The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Leica M11M learning curve

TimothyHyde

Subscriber Member
My M11M arrived on Saturday: put on a lens, dialed in my usual settings and started shooting. What a disappointment. I've used the previous three models of Monochrom extensively, but this one has (for me) the steepest learning curve since the M9M. Moving from the M10r to M11 was a piece of cake by comparison. So, back to basics: 35mm APO, no red filter, basic settings, no fancy footwork, and learn this tool the old fashioned way. Same for marching the images through post procession. '
Tim
 

TimothyHyde

Subscriber Member
I was disappointed with the 3 dozen images I brought back, not with the camera. I think it's a different beast than the M10M (or M11 for that matter). I got cocky and treated it as a M10M with a bigger sensor and better ISO controls. Now, as with the M9M, I see I'm going to have to take it more slowly and learn its quirks and contours. For example, the files OOC are flatter than any I can remember out of a Monochrom, which is a good thing, but you can't just start moving sliders around like my old M10M routines, especially so with the "Presence" sliders. This is all tentative, and a little exciting, but I felt the need to tell somebody. My wife will no longer pretend to interested.
 

algrove

Well-known member
With C1 I have not had major relearning issues versus M10M nor M11 color version. What software are you using?
 

TimothyHyde

Subscriber Member
Lightroom and Facebook. I didn't have much of a learning curve with M10M nor M11 either, but it's taking longer with the M11M. I'd love to go back to C1, but they aren't Hasselblad friendly and the X2D is my primary rig.
 

John Black

Active member
Tim, the tone mapping Leica does in-camera when creating the DNG is very different between the M10-M and M11-M. The best way I can describe it is as if they are two different film emulsions. Capture One uses the same "color profile" for both cameras, which is a misstep on C1's part. The M11-M needs a different tone curve (in C1) vs the M10-M. I suspect part of the difference is the sensor itself and a delta in the IR sensitivity. I can't prove that, just going on a gut-feeling.

The M10-M's files are more contrasty and I get more textures in the upper highlights. With the M11-M, the texture is there too, but seems somehow squashed into a narrower tonal range, so getting a micro contrast in this upper tones has been really tough me. But the M11-M does really smooth looking files, and they are insanely clean at base ISO. In some cases the M11-M's overall tone curve works. But like you, the M10-M "look" is my base line reference point, so the M11-M has been alot of "WTF" over the past 5-6 months.

With regards to filters, I use dark reds on the M10-M (that works well for me in the southern light). With the M11-M, I've been dialing that back to a red filter (#25). Not sure if that is helping or not.
 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
HIghlight metering and exposure bracketing ... normal, -2/3, -4/3 .... and normally a 3 stop ND filter as I fear a Red filter will add contrast by truncating
the tonal range ... so things bunch up.

I tend to pick the lowest exposure the majority of the time ....

Use C1 export to Photoshop for final finish.

Forgive me sharing the following .... I find the tonality exquisite ... probably the least contrasty of any of the Monochrom cameras Q2M included ... but the
subtle gradations are wonderful to work with.

Props to Joe Colson for the frame ....

Orchid and Glass.jpg
 
Last edited:

Godfrey

Well-known member
I must be getting old and slow, but I'm happy with the M10-M and M10-R; still learning both of them. I've looked at the M11s but don't see enough benefit for me, not yet anyway, to start all over again. :unsure:

Good luck getting where you want to be with it! Unless you're pressed by some project or client ... eh? Just enjoy the process of learning it.

... Your wife sounds like my partner. :ROFLMAO:

Onwards: always ... ONLY ... onwards!
G
 
Top