Black & White Photography - September 2015 UK

70

B+W

BRIGHTON, EAST SUSSEX

The M Monochrom is small, discreet and quiet, so you’re less

likely to draw attention to yourself.

Leica M Monochrom with Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5, 1/580sec at f/10, ISO 320

OLD HASTINGS, EAST SUSSEX

Image quality is superb, with the finest details sharply

rendered and a wide tonal range captured.

Leica M Monochrom with Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5, 1/120sec at f/16, ISO 320

I

n 2012 Leica released the

18Mp M Monochrom, a

mono-only camera designed

for the many Leica devotees

who only shot black & white

and didn’t want the hassle of

converting colour images during

post-processing. Well now we

have the Leica M Monochrom

(Type 246), which boasts a

number of improvements over

its predecessor.

First and foremost, the

resolution has jumped from

18Mp to 24Mp. The sensor is

also a newly developed CMOS

• the same as in the Leica M
  (Type 240) but black & white
  only – and includes live view
  via the 3in LCD monitor. Leica’s
  Maestro processor is used in
  the M Monochrome Type 246
  and is said to be three times
  faster than the processor in
  the original M Monochrom,
  plus there’s a 2Gb buffer which
  allows up to 30 frames to be
  captured at up to 4fps.
  Like the Leica M on which
  it’s based, the M Monochrom
  lacks a low-pass filter. Being
  black & white only, it doesn’t
  need a colour filter array either,
  which means there’s no colour

TESTS AND

PRODUCTS

WIN THE

LEICA M

MONOCHROM:

SEE BPOTY.COM

noise or colour artefacts,

plus dynamic range, high

ISO performance and image

sharpness are all improved. In

other words, there’s nothing on

the M Monochrom’s sensor to

affect image quality, so it’s as

good as you’re going to get.

Like all Leicas, the M

Monochrom is solid and heavy.

Tipping the scales at almost

700g body-only, you certainly

know it’s in your hands, though

Leica lenses are compact and

relatively light so the addition of

one doesn’t increase the weight

hugely. It’s also solidly built, with

a magnesium-alloy body and

brass top and baseplates.

I’m not particularly familiar

with rangefinders, but it didn’t

take me long to get to grips with

the M Monochrom and within

minutes it felt both familiar and

comfortable. On the top plate

is a shutter speed dial (with A

if you prefer to use aperture

priority auto exposure), the

main on/off switch that also has

settings for single or continuous

shooting and self-timer. There’s

also a button for Movie mode.

On the rear of the body is the

3in LCD screen. To the left of

it are six buttons – Live View,

Play, Delete, ISO, Menu and

Set – and to the right is the Info

button with four-way control

for navigating the menus. The

menus are easy to navigate and

once you’ve set up the camera

you can use the ISO and Set

LEICA M MONOCHROM

£5,750

(body only)

Leica’s mono-only digital rangefinder has been upgraded

and updated. Lee Frost took it out to play.

Pictures © Lee Frost

70-71_Monochrom MB/.indd 7070-71_Monochrom MB/.indd 70 09/07/2015 11:2209/07/2015 11:22