Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-22)

44 22 February 2020 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

Testbench CAMERA TEST

Forandagainst

Sensationalimagequality,

combiningfantasticdetailwith

minimalnoise

Exceptionalbuildquality

Straightforwardoperationwith

traditionalphotographic

controls

Large,clearviewfinderand

superbrangefinderforfocusing

Touchscreencouldbebetter

integratedintocontrolsystem

28mmframelinesaredifficult

tosee

Ludicrouslyexpensive

ALL

PR
CES

ARE

APPROX

MATE

STREET

PR
CES

Leica M10

Monochrom

Datafile

Sensor 40.9MP monochrome CMOS,

36 x 24mm

Output size 7864 x 5200

Focal length mag 1x

Lens mount Leica M with 6-bit coding

Shutter speeds 16min – 1/4000sec

Sensitivity ISO 160-100,000

Exposure modes A, M

Metering TTL average (with viewfinder);

Spot, centre, multi (in live view)

Exposure comp +/- 3EV in 0.3 EV steps

Continuous

shooting

4.5 fps

Screen 3in, 1.03m-dot fixed

touchscreen LCD

Viewfinder Direct vision, 0.73x magnification

AF points n/a

Video n/a

External mic No

Memory card SD, SDXC, SDHC

Power BP-SCL5 rechargeable Li-ion

Battery life Not specified

Dimensions 139x38.5x80mm

Weight 660g with battery

Andy Westlake takes a detailed look at Leica’s latest

rangefi nder that shoots only in black & white

L

eica is a company that

plays by different rules

to everyone else. By

building cameras in low

volumes and charging a premium

for them, it’s able to pursue

different avenues from the

mainstream Japanese makers.

It’s maintained a healthy market

for its M-series rangefi nders,

despite this type of camera

having generally fallen out of favour

in the 1960s, and it also makes

cameras dedicated to black &

white shooting, with its M

Monochrom series.

So how, and why, would you do

such a thing? The basic principle is

simple: conventional cameras

sense colour by arranging red,

green and blue fi lters over the

light-sensitive photodiodes of their

sensors, with the recorded data

being converted to a visually

meaningful photograph through a

complex process of demosaicing,

noise reduction and sharpening.

While this works very well, it

delivers less detail and introduces

artefacts compared to recording

full colour data for each pixel. To

produce a black & white image,

the colour has to be removed

again, but you’re still stuck with the

after-effects of the processing. In

contrast, by doing without a colour

fi lter array (CFA) over the sensor,

the Monochrom cameras are

capable of recording black & white

images directly. This gives visibly

superior tonality and detail, along

with higher sensitivity and lower

image noise.

The latest M10 Monochrom is

the third generation of this line,

after the original M9-based

version from 2012 with its 18MP

CCD sensor, and the 2015

follow-up, the Typ 246 with its

24MP CMOS. However while

these previous models used

existing sensors without a CFA, the

Ataglance

£ 7, 2 5 0 body only

● 40.9MP monochrome full-frame

CMOS sensor

● ISO 160-100,000

● Optical viewfinder with

rangefinder focusing

● Leica M mount

● 3-in 1.03m-dot touchscreen LCD