I still shudder to call myself an artist. Been shooting for over 33 years and still evolving. Medium and Format neutral-I shoot digital and film, 35mm, Medium Format and Large Format. Printing is my therapy. Whether digital or Analog, I print seamlessly depending on what the picture has to convey. I dabble in silver Gelatin, Platinum Palladium, Kallitype and Salt printing along with Digital inkjet Giclee printing. Hope you become part of my journey and enjoy it as much I do.
One tip for FujiFilm cameras is instead of having it on the eye setting pick one eye what this does is it stops it jumping to the other one if the model is side and obviously would pick the eye that is closest to you but this is a huge difference. I have the GFX 100S ii which is essentially the same
Great review - Q3 looks compelling My “one camera one lens” choice would have to be the incredibly impractical combo of an MP + probably an older everyday summicron with some “character” flaws
To be honest , I think t'the best small camera on the market right now! You should learn to manage the AF-C settings : huge differences in the different presets!
my Z8 and 135 plena are not able to focus richt on the eyeball not for animals nor for people.Just mentioning.I find my XT5 in AF-C for animals better than my Z8.
I have found the best camera for B&W next to the Leica Monochrome series is the Sigma DP Merrill series. They are a pain to work with but the image quality in B&W (and colour too) is out of this world.
I feel your rant and totally agree with you. Something as basic as a charger not included is pure insanity. Not sure what Ganja these people are smoking...
I have an a7RII converted, and the magenta hue is there in RAW, even in Ligthroom, but it is easily turning down saturation. Is there a function to interpolate in Adobe the Sony RAW file?
Yes, I have the same camera converted to monochrome and what is recommended is to convert the ARW files to DNG using Monchrome2DNG by LibRaw. It is a HUGE difference compared to allowing Lightroom to re-interpret color then just lowering saturation. The app is not free but you can try it free for a month. If you want I can convert a few files for you as well.
Again someone who is a Leica fanboy and doesn’t want to watch the full video to understand why the video was made 🙂. I have used enough Rangefinders starting with the M9 to the M11M so please spare me the ‘doesn’t understand or can’t afford Leica bit’
Image quality for sure. Can be edited to get any look without disintegrating. And with a 100 mp sensor one picture is multiple pictures if you crop. It also affords the luxury to crop in any aspect ratio without compromising quality and great for printing. It's pretty big to hold in hand and slightly heavy but that's expected and you get used to it.
I shoot the Q2M because I now have central nervous system tremors in my right hand, the IBIS is a tremendous help. I also shoot manual and use the focus magnification aid which is fantastic. If only Leica could add IBIS to the M11-12…M I’d be in heaven.
Comparing a M Monochrome with any other camera to see if B&W pictures are better or not is a nonsense. Shooting M is in itself a different way to shoot. Rangefinder, manual focus and settings, handling, noise of the shutter, all these parameters are part of the M experience. Moreover, shooting B&W makes you look at your environment differently. Shadows, lines, light, become more crucial with a B&W camera in hands. So you have to ask yourself first if slowing down is better* for you than "pointing and shooting" with an AF camera. *Better means : do you have more or less pleasure to shoot. The rest is of trifling importance.
Appreciate your perspective of ‘better’ but the world, unfortunately, is not full of people who can buy a Leica at the drop of a hat and sometimes love alternatives. I have shot Leica for over a decade and absolutely understand the experience. This video is not about experience but about alternatives
I love the idea of this lens. It seems fun, however I can help but feel I can achieve this effect with much less effort in post (e.g., Nik Collection). For only $300 it could be fun I suppose.
The removal of the Bayer Matrix array from the top of the sensor is a very risky business, probably why they charge so much to do it. We used to do it manually with Canon sensors to convert them for deep space imaging donkeys years ago, as dedicated CCD cameras for deep space imaging were so so expensive. I converted two Canon 350D myself. Not a job for the faint of heart. Removing the Bayer array also removed the ' micro lensing ' layer which helped to concentrate the light onto the photo sites. I also have a monochrome converted Nikon D5100. Works fine. Now the sermon, a monochrome sensor camera is only of real use to those who regularly shoot at very high iso settings at night or in bad weather. it is only when you push the iso past 3200 that a monochrome sensor starts to show its advantages. My advice is to save your money, or if you really need a monochrome camera just save up and buy a Leica or a Pentax, the later does not appeal to me..
@@shootprocessprintsounds very promising to me. I have an a7ii sitting around. When I get another camera, I may consider sending the a7ii in to try this. I have friends who owned the leica monochromes (m9m, m10m) and they always talk about how fantastic those cameras are because of monochrome. Those special transitions of gray/white coming from having ccd monochrome sensor. Well I really want to try using a sony cmos sensor as a monochrome to do a comparison. In your opinion, is there any big difference there?
I have a "monochrome" Sony A7RIV with Bayer-filter. I think it is stupid with monochrome only cameras because you need to use filters when you shoot, with the Bayer-filter in-camera you can post process "filters" to what you like.
Like you said it's the RF mechanism that gives the experience. I really don't know if this bayer removed RX1 II gives a better than a monochrome made out of a A7 RV. Does it make a difference?
@@HornbillStudios the image definitely gains sharpness and light gathering capability without the bayer filter. That's pretty scientific. how much can be perceived by the naked eye is a million dollar question. Post processing and converting to B&W is again dependent on algorithmic interpretation of grays-which color matches what tone of grey whereas without bayer its an interpretation of luminosity values only.
@@shootprocessprint You're missing the point. The software on the camera expects a certain set of data after the light passes through the bear array. Just taking that away does not give you the same results as a true monochrome camera, which has software specifically designed to yield images in black and white
A great option I didn't know about. The "Leica experience" involves spending 2X-3X more than necessary to use as jewelry. The Leica "mystique" is complete marketing BS. "Photographers - idiots, of which there are so many say, 'Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great photographs.' That's the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It's nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking and interest." - Andreas Feininger
I have shot extensively with the M9M, M10M and M11M and this converted Sony and from a pure image quality standpoint there is hardly any difference. The CCD of the M9M still is outstanding and different from the CMOS rendering but between the CMOS sensors there’s hardly anything different
This sounds like (costly) madness to me. I don't believe the majority of Leica owners buy them for out and out image quality. It's more about the overall "Leica experience". I doubt this will make potential Leica owners take this route instead. You either want a Leica or you don't. I'd like a Leica Monochrome, but I'll never pay the price. I simply don't want one that badly. I have a Fuji X100V (Poor man's Leica?) and the Black & White profiles ("simulations") are beautiful, beautiful enough for me anyway (and I spent half a lifetime shooting black & white film (FP4 and PanF). I can't think of any reason, at all, to spend more than the price of an X100V on butchering a perfectly good (and expensive) camera that, most likely, produces beautiful black & white images anyway.
Well, that's not the reason people buy a Leica Monochrome. You can get the Leica monochrome profile and apply it to Sony images using any post-processing software. Works perfectly fine (even more so considering that A7RV and M11 share the same sensor). The selling point of Leica cameras is their aesthetics, ergonomics, and no-nonsense approach to functionalities. These are subjective, but every time I open the menu on my Sony, I'm bombarded with settings I neither need nor will ever use. Leicas are simpler in that sense. Less distracting.
hi pv i wud go for. fuji XE3 and convert to monochrome. the XE3 can be used as a full manual or semi auto or even full auto. has excellent lenses and light weight....
Interesting…didn’t know about conversion option…but let me ask you a possibly stupid question - how is it different than using a BW picture profile in Sony? I use that and take raw + jpeg and jpegs are excellent BW without any editing
Good question. It’s all about the bayer filter and algorithms. On a color sensor even if you are getting a BnW pictures it’s a ‘profile’ aka algorithms have worked on it, so it’s an interpretation. On a pure BnW sensor it’s an interplay of values of luminosity only…which is the primary job of a sensor. That’s the difference. It’s like neat single malt vs diluted with mix single malt. Both give a high but the flavors, purity and aroma is only when it’s sipped neat 🙂
Congrats on the camera… but, if you want an EVF, tap to focus and a tilt screen… the Leica M-series is a terrible choice. That said, I love shooting my M11M more than my Sonys, Canons and Panasonics. It’s a wonderful camera if you enjoy the manual process.
I said ‘touch shoot’ not touch focus. I’m all for the rangefinder minimalist and manual focus philosophy but anything that makes the picture making process easier is welcome. 15 years back it would have been blasphemy for Leica to have a hi res sensor, live view, electronic shutter etc but evolution is inevitable and changes will happen. I embrace it as long as it’s not frills but enable shooting better pictures
