[Leica] Alternative to the Monochrom

Fri Sep 19 23:31:48 PDT 2014

One thing I can say Ted, is a black and white sensor is a much simpler
sensor than a color one. As its black and white it only has to do one thing
with one layer. A color sensor has three layers which light trickles through
like layers of sieves.  The Monochrom one layer approach makes for much
clearer end result pictures.
And in the case of the Leica Monochrom its a full size 24x36mm sensor same
size as film other wise known as full frame. So that's much clearer than a
cut down version.
I think if you saw Tina's pix, her full size prints she makes with your
Monochrom you'll realize why some people who have the money and the interest
feel like its worth going there. Me I'd kill for the camera. I'd made a big
effort to use my normal color digital cameras for black and white converting
not my jpeg files but full Raw files to black and white but in the end I
found like lots of people that for some odd reason its hard to think black
and white unless you're camera is a black and white camera. Most of those
shots I was kind of shooting in black and white I ended up years later
converting back to color.

On 9/20/14 2:12 AM, "Ted Grant" <tedgrant at shaw.ca> wrote:

> HI CREW,
> I'm going to ask a real dumb ass question about the LEICA DIGILUX 2! I bet
> not many of you have one nor used one before your eye?
> 
> This camera can shoot black & white and through the view finder the scene or
> situation you are viewing is B&W! WOW WHAT A NEAT SCENE! CLICK!
> 
> Yes it is! And is most fascinating when you move your eye away from the
> viewfinder While doing this you can become sort of mesmerized seeing
> everything as a black and white world. And that's before you've even tripped
> the shutter capturing your not bad at all BLACK & WHITE photo moment. Quite
> amazing really! YEP! Makes not bad 17" X 19" prints!
> 
> Move the camera away from your eye and quick as a penny dropping you are
> flashed back into your natural "COLOUR WORLD!"
> 
> And you know what?????????? The B&W looks quite cool in print! The
> interesting thing I found so fascinating was seeing B&W images in the
> viewfinder before you went "CLICK!" Look-up and my goodness right before
> your eye it's snapped back to colour!
> 
> So now dumb-ass question? Do all these super hot shot new B&W LEICA'S do
> that for their multi thousands of dollars? Show you the world before you in
> B&W?? Or do they just show you nothing more than the same old crap.... "The
> world in colour...... but captures the image in B&W????????  BIG DEAL AND
> FOR HOW MANY THOUSANDS??????"
> 
> Or through the view finder you view our natural colour world... but on the
> back screen you have a black & white image???????
> 
> If it doesn't let you see in B&W through the view finder? Heck why waste
> your money buying one of those when just a few hundred dollars you can have
> a magical machine that allows you to see your photo as  a pure
> B&W............. BEFORE YOU GO CLICK!
> 
> SO BIG DEAL ON ANY MONO LEICA! Heck it doesn't allow you to see how your
> potentially beautiful B&W shot looks before you go CLICK!!  I think there
> might be a few interesting responses on this???????
> 
> cheers,
> Dr. ted :-) :-)  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LUG [mailto:lug-bounces+tedgrant=shaw.ca at leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
> Mark Rabiner
> Sent: September-19-14 6:31 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Alternative to the Monochrom
> 
> It just doest come any dumber than this.
> 
> I think the purpose of the article is not to make an intelligent point but
> simply to drum up some attention
> 
> We need to get smarter and ignore such stuff. But here I am typing away!
> 
> The idea is that because you can shoot black and white jpegs with consumer
> quality cropped color fuji camera which can be in black and white mode and
> since the fuji camera has a rangefinder in it than it is a replacement or
> alternative for a Leica Monochrome. A camera which makes monochrome raw
> files from a monochrome sensor.
> In other words a consumer grade cropped color sensor replaces a full frame
> Monochrom sensor professional grade sensor.
> 
> One could say that nothing makes any difference no matter what you do. Its
> all a big giggle.
> 
> I see the title of the article is " The Fuji Monochrom"
> The problem being that its a color camera.
> 
> One can always sell ones Leica M for a very nice Pentax Spotmatic and use
> the extra many to take a short vacation but have we "replaced" our M?
> It implication is that we are using the word to say the cameras are mainly
> interchangeable. Whatever a Leica M can so so could a Spotmatic pretty much
> just as well.
> And I think Leica users and most of the rest of the world knows that that's
> not likely the case.
> 
> Its like how the word "backup" gets used.
> 
> 
> .
> 
> 
> 
> On 9/19/14 10:30 AM, "Tina Manley" <tmanley at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I see a huge difference in the files from my Monochrom and the color
>> files
> from the M240 converted to B&W.
> 
> Tina
> 
> On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 10:25 AM,
>> George Lottermoser <
> george.imagist at icloud.com> wrote:
> 
>> The Fuji cameras
>> obviously deliver beautiful digital files; at an
>> extremely affordable price
>> when compared to the Leicas which they emulate.
>> And essentially this article
>> says, "here's a nice camera, that looks almost
>> just like a leica, which can
>> turn it's RGB files into Grayscale files (just
>> like every other digital
>> camera available).
>> 
>> Of course the same points could be made for my M8, and
>> M; or the M9, M-E;
>> or if you let go of the range finder < any mirror-less
>> camera on the market.
>> 
>> a note off the iPad, George
>> 
>> On Sep 19, 2014, at
>> 6:54 AM, Douglas Nygren via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Attached
>> is a link to an article describing using the Fuji X100s to do
>> black and
>> white photograph.
>>> 
>>> Given the high cost of the Monochrom, this may be a
>> good alternative.
>> X100S is a camera Leica should have made, but didn't.
>> 
>>> 
>>> I look forward to reading your comments.
>>> Doug
>>> 
>>> The Fuji
>> Monochrom By James Conley
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> The Fuji Monochrom By James Conley
>> 
>>> The Fuji Monochrom By James Conley A major impediment most new
>> 
>> photographers face is that color is the default mode of expression. Not
>> only
>> are we inundated by ...
>>> View on www.stevehuffphoto.com Preview by
>> Yahoo
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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>> information
>> 
> 
> 

-- 
Mark William Rabiner
Photographer
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/