Another excellent video. One thing however. When exposing with this camera (or any digital camera) preserving the highlights is critical. The examples you show of the "better" exposures are really "worse" in that the sky is blown out in both. True the shadows are blocked, but they can easily be opened up in your raw convertor (Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture1). You are shooting raw, aren't you? Of course there is a limit to how much you can open these dark areas without problems, and the Leicas do not excell in this area (why the M10 was revised to ISO 200 as a base), but you certainly can get someting back. When you blow the sky you get nothing. What this does is require experience not just in shootiing the camera, but in processing the raw image. It is harder. But it is better. Another aspect of this is that you will see - at least I have seen - that Leicas work their magic in the dark tones of the image, where the contrasts of light and dark become outstanding...
Dear David. Many thanks. I agree to the general principle of protecting the highlights and what many photographers suggest everybody should always do. I also do it often but very selectively. I think it is best to judge the individual situation and not use it as a general rule. Blown out highlights are a weak point in digital photography as opposed to film. Thanks for pointing it out. I should have explained why I chose not to protect the highlights in the examples shown. I chose not to protect them deliberately despite the fact that the M-D shoots RAW. I also agree that shadows can be recovered to some extend but the resolution is not as great as many people think. For those who don't know what David and myself are talking about here; we are talking about dynamic range, ISO behavior and ISO invariants. You can check out this link here to see the performance of your camera www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/RN_ADU.htm . Having said that... David, the M-D does not perform very well as you can see on the shared link when it comes to recover with the wrong ISO. The curve is very steep. And the dynamic range is nice but by far not top notch. So you are right, that you can recover shadows but they can be nasty if you pixel peep. The M10-P is doing a fantastic job compared to the M-D 262. With regards to the Leica magic in shadows and dark tones I cannot agree more with you. I actually like the contrasty dark areas of a photo and I rarely recover them because of the beautiful effect they create and me not wanting a HDR kind of look. But that is just a personal preference.
@@TheMPhotography I agree with David Heintz above - the dynamic range in images from such camera/lens gives you lots to work on with deliberate under-exposures. Preservation of sky/clouds is so important to give character and depth.
On all lenses you'll find a scale where you can read the field of depth at different apertures. That's very handy and I use the scale almost every time when I'm photo shooting. I learned to messure light abot five meters on the ground in front of me and then expose one over, one under and one correct. When I'm on scene, I messure the light, make my aperture and shutter settings and start shooting without adjusting the settings. Compo is for me as a press photographer routine to me: always take a larger frame, cause you can crop later. I've been shooting digital since 2005 and the backscreen is a great help and save a lot of time. I can use all my Leica R-lenses on my M240 because I can focus via the screen. If I should be on the M-D, I would carry a external lightmeter for getting the right readings. Anyway: thanks for a nice video...
You will learn reading and understanding the Leica M light meter quite quickly if you shoot with the M-D. I mostly use the external light meter on my M6.
I have a great great wish if you could make a dedicated video. How to use the leica light meter at its max and best way. I use my all-time dream camera a leica monochrome type 246
What I understand there is no Wi-Fi on that camera, how do You reach the menu and other settings, like contrast and so etc? Maybe You can show that in a video? Thank You for sharing! I had a Leica M6 before. Now I consider to buy a digital Leica M.
Thanks for watching. The camera has no wifi and no menus. You cannot configure contrast or anything on a M-D. It's literally a M6 with a SD card instead of a film. It just dumps a raw image on the SD card. The Leicas with displays have menu systems and newer Ms also have WiFi.
Glad you enjoyed it. I would say mostly aperture priority. But being fully aware and paying attention to what is going on with the light meter. In people shots / portraits mostly fully manual.
Yes. I am also using aperture priority. Trying more manual. But I think the lightmeter of the M-D is very good and the camera tends to underexpose a bit. But exactly to my liking. So aperture priority works faster for me
Yes. I was pleasantly surprised about the light meter as well when I bought the camera almost three years ago. I personally am used to manual shooting and still prefer it when I shoot multiple photos of the same scene. Just to get the same consistent look. Glad to hear that you enjoy your M-D as well.
It's a pity that the DSLR and and mirrorless cameras lenses/cameras don't have the diaphragm - depth of the field scale. To display these informations would not be difficult. It's not an exact method because the depth of the fields depends on much factors, but it's useful. I have to learn my 35mm lens on ASP-C.
I appreciate the commentary about the metering but in your examples, the sky is always blown out on the second shot. I'd rather expose for the bright sky and bring up the landscape than blow out the sky without hope of recovery. That's why I always just set the camera for the conditions and ignore the meter...it's frequently fooled and you spend a lot of time trying to fool it into acting right. Just meter off of a grey card and forget the light unless it changes drastically (which it doesn't generally)
Thanks for your feedback. Appreciate it. Yeah, a grey card would be ideal if one has one around. Btw. I did a dedicated video on light metering if you are interested in this topic.
I have always thought that photography slang and terminology should discriminate between "depht-of-field" and " _depht-of-focus_ " , and use the first to talk about the different proportions and perspective given by the different lenght of the lenses, and the second about the different "delta" of space being in focus at a given aperture. That would make it much easier to understand and not make confusion between the two.
All current photos on my website - other than in the "Analog" section - are taken with the Leica M-D indeed. The ones in the analog section are almost all taken with a Leica M6 with the exception of one. Thank you for asking!
Another excellent video. One thing however. When exposing with this camera (or any digital camera) preserving the highlights is critical. The examples you show of the "better" exposures are really "worse" in that the sky is blown out in both. True the shadows are blocked, but they can easily be opened up in your raw convertor (Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture1). You are shooting raw, aren't you?
Of course there is a limit to how much you can open these dark areas without problems, and the Leicas do not excell in this area (why the M10 was revised to ISO 200 as a base), but you certainly can get someting back. When you blow the sky you get nothing. What this does is require experience not just in shootiing the camera, but in processing the raw image. It is harder. But it is better.
Another aspect of this is that you will see - at least I have seen - that Leicas work their magic in the dark tones of the image, where the contrasts of light and dark become outstanding...
Dear David. Many thanks. I agree to the general principle of protecting the highlights and what many photographers suggest everybody should always do. I also do it often but very selectively. I think it is best to judge the individual situation and not use it as a general rule. Blown out highlights are a weak point in digital photography as opposed to film. Thanks for pointing it out. I should have explained why I chose not to protect the highlights in the examples shown. I chose not to protect them deliberately despite the fact that the M-D shoots RAW. I also agree that shadows can be recovered to some extend but the resolution is not as great as many people think. For those who don't know what David and myself are talking about here; we are talking about dynamic range, ISO behavior and ISO invariants. You can check out this link here to see the performance of your camera www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/RN_ADU.htm . Having said that... David, the M-D does not perform very well as you can see on the shared link when it comes to recover with the wrong ISO. The curve is very steep. And the dynamic range is nice but by far not top notch. So you are right, that you can recover shadows but they can be nasty if you pixel peep. The M10-P is doing a fantastic job compared to the M-D 262. With regards to the Leica magic in shadows and dark tones I cannot agree more with you. I actually like the contrasty dark areas of a photo and I rarely recover them because of the beautiful effect they create and me not wanting a HDR kind of look. But that is just a personal preference.
@@TheMPhotography I agree with David Heintz above - the dynamic range in images from such camera/lens gives you lots to work on with deliberate under-exposures. Preservation of sky/clouds is so important to give character and depth.
On all lenses you'll find a scale where you can read the field of depth at different apertures. That's very handy and I use the scale almost every time when I'm photo shooting. I learned to messure light abot five meters on the ground in front of me and then expose one over, one under and one correct. When I'm on scene, I messure the light, make my aperture and shutter settings and start shooting without adjusting the settings. Compo is for me as a press photographer routine to me: always take a larger frame, cause you can crop later. I've been shooting digital since 2005 and the backscreen is a great help and save a lot of time. I can use all my Leica R-lenses on my M240 because I can focus via the screen. If I should be on the M-D, I would carry a external lightmeter for getting the right readings. Anyway: thanks for a nice video...
You will learn reading and understanding the Leica M light meter quite quickly if you shoot with the M-D. I mostly use the external light meter on my M6.
Thanks for the information on the downloadable tech specs.
I have a great great wish if you could make a dedicated video. How to use the leica light meter at its max and best way. I use my all-time dream camera a leica monochrome type 246
Hi Sonic. Thanks. I was actually thinking of doing so. And congratulations to your 246. Love it and wish they had produced M-D monochrome as well.
Great video thank you. Can you talk about the focus knob below the focus ring and how to use it effectively please? Thanks again.
Thanks Migs. What focus knob below tue focus ring are you referring to?
Thank you! All your video is very educated and good.
Thank you Drazen. 🙏 Appreciate your kind words and happy to hear that you like them.
Excellent tips!
Really clear explanation. Thank you
Thanks Marky!
Thank you very much for the great information
Great explanations Markus.
Thank you again Phil. Appreciate it. 🙏
Thank you for making this kind of information. It’s really helpful :)
Thank you Nara. Happy to hear that it was helpful to you.
What I understand there is no Wi-Fi on that camera, how do You reach the menu and other settings, like contrast and so etc? Maybe You can show that in a video? Thank You for sharing! I had a Leica M6 before. Now I consider to buy a digital Leica M.
Thanks for watching. The camera has no wifi and no menus. You cannot configure contrast or anything on a M-D. It's literally a M6 with a SD card instead of a film. It just dumps a raw image on the SD card. The Leicas with displays have menu systems and newer Ms also have WiFi.
I am going to try to emulate the MD with my M8 by ignoring the back screen. Forces me to become more proficient with these basic elements.
Nice. Yes, give it a try and see how it goes.
Thnx for your video. Do you mostly shoot full manual or with aperture priority?
Glad you enjoyed it. I would say mostly aperture priority. But being fully aware and paying attention to what is going on with the light meter. In people shots / portraits mostly fully manual.
Yes. I am also using aperture priority. Trying more manual. But I think the lightmeter of the M-D is very good and the camera tends to underexpose a bit. But exactly to my liking. So aperture priority works faster for me
Yes. I was pleasantly surprised about the light meter as well when I bought the camera almost three years ago. I personally am used to manual shooting and still prefer it when I shoot multiple photos of the same scene. Just to get the same consistent look. Glad to hear that you enjoy your M-D as well.
How to take photos on a camera with no screen: know how to actually shoot a camera. I love mine. Looking forward to adding an M10-D to my kit.
Nice. Wish you a lot of fun with you M10-D once you have it.
It's a pity that the DSLR and and mirrorless cameras lenses/cameras don't have the diaphragm - depth of the field scale. To display these informations would not be difficult. It's not an exact method because the depth of the fields depends on much factors, but it's useful. I have to learn my 35mm lens on ASP-C.
Yeah, a pity so few manufacturers display that information on their lenses directly.
I appreciate the commentary about the metering but in your examples, the sky is always blown out on the second shot. I'd rather expose for the bright sky and bring up the landscape than blow out the sky without hope of recovery. That's why I always just set the camera for the conditions and ignore the meter...it's frequently fooled and you spend a lot of time trying to fool it into acting right. Just meter off of a grey card and forget the light unless it changes drastically (which it doesn't generally)
Thanks for your feedback. Appreciate it. Yeah, a grey card would be ideal if one has one around. Btw. I did a dedicated video on light metering if you are interested in this topic.
Hi, what’s your favorite film?
ILFORD HP5 for black & white and Fuji Pro 400h for color
I have always thought that photography slang and terminology should discriminate between "depht-of-field" and " _depht-of-focus_ " , and use the first to talk about the different proportions and perspective given by the different lenght of the lenses, and the second about the different "delta" of space being in focus at a given aperture. That would make it much easier to understand and not make confusion between the two.
Thanks for watching and your feedback. Agreed, it can be confusing.
@@TheMPhotography Thanks to you: you showed really well what _depht of focus_ is!
On your website www.the-m.photography all photos are taken with this Leica camera?
All current photos on my website - other than in the "Analog" section - are taken with the Leica M-D indeed. The ones in the analog section are almost all taken with a Leica M6 with the exception of one. Thank you for asking!