I have had a lifelong relationship with Leica, starting at 12 years old — the Leica M, the Noctilux, and Tri-X have largely defined my career. I began shooting the M3, which pushed me right away into the intimate experience of shooting M cameras and photographing subjects from close distances, rather than through big bodies and long lenses. The rangefinder allows for more of a human-viewing-through-a-glass experience, rather than through a viewing system that is colored by lens perspective and coatings.
My Life in Monochrome:
Many years and M cameras later, with much anticipation, I got one of the first M8 in the country. Finally, an M digital camera! The M8 is a spectacular camera for monochrome, largely afforded by the lack of IR cut filter on the sensor which makes beautiful highlight detail, rendering very flattering flesh for my fashion/beauty work.
The Leica Monochrome came to fruition in the form of the M9-Monochrom, which is still a superb monochrome camera with its stellar CCD sensor. Of course, this carried forward to the Leica M240-Monochrome which has been my constant companion since its release (as I am also a director, the M240/M240-P has been my choice as it is motion capable with CMOS sensor technology).
I had been trying to figure out for many years how to adapt the Noctilux to full frame cinema.
Alas, today, the new generation of the highly anticipated and developed Leica M10 Monochrom is released.
The M10 Monochrom features an exciting brand new 40-megapixel full frame sensor engineered from the ground up, takes all of the knowledge from the two brilliant previous cameras and pushes the technology to now and beyond. With more megapixels available solely for creating a black and white image, the tonal range is greatly expanded. As I work in the fashion/beauty sector, increased dynamic range is so important to me as I can place a more critical exposure with more gradual transitions in tonal gradation.
The most critical spec one really needs to understand is that in this digital monochrome camera, every single pixel is dedicated to monochromatic information rather than in other cameras where pixels are divided into RGB and black and white information. For me, the increase in megapixels is more about the ability to control and maintain information in the highlights, deep in the mid-tones, and solid blacks, rather than boast about the ability to render something “sharper” or more “accurate.”
My favorite feature of the new monochrome is the extension of the ISO range. The Leica M10 Monochrom now features an expanded ISO base from 320 to 160, and up to 100,000 for significant increase in low light sensitivity. Leica has always designed lenses optimized for shooting wide open. I have embodied this philosophy throughout my entire career, particularly with the 50mm Noctilux. With the new ability to bring my ISO to 160, it allows me to shoot the Noctilux wide open, instead of compromising with ISO, using NDs, or stopping down. The M10 Monochrome still features the same convenient current model M10 ISO dial on the top of the camera for quick interface.
In addition, throughout my career, particularly in fashion/beauty, my work has been characterized as very natural and non-obtrusive, which is exactly how I work with talent. I choose to work with talent who embody their own story and character. I don’t want to impose my own will or sensibility on a subject. I don’t work with large pieces of equipment, extrapolations, or artificial lighting, because I don’t wait to take viewers out of the natural environment of the subject. The M10 Monochrom’s silent shutter and small body allow the subject to almost forget that I am there so that he or she can go to a place of honesty and character without sound or visual distraction.
In today’s industry, media frequently has to be delivered immediately to clients for distribution and management. Fortunately, coming from the age of analog, Leica pushed me and allowed me to define a very specific “look” in my work where I am able to send selects, sometimes on the spot, to clients without any post production. None of my work utilizes any editing or post production, at all. This M10 Monochrome puts the power in the users hands to deliver media, whether to a client or even your personal Instagram page, immediately via WiFi connectivity and the Leica FOTOS app: no tether chords, no hours in post and editing, no extra computers, or drives necessary.
The M10 Monochrom is so aligned with the way I am currently seeing in my personal work. I feel that by removing color information, which is steeped in ones own emotional experiences, monochromatic images represent the essential and the most personal pieces of my vision. This camera is a real marvel of modern design and history containing every cell of my nostalgia and identity going back to the beginnings of my own journey.
The Leica M10 Monochrom is available for preorder now for at Adorama.
Feature image via Leica
