History of the Monochroms

I'm not an expert on Leicadom, but, if I've parsed the source* correctly and not missed anything, here's the history of the company's unique dedicated B&W models:

2012 (announced May 10): Leica M Monochrom (internal pre-production code name "Henri" in homage to H.C.-B.). 18-MP FF CCD sensor. Based on: Leica M9. Sample by -M&E-.

2015 (announced April 30): Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246). 24-MP FF CMOS sensor. Based on: beats me.) Sample by bob camera.

202o (announced January 17): Leica M10 Monochrom (current product). 40-MP FF CMOS sensor. Based on: Leica M10-P. Sample by Paolo Viviani. [UPDATE: See Jeff's Featured Comment below.]

2020 (announced November 10): Leica Q2 Monochrom (current product). 47-MP FF CMOS sensor, fixed 28mm ƒ/1.7 lens. Based on: Leica Q2. Sample by guy clift.

Presumably there will eventually be a Monochrom based on the M11, which was announced seven months ago.

Mike

*Based on the DPReview Product Database.

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Chromes is an edit of more than 5,000 Kodachromes and Ektachromes taken from 10 chronologically ordered binders found in a safe in the Eggleston Artistic Trust. This archive was once used by John Szarkowski, who selected the 48 images printed in Eggleston’s seminal book William Eggleston’s Guide, while the rest of the archive has remained almost entirely unpublished. Three volumes, slipcased.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Jeff: "The original M Monochrom was based on the M9 sensor, sans Bayer filter. It was CCD. Likewise, the M Typ 246 was derived from the M240, which was CMOS. But the M10 Monochrom sensor, also CMOS, was not based on the M10 or M10-P sensors, which were 24 MP, even though the body and other features were based on the latter. Rather, the 40 MP sensor was derived from the Leica S3 sensor architecture, as was the M10-R, which has the same sensor with a Bayer filter. This was apparently a way for Leica to produce some economies of scale from the uniquely specified and expensive 30x45mm S3 sensor. The M10 Monochrom and M10-R therefore share its pixel pitch, but scaled down in size.

"There are also many other differences between the evolving Monochrom bodies. The M9 platform, for instance, has frame lines optimized for 1m, a .68x VF magnification, a very loud shutter re-cock mechanism, a RAW (DNG) based histogram (unique to this camera), etc. The M10 Monochrom has a much more robust body with better weather sealing, a quiet shutter, a larger VF diameter with .73x magnification with better eye relief, frame lines optimized for 2m, and is a much more modern body with tighter digital tolerances."

Comments

[Richard Man]

I lost my M9 in a car fire, and just last week, I sold my M Monochrom ("M9M") and purchased an M10. I love the improvement in the body ergonomics over the M9 series. I missed the Monochrom "colors" terribly, so I spent $27 for a set of Lightroom presets for B&W M9-like B&W conversion, and I am very happy with the results. The M10 gives very clean ISO1600/3200 images and the converted B&W images look very nice as well.

[Peter Wright]

The M246 was based on the M type 240, which came between the M9 and the M10, and for some reason had no numeric designation.

[Luke]

Jeff: M9 platform has [...] a RAW (DNG) based histogram (unique to this camera).

Why did they drop it? Why doesn't every camera have that? That would be such a useful tool!

I know from experience that I can get good separation of clouds and sky that the jpeg doesn't even hint at, but a raw histogram would let me optimize my exposures.

The whole ETTR thing is just a vague suggestion to allow better raw exposures. I remember seeing ways to fake raw exposure data with an intentionally whacky white balance setting.

Why not give us the data in a histogram? It should be easier than even a jpg histogram. Is this too esoteric? Why couldn't it at least be an option?

Mike, have you covered this? This fits into the current discussions of B&W.