Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-22)

CAMERA TEST Testbench

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 22 February 2020 47

TheM10Monochrommixesthelatesttechnology

withanold-fashionedrangefinderdesign

Focal points

Cablerelease

A mechanicalcable

releasecanbe

screwedintothe

shutterbutton.But

therearenoelectronic

connectors,suchas

USBorHDMIports.

EVF

Leica’sVisoflex(Typ020)electronicviewfindercanbe

mountedonthehotshoe.It’sparticularlyusefulwhen

shootingwithwideangle,telephotoormacrolenses,and

foraccuratelyfocusingsuper-fastlenses.

Wi-Fi

Smartphone

connectivityis

providedbybuilt-in

Wi-Fi,allowingyouto

copyyourfavourite

imagesfromthe

cameraforsharing.

Power

In a nodtoLeica’s35mmfilm

M cameras,theSDcardand

batteryareaccessedby

removingthebaseplate.The

Li-ionBP-SCL5is charged

externally,andshouldbegood

for350-400shotspercharge.

80mm

38.5mm

Stealth

TheM10Monochromis

basedontheM10-P,

whichmeansit

inheritsthesame

super-quietshut ter.

139mm

the window to see the 28mm
frameline. This means those who
wear glasses, or shoot left-eyed,
may well struggle; as someone
who does both, I found it
practically impossible.
Basic exposure information is
projected into the viewfi nder using
red LEDs, including the shutter
speed, exposure compensation,
and metering indicators when
shooting in manual. This works
okay, but the display looks
incredibly dated compared to the
excellent hybrid optical-electronic
viewfi nder used by Fujifi lm in its
X-Pro and X100 series cameras.
If you want to shoot with
wideangle lenses, you’ll need to
use a supplementary viewfi nder.
You can mount an optical fi nder
on the hotshoe, but the process of
switching back and forth between
that and the rangefi nder makes
for a rather awkward shooting
experience. The alternative is to
switch to live view, but using this
on the fi xed rear screen isn’t
necessarily great either. The best
option would be to use the
optional Visofl ex (Typ 020)
electronic viewfi nder, which is a
2.36m-dot unit that includes an
eye-sensor for switching
automatically with the LCD. It also
includes a GPS unit for geotagging
your images, but costs £420.

Focu s ing
As already mentioned, focusing is
manual only, using a coincident-

image rangefi nder. This approach

was popular on fi lm cameras up

until the 1970s, and won’t require

any explanation for our more

experienced readers. But for

those unfamiliar with the concept,

a second ghost image is overlaid

on a bright spot in the centre of

the viewfi nder, and rotating the

focus ring moves it relative to the

main view. When the two are

aligned, the lens should be

correctly focused.

Getting used to this method

takes a bit of practice. But once

mastered, it’s pretty quick and

accurate, due in no small part to

the fact that Leica’s rangefi nder

is, by necessity, probably the

fi nest ever made (indeed the

complexity and precision of the

mechanism is responsible for a

signifi cant fraction of the camera’s

price). The rangefi nder spot is

bright and sharply delineated in

the viewfi nder, and both images

are crisp, which makes them

easy to align. You just have to be

aware that repeating vertical

patterns can contribute to

incorrect focusing.

Rangefi nder focusing does have

its limitations. Obviously there’s

just a single focus point in the

centre of the frame, and when

you’re shooting at large apertures,

using a focus and recompose

technique can result in the kind of

small focus errors that we might

not have really noticed when

shooting with fi lm, but which

6-bit coding

A series of optical

sensors on the lens

mount identifies the

lens, as long as it has

matched markings. The

lens name is then

included in the EXIF data.