Leica M Monochrom

That´s the name of this new camera. Actually it´s not all new, mostly a version of the regular M9. For the tech people, that is. The biggest difference is using a monochrome sensor. This camera can take only black and white images. Inherently all camera sensors (except for constructions like Foveon) are actually black and white. They are enabled to take color images by a red-green-blue filter array in front of sensor. While giving the advantage of getting color images, this filter array has also several negative effects. It blocks light, a lot of it, it makes resolution worse and it causes all kinds of artefacts. These artefacts are dampened usually by adding another filter in front of sensor, namely anti-aliasing or low pass filter, which hides the artifacts by making the image even more soft. 

So, if you want to shoot primarily black and white images with you are left with a crippled camera. This is where M Monochrom comes in. It gives you the true quality of the latest iteration of M9 sensor. Better resolution, better dynamic range, higher noise free ISOs, cleaner gradations etc. You only need to like shooting the Leica way and have 20.000 euros to spend. That´s the approximate price of body and three Leica lenses including the new 50mm Apo-Summicron lens.

Why Apo? In a color image you can correct chromatic aberration afterwards in software. In a black and white image you can´t, you get just softer details. I have not tested yet but I would not be surprised if M Monochrom with Apo-Summicron would give the sharpest images ever in 35mm cameras.

What tech minded people tend to forget is that shooting color or black and white images are two totally different things. Too often we see comments like: I made it black and white because it wasn't good in color! Actually very seldom an image will be good in black and white if you can´t tweak it good as a color image. Black and white is about light and form. You have to be able to see the light and use the form. In color you can use those also, but you can also go without them and work just with the color. I know black and white shooters who like EVFs because they can see what they get in black and white. What you really miss with a black and white camera is the ability to tweak tonality by the colors in software. 

Very common thought, especially with amateurs, is that you should be able to shoot everything with your camera. It is okay. But also it is a mental road block if you want to become good in anything. You have to concentrate, get rid of a lot. I have shot the same way for decades. My criteria for a camera is: can I use it my way? I am a color shooter, but a camera like M Monochrom moves me because it is so much about single minded photography. Nothing else.

X2

Leica introduced also two more cameras last night. Of them X2 has a couple of interesting features. Not really as a camera for me but as something happening behind the scenes. At their web site Leica downplays their new EVF for X2. It is called Viso-Flex according to Leica tradition. Leica used to co-operate with Panasonic, and still does, but this Viso-Flex is actually Olympus VF-2 up to electric contacts. They are interchangeable, which means there must be Olympus electronics also inside X2. It´s AF system is far better than what previous model X1 had. Where did Leica buy their AF system for X2? ;-)

More info and images on these cameras at Leica.com and sites like dpreview.com

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This is a "rewrite" of my previous blog concerning JPEG image quality of these two cameras. It can be found here.

Below I have combined test charts shot with E-M5 and E-P3 at various ISO settings. Settings while shooting:

• Lens Zuiko D. 50mm f/2 Macro @ F4
• Equal aperture and shutter speed settings in both bodies at corresponding ISOs. (These cameras have equal sensitivities)

RAW files were opened in Lightroom 4.1 (Release Candidate 2), normalized and cropped equally. E-M5 crops are 100%. E-P3 crops were enlarged to the same size during Lightroom Export. All images are slightly sharpened and noise reduction applied in Lightroom. I kept the values for these the same for every file.

I chose to enlarge E-P3 files because I am interested in seeing quality in same size prints. This is closest to that situation on screen. Just remember: To see any real difference in sharpness at ISO 200 to 400 you need to print larger than A3. 

In JPEG comparison E-M5 was markedly better in every regard. At higher ISOs E-M5 gained about two stop improvement. I wrote then: This result comes from new sensor with more resolution and better pixel per pixel quality and thinner low pass filter. Now I know better, a lot of it comes also from improved JPEG algorithms. 

With RAW images differencies are not as big in a test target like this. This test target shows now mostly differencies in resolution and noise. E-M5 has a 14% advantage in linear resolution and thinner low pass filter. This is best shown in rhombus structure. Starting from ISO 800 up, E-M5 shows gradually more and more its better sensor. Further tweaking of the relation between sharpening and noise reduction would have benefitted E-M5 more than E-P3. With more demanding subjects E-M5 gives even more headroom for adjustments. I would say that for me the total gain is almost 2 stops in the way I tweak my images in Lightroom. With E-P3 I never went over ISO 1600. Now the limit will be slightly under ISO 6400.

Image below E-M5, M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 (Same image is shown shot as JPEG in previous blog).

• ISO 200, @F6.3
• Adjusted in Lightroom 4.1 (RC2)
• Crops 100% from brightest and darkest area without any modifications

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This graph shows the same E-M5 and E-P3 dynamic ranges (orange and red) for jpeg images as shown in my previous blog. They are actually measured from raw files converted into jpegs in Olympus Viewer 2. This software emulates in camera jpeg process, which means I can tweak the jpegs to show optimal jpeg quality.

Blue and green lines  show what can be achived from E-M5 and E-P3 raw files. I opened raw files into Lightroom and CaptureOne and measured dynamic ranges at various ISOs. Both software showed almost the same numbers for E-M5. With E-P3 there was slight variation at some ISOs but there was no trend in favor of either software. What you can see here is the average performance of these software. The biggest and maybe most important difference was for E-M5 at ISO 200. With Lightroom I was able to read a 12.6 EV dynamic range and with CaptureOne it was 12.0EV.  At ISO 400 they both gave the same 12EV.

When you look at this graph, please do not take exact numbers too seriously. Look at trends E-M5 versus E-P3 and raw versus jpeg. While saying that I think it is no mistake to have E-P3 dynamic range at 10EV, which is the same as DxO Mark result for the same camera. Also two well respected software giving practically same numbers (sans ISO 200) for E-M5 should be no mistake either.

I have now shot a few thousand images with E-M5. Those images show the same trend in real life situations compared to E-P3 as this graph.

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The first addition are Olympus E-M5 images shot last weekend in Scotland. 

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The first one is captured looking into E-M5 monitor (camera in my hands at about chest level) while walking. Everything set auto and IS OFF. The second one is captured as similarly as possible with the first one except for having IS 1 ON. The experience is now quite different, smoother, and shows the benefit of IS. 

The third video is shot to see how C-AF and IS work in low light with rapidly changing camera-subject distance and various camera movements. The lens here is M.Zuiko 12mm wide open at F2.0. Continuous AF and IS 1 ON. I am moving on my knees, camera in my hands, bending here and there. The only light is 20W energy saving lamp. TV gives a good indication on light level. I think C-AF does a nice job without hunting and IS dampens my erratic movements quite well. The small size shown here does not show C-AF as it really is.

These videos can be downloaded at full HD size here.

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Untitled from Pekka Potka on Vimeo.

Untitled from Pekka Potka on Vimeo.

Untitled from Pekka Potka on Vimeo.

Because of presentations I had little time to see anything else. What was not spent speaking was spent discussing with people. Here´s a couple of images seen from the audience:

Presenting Olympus E-M5. Photo: Jarkko Antikainen.

Speaking about Lightroom 4. Photo: Ilkka Paloheimo.

Discussing images with Sophie Seon at Canson booth. Sophie is Canson area manager for Northern Europe and Middle East. My images will be shown also at Canson´s Photokina booth next September and I will be there too. Photo: Sami Lujala.

• Lens Zuiko D. 50mm f/2 Macro @ F4
• JPG Large Fine (I saved also RAW files to be compared later) (note: there is no visual difference between files saved at Large Fine or Large Super Fine jpeg compressions at 100%, unless you start to do heavy post processing)
• Picture Mode: 4 Muted @ Contrast -2, Saturation -2, Sharpness -2, Gradation Normal (note: normal means Olympus standard jpeg gamma curve)
• Noise reduction & noise filter: OFF
• Equal aperture and shutter speed settings in both bodies at corresponding ISOs

JPG files were opened in Photoshop, normalized and cropped equally. E-M5 crops are 100%. E-P3 crops were enlarged to same size through Bicubic Smoother interpolation. All images are slightly sharpened. No noise reduction applied. (All test shots have gone through automatic normalization which sets certain amount of lowest values of lowest channel to zero. In E-P3 shots you can see more black outline between white and black than in E-M5 shots. Anything stronger than what I did would lead into losing detail in shadows. I left corrections as they are, and that´s why some E-P3 scales look lighter than the same ones with E-M5. You can copy test charts and tweak them if you want to have another "look".)

I chose to enlarge E-P3 files because I am interested in seeing quality in same size prints. This is closest to that situation on screen. Just remember: To see any real difference in sharpness at ISO 200 to 400 you need to print larger than A3. 

E-M5 is markedly better in every regard: sharpness, signal to noise ratio, dynamic range... . At higher ISOs E-M5 gains about two stop improvement. This result comes from new sensor with more resolution and better pixel per pixel quality, thinner low pass filter and impoved JPG processing.

I will post later more images and compare RAW files.

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Image below E-M5, M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 

• ISO 200, @F6.3
• JPG Large Fine
• Picture Mode: 4 Muted @ Contrast -2, Saturation -2, Sharpness -2, Gradation Normal
• Noise reduction & noise filter: OFF
• Crops 100% from brightest and darkest area without any modifications

Image below E-M5, M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8

• ISO 1600, @F2.5
• JPG Large Fine
• Picture Mode: 4 Muted @ Contrast -2, Saturation -2, Sharpness -2, Gradation Normal
• Noise reduction & noise filter: OFF
• Normalization and slight sharpening in Lightroom 3
• Crop 100%, no noise reduction applied

Autofocus is mapped into Fn1. In S-AF mode my thumb focuses and focusing stays put unless I need to focus and push the Fn1 button again. In C-AF (+Tr) mode focusing is continuous as long as I keep pushing Fn1 button. It is VERY important to separate focusing and exposure, it is THE key to succesfull shooting without unnecessary focus hunt with CDAF. Changing between S-AF and C-AF can be done via OK button and Arrow pad on the back side of camera while holding camera on eye. 

Shutter button engages exposure lock and EVF stabilization when pressed half way and, of course, exposure happens when pressed fully down. Again I emphasize that focusing, setting exposure and taking the picture are all separated from each other. They can be done fast together or analyzed one after the other.

Right now I engage manual focusing by pressing Video button and I have focus magnification (5x) at Fn2. If I need to shoot video I choose video on Mode dial.

This systems works for me. My only complaint is that Fn1 button is not where it should be. I have small hands and even I feel a bit awkward while keeping forefinger on shutter button and reaching for Fn1. Fn1 should be left of Playback button and not so deeply set above monitor. These buttons will be changed in production camera. Hoping for the best... I think grip with its own shutter button helps here. I´ll be getting grip set tomorrow and after that I can give my opinion on how handling changes.

So, this was my way of doing it. You may want things to be done very differently. Luckily Olympus has made a lot of configuration possible. Below I have listed all the various functions that can be mapped into each button. You just need to know what you want!

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Fn1:

• AEL / AFL
• Depth of Field Preview
• One touch WB
• AF Area Select
• AF Area Home
• Manual Focus Mode
• RAW / JPEG / RAW + JPEG, JPEG quality
• Test Picture (without saving)
• My1, 2, 3, 4 (personal saved settings)
• Underwater WB (two preset values)
• Live Guide
• Digital Tele-converter (1x / 2x)
• Magnify
• Off

 Fn2:

• Multi Function four functions selectable with dials)
• ISO
• WB
• Exposure +/-
• AEL / AFL
• Depth of Field Preview
• AF Area Select
• AF Area Home
• Manual Focus Mode
• RAW / JPEG / RAW + JPEG, JPEG quality
• Underwater WB
• Live Guide
• Digital Tele-converter
• Magnify
• Off

Rec (video button):

• Multi Function
• ISO
• WB
• Exposure +/-
• AEL / AFL
• Movie Record (start/stop)
• Depth of Field Preview
• AF Area Select
• AF Area Home
• Manual Focus Mode
• RAW / JPEG / RAW + JPEG, JPEG quality
• Underwater WB
• Live Guide
• Digital Tele-converter
• Magnify
• Off

Arrow Pad:

• AF Area Select
• Direct Function (to open functions below)
• Off

Arrow Pad Direct Function Left:

• AF Area Select

Arrow Pad Direct Function Up:

• Exposure +/-

Arrow Pad Direct Function Right:

• Flash Mode
• Drive Mode
• ISO
• WB
• Exposure +/-

Arrow Pad Direct Function Down:

• Flash Mode
• Drive Mode
• ISO
• WB
• Underwater WB
• Exposure +/-

One separate issue is AF performance with 4/3 lenses. With the introduction of Olympus new AF system (FAST AF) there was a marked improvement in AF speed from E-P2 to E-P3. This happened also with 4/3 lenses. I wrote about this in my earlier blogs half a year ago. Sadly with E-M5 there is no such advancement above E-P3. S-AF speed and locking capability with E-M5 is roughly the same as with E-P3. Any differencies are so small that they are not worth testing more closely. Olympus states that C-AF does not work with 4/3 lenses. Actually it does with some lenses depending on conditions, but I wouldn´t count on it in any real life situation. 

Olympus new MMF-3 adapter for 4/3 lenses is functionally the same as earlier MMF-1 adapter. It only allows the whole package be dust- and splash proof. MMF-1 did not have sealings. MMF-3 is lighter than MMF-1 because of different material choises.

So that´s where we 4/3 lens owners stand. I wished for more, hopefully with the next OM-D body.

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