Struggling to love the M-P 240

[Godfrey]

@Godfrey: Thank you for the kind words. How do you like the M-Rokkor 90/4 on the M-P? I have a 90/4 Elmar-C which my understanding is that is the same/ similar lens. I never bothered with it on the R-D1 because of the focusing challenges due to a low EBL

You're welcome.

The Elmar-C and M-Rokkor 90mm f/4 lenses are the same ... Both were made in Wetzlar by Leitz at least up until Leica discontinued the CL model. (Minolta took over production for their follow-on CLE model in Japan afterwards. You can tell easily whether the one you have is Leica or Minolta production by checking the "Made In ..." on the underside by the lens mount, but I don't think it really makes all that much difference.)

I've been using the M-Rokkor 90/4 on CL, M4-2, Ricoh GXR, M9, and now M-P ... It's a small, light 90mm lens, a pleasure to carry when traveling. Lovely bokeh, beautifully made, and it focuses very accurately with the rangefinder.

​

That's from the set I posted to flickr this morning, about two-thirds of which were shot with the M-Rokkor 90mm.

G

 

[bobby_novatron]

I'm a refugee from the land of Canon dSLR's, although I've been shooting film on an M6 for years. When shooting digital, I was used to the auto-everything immediacy of the Canikon world.

Initially when I got my M 240, I was both enamoured and aghast. I found the menu system non-intuitive, the jpeg's not to my liking, and the general ergonomics somewhat uncomomfortable.

It has taken a few weeks of daily use but now I feel like I'm getting the hang of the M 240. Like other posters have said above, a Thumb's Up really helps -- I also got a Luigi case with grip. Now the ergonomics are much better.

In terms of files, I don't see any major problems with the OP's photos -- although I do agree that there seems to be over-exposure in the highlights.

With any new camera system I think it takes time and patience to learn the idiosyncrasies of the product, the Leica M being no exception.

After a few weeks of use (and learning) I wouldn't trade my M 240 for anything. I love the OOC files I get, and the IQ in general is breathtaking. It runs laps around my old Canon dSLR. Now, if only my photography was as good as the Leica camera itself. I feel like I've got the driving skills of a Toyota but I'm sitting behind the wheel of a Porsche! (No insult meant to Toyota, of course!)

This is a recent shot done with my M 240, in black and white mode (no filter). No changes were made to the DNG file, except JPEG conversion in ACR. I'm quite pleased with the OOC images. Lens was a Summilux 50 ASPH with 0.9 ND filter.

 

[MCTuomey]

From what I've seen from my new-to-me M240, the camera's AWB leans to the warm side by 200+ deg K depending on the light sources, even after the early firmware fix, especially when compared to M9 raw files. The stock profile in ACR/LR5 also seems to skew certain tones, especially skin. I don't have a solution ready for preset purposes yet, nor have I developed any custom profiles, need to get crackin' on one (or several).

Colin Walker's excellent Huelight profiles for the M9 (I like them a lot, no affiliation with Colin) aren't available for the M240.

 

[jsrockit]

And if after a few weeks of that you find you just don't like it, well, sell it and move on. Life's too short...

Yep, nothing wrong with moving on... it's only a camera (though a nice one).

 

[bobby_novatron]

I also found I was struggling with the white balance -- sometimes the M 240 gets the WB correctly, sometimes it doesn't. I am resorting to using a greycard about 30% of the time, which doesn't bother me much. My old Canon dSLR also skewed WB sometimes as well.

 

[paachi]

SITREP:
2 key updates:

1. Handling: Got my Luigi deluxe case and strap today and a Billingham Hadley Pro for schlepping the camera, lenses and my Fuji X100. What a transformation! IMHO coupled with the ThumbUp grip and Luigi case the handling of the camera transformed completely. Its no longer slippery or ungainly in my hands. Yes its a tad bulkier but all in all a much better handling solution. I used to have a Domke F5XB case but it was a tad small but the Billingham is a lot nicer and is also quite useful to carry the kit efficiently

2. Menus: The advise on user profiles was spot on. I sat down and wrote my main shooting combinations between color vs. B&W, ISO, etc and saved it in the user profiles. Now in the past 24 hours I haven't touched the menus except to change the profile or manually shift the ISO. This advise was again immensely useful

I am still waiting on my vintage 50 Summilux (got held up in customs x-(..) anyhow hopefully it comes it by tomm. I am flying out to Seatlle on Thursday on vacation and this will be the first test of the camera in the field. Looking forward to it.

A few of you have mentioned the loss in shadow detail and potential heavy handedness with post-proc. Might be the case..I am still learning to manage the DNG files..but it could also be because I shot all the images at +0.3EV and I normally apply a vignetting to my images in post-proc..helps the subject stand out to my eyes

@Godfrey..thats a beautiful picture. Are you from the Bay Area? I live in Cupertino..I would love to catch up sometime and connect.

Thanks a ton for all the inputs.

 

[jaapv]

Shooting at +0.3 is not a good idea. Protecting the important highlight details pays off in digital.
Despite the flexibility of postprocessing exposing each image properly pays off as much as it did with film. Blanket EV corrections do not fit into that approach. Spot metering does.

 

[:: Mark]

I feel your struggle... I'm in the same situation as you are but with a 5d mk iii. It's a love/hate relationship. My advise, stick to it as long as you can until you know for sure that you are not bonding with it! After a month or two you'll get to learn all the goods and bads of it and the decision will come easier. Good luck!

I had the same problem with the 5DII->III and GF1->E-M5 (micro 4/3) upgrades.

In both cases I preferred the original sensor output. I think that this is partly this is because in both cases the colour filter arrays are weaker to improve high ISO noise. However, the discontent disappears after 6 months or so - partly from learning how to edit differently in Lightroom, and partly because I think that I just got accustomed to the new output.

Another thing not to do it to compare at 1:1 images from a low res sensor with those from a higher res sensor.

With all that said, I still prefer low ISO images from the 5DII to the 5DIII...