Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 In the Field: Dynamic Range

2015-05-31 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: black and white, dynamic range, Leica, Leica M, Leica M Monochrom, Leica M Monochrom Typ 246, Leica monochrom, rangefinder

Get Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 at B&H Photo.

When I return from my trip, I’ll be publishing my examples and impressions as part of my review of the Leica M Monochrom Typ 246, including the use of red and deep red filters, focusing, metering and so on.

Dynamic range of the Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 is a 12 bits (miserly here in 2015), a whopping three stops short of what I feel a monochrome camera ought to have. In the field, the MM246 simply cannot handle some scenes, so I let the shadows pin to black. Still, the ISO 320 results show very low noise and hold up beautifully to aggressive shadow boosts as seen in these two images.

Mary Lake stumps

f13.5 @ 1/12 sec, ISO 320; 2015-05-30 19:23:24
LEICA M MONOCHROM (Typ 246) + Elmar-M 1:3.8/24 ASPH @ 24mm

[low-res image for bot]

Sunset, Mary Lake

f13.5 @ 1/25 sec, ISO 320; 2015-05-30 19:24:21
LEICA M MONOCHROM (Typ 246) + Elmar-M 1:3.8/24 ASPH @ 24mm

[low-res image for bot]