48 22 February 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
High-ISOimagequalityis truly
remarkable,allowinghand-held
shootingin extremelylowlight
LeicaApo-SummicronM50mmf/2,
1/125sec at f/4, ISO 50,000
appearveryobviouswhen
examininghigh-resolution
imagefilesonscreen.Soit’sbest
nottomovethesubjecttoofar
off-centrein yourcomposition
afterfocusing,whichmightexplain
whysomanyLeicaphotographers
favourcentredsubjects.
It’salsoimportanttounderstand
thattheaccuracyof thefocusingis
limitedbytherangefinderbase,
whichis definedbythedistance
betweentheviewfinderandthe
secondarywindowonthe
camera’sfront.In practice,this
meansthatit’snottechnically
possibletofocussuper-fastlenses
consistentlyaccurately.Soif
you’recontemplatingpairingthe
M10Monochromwiththe
£8,600Noctilux50mmf/0.95,
forexample,you’llonlybe
guaranteedaccuratefocusif you
useliveview.
In thismode,thecamerais
smartenoughtoengagea
magnifiedviewwhenit detectsthe
lensbeingfocused,but
alternativelyyoucanzoomin
manuallybypressingthebutton
onthefrontof thebody.Thefocus
areacanbemovedfreelyaround
theframeforusewithoff-centre
subjects,anda focuspeaking
displayis availableif yourequire,
in a choiceof colours.It’sjust
worthrememberingthatthe
aperture will always be stopped
downtowhat’ssetonthelens:this
hastheadvantageof always
previewingdepthof field,but
sometimesit canbebetter to
openit upforfocusing.Performance
ShootingwiththeM10
Monochromis a verydifferent
propositiontoanythingelseonthe
market.Withitsultra-quietshutter
andunderstatedfinish,it’s
extremelydiscreet.Liketherestof
theM10series,it’saboutthe
closestyou’llgettothesimplicity
of theold-fashionedanalogue
experience,beforethe
introductionof autofocusand
multi-patternmetering.Butthe
Monochromcomeswithsome
uniqueprovisosandquirksthat
needtobekeptin mind,too.
Thecamerais instantlyreadyto
shoot,themomentyouflickthe
powerswitchtoturnit on.Atthis
pointyoucanchoosetoworkin
anywayfromeitherfullymanual,
toapertureprioritywithAutoISO.
Giventhatyoucansetthelatterto
useeithera specificminimum
shutterspeed,orbaseit onthe
focallengthof thelensin use(with
theoptionof biasingtowardshigh
speedstominimiseanychanceof
blurringfromcamerashake),I can
seelittlereasonnottouseit.
Whicheverapproachtoshooting
you take, it’s important tounderstandthecharacteristicsof
thelightmeter.It’snotlikemodern
multi-patternsystems,ableto
analyseandunderstandalmost
anycombinationof lightand
shade.Instead,youneedtoadjust
it manuallyaccordingtothe
subject,givinganextrastoportwo
whenfacedwitha brightsky,for
example.Butequallyyouhaveto
avoidoverexposurewhenever
possible,becauseunlikewitha
coloursensor,there’snowayof
reconstructinganylosthighlight
detail.Insteadwhenit’sclippedto
white,it’sgoneforever.
TheM Monochromrespondsto
placingcolouredfiltersin frontof
thelens,in muchthesamewayas
black& whitefilm.Yellow,orange
andredfilters,forexample,will
progressivelydarkenblueskies
andprovideadditionalcontrast
withanyclouds.Butthey’llalso
robyouof light,whichpotentially
meansrequiringhigherISO
settingsat thecostof increased
imagenoise.Foroutdoorshooting
in goodlight,I’dprobablyusea
yellowororangefilterbydefault.
Naturally,batterylifewillvary
accordingtohowyouusethe
camera.Shootingmostlywiththe
viewfinder,withtheoccasional
forayintoliveviewandimage
playback,I found 350 to 400
shotsperchargetobeentirely
realistic. But with no USB port,there’snooptiontotopthe
batteryupin-camera.
Ofcoursethemainthingwe’re
alwaysinterestedin is image
quality,andin a word,it’s
sumptuous.In Leica’shands,allof
thetheoreticaladvantagesof a
monochromesensorbecome
evidentlyreal.AtlowISOtheM10
Monochromis capableof
recordinga vastamountof detail,
withexceptionallylownoiseand
immensedynamicrange.There
maybenoextrahighlightdetail
recoverablein rawprocessing,but
youcandelvedeepintothe
shadowswithimpunity.
Evenwhennoisebecomes
plainlyvisibleasthesensitivityis
increased,it hasanattractive,
organiccharacter.Asa result,
evenat highersettingssuchas
ISO3200,youcanstillindulgein
thekindof extremeimage
adjustmentsduringrawprocessing
thatareusuallyonlyworkablewith
coloursensorswhenshotat their
lowestISOs.Imagefilesare
entirelyusablerightuptoISO
50,000,whichin practicemeans
youcangetusablepicturesin light
sodimthatyoucanbarelyseeto
focusandcompose.Howeverat
thehighestsettingsbanding
becomesvisiblein darkevenly
tonedregionssuchasnightskies,
frequentlymakingISO
100,000 files unusable.