Leica M10-D 。Less is More。Digital Body Analog Soul
For street photography, I believe there is no the best camera, only the one that best camera your needs/habits at the moment. Each camera has its strengths/weaknesses and is suitable for different situations. I have used many cameras, such as the TC-1, T3, the Rolleiflex, DSLR/ mirrorless, the RX1/GR2, and the Leica M9/MM, etc.
In the past two to three years, I have started to reflect a little more on the equipment and subjects I want to shoot. In the end, I am more interested in street photography, and the Rangefinder camera is suitable for Street photographs. Few people will notice that I am photographing them because the body is more petite, the manual focus is silent, and it is much more discreet than another mirrorless/DSLR brands.
I still have a Leica Monochrom CCD black and white camera in my hands. Although I am pleased with the image, it is a digital Film camera, so I can only shoot single shots. The shutter time lag is relatively long, so I can’t afford to take more than one or two shots when I encounter exciting images.
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Digital Body. Analog Soul
The Leica M10-D brings the unique experience of analog photography back into the digital world. While modern photography encounters an overwhelming number of features and functions, the M10-D is a bold statement of a conscious focus on the essentials of both the philosophy and function of photography…With no rear display, minimal yet effective controls, and an extremely quiet shutter, the Leica M10-D focuses on the desires of many photographers to concentrate solely on the act of making pictures…The absence of a display makes the M10-D look much like its analog forebears, and an integrated fold-out thumb rest atop the camera completes the analog look while improving handling. Leica Official website
The camera’s design is essentially the same as the Leica M10p. Still, the main difference is in the shooting experience. The M10D is more like a film camera. After setting the ISO, there is only paraxial framing, manual focusing, composition and pressing the shutter. There is no playback, so I can concentrate more on shooting, composing and so on. Although I have long been used to not looking back at the photos, I can’t even replay the histogram, which is a different experience. I feel like I am really back to the original point of photography, mastering all the fundamentals of shooting: aperture, shutter, focus, iso combination. I feel like I am the master of the camera, or I am enjoying shooting. I am using the camera to shoot what I see.
Handling / Feel
Another selling point of the Leica M10-D is the reintroduction of the Advance Lever, which unfortunately does not have a real purpose like the Epson RD1 but is described by the original manufacturer as a replacement for the thumb up function to improve the grip experience. In practice, it’s another matter. The lever is too small to support a 600g body and 200–300g lens, about 1kg of weight is concentrated on a minor point, making it a bit tiring and painful to use for a long time.
Of course, the most important thing when buying a Leica is that it looks and looks good, so don’t worry about that, it really is perfect.
Overall, the M10D is a bit heavy, weighing 660g with the battery, not much ergonomics, and the controls take a bit of getting used to. It’s a bit disappointing that you can’t control it with one hand, but the whole thing really feels like a film camera, all you need to do is change the SD card (film) and the battery. The M10D has the same incredibly soft shutter sound as the M10p, which has the advantage of being absolutely discreet, but on the other hand, the shutter sound, which used to tell you if the shutter was too slow, is no longer relevant.
Leica Foto APP
The WIFI connection takes about 3 times, and the successful connection takes about 30s. If you are lucky, you should be able to access the menu options in 3–4mins.
The Menu menu is so easy to use that you only need to set up all the settings once. You only need to set up all the settings once. The basic settings such as Single/Continue , RAW/Jpeg, M iso and so on. The manual lens setting, which is my main concern, is not available. So you don’t have to go back to the menu. It’s a good idea to make sure you don’t use the FOTO apps again even if you pick up the camera. Looking forward to future updates of the Foto App with more useful/essential features (laughs)
About the image quality
The M10D also uses the same 24mp sensor as the M10/M10p, sufficient for general street photography. The most significant advantage/disadvantage of the M10D is the MAESTRO II image engine, which gives it a solid M10 flavour. If it is a direct jpeg, both new and old lenses have a solid M10 taste, and the image has a slight M9 CCD flavour. The image quality can be maintained to a certain standard. However, the contrast is high, and the image is a bit dry. It may be possible to use a lower contrast lens, such as an early white box lens, or a modern silver box lens with higher contrast.
However, as I only shoot RAW, when I use C1/LR conversion, the DR/resolution and grey level transition are still very good, only that I use some post-production to adjust down the contrast or style files, etc. Overall, I am still satisfied with the M10D images, which are mainly practical for me. When the M240 was released, many people criticised the image quality as Japanese and lacked the M9 ccd. After the M10 was released, many people felt that the M240 could better express the quality or flavour of the lens. Or when the M11 is released, the market will make another evaluation of the M10 series.
About the Lens
As the camera body cannot be customized with lens correction files, it may be better to use the original 6-bit lens to ensure that the image is corrected, or to add the correction files later during post-production.
About the battery
Since there is no LCD, no playback, and everything is just basic metering and shuttering, I guess 500–1000 shots on one battery should not be a problem. However, when using WIFI, the battery will drop by about 5% instantly.
Leica Visoflex 18767 with M10-D
One of the accessories that are a cross between wanting and not wanting to buy after buying the M10-D is the Leica Visoflex EVF… . … The reason for buying it: 1. because some old lenses do not RF, such as the Leica R / other SLRs that can be focused with the EVF. 2: for specific telephoto 85mm + / large aperture lenses 50mm F1 or 0.95 / at night, it is easier to focus with the EVF. 3. The M10-D is so expensive that buying another practical accessory does not seem like a good deal. It’s not much. However, before I bought it, I already expected that I would not use it much or use it for a long time or only if I needed it.
I know that this EVF will not be used often, so I still found a 99% new used one online. The price is still okay and then sell it away as a few hundred dollars to rent EVF, feel alright. But when it was first launched, the new price was really too scary for people.
Actual afterthoughts
When I took the EVF from the seller and tested it, I was told that the EVF was a bit sluggish, with a greenish tint and a black screen after shooting, which would return to normal after about 1–1.5s. The only way to pay the seller is to pay him until there is a better replacement, and everyone is laughing, haha.
Conclusion.
If you can get used to the M10D and have some skill, it’s really good to use and allows you to concentrate on shooting consistently. I guess most of the people who bought/wanted the M10D understand the advantages/disadvantages of the M10D. It would be better if the price could be lower than the M10p, but unfortunately, it’s another story. The above questions about the M10D’s controls, app, and so on are mostly just gravel. What really makes you feel excited is probably returning to the original point of shooting, the minimalist manual control, your heart.
Some Sample:
M10D RAW + C1+ the classic film preset 400H push to 800
Part 2 : TWO Years with Leica M10D:
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