Scotland, Two Leica cameras and a lot of fun.
Scotland
I recently returned from a trip to Scotland where I stayed in the Highland area of Glencoe with a group of friends. I usually make the trip for an annual workshop that is run by the Facebook group ‘Fotoholics’ which I help out with. This year we didn’t run a workshop but invited all past workshop attendees to join us for a long weekend of photography. With no set locations or tuition provided it was a great opportunity for everybody to get out and explore the beautiful Scottish landscape.
It was a great weekend with lots of laughs, lots of whisky and as you would expect from Scotland in the winter, lots and lots of rain. The weather certainly didn’t put anyone off and from my point of view I am happiest when the weather is less than perfect.
This trip was particularly exciting for me. Used camera specialists MPB had very kindly agreed to lend me some equipment in the form of a Leica M10 and Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 C-Biogon T. I already own a few Leica lenses having purchased them to go with my M3 and MA so the addition of the 35mm meant that I had all the focal lengths that I would need for the trip. A good friend of mine also had one of the new M10 Monochrom’s along with a 28mm Summicron that she very kindly agreed to let me use for a couple of days. I have been considering a change in system as mentioned in my previous blog post so having the use of these cameras for a total of 5 days would give me a good indication of whether they would suit me.
The wonderful staff at MPB and Amateur Photographer
Back in November 2019 I entered a competition run by Amateur Photographer in collaboration with MPB. The prize offered was a bursary that included £5,000 towards expenses and an ongoing kit loan from MPB. I submitted a proposal and made it down to the final two but unfortunately wasn’t successful. My project was deemed too ambitious to be completed within the 12-month period. In fairness it was a big project, and I fully supported the decision that was made.
MPB stayed in contact with me following the decision and after a conversation over the phone with a very nice gentleman by the name of Patrick, agreed to support me with a kit loan of camera and lens for my trip to Scotland. A couple of days after our conversation and before I was due to leave for Scotland a package arrived containing the Leica and lens that I had asked to borrow.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Patrick and all the staff at MPB who were involved in the decision to lend me the camera. As a purely amateur photographer I was very grateful to be supported in this way. I would also like to thank all of the staff at Amateur Photographer for hosting the competition and for showing so much support for my photography.
9 hours on the road and a Scottish breakfast
Wednesday 4th March 2020, I left my parents’ house at 7pm and my Dad and I made the 9 hour drive to Glencoe. I have always chosen to drive through the night to avoid or reduce the possibililty of being stuck in traffic. The journey was smooth, and we pulled into the Clachaig Inn at around 3:15am. After a few hours of broken sleep in my pickup truck we headed out for a drive at around 7.30am.
Having driven through the night we were seeing the beauty of our location for the first time. I’ve been to Glencoe a couple of times before but my Dad was seeing the rugged Scottish landscape for the first time. Even though the area is familiar to me it still takes my breath away at just how beautiful the area is.
A small shower of snow greeted us as we drove along the A82 and this combined with the low clouds meant the tops of the mountain were shielded from view. After a short drive we headed back to the Inn at 8:30am for a much needed cup of coffee and full Scottish breakfast including haggis, tattie scone and Lorne sausage. Bloody lovely!
After filling up with enough food and coffee to last us the rest of the day, dropping our bags to the room and dressing in suitable clothing and footwear, we headed out to explore the area further. It was time to get the camera out of my bag and get to work.
An aerial view of the Clachaig Inn, Glencoe
The Leica M10 (Type 3656)
I’m not going to go into the specifications of each camera. This information is widely available online and largely unimportant. This will simply be an account of my experiences using both cameras. At the end of each section will be a selection of the images I produced during the time I had with each camera.
I have shot Leica film cameras for a few years. The M3 was the first Leica I purchased, and this was followed by the M2 and most recently an MA. The M3 is the camera that kick started my love for the M system but initially I only considered the use of film cameras. I never really considered Leica’s digital cameras until the release of the M10 but having already purchased a Fujifilm GFX 50S the interest was short lived.
Following the release of the new Leica Monochrom this year, my interest for this camera system as a viable option, not only for my landscape photography but for everything else I shoot was revisited. I have been looking for a camera that would allow me some consistency with both the use of a single camera and the images I produce. Currently I jump between different cameras depending on what I am shooting and having a camera that ticks every box would be a welcome change. I shoot predominantly monochromatic images so the new M10 was very exciting indeed.
Getting to grips with both the standard M10 and Monochrom was straight forward. The simple menu system meant that I had each camera set up to my liking within less than a minute. I love the simplicity of these cameras. Most cameras available today come with a host of features including video, Auto focus with focus tracking, the ability to shoot multiple frames per second and Jpeg film simulations. This advance in technology is no doubt welcomed by many, but I have never really had a need for any of this.
The M10 is a beautifully engineered camera with minimal features geared towards still image capture. Manual focusing is quick and precise using the optical rangefinder or the live view function. Live view can be used with the rear screen or with the addition of the Visoflex 020 Hotshoe attachment. This allows for use of the cameras focus peaking, real time exposure evaluation and access to features such as the histogram.
When shooting handheld without the need for a tripod, I favoured the use of the optical rangefinder. When mounted on a tripod, I preffered to use the Visoflex. This allowed me to accurately compose an image and made things really easy when composing at low level due to the variable angle viewfinder. I purchased a Really Right Stuff L-Bracket to use on the camera. This bracket replaces the original baseplate utilising the thread at the base of the camera. It is quickly fitted by hand without the need for any tools and allows for quick and easy rotation on a tripod between landscape and portrait orientations. The L-bracket is extremely well made and although expensive something that I consider essential for landscape photography.
The M10 Monochrom along with the M10-P feature a touchscreen with pinch and zoom function. Although the focus peaking on each camera is very good, I did miss focus a couple of times. Having a quick check on the rear screen is always a good idea and zooming in to check this is made much easier with touchscreen navigation. The standard M10 lacks this feature and if I was to choose to buy into the digital Leica system it would be the M10-P or Monochrom that I would choose for this reason.
Another obvious difference between each of the cameras was that of the noticably quieter shutter of the Monochrom. I wouldn’t consider the M10’s shutter loud. Actually, it is quite pleasant, but having a camera that is quieter and more discreet can be an advantage at times when discretion is key.
I don’t shoot in colour but the RAW files output by the camera are some of the most natural looking that I have seen. I was shooting in consistently overcast conditions so I can’t comment on how it performs at other times in different lighting conditions. Colour isn’t important to me but having been impressed with how the camera performed I felt it worth a mention.
Overall, the M10 was a pleasure to use. Editing the files to my liking was straightforward. The files output from the colour sensor allows manipulation of the colour channels to produce attractive black and white images. Below is a selection of images made with the standard M10.
The Leica M10 Monochrom (Type 6376)
The Monochrom was the camera that I was most interested in getting my hands on ever since its release. The sensor being dedicated to the capture of black and white images suits my photography. I very rarely shoot colour, except at the request of my wife for family holidays.
Using the camera was very similar to the standard M10 apart from a few exceptions that I’ve mentioned before. The biggest difference between the two cameras comes at the point of capture. The standard M10 allows for manipulation of the colour channels in post processing. For example. If you want to darken blue sky when post processing the image, manipulation of the red colour channel can be made to the point that blue sky is rendered as black. Various manipulations of each colour channel can be made giving you a large amount of control over the final image.
The Monochrom requires a more considered approach at the point of capture. There are no colour channels to manipulate in post processing, so the use of coloured filters is required in order to make changes to contrast. Using a red filter in front of the lens to darken sky, increasing this effect further by combining it with a polarising filter. I chose to use a yellow filter for many of the images I made. It’s less extreme than the red filter and suited the conditions present at the weekend.
I use filters all the time for my landscape photography so employing the use of colour filters is no real disadvantage. As reported in many other reviews of this camera, it is possible to lose detail in bright highlight areas and this needs to be taken into consideration when making an exposure. It’s possible to blow highlights with any camera though and once aware of the actions required to ensure this doesn’t happen it becomes a non-issue and any issues would largely be down to user error. Spending more time with this camera would allow me more time to explore the limitations of the sensor but for this trip I paid close attention to the histogram and underexposed images slightly when required. Using graduated ND filters certainly helped to balance exposure and control highlights.
I’ve shot black and white film for a couple of years so many of the skills I learnt from doing this can be transffered to this camera.
Below is a small selection of images that I made with the Monochrom. I only had two days with the camera in less than perfect conditions but the experience of using the camera was an enjoyable one.
In Conclusion
Both the M10 and M10 Monochrom were a pleasure to use. The Leica M system cameras are not commonly considered as landscape cameras and I’ve rarely seen them used for such. I may be wrong, and please feel free to point me in the direction of people who do use them. I would be interested to see their work.
Following my short time with these cameras, I would be more than confident to use either. The weather in Scotland was that of persistent rain, snow, wind and hail over the 5 days I was there. I was careful not to submit these cameras to the same level of abuse that they would have received had they been my own, but they still performed in all weathers without issue.
In my limited experience the images from the Monochrom are some of the best, if not the best black and white images I have seen from any camera. Files are full of detail and the tonality that the dedicated black and white sensor is capable of is remarkable.
I probably sound like a huge Leica fan boy, but the truth of the matter is I couldn’t really find much about either of these cameras that I didn’t like. Alright, there is one thing. The price. They are super expensive cameras, but I do understand why and so complaining about it any further would be pointless.
Would these cameras suit everybody? Probably not.
Do they suit me? With confidence I can answer this with a big yes. Either of these could be the camera that does everything I need.
Will I buy either of them in the future? You’ll have to watch this space.
Matt.
Thankyou!
A huge thankyou to used camera specialists MPB who agreed to loan me the Leica M10 and lens for my trip and to my friend Amy Davies who allowed me the use of the Monochrom, both of whom made this blog possible and added to the enjoyment of my annual trip to the Highlands of Scotland.