My first images with a Leica M10

They are extremely nice photos Raid.

Although I thought I would not often use such ISO settings when I first got a camera that was capable of them, (not an m10 unfortunately :) ) I came to find it at first useful and then liberating. The liberation came from two things. The first is that a camera that handles say ISO 3200 and can be relied upon to produce nice images at that sensitivity is invariably able to also handle lower ISO settings with ease. Second it allows me to set my camera to auto ISO with a range from base ISO to say 3200 or maybe even 6400 and know that I do not have to worry about that parameter, I can concentrate on shooting. Of course I do not always do that - sometimes something closer to base ISO can offer other advantages such as the ability to cope with wide opens fast lenses in daylight.

I recently bought a Sony A7s (first version) second hand. Like many such purchases it was more or less a spur of the moment decision and an emotional purchase rather than a considered one. Though I had researched it a bit in advance and more or less knew what I was buying. Of course the ultra high capabilities were not the real reason for my purchase as such. It was more that it was a camera which is touted as being great for video and I have been thinking about doing some blogging using video.

But when I tried out the camera with some classic lenses what impressed me was it image quality more or less "ordinary" ISO settings - say below 1200 (ordinary by today's standards that is). It produces beautiful images with good color and excellent dynamic range - so I now have less worry about crushed blacks and blown highlights when out shooting and I can be pretty sure that if I do my job the camera will do its job. For me that is the real advantage of a great camera with good high ISO capabilities as I would anticipate seldom really needing to take photos at ISO 25000 or higher.

So shoot on and have fun.
 
Thank you Peter for your feedback.
I agree with you on the usefulness of a camera that in addition to many nice features, it also can use high ISO for nice looking images.
 
I read today an online review of 75-80 mm lenses. The reviewer found the 7artisans 75mm/1.25 technically better in all major factors cver the Summilux 75mm 1.4.
It just is not a Leica. :)
 
My lens trials continued with the M10 yesterday. We were at Pensacola Beach for dinner, so I took some photos there with the Heliar 50mm 3.5

link: https://raid.smugmug.com/Heliar-50mm-35-M10/

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Heliar50-3.5...%20%2810%20of%2037%29-X3.jpg



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Then we had a great seafood dinner here.
 
Thank you Godfrey. Yes, I am enjoying using the M10. During the boring and stressful times that we are witnessing around us, it is good to have a new toy.
 
Love the photo with the Heliar 3.5

How do you find it compared to the Heliar F 2 ? Just curious !

I guess more sharpness...but is that really visible in everyday use? Hmmm, you kn ow, I do not need a new lens :)
 
Hi Robert.

I find both lenses very sharp, but I think that I can see a 3D effect with the 3.5 and not with the 2.0 version of the Heliar lenses. The 50/2 got a bad rap when it came out. I have in both cases the first version and not the fancy looking Nickel versions that came out later.
 
raid said:
I set my M10 for DNG files. ISO=200 for the Florida sunshine almost each day. In the M9 and M8 is use ISO=160. I read somewhere that ISO=200 is the true minimum ISO for the M10. ...
Click to expand...

The native (base) ISO camera setting for the M10 is 100. (data)

The M9, M420, M262 and M10R have non-analog ISOs below 200. (data)

The lower, non-analog ISO camera setting does not improve these cameras' dynamic range performance. Nor do they affect the cameras' read noise levels in any way. (data)

Using the a camera ISO below the sensors native analog ISO setting simply implements a disguised form of exposure compensation. It is essentially a convenience - especially for JPEG shooters who prefer to use in-camera JPEGs.
 
willie_901 said:
The native (base) ISO camera setting for the M10 is 100. (data)

The M9, M420, M262 and M10R have non-analog ISOs below 200. (data)

The lower, non-analog ISO camera setting does not improve these cameras' dynamic range performance. Nor do they affect the cameras' read noise levels in any way. (data)

Using the a camera ISO below the sensors native analog ISO setting simply implements a disguised form of exposure compensation. It is essentially a convenience - especially for JPEG shooters who prefer to use in-camera JPEGs.
Click to expand...

Thank you Will. I love data!

I recall having watched an online interview with Dr. Kaufmann (maybe) in which he said that the base ISO was 200 for the M10. If ISO 100 is the base, then I will use it instead.

So you suggest to use ISO 200 for the M9.
 
I'm not entirely certain what a "non-analog ISO" might be. However, sensor analysis done of the M10 sensor done shortly after it was released showed that its native base ISO is indeed ISO 200; it achieves ISO 100 by attenuating the signal. I believe the M10 sensor is also bimodal: It has another noise dip in the ISO map at around ISO 400 or 640 (it's been some time since I looked at the graphs from the sensor analysis, so forgive me if my memory is a little sketchy on the details). The resulting summary, IIRC, was that you use ISO 100 only if there is significant advantage to extending the exposure time (for capture of motion effects, I expect) and otherwise ISO 200-800 will net approximately the same DR/noise characteristic throughout. Above that, DR begins to drop if you want to hold noise constant.

How significant these considerations are to typical picture taking circumstances I leave up to M10 owners to figure out. :)

G
 
I just use the cameras. Technical issues are less important. I just placed a second version Summitar with the M10. ISO is set to 200.
With the M9 my high ISO often is 640. With the M10 I may use ISO 1600 as the high setting.
 
willie_901 said:
...The native (base) ISO camera setting for the M10 is 100.....
Click to expand...

Raid – Hi. The native ISO of the M10 is not 100. To my knowledge, Leica did not disclose the native ISO of the M10, but several users found the M10 dynamic range lessened at ISO 100, and better at 200. I understand Jono Slack and Sean Reid agree on that, and it is believed the M10 native ISO to be around 160-ish. My camera is now gone [Covid-willing, a new start in 2021 with an M10-R] so I can't reference camera settings, and though I never used ISO 100, I'd consider it as a super bright conditions option, but only if that brightness was not too contrasty [good luck with that one].

The M10 sensor can give a brusque highlight wall in contrasty situations. Whilst some will blithely retort 'underexpose and compensate in RAW processing' it rather misses a critical aspect for photographers :

i.e. –– being able to return to one's pictures in a picture editor and 'Read' the picture clearly.

I have experienced extensive bracketing with a very challenging subject, whereby the 'correct' exposure [not highlight clipping] appears as generally too dark in the editing viewer I use that I wouldn't expect to understand the complexity of the images, so I saved a brighter, [highlight-clipping] image for reference.

If you still have UV/IR filters from your M8 use; try them on your M10 with manual white balance set to 'Cloudy'. That's how I worked in daylight. Maybe try it?

The M10 sensor is very nice except for the caveat rider of extremely contrasty light.

......... Chris
 
Thanks for your tips, Chris.

I never use filters on any of my RF cameras, including the M8, even though I own IR cut filters. I will try to avoid extreme contrast situations as much as I can.
 
I took my M10 this morning, and I used with it a lens that I hardly ever use. The Summitar 50/2 (second version with 6 aperture blades). I set ISO to 100 and the lens to 8~11 as we have lots of sunshine here. There were very few birds present this morning. I usually stay there about 20 minutes total. It was not a difficult task to undertake. I get more used to my M10, and I get the chance to try out some of my lenses.

I noticed that yesterday when I used the Heliar with a ltm-M adapter, the M10 would not let me use Live View with this lens. I would get "there is no lens used".
 
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