Leica. ‘Das Wesentliche’ – Berlin, May 10th 2012
Leica put together a short video for everyone who wants to see some moving images from the event on thursday.
visuelleGedanken.de
Photography and web in pictures & words by Martin Wolf
A collection of Leica M Monochrom Reviews (Updated)
Since I’m not able to review the Leica M Monochrom for you myself, I thought I could at least put together a collection of reviews which are already out there so you can get an idea of the camera. I’m sure there will be a lot more in the next few weeks, but since then here you go:
L-Camera Blog
Review (de)
Video review (de)
Steve Huff
One hour with the Leica M Monochrom
Full Size Images
Jonathan Slack Review
dpreview.com Hands-on Preview
The Luminous Landscape Review
Bellamy Hunt Testing the M9-M
ShootTokyo Leica M9-M Photos
Steve Huff spent one hour with the new Leica Monochrome ➟
I hate to say it as I love Leica and the guys that work there but I have to say the event was a bit on the dull and lackluster side. Sure there were drinks, food and people to mingle with but the overall presentations were lacking. Not a big deal but I remember a few occasions yawning as it dragged on and on it seems. We were all there for the announcements and the way they were announced was also a bit on the dull side.
So I wasn’t the only one who had to yawn. That’s good and bad.
Steve also makes a few other good points regarding the Leica event and he got to shoot the M Monochrom for about an hour and shows some photos. Head over there and read the whole piece.
The Leica ‘Das Wesentliche’ evening
So. The Leica Event ‘Das Wesentliche’ is over and all of the rumors where true. Leica announced the Leica M Monochrom, which only shoots black and white images, but with really great image quality and much better low light performance than the M9. There is also a new lens, the APO-SUMMICRON-M 1:2/50 mm ASPH.
Furthermore there is a new X camera, the X2 and a new V-LUX. You can read about the details here. Leica also announced a Special Edition of the M9-P, the Hermès Editon.
So the M MONOCHROM seems to be pretty cool, altough we not really got to hear much about it. The presentation was really bad in my opinion, everything seemed a bit awkward.
The rest of the evening was good. Kai, Christoph and me talked a lot about all things cameras, drank wine and met some really nice people of Leica.
Today I will walk the streets of Berlin and try to take some decent photographs and also meet up with a few people.
Thank you Leica and I hope we’ll meet again in the future.
Leica ‘Das Wesentliche’
Today I’m heading to Berlin for the Leica ‘Das Wesentliche’ Event. I expect to see the announcement of the M9 Monochrome and a new version of the X1, maybe with a Summilux 50mm attached. Let’s see if they have something else to tell us about.
I’m also looking forward to meet a few people and shoot some photos in the streets of Berlin tomorrow evening.
I’ll post a summary of the event here on the blog and will also tweet live @_martinwolf.
Leica Monochrome sensro made by Platinum Equity (Kodak sensor). ➟
Our super good sources informed us that the new Leica M camera coming on May the 10th will feature a Black and White Full Frame sold by Platinum Equity. As you know Platinum acquired the Kodak business and they are going to sell the Kodak developed Black and White sensor to Leica.
Next thursday we know for sure.
The upcoming Leica Monochrome rangefinder will have a M9 styled body ➟
The upcoming Leica Monochrome digital rangefinder (with a black and white only sensor) will have a M9-like body. We are not going to see a new M10 camera on May 10 - a completely new M10 will probably be announced in September during Photokina.
Ich freue mich auf den 10. Mai – auch wenn ich mir sicher keine mehrere Tausend Euro teure Kamera kaufen werde, die nur schwarzweiß Fotos machen kann, auch wenn diese wahrscheinlich großartig aussehen werden.
Fuji 35mm f/1.4 Review ➟
This is as sharp, maybe sharper than the equivalent LEICA 50mm f/1.4 ASPH, and has the same superb bokeh, focuses faster and closer and has the same near zero distortion. Not bad for $600!
Wow, das ist ja mal eine Aussage.
Leica Portrait: Joel Meyerowitz
Leica Portrait über einen der Besten. Was soll ich mehr sagen? Anschauen!
Leica M10, schwarzweiß Sensor und Ricoh ➟
People is going wild about that new M10 camera! It will very likely have a Full Frame Black and White sensor with no Anti Aliasing filter, super sharpness and resolution and what matters more a much greater dynamic range which is even more fundamental for Black and White photography.
Ich kann immer noch nicht glauben, dass Leica wirklich nur einen schwarzweiß Sensor da rein packt. Falls ja, würde die M9 jedenfalls deutlich weniger an Popularität verlieren, da ich glaube, dass ein großer Teil Leicafotografen nicht auf Farbe verzichten will oder kann.
Selbst ich, der im Moment wirklich zum größten Teil schwarzweiß fotografiert, würde nicht auf die Möglichkeit von Farbe verzichten wollen, vor allem nicht bei einem Preis von mehreren Tausend Euro.
Aber wer weiß, vielleicht gibt es ja auch zwei Versionen. Eine schwarzweiß-only M10, die dafür jede andere Kamera in der schwarzweiß Fotografie in den Schatten stellt und eine “normale” M10.
Die Beteiligung von Ricoh an der M10 könnte möglicherweise auch für eine schwarzweiß-only Variante sprechen. Ricoh produziert zum Beispiel hervorragende schwarzweiß JPGs in ihren GR-Modellen.
Aber am Ende des Tages sind das auch alles nur Spekulationen und wir werden erst am 10. Mai Gewissheit haben. Bis dahin wird es aber sicher noch viele weitere Gerüchte geben.