Leica Back to my old friend

I was appalled at the shooting experience when I first got the M9, but loved the results. I dragged it everywhere and the handling grew on me. Now I'm appalled everytime I pick up my A7 ;)

It takes time to really bond, but if you use all the time, many more keepers appear, and the OVF becomes second nature.

Just walking the dog this evening, M9 and CV 35/1.2:

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by unoh7, on Flickr
 
I have a M240 loaner from Leica as my M-E is at NJ with sensor issues. I've already been offered the upgrade option to the 240, M-P or 246. I made 2850k/6500k profiles using my color checker and find I like what I'm seeing so far, especially skin tones. I'm also getting more involved with landscapes and see the advantages the 240 has over the M9.
 
Duane can you explain what colour profiles are and how they work please?

Hi Christilou, I use Lightroom (LR) and what I'm about to explain only pertains to using LR or Photoshop with the built-in Camera Raw engine. By default, LR uses their "Adobe Standard" color profile for your camera's images you import. For us Leica users the only other option by default is the camera's Embedded Profile. In LR's Develop Module in the Camera Calibration Panel is where you find the color profile being used by LR.

I bought the X-rite Color Checker Passport some time ago to try and improve the skin tones and color from my CCD M-E. (Color Management Products, Tools, Solutions: X-Rite Photo & Video) You will need this to create the "custom" profile I mentioned above. I followed this photographer's suggestions on creating my profiles: ( ColorChecker: How to get PERFECT skin colors with every camera • Hans van Eijsden Photography )

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M240, 35 Lux ASPH. f1.4, 1/250, ISO 200
 
Those are nice skin tones Duane! The 35 lux f1.4 is certainly a nice lens. I love how it renders colors. Is the shot above with the M240? or M9?.

Anyway, just for fun I decided to shoot the front door with my M240. First I used a 70-200 Vario R lens but decided to try the EM-1 with the 12-40 f2.8 to get a different perspective. I noticed that the EM-1 and the 12-40 f2.8 seem to produce some odd artifacts and CA (take a look a the lower left quadrant of the door and the door handle). So I decided to try the M240 again with the 28mm f2.8 Elmarit. I let the photos do the talking.... Just saying, the light sources are abominable as the very bright street light is like an LED while the lights over the door and on each side are incandescent bulbs. I had to do some PP in LR to try and equalize the WB and color rendering, but it was impossible to get the shots equal. Also, I cropped the EM-1 shot which was shot at 12mm (24mm equivalent) and the Elmarit is 28mm. Still, I can see that the elmarit is far more rectilinear and shows much better handling of the actual geometry of the building.

I used the same tripod at about the same distance and point of view.

This is the EM-1/12-40 f2.8 shot

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This is the shot with the M240/ 28mm f2.8 Elmarit

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Thank you very much Duane, I had no idea it could be so involved! I read the linked article and I daresay I could do this too, although I would struggle I think as I'm not very technically minded !
 
The artifacts can be annoying certainly, but the second image cleaned up a lot more - for example the facing edges of the bushes.
 
"... i.e. when I manage to get everything to come together, which is rare!")

I've seen your shots with the M240 and 50mm f1.4, Christine. A whole heckuvalotta superb shots.

So I can understand your conundrum. For natural light portraiture, the range of "optimum" settings can be quite narrow. Thinking of trade-offs among ISO, depth-of-field (aperture), and shutter speed slows me down, for sure. Then trying to get the optimum focus afterward can lead to a "setup-to-snap" delay of tens of seconds for me. Meaning the shot has disappeared or at least changed ...

I think that's why I like landscape/scenic so much: Preset ISO to conditions. Set focus to infinity, f-stop so everything is sharp, then just work the shutter speed to get the exposure right.

For indoor portraiture perhaps the following: Preset ISO as high as you're willing to accept the grain for, and f-stop for as wide as you can accept the depth-of-field for. Then work the shutter to get the exposure right, then focus on the nearest eye.

Anyone else have their approach? The above is only what I'd likely do ...
 
I shoot everything with the M240. The way I see it, the image is more than just perfect focus, sharpness or lack of noise. I shoot in Auto ISO sometimes at max 6400... Sure, the images are grainy, but I captured what I wanted. Sometimes the focus is not spot on but that's OK too if the decisive moment requires the image capture. Anyway, when I'm shooting a model, it's easier to shoot at 200 ISO and nail the focus. Likewise in landscape photography or architecture, art, etc.

Actually, I find it more satisfying and get more "keepers" with all the hassles of manual focus, etc. With the M240. I find the AF to be a hindrance many times when shooting with the M43 systems. The camera will often hunt and hunt and never acquire focus. I've missed lots of shots that way. The Leica does not know or care if you have focus. You press the shutter and it acquires an image, done.
 
These images would have been impossible or nearly impossible to capture with the EM-1 and even the 12-40 f2.8 lens. This was shot at night, very little, low lights and difficult conditions. Oh yeah, auto ISO at max 6400... AWB as well. Sure, the focus is not spot on, but heck, they were moving! and I shot wide open with 35mm lens... Slow shutter speed as well :D


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^^ great shot, too bad about the focus.... What lens did you have on the camera? You could get these types of shots with more focus if you used f5.6 and pre-focused so DOF covers more area...
However, the shot would be difficult because the car is going away from you. Big challenge unless the light is very good to keep smaller apertures and relatively fast shutter speeds.
Good try though, keep trying, you are on the right track :D
 
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