Leica M10 Monochrome

Equipment Reviews

Jun 19

Introduction

About two months ago I boxed up a large portion of what I own in terms of camera equipment and fired it off to Adorama. Why? The genesis of this was a Leica seminar I had taken with @philpenman (IG) on the streets of Boston. Before the seminar, Leica's genial John Kreidler contacted all the participants with the offer of loaning Leica equipment - I requested an SL2 and some kind of medium telephoto lens, I ended up with an APO-Summicron 90/2. I would like to emphasize what a great service this is - I am not famous nor do I have any kind of connections with Leica - it was available to anyone attending. I still don't know why I initially asked for an SL2 - cowardice is the likely answer - because owning a Q2M (and a Q2) at that point what I really wanted was to try a rangefinder. So, after a not particularly satisfying initial morning shooting with a combination of the Q2M and SL2, I asked for what I really wanted - a M10M. John kindly found me a combination of his own personal Summilux 35/1.4 and a store loaner M10M. I'd like to say something profound at this point, but I can only really say that it was like the scene in Ratatouille where the hardened critic takes his first taste of the Ratatouille meal and it immediately takes him back to an extremely fond memory of himself as a child and his mother ruffling his hair while he eats. The cameras that I used as a high school and university student were the Canon A-1 and when that went down with the dreaded Canon squeak, a Canon F-1. Fully manual loaded with Tri-X. It took me less than a minute to feel at ease with the M10M and I was back in the zone - literally. All the things I had learned about the zone system more than 30 years ago as a fifteen year old came flooding back. I reviewed on the back LCD occasionally to make sure I wasn't completely off the range for exposure and an enormous sense of satisfaction that I hadn't felt in years returned. I was completely responsible for my photos again. There were a few hiccups of over-exposure or not having enough speed, but even the mistakes were fun. I certainly wasn't frustrated at any point. I had made a vow earlier in the day during lunch that it would be fire-free in the evening shoot, and I did exactly that - working every subject from multiple angles, perspectives, and shutter speeds. Sure enough, I had 600-odd files to look at that evening. Back to boxing up all my other cameras and lenses - I realized that I had probably wasted 10 years not being responsible for my output - sure I was reviewing, processing, and editing, but I hadn't really been in charge. That's what I wanted all along. Part of me thinks that of course you can do this with any camera, but some make it easier than others. Rangefinders are popular for that reason - you get exactly what you need and no more. In a sense I'm now back to where I was when I bought my first mirrorless camera, the Fujifilm X-T2 - everything fits into a small bag which you barely notice having with you.

I can already hear certain readers eyeballs rolling back into their heads with an audible click - this isn't an article in praise of minimalism and of the joys of being charged a lot of money for a (relatively) featureless camera. I promise you if there was an equivalent option available at a cheaper price, I would have bought it (this will be brought home in an article to follow where I talk about which lenses I bought and why). I'm also not going to talk about price as there isn't really an equivalent cheaper market. Moaning about the price vs features set really doesn't add anything to the debate - I don't hear car owners complaining about the price of a Ferrari or watch owners about how much the latest Rolex costs - buy something cheaper if you are offended by the price. For myself I am a photography enthusiast - photography is my hobby and I'm not famous, an influencer, or a winner of numerous awards for my daring and courageous work. I spent my own money (I sold a GFX100S, Nikon Z7, X-Pro 3, and a Ricoh GR II to fund the purchase) on this because I thought it was worth it. And at the end of the day, Leica cameras are simply worth more for longer on the market - you can look at it as an extended rental if you decide to part company with it a few years later.

What do I do with it? I shoot documentary, land/cityscapes and lots of travel. A smaller and discrete camera works much better for me, but I was attracted to having more resolution than APS-C and the other M10 rangefinders. But on the other hand, I didn't want or need more than that, as I've said in previous articles the sweet spot is in the 36-40 MP range. The positives for me:

Camera design - the Leica Q2 and Q2M won me over to the rangefinder philosophy (they are, as so many have said before me, truly the gateway drug to rangefinders)
Resolution of the files - I read through countless sites and reviews with an emphasis on the tonality and information available in the M10M .DNGs. Owning the Q2M and comparing it with film simulations from colour cameras convinced me that a monochrome sensor was the right thing for me.
High ISO performance - Sean Reid and David Farkas have done excellent reviews already - I was convinced that unlike my Q2 and Nikon Z7, I could tread into 12800 territory without regretting it.
Size - unless you get into crop-sensor specs, there simply isn't anything smaller and more unobtrusive. Possibly the Ricoh GR III, which is the one camera I kept from my stable.
Colour - I wasn't giving up colour (I also ordered an M11 which will be the subject of a future article once I familiarize myself with it), but I was going to re-develop my appreciation for what black and white brings to the table
Lenses - while the initial buy-in is expensive, they don't depreciate nearly as much. I also wanted a common standard between my digital and film work. Does this mean a film camera rangefinder is in my future? It is decidedly so.

The M10M is stealthy and appealing to the eye. The lack of a red-dot is a huge plus for me as it has attracted very little attention from anyone. I used a David Alan Harvey Filson messenger bag during a recent New York trip - the load was essentially the M10M, three lenses, three batteries, and some odds and sods extra memory cards and colour filters essential for black and white work. I can't remember the last time I had so much extra room in my bag. After day one of hard core use, I got a Nitecore ULM10 dual battery charger which although slower than the Leica charger gives more information (%) about the battery charge level. The Nitecore build quality isn't particularly inspiring, but it does work. If you want to use your camera for a full day of use, particularly in cold weather as I often do, you need three batteries. If you get the ULM10 in addition to the Leica charger, you will have three batteries good to go for every day of shooting.

Build and design

It is functional and beautiful to look at. Other camera manufactures really need to take some industrial design cues from Leica who are willing to minimalize anything flashy to make their street-shooting customers happy. All black, no logos, no visual cues for passers-by to latch on and pique their curiosity (but of course, much like Fight Club, those already in the know, know). Overall it's coooooooooollllll.... not a hint of colour, everything is in black and grey, not even on the shutter speed dial.

Sensor

The files contain a lot of information, but as every review before mine has stated in no uncertain terms, you must protect your highlights at all costs. Shooting with a monochrome sensor means they are irretrievably lost, so the decision to allow them to disappear must be a conscious one. Shooting as I do with centre-weighted metering, an M10M user typically will shoot anywhere between -4EV to -2EV to preserve highlights and get those beautifully deep and rich blacks that are the hallmarks of Leica's monochrome sensors. Leica has continued to improve dynamic range with each new model, you can find extensive testing elsewhere, there is no need for me to replicate what has already been done. I have had the most success with using yellow and orange filters to increase contrast and clouds - I occasionally used green filters with the Q2M, but find myself preferring yellow in dull light and orange in bright light.

Controls and ergonomics

Here is one of the few areas where the M10M falls a bit behind some other camera brands. The 4 way controller and three main buttons are a bit too plasticky and clicky for my taste. It hasn't happened, but I sometimes get the feeling that the buttons might fall off. I much preferred the larger rubber joystick on the Fujifilm GFX100S I previously owned. The buttons function, however, does exactly what you need them to do. With the Menu button as an example, one click gets you to the Quick (and customizable) menu, two clicks gets you to the main menu, most of which is set and forget. I also don't like the ISO dial which requires some force to move upwards - Fujifilm's solution of a dial which has a button in the middle of it to lock is better. The buttons are generally the Goldilock size: not too big, not too small.

Camera back

The camera LCD screen is unexceptional, it accomplishes the task. It can be laggy even during normal temperatures, likely due to the processor which appears to have just enough to do the task but no more, it certainly isn't snappy. There is no flippy screen, but then I have no need for one. I don't think a delicate flippy screen really matches the design philosophy of having a solid block of a camera. I would use one if it was available for when my aging knees need to get closer to the ground or shooting from waist level (you can do it with the add-on Visoflex, but then why did you buy a range finder?) You get one dial that can either be clicked or spun. The rangefinder is bright and I have no issues with it - I don't currently wear glasses except for reading.

Top plate

Clean and minimalist design. As previously mentioned, the ISO dial is hard to force upwards. I do like Fujifilm having a dial for +/- EV which I found myself having to use the quick menu to adjust. There is no dedicated video/stills button... because there is no video. I am fine with that, frankly my iPhone does a better and smoother job than most cameras do anyway. The power switches has two settings, ON/OFF, and the shutter speed goes from 8s - 1/4000S, with a bulb and auto setting as well. The hot shoe is Nikon type, with the cover being plastic. It works, but it's one of the more utilitarian aspects of the camera, not much Leica design flair there.

Bottom plate

Ah yes, the bottom plate. In order to change a memory card or battery, you need to remove it. Ergo, if you are using a tripod, you have to remove the camera from the tripod head before you can do either of those actions. If you lose the bottom plate, your camera won't work. The batteries pop out easy enough, but the Q2 spring battery release solution is much better, so much so that it's now been incorporated into the M11, which no longer has a bottom plate. Some folks like it, some folks don't. I suppose if I was 65 I might feel nostalgic using it, but I'm not and I don't. But Leica owners are a funny bunch and get all wrapped up in knots about precisely this kind of thing.

Left side

Nothing.

Right side

De nada.

Operation speed

I've never used an M10 so I don't know what the read/write times were like, but I do find the M10M can be slow on occasion. I am more a single shot than a burst user, but on occasion I do multiple shots in short order and find that the red light blinks a few times and can take a moment or two to catch up to whatever it is that I want to do next. The camera does also "jam" on occasions (fortunately not frequently), necessitating turning it off and removing the battery in order to reset and turn it back on. The menu system, generally, is excellent and should be a model for all of the other camera companies. It's simple, easy to navigate, and generally does what it needs to do.

I haven't had any significant difficulties focusing - the viewfinder is clear and reliable even when using the Noktons. I don't have a Visoflex and am not convinced I need one, as I want to keep my setup as small as possible and have a good hit rate with the viewfinder alone. Checking critical focus can be done with the EVF if necessary. I'd say if you're going longer than 75 (50 for some) you will start to have trouble getting sharp results, but your mileage may vary. Generally speaking I've gotten good results with 1/2f whatever lens size you are using (ie. 1/100s with a 50mm lens) but I was able to hand hold 1/30s with the Summilux and get a hit rate around 65-75% using good technique. The process by which I am taking photos looks something like:

Find good light
Find good background
Pre-focus camera based on selected aperture and desired level of bokeh
Select shutter speed, either allow ISO to go on AUTO or select based on available light and lens speed
Meter based on highlights that I want to retain, and then recompose
Wait for subject
Take shot(s)

Rinse and repeat.

How is it different from other cameras? In the past I often shot on aperture priority meaning I allowed the camera to make all the other decisions. I decided on composition and occasionally shutter speed, and allowed the camera to do the rest. In this case I sort out my initial settings based on what highlights I want to keep and I decide everything, meaning I am actually thinking a lot more about every shot. Sure enough, my photography has started to improve again after a stagnation of what I would charitably estimate at 10 years or so. If wishes were fishes, I'd ask for something along the lines of an exposure compensation dial like my previously owned Fujifilm cameras. You can do it with menus, but... it's a menu.

Battery Life

A quick word on battery life - it stinks. I have three batteries and go through them very quickly when shooting constantly, I don't expect a battery to last more than a few hours even if I'm not using the LCD screen. Being from Canada I am familiar with all the usual tricks of keeping your batteries/camera warm and protected from the elements, but it just doesn't matter as I've used this camera from -15C to 35C. Three batteries is the minimum - sadly this will mean that I am highly likely to purchase the new M11M when it comes out. The M11 battery is so much better (I have used it for as long as week) and the charge does not deteriorate nearly as quickly.

The Files

At the end of it all, the operation (this camera is a joy to use) wouldn’t be meaningful if the output wasn’t great. The files straight out of camera are extremely flat - but they are extremely rich in tonal detail. ISO doesn’t mean as much as it used to - I would happily use files at ridiculously high ISOs - maybe not as high as ISO 50,000, but it depends. If your output is social media, ISO is meaningless. If your output is larger than A3, maybe keep it down to around ISO 25,600. The file sizes are perfect - (7864 x 5200 pixels, or 40.892MP) - big enough to crop if required, small enough that your hard drives don’t get stuffed too quickly. 32x48 prints are easily achievable, more if you want to use the latest software. Initially I was worried about highlights but in practice that wasn’t much of an issue as there is so much shadow detail that you can pull 5-6 stops EV if required. You don’t need a ton of processing on the images - but you will almost always need some. White point/black point along with a curve is probably the bare minimum - interestingly there isn’t exactly a ton of info out there in terms of tutorials and how-to’s. The other thing is that you generally have more processing flexibility with colour files - but I haven’t seen anyone able to duplicate what the M10M does from colour files. If it was as easy as just rendering a colour photo into B&W and tweaking, I don’t think the M10 Monochrome would have been made.

Conclusion

I grew up shooting Tri-X, Delta, and Acros film and have a good idea what black and white results "should" look like when it comes to non-digital media. This is as close as it gets, and is frequently indistinguishable from "the real thing." I would say the default look after minimal processing is along the lines of Tri-X 400. It is a niche product - if you are looking at this article to convince you of its merits, it's probably not for you. I don't think anyone under the age of 45 is going to fully understand the why of this camera and what it can do and why it is important. It is, I believe, targeted at those users who have extensive experience with B&W film but no longer have the patience or capacity for chemical development and printing. For those complaining about the price, I would ask them to consider that Leica employees are well-paid and happy with proper benefits, global supply chain problems are rampant, and that this may very well be the real cost of assuring that the Leica company sticks around to support their products and doesn't get itself into financial difficulties as Hasselblad has done. If that's worth something to you, then you won't find yourself even thinking that much about the price, only the possibilities that this camera offers. I am going to use mine until batteries are no longer available for it (may that never happen). The negative side of it being a bit slow doesn't really register as shooting with a rangefinder isn't necessarily reactionary in nature (it can be - set it to f8 and 1/250s and blast away, but my approach is more deliberate). To succeed with this camera you need to be someone who plans out shots in advance (ie. find good light, a layered background, and then be willing to wait for the right moment) rather than reacting to events as they occur. All of the best photos that I've taken with this camera are when I've been deliberate. Congratulations to Leica on being bold and continuing to make niche products that have genuine character - I apologize for not buying Leica lenses, but that's a subject for a future article (and a promise I subsequently broke).