Two hours in with the Leica M240. How do I like it so far? What do the files look like? How are the batteries? Would I do it again?

The Leica M240 arrived from the Leica Store Miami yesterday. I started charging the two batteries that came with it. The packing of the product was impeccable. The camera came in the original box along with all the original cables, manuals, and other materials. In addition to an extra battery there was also an accessory thumb grip. Nice. The guys at Leica Store Miami do a great job curating the used equipment the sell. Their standards for accepting used gear are high and that means when you buy used gear from them you get a well inspected, well considered product. This is the fifth Leica camera body I've bought from them in two years and I'm still impressed by their service. 

(Disclaimer: I don't work for them, am not sponsored in any way by them, don't get any free gear and don't even get a mild discount. I asked for one. It was not forthcoming..... just so you know). 

What the heck is a Leica M240? It's Leica's first big attempt to bring the M series rangefinder cameras into a modern field of cameras. It's a well built rangefinder camera in the tradition of the Leica M3 and subsequent film models. It's full frame as was its predecessor, the Leica M9 but where the M9 had a Kodak CCD imaging sensor the M240 was fitted with a full frame, 24 megapixel, CMOS sensor that is NOT a Sony product. The sensor was designed and produced by two European companies. Details from Wikipedia here: 

The M uses a CMOS 24-megapixel (6,000 × 4,000 pixels) image sensor designed for Leica by the Belgian company CMOSIS,^[5] and made by STMicroelectronics in Grenoble.^[5] The pixels are on a 6 x 6 µm² grid.

The move to a CMOS sensor allowed for the inclusion of video capabilities but more importantly it made the M240 the first Leica full frame rangefinder camera to feature live view. Which opens up other features such as more advanced metering and the ability to use punch in magnification for fine focusing.

Except for special editions the M240 was the last M series rangefinder camera in the family to use brass for the top and bottom plates. Cameras after the M240 used aluminum alloy, which is lighter, but doesn't give you that nice warm brassiness when the finishes wear off on the edges of the camera. The brass cameras feel denser and more stout. 

To keep up with the new features unleashed by the CMOS sensor Leica gave the M240 a much bigger battery that the ones found in previous or newer models. If you choose not to use the live view and video features this bigger battery translates into a much improved battery life. When I was out shooting this morning I didn't take along a spare battery --- on purpose. I wanted to see what one of the two batteries I'd been sent would do in a long walk scenario. I switched off live view and even shut off the automatic review on the LCD screen. I left the camera on from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It was set to go to sleep after 30 seconds of no action on my part but the joyous and exhilarating thing I found out first is that it wakes up in less than a second. A light touch on the shutter button and you're ready to go.

The second thing I found out was that in spite of shooting nearly 200 exposures in the raw/DNG format and chimping nearly every shot the battery still had 85% of its charge left in the tank. Nice. Really nice. 

When I was getting ready to leave the house this morning I knew I wanted to use the Voightlander 50mm f2.0 APO lens on the camera this morning. I had several reasons for this. First, I wanted to shoot a bunch of stuff close and wide open so I could make sure the rangefinder calibration with right on the money. It was. Second, I spent a couple of years back in the 1980s shooting with nothing but a 50mm lens on the Leica M3 rangefinder I had back then. It was a 50mm Summicron. Also an f2.0. A bit of nostalgia for sure, but also a nod toward the fact that I'm now wearing glasses and wanted to see the rangefinder patches clearly, as well as the edges of the 50mm frame lines. Too wide a lens and I'd have to ditch the glasses to take it all in.

The camera and lens together are wonderful. Made for each other it seems. If I knew I'd never accept another commercial job I was rush out and find a couple more pristine M240 cameras, sell everything else, sell everything in the studio and never look back. Getting an M camera back in my hands was like walking back into my Grandmother Tuck's kitchen and smelling cookies baking and peaking into the oven to catch a glimpse of a perfect roast... Like coming home.

I have four lenses to use with the M240. Two are Zeiss (28 Biogon and 35mm f2.0 Planar) and two are Voigtlander lenses. One of the VMs is the ridiculously good 50mm f2.0 APO Lanthar lens and the other is the 40mm f1.4 Nokton "Classic." All four are good, semi-modern lenses and they are a delight to use without the need for adapters which end up adding to their size. 

I thought I'd have a much longer learning curve to get back into the saddle but by the time I arrived back home for lunch, around 1:30, I felt like I knew every square inch of the camera, how to set it up and most importantly --- how to use it. Don't know about anyone else but I find rangefinder focusing quicker and easier than any ANY AF camera I've ever used. It just feels natural. 

So, what do the files look like? Well, I've included a bunch below. A couple have adjacent files which are 100% crops. I think the files are nice and detailed but I didn't expect less. There is more noise at ISO1600 and ISO3200 than on a more modern sensor but not much different than the sensor in the SL cameras. And with the new A.I. noise reduction in Lightroom it's easier to fix the noise than it is to talk about it. 

Would I do it again? Meaning buy an M240 after having played with this one? You've got to be kidding. I'm already on the prowl to add a second nearly similar body - -- the Leica M-P. It's an upgraded version of the M240 with a two GB buffer and twice the speed of the M240. The body is pretty much the same. As is the look of the files. But it's also a bit stealthier --- with no red status logo on the front. I will do it again. Count on it. 

Should you buy one? Naw. You should shun them whenever you see one on the market. And then you should send me a quick note with the name and address of the seller. As quick as you can. 

No animals were harmed in this transaction or test. No bank accounts or investment accounts will collapse as a result of this expenditure. The universe will not implode (any time soon). Just thought I'd share my first time back with an M in a long time. And my first ownership of a digital M camera. It's fun. 

Now, you know, you can click on the images below in your browser if you want to see them enlarged...

B. Having breakfast in the kitchen. Reading. Always reading. 

A 100% crop of the above image one above. 

Post St. Patrick's Day? 

clutter collage. 

It's always fun to walk down the back alleys. Well, maybe not at 2 in the morning...

But around the UT campus the best impromptu "murals" are to be found off the 

streets and in the alleys.

Good dynamic range chops.

The current state of print journalism on the UT campus. 

click in because I think this random photo shows off the 3D characteristics at least of the lens.

While out on the walk I went to the Humanities Research Center (aka: The Harry Ransom Center) to see a new show of very old books. I was the only visitor in the galleries this morning. But it was fascinating to see how well preserved some books from as far back at the 1300s were. 

Most books disappear before they age into permanence. Writers hope for immortality

but damn few see it. The first published book of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" was under glass in a case this morning. Amazing. 

Yes. The Leica M240 does fine at ISO 1600. With an assist from noise reduction in Lightroom.

But you would have had to look into the shadows under the table to really see the noise 

originally in the file. 

A section on the importance of the cover art. In some cases books were produced 

with the content merely being filler for the design and craftsmanship of the covers. 

 The first published volume of Shakespeare's plays....

Exterior. HRC. At UT Austin. Also home of the Gernsheim collection of photography. 

World class collection, indeed. 

the Ellsworth Kelly Chapel on the campus at the Blanton Museum. Exterior. 

From the HRC I headed over to the Blanton Museum of Art to take in two new shows. One is a collection of Mayan art from the Los Angeles museum and the other is a show using articles from the Blanton's permanent collection to create a keen dialog about climate change. Both are worth seeing. 

One upstairs and one downstairs. No freebies today. I had to pay the full "senior" fare of $12. 

this was my favorite modern image in the climate change exhibit.

I ended my visit to the Blanton with a quick visit to the Battle Sculpture Collection. It's a favorite of mine. The entire collection used to be housed on the second floor of the HRC but this small handful of replica sculptures are all that remains visitable by the public. And I'm a sucker for statues. Very fun to photograph and they never move when you don't want them to....

Obviously, a tight crop of the image one above. 

"Alley Art. #1"

"Alley Art. #2"

Trying my timid hand at street photography. Got a rangefinder. Just had to try...

Subjective for sure but... my best shot of the day.

More from and about the M240 to come. 

Please stay tuned. Please consider commenting. 

Please consider doing it authentically instead of advancing

some passive aggressive agent. 

As they say:

have a nice day.

 

Start at the Blanton Museum for the Ellesworth Kelly then head down Second to the Convention Center and back on Sixth. Camera in hand. Intelligent Auto engaged.

The main gallery at the Blanton Museum. 

With all the hoopla the Blanton is putting on about Ellsworth Kelly you would have thought he was a famous photographer, but no, just a painter and stained glass window designer... But I figured I'd go and check out the new show anyway. (kidding. just kidding). Right on the UT campus is a new permanent installation of a Kelly "chapel" with remarkably cool, stained glass windows. About one hundred yards away, tucked into the main gallery on the first floor of the museum proper is an robust show of Kelly's two dimensional work and a smaller collection of his 3-D "Totems." The work is good and the installation is fun. If you like to take photographs

Now writing my hands on, definitive (for me) review of the Olympus OMD EM-5.2 camera. It's a well mannered and mature product. It's photography in 2015.

I'll start with the typical disclaimer: I am not an Olympus employee. I have never been an Olympus employee. I have never received free or discounted equipment from Olympus. I have never written a review of an Olympus product in exchange for money or equipment. I currently own two Olympus OMD EM-5.2 cameras and a smattering of lenses, all of which were purchased at Precision Camera for the same retail prices everyone else pays. If I link any of the products I review to Amazon.com, and you click through and buy, it a small amount of money, based on the item and pricing, will be paid to me from Amazon.com.  It's not enough money to cover the cost of a review or to make a dent in the ever declining college fund for the boy. Don't worry, I can guarantee you that your purchases are not making me wealthy. But it's nice to get enough in affiliate fees from my writing to be able to buy premium coffee instead of the older, surplus stuff we were getting from the ship channel salvage company in Houston.... 

My Review of the Olympus EM-5.2 cameras. 

Added after publication/glorious video sample: https://vimeo.com/137964319

Chrome EM5.2 sitting on the Manfrotto Hybrid Fluid Head.

A bit of history. The first Olympus product I owned was a used, black Olympus Pen FT, half frame film camera. I still have it along with four other copies, one black and three chrome, that I collected over the years; usually for less than $100 per body. I also have an almost complete set of the jewel-like half frame lenses that were made specifically for that system. The lenses, with the right adapters, work remarkably well with the current micro four thirds systems and this makes me very happy. It's wonderful when a new product can bring renewed usefulness to an older product line.

The original Olympus Pen FT. This is the one that started it all for me.

Smaller and lighter than the full frame cameras of the day it featured an 

optical view finder, a vertical film frame and a titanium rotary shutter

that sync'd at all speeds from 1 second to 1/500th of sec. 

72 half frame images on a roll...

At any rate I bought my first Olympus micro four thirds format camera, an Olympus Pen EP-2, in 2010 specifically with the intention of using with the older Pen FT lenses. That experience started my off again, on again relationship with the Olympus mirror-free system.

Apples and tangerines. One thing you need to know

Walking around with a favorite camera and lens. Museum hopping with the Olympus EM5.2 and the Sigma 60mm f2.8 dn.

First there is a break in the work. By some marvel of diligence and happenstance you find that on this particular afternoon all of your obligations have been met and the new projects aren't scheduled to get underway until next week at the earliest. Then the stormy, wet weather abates for a few hours and a handful of delicate sun rays bounce around and entice you out of your safe and isolating office. You realize that it's Thursday and that admission is free at the Blanton Museum and, just down the road, admission is always free at the Humanities Research Center, on the UT campus.

Everyone has choices to make. Do you mow the grass? Do you head to some car care center to get your oil changed? Watch soap operas on TV? Navigate your way from website to website doing vital research on which camera has the fastest shut down time? Or maybe, just maybe you decide to go someplace and look at things that aren't part of your everyday circuit. I vote that I get up from my comfy seat, exit the chilled and quiet studio and actually go someplace. Yesterday it was to the Blanton Museum and beyond. 

If you were going museum hopping what camera and lens would you take? I decided to take the Olympus EM-5.2 and the Sigma 60mm f2.8 dn lens. I thought it would be the perfect combination with which to shoot in those clean spaces and even more perfect a focal length if I chose to crop all of the images into little squares. In camera. 

I love handling the EM-5.2 when I have it properly configured. The HLD-8 grip is pretty much mandatory. I bought the grip because I thought I would get a lot of use out of the headphone jack that's designed into the section that attaches directly to the camera. In reality the combination of both parts of the grip makes the whole unit fit nicely in my medium sized hands and spreads out the area that contacts my hands which in turn makes the buttons feel perfectly positioned. I've put HLD-8 grips on both of the cameras. It makes the feel of the cameras just right.

The added benefit of the grip is the addition of the second battery. Since the battery in the actual camera body is harder to get to when the grip pieces are used I've gone into the menu and asked the camera to "please use the battery in the grip first!" This means I can go through grip batteries, replacing them as necessary, for a long time before I have to deal with disassembling the whole melange and fiddling with the camera's battery. 

The 60mm Sigma feels solid and the hood doesn't have a tendency to fall off so I usually stick the lens cap in my pocket when I start out my shooting sessions and leave it in my pocket until I get back in the car to go home. 

While the camera is rugged and lightweight I've developed an psychological need to let the camera dangle from its conventional strap in a configuration that most of us would consider backwards. On most cameras I would let the machine dangle over my left shoulder with the eyepiece side or backside of the camera next to my lower torso or upper hip (depending on the length of the strap). But with the Olympus cameras I generally positioned them so that the lens faces inward instead. 

I do this because I've found the rubber surround for the eyepiece to be a bit delicate and to have no scruples about falling off or being bumped off the camera. It doesn't sound like a big thing but you really would be amazed at how that little bit of rubber around the top and sides of the finder window changes the feel and handling of the camera when you bring it up to your eye.  I think Olympus should give each owner half a dozen eyepiece surrounds with each camera. That way the owners can see just how tenuous the connection between eyepiece cup and camera really is before they need to start spending their own cash on an endless stream of replacements. 

When I'm heading into the museum spaces to make images I tend to use the lens at its wide open aperture, or close to it. In the case of the 60mm that's f2.8. Sometimes I'll get conservative and go all the way down to f4.0 but it's rare. I set the camera for aperture priority exposure and I use the auto-ISO. All of this allows me to shoot quickly when I feel I can depend on the camera's automation---which is most of the time. When the camera shows me a finder image that's too light or too dark in the EVF I can quickly and handily use the front dial (which feels luxurious) to dial in a more accurate exposure compensation. 

I regard the Olympus EM5.2 as the perfect museum camera because the shutter is quiet and has a very nice sonic profile. The combination of the small, non-intimidating size and the gentle noise of the shutter activation makes the system generally welcome in quiet areas. 

The one thing I think that spoils EM5-2 users the most is the almost magical image stabilization. It's hard to go backward once you've gotten a good taste of just how effectively the camera can remediate the effects of over-caffeine-izaton of the user. Most of the interior images I am showing here were shot handheld at around 1/15th of a second. I've gone slower and gotten good results but I just didn't feel like showing off yesterday. 

I started off at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum but truthfully, I just stepped in to use their restroom on the second floor. It's very nice and always spotless. The museum was setting up the atrium for some sort of big gala so I hurried along and headed across the street to the Blanton Museum. Last month I saw an incredible show there wrapped around the subject of the civil rights movement in the U.S.A. in the 1960's. I would have liked to see the show again but I missed it by a week. 

I concentrated on looking for gems among the permanent collection and some of the smaller, temporary exhibits on the second floor. Still loving the exhibit: Wild and Strange: the Photographs of Ralph Eugene Meatyard, which are on loan from the enormous collection of photographs at the HRC. I saw the show a few weeks ago and it's reminded me how wonderful smaller, more accessible black and white prints could be. There's a photograph of the installation, just above.

When visiting the Blanton I always try to do one nice image of the Battle Collection of 

Sculpture casts. I like the intersection of the profile and the soft blue, just above.

The 60mm seemed perfect for this kind of spatial compression.

The photograph above and the one below really do show just how well corrected 

the Sigma 60mm f2.8 dn lens is. The images are filled with parallel lines that do a 

great job of staying straight and true. It's really a nice performance for an

inexpensive lens used at its widest f-stop.

I left the Blanton galleries and went across the courtyard to the little museum café to get a pre-made ham and swiss cheese sandwich before soldiering on to the Humanities Research Center a few blocks away. I'd been hearing about the Alice in Wonderland show and wanted to see it. There were a number of really great images from the second half of the 1800's and the show laid out an interesting progression of re-interpretations on a 150 year time line. Below is one of Lewis Carroll's notebooks. I particularly like the last passage on the page...

One of Lewis Carroll's notebooks. The Humanities Research Center.

Austin, Texas.

I think the Alice in Wonderland show is fun for art buffs as there are lots of very interesting materials, across media, that I was surprised to discover. My favorites were a series of comic book covers featuring Alice, and also a series of illustrations done by Salvador Dali for a unique edition of an Alice in Wonderland book. Those surrealist illustrations alone are worth getting out and seeing the show...

I know we're all jaded about what cameras can do these days but the comic book cover and lantern slide box, just above, still amaze me in terms of how well stabilized the frames were and how perfectly rendered the details are from a camera handheld at ridiculously slow shutter speeds. And that's why I grab the Olympus stuff when I go out to shoot for fun.

Oh, and by the way, these are Jpegs from the camera...small exposure tweaks, that's all.