo2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Espanola1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Truchas2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Untitled by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

Ansel can have Hernandez, I'll take Las Trampas:

Moonrise, Las Trampas by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

One of these shots was done with the SL -- can you tell which?

 

[airfrogusmc]

They all look great Vince. My guess would be #5 but it is ONLY a guess.

You held nice detail in the moon in Las Trampas. The crow is on a great stretch of the high road. I love that drive up to Taos from Santa Fe. I try and always stop at Rancho de Chimayo Restaurante. And then you have to swing by El Santuario de Chimayo and also buy some Holy Chilis...

Man I am really missing Northern NM.

You are off to a great start Vince. How are you getting on with the SL?

 

[Vince Lupo]

Many thanks -- I am really loving the SL, and I'm going to really have a hard time choosing between the two.

The only thing that I do not like is that the EVF does not work with polarized sunglasses (mine are prescription) -- I cannot see a thing through the EVF when I wearing them (for that matter, I can't see a thing in the Olympus EVF on my Monochrom). And for some reason the 'lens profile' feature in the setup menu is 'greyed out', meaning I can't adjust it at all. Have no idea why it's doing that.

I will post a shot that I did with both cameras, and the difference is surprising. At least to me it was.

Oh and it's not #5. Choose again!

 

[airfrogusmc]

Yeah I have trouble when I have my prescription sunglasses on with the LCD. Really bad when I turn the camera vertical.

Have fun brother and stay safe. AHHH as for another guess I got nothin...

 

[Vince Lupo]

Two shots of the same scene, one with the 246 and one with the SL. Same lens (35/1.7 Voigtlander Ultron), shot at f/2. 246 at ISO 320, SL at ISO 400.

246:


Chimayo 246-1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

SL:


Chimayo SL-1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

I tried to get the exposures as close to being the same as possible.

Here is a detail crop of each, in roughly the same spot:

246:


Chimayo 246-1 Crop by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

SL:

Chimayo SL-1 Crop by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

To me, the difference in the sharpness is astounding. And it's not just with this lens -- with the 0.95 Noctilux wide open the difference is very noticeable. So now you see why I like the SL so much!

 

[airfrogusmc]

Wow more shadow detail in the SL? Probably pull more detail with the MM in post.

I'm not a fan of EVF kinda counter productive to the type of work I do but for the stuff you do I can see it. So maybe the SL makes sense for you?

I love rangefinders.

 

[Vince Lupo]

This EVF is quite fantastic, and the big pull for me is when using the Noctilux.

If I could afford to keep both, I would. But my wife has threatened some not good things if I did that. No need to elaborate 🙂

 

[icebear]

Technical IQ aside, I handled the SL (with a SL zoom lens) briefly, when I picked up my Q. First impression: The EVF is marvelous, the ergonomics of the body have room for improvement. It's a chunky brick and the grip followed formalistic rules and is not anything that makes anatomic sense.
How do you like grip form?
I could hold my T90 with a FD2.8/200 with my fingertips hanging on my arm dangling down. Gripping and lifting it up to shoot. Colani drew up some nice forms.

PS: I think there should be separate Leica SL thread

 

[Vince Lupo]

PS: I think there should be separate Leica SL thread

Yup, I definitely won't transform this into the 'SL is better than Monochrom' thread. I may end up starting a separate SL thread.

I love the grip - once you get used to the buttons and where everything is (and read the 130-page manual!), it all makes sense. I really like the chunkiness of it (but I've always liked heavy cameras), so for me it works great. Only thing I can't figure out is why the 'lens profiles' feature is greyed out (it did work for a short time, but it's now greyed out). I even called Leica NJ about it and they didn't even know! But when it does work, you still have to input the lens you're using -- for some weird reason, despite the fact that the M-T adapter has the 6-bit connections, the SL doesn't seem to offer automatic lens profiles when you use a 6-bit M lens. I don't understand why. And, the 0.95 Noctilux is not listed.

Oh and BTW the SL photo in that other group of photos is #4 (Espanola1).

 

[cz23]

I'm not much for these types of comparisons, and I know they are both incredible cameras. But the SL seems particularly well-suited to the type of photograph you do. I imagine the better EVF and its focusing and framing capabilities would be especially welcome.

I like all your photos here, but especially the last with the crucifixes.

John

 

[Vince Lupo]

Thanks John -- plenty of opportunity out here to exercise (or is it exorcise?) my Catholic guilt!


Pastor Joe by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Richard by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Mora1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr