Dialing in a camera. And a lens. It's more of a process that most of us think. And it takes time....

Cameras all have their own color and tonal personalities and getting familiar with them makes a difference in how easy or hard the files from them are to correct. And by writing "correct" I really mean how the colors look to you and how different they might be from other cameras that you are used to. I really don't think there is one correct/absolute standard. 

I've had the Leica M 240 for a little over a month now and for me that's not a lot of time to spend getting up to speed on a camera. My own slow warm up to many camera is why I'm always fascinated by the idea that "camera reviewers" on the web are thought to be able to pick up a camera for a week, or even just a few days, shoot some images in bright sunlight and then embark on a full fledged review of the camera. It sounds more like "love at first sight" or "hate it at first sight." 

Of the digital Leica cameras I've owned the only one with a more perplexing menu than the M 240 was the TL2 --- which I never fully mastered. The M 240 is different enough from the more modern SL, CL and Q cameras to cause me to stumble from time to time.  And that's evident to me even when it comes to setting up the camera to shoot; either in color or in black and white. For instance, there are only three settings under "color profiles" and one of those choices is...off. "Off" turns out to be both an excellent and a poor choice. Poor as turning off any profiles gives one a much less processed color file out of the camera (when shooting raw) and a flatter profile when shooting Jpeg. You probably won't be using this setting if you hate post processing and just want the camera to handle everything for you. 

 If you just adore spending "butt time" working on raw files in post production the off setting is a very pleasant alternative since the images don't arrive already "infected" with someone else's idea of what color should be. Even if that someone else happens to be the engineers at Leica.

The other color profiles include: "vivid color film" and "smooth color film", terms which are less than helpful or perhaps just too general. When I tried out the camera for the first week or so I experimented with the "vivid" setting and decided they should instead call it the "ultra-high contrast" setting since everything south of middle gray was blocked up to black and everything higher than middle gray lived in perpetual danger of dancing too close to the "burning highlight" level of excitement. Fortunately, you can go ahead and set "Vivid" and shoot, and then dump the profile for something else in post processing but that hardly gives you a clear understanding of what you are getting in the moment. In the field.

The other choice is "smooth color film" and this is the one I end up setting most often since it more or less matches the contrast curve I've come to expect with "calm" camera color and the color itself is not too saturated. Not at the "comic book" level that comes standard with "Vivid." 

Since the camera (M 240) was designed and produced starting in 2012 the rear screen of the camera is nowhere near as bright, detailed or well calibrated as current LCD screens on cameras and that makes the process of coming to grips with the files pouring out of the camera a bit trickier and more time consuming to master. I often look at the screen and find it to be washed out only to later find that the actual image is just fine. But working with that entails taking a leap of faith which can be a hard thing for technically oriented photographers to accept.

But here's what helps me in this grand experiment: The camera and the screen are consistent. If you look at the screen after shooting a raw image and it looks "bright" you discover, over time, that it's just right as the basis for raw post processing. If your black and white portrait looks flat and also bright (but not obviously burned out) you'll find the incoming file on your computer to be very workable and in need of only an overall exposure adjustment (think "minus") and a curve adjustment (think contrastier!!!). But since the effects, and the screen that shows the effects to you out in the field, are consistent once you've shot enough samples and spent time; serious time, evaluating them you'll learn how to proceed. If you take the time and are patient with the process you'll be rewarded with a camera that makes beautiful color files. Just beautiful.

But here's the final thing and it plays a part in the overall quality of the image making as well. It's the higher ISO noise. The camera is great at ISO 800. Very useable at ISO 1600 and a bit noisy and dodgy at 3200+. The higher you go the more important it is to get the exposure just right. Especially important if you usually depend the just making the file a bit dark and then flagrantly try saving it using the shadow slider in post. If you do that you'll be in a noise forest with no map out....

Magic bullet? The new Denoise control (in the "develop" menu) in Adobe's latest rev. of Lightroom Classic. I've experimented with it extensively and with the right files this feature can buy you about two stops of better high ISO performance. It makes decently exposed files up to and beyond 3200 very usable; even beautiful, depending on the subject matter and style of presentation. The caveat here is that the files have to be raw files or .DNG files. Or both. 

When using the Denoise feature you can control a lot of the noice reduction parameters but I've found the middle ground ("factory default") to be a very good starting point and I rarely have to make many corrections to it. If you incorporate this setting/feature into your post production it will cost you extra time as the program analyzes the file and decides exactly how it should be corrected. Think 30 seconds to one minute of analysing, depending on file size. But the bottom line is that it does work and, mostly, it works well. It's now part of my routine when shooting with the M 240 and the most compelling reason to skip the Jpeg setting altogether. Unless you are sticking with ISO 200-800 only.

These are some of the things you learn which are different with each camera but which need to be taken into consideration when you are photographing. 

Yesterday was Halloween. B. and I pulled a little table out to the very end of our driveway so little kids wouldn't have to venture down the long, dark driveway. We lit the small table and the big bowl of candy with an LED panel covered with a purple/lavendar filter and also added small Jack-O-Lanterns and witches and goblins to the mix. Making it easier on the trick or treaters was one reason for the table at the end of the driveway but it was also a good way to see all the neighbors (grown ups) as they shepherded their kids around. 

It got cold yesterday just as soon as the sun went down. The temperature was in the low 40s by eight o'clock. We kept warm in layers of down and wool. We also made hot apple ciders with a bit of rum in them. It was quite a festive evening. New and old neighbors came by and hung out for a while meeting each other. A very nice vibe.

When the candy ran out we broke down the "set" and headed into the house where B. had a great beef stew simmering in a Crock Pot. Delicious. And to cap the evening off we watched the newly remastered version of "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" on TV. Delightful. Good Nostalgia.

But before all of the Halloween cheer, before the sun started to set. I took an hour or so to walk around the University of Texas neighborhood to keep working out the imagined kinks in my relationship with the Leica M 240. I'm sharing the results with you here. I like the camera more every time I shoot with it. Sure, occasionally there is some back-sliding but the forward trajectory is obvious. 

One more point: The Voigtlander 50mm f2.0 APO - Lanthar lens makes every camera look better. Really.

did you get the candy you wanted? did your remember to brush your teeth after? All good now.

One thing the Leica Cameras in general do not lack is good saturation. 

Sadly, this restaurant which sold Korean style spicy fried chicken survived the pandemic

but did not survive the employee shortage of 2022-2023. Closed. 

A few blocks further on a new Ramen restaurant opened. Sadly, not on my usual route.

Yes, this is the mural on the outdoor patio of the now defunct K-KFC. 

The final closing of a restaurant ---- when the taps run dry.

And highly detailed as well. Blaming the lens for that...

Everything might shut down here at VSL for the first three days of next week. We are having the studio interior re-painted so all the computer gear will be wrapped up and moved to a paint free zone. We are also having the living room and one of the bathrooms completely re-painted. Much prep work (sanding, smoothing, caulking, etc.) will be done but not by me. I'd rather pay experts to do it right the first time.