First Time Shooting the Leica M Monochrom

Up and Over
Art Model, Covenant ©2016 Terrell Neasley

For a long time, I've pined over the Leica system. I often describe it as magic. I know to a lot of people, it will never make sense to spend $8,000... just for a camera body. That does NOT include the lens. The lens is a whole'nother world of expense on its own. And language, I might add. I got to shoot with the 35mm f/2.0, which based on that speed, you call it a 35mm Summicron. If it was a f/1.4, you'd call it a Summilux. The difference? The Summicon will put you out $3K and the Summilux edition will push you to $5K. I prefer the Summilux, but that's me. Nobody makes glass like Leica. In fact, I'd like to play with a 35 Summilux on my Sony A7RII. But that's not this story.

Getting up in the morning
Art Model, Covenant ©2016 Terrell Neasley

This story is on my shot at the Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 and the 35mm Summicron for the weekend. So my girl and I headed up north to camp out and play in Utah for a bit. We pulled out the tent and loaded up the car and took off. I originally picked up the Fujifilm X-E2 a few years ago to help me prepare for this experience. At that time, I had a project that I thought was going to have me owning two Lecia bodies and 3 lenses. Tht didn't work out. I know the two cameras don't really compare, but the Fuji still has the rangefinder look. Or so I thought. Nothing about owning a Fuji could have prepared me for the Leica M-series.

The Fuji LOOKS like a rangefinder in style only. I should have known better. Don't get me wrong. I LOVED that Fuji. Highly, highly recommend it. But with respects to preparing me for a Leica...No. In particular, two things right off the bat should have told me that wouldn't be the case. The Fuji has an electronic viewfinder. If there is one and only one thing I could have used some prior experience with is Leica's split screen manual focus system. For that, I could have used a film rangefinder to help me. You are still looking from a vantage point of the lens in the Fuji. No so, with the Leica. You still have the potential for parallax in Leica cameras, as is the case when you have any camera system that has differentiated viewing systems...one for the lens which is separate from your's.

Hiking topfree,
Art Model, Covenant ©2016 Terrell Neasley

The second thing is that Fuji is waaaaay lighter (350g) than Leica cameras (700g) AND smaller. You can practically palm a Fuji with one hand and it goes no where. You had better maintain positive control with all fingers around that Leica with the camera strap around your neck, else you can easily waste, $11 grand. In fact, its MUCH more advantageous to invest in the body or thumb grip accessories on this thing. There is much more of a presence of mind with the Leica. You know where it is at all times. Its not like you phone or your keys, that you may not immediately recall where you sat it down. You know, in a moment's recall, where your Leica camera is.

I would have liked to have had more time with the camera. Compared to my Sony A7RII, I was much slower with the Leica. I was a lot more deliberate. I already shoot slow and usually come back with a third of the shots that most of my peers do. Over a weekend, I may come back with 300 shots normally. I didn't even clear 100 with the Leica. Chances are, that was a learning curve issue. I've shot with a Leica before, but this was my first time having it out to shoot as my sole camera. Granted, I got some initial night shots with the Sony when I first got to my camp site. All after, I was exclusively Leica.

Art Model, Covenant ©2016 Terrell Neasley

I was most engaged on achieving and maintaining a sharp focus. Utilizing the split screen, especially in lower lighting conditions can be tough. Its been quite a while since I had to do that regularly. Actually, it was a first because my film Canon used a circular focus screen instead of the square one used in the Leica. There is no autofocus, so it was all on me to achieve tack-sharp focus. I was able to do this on practically every shot, but it took a minute for each one with much concentration. I chose not to rely on focus peaking to assist me. I waned the viewfinder experience. News and war correspondents made a living without focus peaking and were quick with the shot. I want to learn the same.

I was a little off on exposures as well. In any other camera system, I am pretty decent at determining my initial exposure quite easily. I always seemed to be underexposing a bit, as if my exposure value compensation was a minus 2. This was easily corrected and eventually, I began to apply a little "Kentucky Windage". I adjusted at least one stop brighter than whatever I thought it might be.

A break while I figure out something on the camera,
Art Model, Covenant ©2016 Terrell Neasley

Another thing that took me some time was the fact that the camera had already been used by several people. It would have been smart for me had I RESET everything on the camera prior to use, but I didn't notice each of the changes right off. And even afterwards, during post processing, I couldn't get any of my Plugins to read Leica's RAW files. I updated Adobe and tried a myriad of changes. It took me a whole day before I realized the camera was set to a grayscale color profile while I was shooting. A simple fix was to reset my Camera RAW converter to import all the files into Photoshop as AdobeRGB. That sped up my workflow.

I need more practice. I want to eventually own this camera as well as its color counterpart, The Leica M Typ 240. There is also an M-D version that has no LCD screen on the back, despite being a digital camera. I might consider it. Its purely for photo, so there's no video capabilities. Yeah, I have some other priorities first, but I plan to make the Leica system part of my family of cameras.

Checking under the rocks like a good model should,
Art Model, Covenant ©2016 Terrell Neasley

Leica...You Want what You Want

"Shooting with a LEICA is like a long tender kiss, like firing an automatic pistol, like an hour on the analyst's couch."  

~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

Okay...

I know I just did a blog post lauding the Sony systems. I dare say, in all likelihood, the Sony Rx-1r and the NEX-6 will be near future purchases for me. They feel right for me and are very close to the requirements I think I need for my work. They fit well with my future endeavors and can probably handle my needs adequately enough...actually, more than adequately in fact. With a few exceptions, they would be the perfect compliment to my current photographic tools I employ right now.

BUT...

Not long after I did that last post, I had to come to a realization that irks me ever so slightly. You see, I've tried to make it a personal policy, especially where it comes to photography, to not compromise quality and what I want, for the sake of money. If the gear or tool that I really feel will best do the job costs more money, then so what? Make that money back in profitable gigs and earnings. And in no case do you ever settle on the cheaper or economical substitute to that quality. And to be honest, the aforementioned Sony complimentary platforms are just that...a more economical substitute in lieu of what I really want. And what I really want... is the LEICA rangefinder system.

Let me tell you why.

I mentioned in a previous blog posting that everyone needs to, at some point in their lives, fly first class, drive a luxury car on a road trip, and own a Leica. Life is too short not to experience these things at some point. Leica actually makes it difficult to be a Leica owner. There cameras are Hand-Crafted! So it takes longer to fulfill orders. Right now, most all of their digital systems are on back-order! You can't find any of their cameras anywhere right now! (With the exception of the Leica M Monochrome, currently In-Stock at B&C Camera!) But nonetheless, I got's to git it! And I understand, I could be totally wrong in this. There could be a chance that after I am a Leica owner (someday) that I won't be as impressed or might feel differently after a year's results in my work, but I don't think that is going to happen and I'm willing to take that risk. I'm still nostalgic over film, but the images I see made with the Leica have that unique aesthetic artistic appeal closer to how I felt when I used film. This needs to happen. And I blame travel for my obsession.

I didn't feel so inclined to be a Leica owner before I started serious travel considerations, which began last year while I was laid up for 4 months on crutches after my knee surgery. I had time to think about several things and dream about a even few more. Sailing was paramount. I need to get on the open seas and circumnavigate. Doing so with a Leica became the next priority, which has now worked its way up to the more immediate goal, especially after Central America last year. My focus became to return to Central America with Leica systems like the days of old when a photojournalist or explorer might have on his person a single Leica camera, a 35mm lens, and a bunch of pro-grade black and white film. They rocked with this single prime lens and returned with some of the most spectacular images you could imagine.

Today, Leica has two systems that have my perfect attention. Yes, I said two. Not just one, but two!! The Leica M Monochrome which, obviously enough, only shoots Black and White is one of my choices. I do wish it was 24mp with a CMOS sensor instead of a 18mp CCD. But where it comes up short, I'm willing to look the other way...something that's hard to say about any other camera. I didn't switch from film to digital until my standards were met. I switched from Canon to Nikon when Nikon better suited my needs. My point being, I was patient to wait for the right camera and did not jump into anything simply didn't feel right.

The other system from Leica that I am a tad bit more desperate for is the new flagship, Leica M Typ 240 and its what really brought my attention to the Leica brand. Before this, I couldn't really conceive of paying $7,000 for a camera body that wasn't even a DSLR body. But this Leica M had me at hello. It IS 24MP and is the first of the Leica brand to use CMOS sensors. Its also the first model to incorporate 1080p video, but that would not be my priority. This would be the Leica I would start with. I can always convert images to Black and White as I do now. Before the M Monochrome, I would never allow myself to shoot B&W straight out of camera. I don't want the camera making tonality decisions for me. This Leica, however, I would let order food for me in a restaurant.

Lenses are also pretty steep for Leica, but here is where I don't mind making a compromise. Zeiss makes excellent glass for the Leica rangefinder systems and many are half what the Leica dedicated lenses run. A Zeiss 35mm f/2 would run me $1100 as opposed to a Leica 35mm f/2 for $3200. I think I'd prefer one Leica lens and that's the 50mm f/1.4 Summilux for $4000. I can throw it up for grabs on a good wide-angle prime and a good telephoto prime as to what lens I would top off my lens quiver with.

So in other words, I would be out around $20 Grand to get both these cameras and lenses. Is that worth it when I could get into a comparable Sony system under $6K? Will my images be $14 thousand dollars better with the Leica cameras than Sony? Wouldn't it be just as easy to just buy another DSLR that complements the one I already have? You know what? I'm not trying to answer those questions. I only know what the hell I want and the only question that leaves me with is "How do I get my Leicas?"

*****

This is the former flagship model, the Leica M9-P. Check out this video on how its made. I wish they did a promotion piece like this for what I really want... the NEW flagship model Leica M Typ 240.

The Making of the Leica M9-P »Edition Hermès« – Série Limitée Jean-Louis Dumas from Leica Camera on Vimeo.