It's no surprise that Mr Overgaard is an ambassador for Leica. He has an excellent calm way about him that exudes confidence and his work speaks for itself. I'm looking forward to watching all of his videos/blogs etc. Very polished and a pleasure to watch.
Very nice presentation. Thank you Thorsten. I love that it's coming back to basic again... now we can concentrate on taking the picture and still have some fun in the "dark room" on the computer afterwards.
Thank you, sir...not just for this video but for the wonderful articles you have written for us on your website. I do not own a digital Leica, but use a M3 and M6. It was your website that got me hooked to Leica. I have learnt a lot from your articles and with your You Tube channel now, I hope the journey will be all the more enjoyable. Best Wishes...
without LCD make you only think about what you want to take into your pictures, it is great ! simple is very important for today , thank Thorsten to introduce this wonderful camera to me.
I think not having a screen to chimp at improves the awareness of light conditions and choice of photo parameters. I believe one becomes a better photographer over time. Less features means less distractions and focus on the essentials of picture taking.
What's up thorsten? Just wanted to say there's one thing I like about your reviews, if there's something you don't know you will simply say I don't know. Is not a lot of professional photographers who are quick to admit that. Peace
Diego Ruiz Thanks again, Thorsten, this review is a very complet one. I use my M9P and feel very comfortable with it, don´t want to change, but thanks for let me know this new camera. Now I can read you and listen you in this new way. Thanks for your job.
Great video Thorsten! Thanks for making this available - Have long been a reader of your blog and whilst I sold my M8 a while ago the SL keeps tempting me back in to the Leica world. Whilst the MD won't be for everyone, I do think there will many for whom it is very appealing! Looking forward to the next video.
I loved the M8 with the ƒ3.4 Super Elmar but I was frustrated by the 0.7m close focus distance and lens availability in the UK at the time for things like a 50 'lux, but it made some great images for me. I have tried the SL a couple of times now at the Mayfair store and it is more or less everything I could want from a camera.
Thank You, Thorsten...Always appreciate your views and insight to photography...although I will never be able to afford a Leica, I learn from your web sight and now from your videos...Cheers...
It's for me. 😊 It will be my first digital Leica, and until they make one of the same thinkness as my film Leicas, the only one. Screens and menus turn me off digital cameras. Thank you Thorsten. 👌
It's nice when you get so lost in photography that you don't look at the images until you get the card in the computer, screen or no screen. It's better trying to get the next shot right rather than looking at what you got wrong with the last one.
Thank you Ronny. The video's will keep coming with two a week. Some about specific lenses and cameras, others just about ... well, you'll see :-) /Thorsten Overgaard
Nicely done Thorsten. I think I'll convert my Monochrom into a B&W 262. But I'll do it by buying a half case with a solid back. I can slide on the electronic viewfinder to change ISO.
Thank you for an another good pragmatic review of usabillity for a very special Camera. I can imagine that you have the same feeling as with a SLR or L-M from 70-80 and you are more ready to take the next picture or less risk you will miss a photooppurtunity. More focused on taking pictures. With normal digital Camera with backscreen you will be disturbed of glansing at the screen between pictures either you do it on purpose or not. For younger photographers that has not owned a SLR or Leica M filmcamera from 70-80 they will probarbly have difficulty to understand this feeling of freedom and simplicity of not having a backscreen.
Great video... I enjoy your writing very much (I purchased several of your books)... I am a visual learner, so I was so excited by your channel... I own a Leica M9 and a Leica Monochrome M9 both with the CCD sensors... I love the look of the photos from these cameras... So film like in my eyes... I may have to purchase this camera after your review... Funny, I usually do not comment on the videos I watch... You seem to inspire me... You are a great teacher... I find myself reading and rereading your books.... I think I will do the same with your videos... Cheers and happy holiday...
I tried a friend's M-D and I really like the simplicity. There was no screen distracting me. I was able to just be in the moment while taking photographs.
Great 1st video for your new channel Thorsten. Informative, well produced and high quality as is typical of all your work. Im looking forward to the next videos. I do hope that the new M will support an EVF that is as good the ones on the Q or even the SL, although the screenless and EVFless M-262 will continue to be something rather special.
Yes, I think M-D 262 should likely continue to be very simple and without screen. And I am (almost) sure the next Leica M will have a high-quality EVF.
The introduction of the MD-262 is brilliant! To push it even further, for those of us in the field for weeks without battery charging ability, Isn't there a way to install a dynamo, or self charging thumb crank, that would create a charge enough to get the image off the sensor into the SD card? Kind of like a wind-up radio. Just think of the space available for the apparatus if the battery was removed! The watch battery brought back for the meter, and the only electric current needed to capture the picture was self created by the camera?!
You're not the first suggesting that. I talk a bit about it in my article www.overgaard.dk/Leica-M60-and-Leica-M-D-262-digital-rangefinder-camera-page-1.html So far, I think a solar charger connected to the M-D 262 battery charger is the closest you get to what you want.
As you said…even if we don’t chimp after every shot with the screen available, we occasionally check to make sure we’re calibrated and not completely out of bounds. It’s hard to really imagine not having a screen on a digital camera until trying it for a day.
A Typ 240 being my primary camera, I would love to use this, or even the Monochrom, occasionally but can't really afford to. Ha! A great start to your series. I like the close up black and white edits. Good luck!
Thank you Sam. I think some cross over to the M-D 262 on their way to the next M or something. That's one way to get around all the exiting possibilities without having them all :-)
Do you still have your M-D, Thorsten? I’ve just bought an M-D…again. I tried the M10-D, but I prefer the M-D as it’s even purer, and built like a tank.
I was fortunate to find an MD 262 with a red skin in excellent- condition on KEH. I always shot film and the MD was my first digital camera which shoots like film and love the images better than film...!
I really hope you see this (now 2023). So, since you can't tell this camera which lens is attached (through the menu), does that mean you can't use older lenses that don't have a bit code?
You can use any lens with or without bit code. All the bit code tell is what lens so you have the info in your EXIF. If you use a lens without, no problem (i write in my keywords which lens is used for a photo)
@@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard Thank you, but my understanding is that the bit code allows the camera to make adjustments to in-camera processing for the particular lens used.
Yes, the bit code also make minor adjustments for the lens. Those adjustments are part of the modern design process (that they know they can make the lens perfect, and improve the perfection further with adjustments in processing). The adjustments are minor, and I usually have them turned off in the software (Lightroom and capture One). @@bernardlesperance742
great talk as usual .I have a question . out of pure curiosity . as you mention in prior videos you try to cary the camera on your hip even for a walk for coffee - brilliant idea - I've just done it :) but what do you do with the amount of pics you can't physically use ? I mean social media and work . I've accumulated tens of thousands of processed pics on my computer and they just gather dust . and I am very deliberate shooter . im sure you have hundreds of thousands of photographs - what do you do / think about them ? are they an archive a pathway to memories - but I don't think we need this kind of cscrutiny to know what coffee on what day we had ... thanks ! @georges_angeles
Very good video and the same for the rest of the content you've uploaded. I'm still not sure if I dare to go M-D or if I should just get an M-P. Having owned an M8 before I never used the screen due to battery drain and also no need to look at the pictures and now shooting an M6 TTL. So hard to decide!
Why but WHY didn't they just go all out and added a rewind crank to cock the shutter. it would save battery. also. how does the camera indicate low battery?
Dear Thomas, I talk about the viewfinder information in my article on the M-D 262. Not that there is a lot of information in the viewfinder (compared to a digital screen), but it is actually one of the first things I wondered about as well: www.overgaard.dk/Leica-M60-and-Leica-M-D-262-digital-rangefinder-camera-page-1.html
No, only the written review at www.overgaard.dk/leica-M-Monochrom-Type-246-Digital-Rangefinder-Camera-black-and-white-sensor-page-29A-The-Leica-M246-Dynamic-Range.html I might revisit the Leica M Monochrom (the M9 based version) as I dug that one up recently and had all service done so it's in top shape.
Yes, they're a little expensive. Look for a second-hand Leica M9 which is usually around $2,500, and then a lens liek the 50mm Summicron you can find for $500.
I've read a few comments about this camera picking up a lot of sensor dust and a number of them having had to be returned to Leica. No-one though seems to know why but they do complain that this should not occur in such an expensive camera. Any thoughts on or experience of this phenomenon?
Each model seem to have a relatively few people who open the box and the sensor is full of dust. I believe it is more a matter of your environment and/or what you choose to focus on. But I wouldn't know the specific cases, only that it's very few cases. Apart from that, it must be difficult to work at Leica. there is this idea that because it's a luxury product, handmade and all, nothing can ever go wrong. It must make them extra nervous sometimes (maybe it's that which causes errors).
Great review of a very interesting M, which basically means s the "consumer" version and f the M60 special edition from a couple days f years ago. Although I like it as a product, I can think of a couple of reasons that I personally wouldn't get this camera. The first one is kinda trivial: I have and regularly use many vintage M lenses that lack the bit codes, and without a facility to manually set a lens ID, then I have to do what I used to do with film cameras: carry a small notebook! The second reason is more serious: how to set the time stamp on the images? To me that is crucial as I need to geotag my pictures by syncing the images with a track obtained from a GPS unit (BTW the Leica grip/GPS unit is slow and make the camera bulky vs. a handy and a much cheaper GPS receiver).
Yes, it's a "gimmick" in some ways, and it makes you reevaluate the possibilities since we used a film camera and a notebook :-) Good tip on the GPS. I know a few who uses that.
Magic Of Light Can't wait for (the "rumored"?) January 18th event and the next generation Leica M! Geotagging pictures is a snap with a GPS receiver (I use a Garmin) and Lightroom - provided one keeps track of the time on the camera!
You could actually set the geotagger to the time of the camera (or go through the rather complicated setting of the camera using the silver Function Button on top). January 18 is happening. They will for sure reveal the new building complex of Leica Hotel, a new housing for the CW Sonderoptic (who makes the Leica Cine Lenses) and a university building. What more will be talked about ... we'll see :-)
Not really. Except that the idea of getting one of them might make you very enthusiastic about it all, and that's an important feature in my opinion. But factually, the M-D 262 is the M240 inside, and the M10 is a slightly different sensor that actually reminde more of the color of the Leica M9 CCD sensor. They both have the simplicity, though.
You can't. There is only the 6-bit code that will tell the camera. What I do is that I add lens in keywords when importing, or after importing. I find that the 6-bit code itself some times fail, but also that some picture viewing programs doesn't show the lens even it is in the EXIF data. So that's why I always add it in the keywords in any case.
Code dosen't do any means or extra, if you don't pick the right moment , well focused , well selected lighting condition and right shutter speed to have a steady / hand held shot. This cameras are Manuel fully manual and use a digital senser instead of a Film plane init.
True, the 6-bit code is a little overrated. It should give the possibility to automatically digital adjust the lens in LR, but I never really do. In many cases its nice to know which lens was used if you later review your photos and wonder. But that can be added to keywords when you import the photos to the computer.
Yes I agree, make the camera thinner like the film M's but they would have to make up the difference with a flange behind the lens to compensate for the sensor to lens distance. I believe that Leica will do this in the future models. Maybe the MO model. O for ordinary - simple and back to their routs. Evolution not revolution.
The difference in the flange seems obvious. Maybe that is the way they will go. They sort of did on the Leica SL. Also in the older SLR cameras, that's how they did it.
Only when I do portraits and a few other things. Most of the time I use the internal light meter. Here's an article I did on my lightmeters: www.overgaard.dk/incident-light-metering-with-external-Sekonic-and-Minolta-lightmeters-flashmeters-and-quality-of-light.html
Hi Thorsten, excellent videos! I have been watching every single one! I would love a Leica, I have been using a film Minolta with a 50mm recently to get back into photography and I love the simplicity and of the Leica products. That is a nice watch you are wearing, what type is it? If you were buying one digital Leica and one film Leica, which would you recommend? Kind regards, Simon UK
Thank you. If I bought one film and one digital Leica, it would be the Leica MP and the Leica M9 or Leica M10. That said, my main working cameras has been two Leica M 240 for the last four years. The watch is a Karl Falk www.karlfalk.com which I added a Hermes strap and lock to when the original strap broke (I went through two of them; also nice but I wanted the Apple Hermes watch without the Apple Watch, so this was the way to get there :-)
Yes, there is a difference. For me it's mostly been finding the right way to edit them towards my look. The M9 seems to be an accepted standard now, but it wasn't in the beginning. I presume that in a few years we'll be talking about the M240 and M10 look as "the classic Leica look"
Price leaves me torn... I did not care for the M9. Give me the M3 and I'm happy. Thinking of a M7 or even M-P, but this might be the camera that checks all the boxes.
I think the M-D 262 is a camera one gets, uses for a while, and then sell it and get "a real one". It's a tempting one, and either it's eternal love forever and ever, or it's a phase to get over.
Magic Of Light Most DSLRs have that ability and since auto focus mirrorless cameras use the actual sensor for focussing, micro-adjustments aren't needed. The Leica is manual focus so often there's adjusting that need to be done to the lens (shimming) in order for the lens to be able to focus at it's closest distance to infinity. I had to shim an old Summicron lens to my M9 since there's no Live View I can't rely on that so the lens has to be shimmed for that specific body. So basically that specific lens is perfect on my M9, but not on my M240. Do you see where I'm getting at?
Yes. That's adjustment is still carried out mechanically and manually be Leica. They sort of had to deal with this for the last 70 years. I some times wonder if the ease of adjustment (meaning no adjustment necessary) on the Leica SL, Leica Q and Leica S would make them think of ways to create an M that doesn't need focus adjustment.
Magic Of Light You would think in this digital age they'd do something in regards to this. I think it would be a wonderful feature and would be nice to have 2 M240 bodies that I can swap lenses with confidence. I really enjoy your videos and following you on instagram.
Yes, there is only Auto White Balance available. So you you want to set it manually, you have to photograph a WhiBal card or white paper from time to time to be able to adjust in Lightroom or Capture One.
Yes, if they had an ISO dial, shutter speed dial and aperture ring. Few actually does, so they would have to rebuild the camera. The Leica just removed the screen and put an ISO dial where it was. More on that in my article: www.overgaard.dk/Leica-M60-and-Leica-M-D-262-digital-rangefinder-camera-page-1.html
Charing you more for less is definitely Leica. For that reason, this camera is not for me as a photographer. Sure it will appeal to a lot of Leica collectors.
Great review Thorsten you done a great job man but the M-D 262 would not be my cup of tea, especially with no LCD the benefits of an LCD outweighs the negatives. What were they thinking putting that cheap and tacky looking silver dial on the back, surely black would have been more in keeping or at least make it look like old skool - Sean
This model would be (almost) perfect if it had what the M10P has - minus the screen. Unfortunately, the ISO doesn't have the same range as the M10P, and the viewfinder is not as good.
I could buy a x100t and travel to a few countries and take worthy pictures for the price of these stupid cameras. Yes I love leica, I have a m3 and love it to bits, but come on.
Thorsten, the one point I get from your videos is that you have no self-control and too much money. Who needs to buy a WHOLE new Leica for inspiration because you cannot see the screen?! Hell, just don't look at the screen... I keep watching your videos for hope of some useful information, and god, I really want to find that, but this is just trifling. You may be very well a great photographer, but all you talk about are the nuances between on Leica model and the next. It must be nice just to run off to the shops and pluck another $8,000 down for whatever you like, just because. I really wish you would consider moving toward more substantive content about creating photos as opposed to just buying premium equipment. I don't mean this as an attack, but watching this is extremely frustrating. Maybe I have your channel all wrong. Maybe it is just a comparison of cameras like the videos for the LHSA.
Seems a bit counter productive if you ask me, a days shooting and get back to see all your photos missed the mark, opportunity lost. How is that making things simple? That's making a good thing less and charging more???? I guess this is why your courses are so damn expensive, so you CAN just order the latest Leica without worrying about the price.
Well, some days you may feel like just taking the chance and spend the time observing what's around you and not spend time running the camera. Other days you needs the certainty you can get with a screen. It's not much different than what it used to be. You didn't know till later what you got, so you had to be careful with what you knew about how to get it right in camera.
What I mean is that I absolutely don't understand how anybody could find the lack of important features to be appealing. I have a Zeiss rangefinder and a Mamiya 7. I sometimes use them, mostly the Mamiya, because of the amazing IQ. BUT I hate that I can not review the images. I hate the fact that I only have one non-movable focus spot and I often have to recompose. I hate that there is only manual focus, oftentimes AF would come in handy. You seem to find pleasure in these inconvenient quirks. MOREOVER, the sensor in the Leica is by no means the best FF sensor, as it should be for this price. You know what's ironic? When Sigma came up with the Merrill series, everyone was complaining about the fact that it took around ten seconds for the image to save, so that you could review it. But when Leica makes a camera with NO possibility at all to look at the photos, that's considered to be ''A step back to the future, representing state-of-the-art digital rangefinder photography in its purest form.'' [paraphrased from the Leica website] And people are like ''wow, that's so amazing.'' But no. It isn't. It's one big machination to stripe sentimental people of their money. You know what would be amazing? If Leica used the new super-expensive CMOSIS 48 MP sensor in the m10, combined with 8K video and dual color oled focus peaking in the optical viewfinder (they could leave the RF as well, for nostalgic folks). THAT would justify the high price. I remember back in the day, in the time of the m9, it actually made at least some sense to buy a Leica cam. It was always a niche product, but it was the most compact full frame solution. Now in 2016, what reason do you have not to buy a Sony A7Rii instead of a Leica?
It's no surprise that Mr Overgaard is an ambassador for Leica. He has an excellent calm way about him that exudes confidence and his work speaks for itself. I'm looking forward to watching all of his videos/blogs etc. Very polished and a pleasure to watch.
Thank you! I am not an official ambassador for Leica, just an avid Leica user :-)
I find the simplicity of the M-D very appealing, I think I'm going to enjoy your Channel.
Thank you Richard!
Very nice presentation. Thank you Thorsten. I love that it's coming back to basic again... now we can concentrate on taking the picture and still have some fun in the "dark room" on the computer afterwards.
That's right, Britta!
Thank you, sir...not just for this video but for the wonderful articles you have written for us on your website. I do not own a digital Leica, but use a M3 and M6. It was your website that got me hooked to Leica. I have learnt a lot from your articles and with your You Tube channel now, I hope the journey will be all the more enjoyable. Best Wishes...
Thank you Arindam!
Wholehearted approval- will follow your "no nonsense" approach with delight- thanks for all your work and sharing with Leica-
Welcome. Thank you!
without LCD make you only think about what you want to take into your pictures, it is great ! simple is very important for today , thank Thorsten to introduce this wonderful camera to me.
I think not having a screen to chimp at improves the awareness of light conditions and choice of photo parameters. I believe one becomes a better photographer over time. Less features means less distractions and focus on the essentials of picture taking.
What's up thorsten? Just wanted to say there's one thing I like about your reviews, if there's something you don't know you will simply say I don't know. Is not a lot of professional photographers who are quick to admit that. Peace
Diego Ruiz
Thanks again, Thorsten, this review is a very complet one. I use my M9P and feel very comfortable with it, don´t want to change, but thanks for let me know this new camera. Now I can read you and listen you in this new way. Thanks for your job.
Ha ha, that's how I watch videos. I listen while I work :-)
Great video Thorsten! Thanks for making this available - Have long been a reader of your blog and whilst I sold my M8 a while ago the SL keeps tempting me back in to the Leica world. Whilst the MD won't be for everyone, I do think there will many for whom it is very appealing! Looking forward to the next video.
It still amazes me how many use the M8 now 10 years after it came our, not to mention M9. SL is a very different creature.
I loved the M8 with the ƒ3.4 Super Elmar but I was frustrated by the 0.7m close focus distance and lens availability in the UK at the time for things like a 50 'lux, but it made some great images for me. I have tried the SL a couple of times now at the Mayfair store and it is more or less everything I could want from a camera.
Thank You, Thorsten...Always appreciate your views and insight to photography...although I will never be able to afford a Leica, I learn from your web sight and now from your videos...Cheers...
Thank you, Fred Windberg :-)
/Thorsten
It's for me. 😊
It will be my first digital Leica, and until they make one of the same thinkness as my film Leicas, the only one.
Screens and menus turn me off digital cameras.
Thank you Thorsten. 👌
It's nice when you get so lost in photography that you don't look at the images until you get the card in the computer, screen or no screen. It's better trying to get the next shot right rather than looking at what you got wrong with the last one.
Great review, straight to the point, no bloat. Keep up the good work
Thank you Richard. Next one coming up in less than 12 hours :-)
Thank you Thorsten. Looking forward for your next test/intriduction. Best regards from Sweden.
Thank you Ronny. The video's will keep coming with two a week. Some about specific lenses and cameras, others just about ... well, you'll see :-)
/Thorsten Overgaard
Nicely done Thorsten. I think I'll convert my Monochrom into a B&W 262. But I'll do it by buying a half case with a solid back. I can slide on the electronic viewfinder to change ISO.
Very nice, I especially like this is a "personal" review, not to please anyone.
Thank you Kai. Hadn't thought about that. Good point.
Great video! Subscribed to your channel and newsletter, looking forward to future contents!!!
Thank you for an another good pragmatic review of usabillity for a very special Camera.
I can imagine that you have the same feeling as with a SLR or L-M from 70-80 and you are more ready to take the next picture or less risk you will miss a photooppurtunity. More focused on taking pictures.
With normal digital Camera with backscreen you will be disturbed of glansing at the screen between pictures either you do it on purpose or not.
For younger photographers that has not owned a SLR or Leica M filmcamera from 70-80 they will probarbly have difficulty to understand this feeling of freedom and simplicity of not having a backscreen.
I think even young or new photographers could get into "the secret of Christmas" ... not knowing what you got, and you won't know till later :-)
Great video... I enjoy your writing very much (I purchased several of your books)... I am a visual learner, so I was so excited by your channel... I own a Leica M9 and a Leica Monochrome M9 both with the CCD sensors... I love the look of the photos from these cameras... So film like in my eyes... I may have to purchase this camera after your review... Funny, I usually do not comment on the videos I watch... You seem to inspire me... You are a great teacher... I find myself reading and rereading your books.... I think I will do the same with your videos... Cheers and happy holiday...
Thanks. Very nice feedback! :-)
Great video, Thorsten. Always enjoy your viewpoint on photography and Leicas. Cheers!
Thank you. More coming, sooon!
I tried a friend's M-D and I really like the simplicity. There was no screen distracting me. I was able to just be in the moment while taking photographs.
Excellent Thorsten. I am looking forward to the next ones :)
Thank you, Norbert!
“it seems a little bit stupid to take off the screen, but once you get into it, it makes completely sense”
Great 1st video for your new channel Thorsten. Informative, well produced and high quality as is typical of all your work. Im looking forward to the next videos. I do hope that the new M will support an EVF that is as good the ones on the Q or even the SL, although the screenless and EVFless M-262 will continue to be something rather special.
Yes, I think M-D 262 should likely continue to be very simple and without screen.
And I am (almost) sure the next Leica M will have a high-quality EVF.
Hopefully the better EVF is only an external thing. :)
BTW, finally seeing you start a UA-cam channel, well done.
Interesting and thorough analysis. Keep up the great work.
Thank you, Zak!
I want to buy this camera
It shoots only colour? Black and white must be done in post processing? I like the simplicity. I wish I could afford one.
The introduction of the MD-262 is brilliant! To push it even further, for those of us in the field for weeks without battery charging ability, Isn't there a way to install a dynamo, or self charging thumb crank, that would create a charge enough to get the image off the sensor into the SD card? Kind of like a wind-up radio. Just think of the space available for the apparatus if the battery was removed! The watch battery brought back for the meter, and the only electric current needed to capture the picture was self created by the camera?!
You're not the first suggesting that. I talk a bit about it in my article www.overgaard.dk/Leica-M60-and-Leica-M-D-262-digital-rangefinder-camera-page-1.html
So far, I think a solar charger connected to the M-D 262 battery charger is the closest you get to what you want.
A monochrom Leica M-D 262 would be the non-plus-ultra !
As you said…even if we don’t chimp after every shot with the screen available, we occasionally check to make sure we’re calibrated and not completely out of bounds. It’s hard to really imagine not having a screen on a digital camera until trying it for a day.
A Typ 240 being my primary camera, I would love to use this, or even the Monochrom, occasionally but can't really afford to. Ha! A great start to your series. I like the close up black and white edits. Good luck!
Thank you Sam. I think some cross over to the M-D 262 on their way to the next M or something. That's one way to get around all the exiting possibilities without having them all :-)
Do you still have your M-D, Thorsten? I’ve just bought an M-D…again. I tried the M10-D, but I prefer the M-D as it’s even purer, and built like a tank.
Agree, the M-D 262 is the pure one.
Great video. Really looking forward to more. Excellent production quality and editing too. :-)
Thank you Joe.
It's filmed with Canon CX 100 in 4K and edited by www.darecinema.com
I was fortunate to find an MD 262 with a red skin in excellent- condition on KEH. I always shot film and the MD was my first digital camera which shoots like film and love the images better than film...!
Nice one sir. Enjoyed it very much as with all your videos. Thank you, very much appreciated. Gouranga
I really hope you see this (now 2023). So, since you can't tell this camera which lens is attached (through the menu), does that mean you can't use older lenses that don't have a bit code?
You can use any lens with or without bit code. All the bit code tell is what lens so you have the info in your EXIF. If you use a lens without, no problem (i write in my keywords which lens is used for a photo)
@@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard Thank you, but my understanding is that the bit code allows the camera to make adjustments to in-camera processing for the particular lens used.
Yes, the bit code also make minor adjustments for the lens. Those adjustments are part of the modern design process (that they know they can make the lens perfect, and improve the perfection further with adjustments in processing). The adjustments are minor, and I usually have them turned off in the software (Lightroom and capture One). @@bernardlesperance742
@@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard Thank you very much for the clarification. I very much appreciate it.
Nice Video :) Getting my M-D tomorrow
Uh, that is nice!
your videos are fantastic....im hooked
Easy to be hooked on this :-)
Really great informative channel which is also great to watch.
Thank you!
Change the lenses around more often. It sounds fantastic.
I wish Fujifilm would change their XPro line to a true rangefinder such as this and make it FM mount.
what’s the chances of Leica making this camera model but in Monochrom?
Fingers crossed, but so far not 🙂
Many thanks to the knowledge of the Leica MD 262
Thank you. Very welcome!
great talk as usual .I have a question . out of pure curiosity . as you mention in prior videos you try to cary the camera on your hip even for a walk for coffee - brilliant idea - I've just done it :) but what do you do with the amount of pics you can't physically use ? I mean social media and work . I've accumulated tens of thousands of processed pics on my computer and they just gather dust . and I am very deliberate shooter . im sure you have hundreds of thousands of photographs - what do you do / think about them ? are they an archive a pathway to memories - but I don't think we need this kind of cscrutiny to know what coffee on what day we had ...
thanks !
@georges_angeles
Very good video and the same for the rest of the content you've uploaded.
I'm still not sure if I dare to go M-D or if I should just get an M-P. Having owned an M8 before I never used the screen due to battery drain and also no need to look at the pictures and now shooting an M6 TTL. So hard to decide!
Loved it ..... at last a review which isn't full of crappy pretentious words.
Thank you, Jo!
Nice. I’d definitely want a thinner one. My old thinner M6 is much nicer to hold than the digital.
"I just want to be completely not knowing what I'm doing".... Thorsten Overgaard
Thank you for posting. I guess its almost the same as my Leica Edition M60
Why but WHY didn't they just go all out and added a rewind crank to cock the shutter. it would save battery. also. how does the camera indicate low battery?
Looks great! Keep em coming!
Thank you, Jim!
How do you select the White Balance on this camera?
AWB and fix in edit
@@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard thanks very much indeed.
Nice review. You could have talked about, if there is any information shown in the viewfinder. Is the picture over/underexposed fx :)
Dear Thomas,
I talk about the viewfinder information in my article on the M-D 262. Not that there is a lot of information in the viewfinder (compared to a digital screen), but it is actually one of the first things I wondered about as well:
www.overgaard.dk/Leica-M60-and-Leica-M-D-262-digital-rangefinder-camera-page-1.html
Any plans to review the Leica 246, Thorsten?
No, only the written review at www.overgaard.dk/leica-M-Monochrom-Type-246-Digital-Rangefinder-Camera-black-and-white-sensor-page-29A-The-Leica-M246-Dynamic-Range.html
I might revisit the Leica M Monochrom (the M9 based version) as I dug that one up recently and had all service done so it's in top shape.
Great, Thorsten!
Thank you, Simon!
the Leica "purest" in the comments probably can't even afford this camera .
insightful and informative!! As always Thank you
Thank you, Rich!
I'm enjoying your new UA-cam Channel Thorsten and am curious which strap you have on the M-D in the video.
Dear Duane,
Thank you. The black strap on the M-D 262 is from instagram.com/ybputro/ and the others on the M 240's are from www.tieherup.eu
I cannot afford Leicas but I'm glad I found your channel :p
Yes, they're a little expensive. Look for a second-hand Leica M9 which is usually around $2,500, and then a lens liek the 50mm Summicron you can find for $500.
Hi, what about the Fotos application. Is it used to modify setups or choose B&W ?
I've read a few comments about this camera picking up a lot of sensor dust and a number of them having had to be returned to Leica. No-one though seems to know why but they do complain that this should not occur in such an expensive camera. Any thoughts on or experience of this phenomenon?
Each model seem to have a relatively few people who open the box and the sensor is full of dust. I believe it is more a matter of your environment and/or what you choose to focus on. But I wouldn't know the specific cases, only that it's very few cases.
Apart from that, it must be difficult to work at Leica. there is this idea that because it's a luxury product, handmade and all, nothing can ever go wrong. It must make them extra nervous sometimes (maybe it's that which causes errors).
the screen and the cell are useless except to drain the battery. And the real MD has no viewfinder or rangefinder.
Just can accept the digital sensor. My M3 is still valuable& usable 50 years on. In 7 years this will be nothing. Its a pity
What about White Balance?
What watch are you wearing in this video?
Magic Of Light very cool. Thanks!
great and honest review .
Thank you!
You convince me every single time! 🙂
Sounds expensive 🙂
Great review of a very interesting M, which basically means s the "consumer" version and f the M60 special edition from a couple days f years ago.
Although I like it as a product, I can think of a couple of reasons that I personally wouldn't get this camera. The first one is kinda trivial: I have and regularly use many vintage M lenses that lack the bit codes, and without a facility to manually set a lens ID, then I have to do what I used to do with film cameras: carry a small notebook! The second reason is more serious: how to set the time stamp on the images? To me that is crucial as I need to geotag my pictures by syncing the images with a track obtained from a GPS unit (BTW the Leica grip/GPS unit is slow and make the camera bulky vs. a handy and a much cheaper GPS receiver).
Yes, it's a "gimmick" in some ways, and it makes you reevaluate the possibilities since we used a film camera and a notebook :-)
Good tip on the GPS. I know a few who uses that.
Magic Of Light Can't wait for (the "rumored"?) January 18th event and the next generation Leica M!
Geotagging pictures is a snap with a GPS receiver (I use a Garmin) and Lightroom - provided one keeps track of the time on the camera!
You could actually set the geotagger to the time of the camera (or go through the rather complicated setting of the camera using the silver Function Button on top).
January 18 is happening. They will for sure reveal the new building complex of Leica Hotel, a new housing for the CW Sonderoptic (who makes the Leica Cine Lenses) and a university building. What more will be talked about ... we'll see :-)
is there a way to format the memorie card in the camera ?
No, actually not. I never do, so I never missed it in the M-D 262. I always just delete the photos in computer and put the card back in the camera.
thanx for your answer.
How would you compare the M-D with M10?
Not really. Except that the idea of getting one of them might make you very enthusiastic about it all, and that's an important feature in my opinion.
But factually, the M-D 262 is the M240 inside, and the M10 is a slightly different sensor that actually reminde more of the color of the Leica M9 CCD sensor.
They both have the simplicity, though.
Nice but I would prefer the M 262 with the screen.
How do you force the camera to know the older Leica lens that are not encoded?
You can't. There is only the 6-bit code that will tell the camera. What I do is that I add lens in keywords when importing, or after importing. I find that the 6-bit code itself some times fail, but also that some picture viewing programs doesn't show the lens even it is in the EXIF data. So that's why I always add it in the keywords in any case.
Code dosen't do any means or extra, if you don't pick the right moment , well focused , well selected lighting condition and right shutter speed to have a steady / hand held shot. This cameras are Manuel fully manual and use a digital senser instead of a Film plane init.
True, the 6-bit code is a little overrated. It should give the possibility to automatically digital adjust the lens in LR, but I never really do.
In many cases its nice to know which lens was used if you later review your photos and wonder. But that can be added to keywords when you import the photos to the computer.
Thanks for the keywords tip - I should use it more often to streamline the workflow!
Great ... thanks .. !
:-)
Great review Thorsten! Would you still consider this camera now that the M10-D is out?
Yes I agree, make the camera thinner like the film M's but they would have to make up the difference with a flange behind the lens to compensate for the sensor to lens distance. I believe that Leica will do this in the future models. Maybe the MO model. O for ordinary - simple and back to their routs. Evolution not revolution.
The difference in the flange seems obvious. Maybe that is the way they will go. They sort of did on the Leica SL. Also in the older SLR cameras, that's how they did it.
What is it like with B&W?
Well, it only shoots DNG and they are always in color, so black and white had to be converted in the computer. Works well.
So, if I'm right Thorsten, you don't use an external lightmeter (like in the old day's)?
Only when I do portraits and a few other things. Most of the time I use the internal light meter. Here's an article I did on my lightmeters:
www.overgaard.dk/incident-light-metering-with-external-Sekonic-and-Minolta-lightmeters-flashmeters-and-quality-of-light.html
Dream camera. I hope I can own one one day. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Thorsten, excellent videos! I have been watching every single one! I would love a Leica, I have been using a film Minolta with a 50mm recently to get back into photography and I love the simplicity and of the Leica products. That is a nice watch you are wearing, what type is it? If you were buying one digital Leica and one film Leica, which would you recommend?
Kind regards,
Simon
UK
Thank you. If I bought one film and one digital Leica, it would be the Leica MP and the Leica M9 or Leica M10. That said, my main working cameras has been two Leica M 240 for the last four years.
The watch is a Karl Falk www.karlfalk.com which I added a Hermes strap and lock to when the original strap broke (I went through two of them; also nice but I wanted the Apple Hermes watch without the Apple Watch, so this was the way to get there :-)
Do you find a difference in the Leica camera using a CCD sensor and now having a CMOS sensor.
Yes, there is a difference. For me it's mostly been finding the right way to edit them towards my look. The M9 seems to be an accepted standard now, but it wasn't in the beginning. I presume that in a few years we'll be talking about the M240 and M10 look as "the classic Leica look"
Thank you for your reply. Just to re-cap in your opinion the M240 is or will be more of the standard than the M9?
Price leaves me torn... I did not care for the M9. Give me the M3 and I'm happy. Thinking of a M7 or even M-P, but this might be the camera that checks all the boxes.
I think the M-D 262 is a camera one gets, uses for a while, and then sell it and get "a real one". It's a tempting one, and either it's eternal love forever and ever, or it's a phase to get over.
Couldn't just taping over the rear screen achieve the same result?? Hmmmm..
God Damn! I want one now...
Why would you place you expensive cameras on the lens!!?? Doesn’t make sense to me…
Leica is very niche product. And this camera is niche in the niche.
Any chance that Leica will create a sensor that allows for micro-adjusting lenses to multiple M bodies?
Mmm, never know but haven't heard of any work towards that yet.
Magic Of Light Most DSLRs have that ability and since auto focus mirrorless cameras use the actual sensor for focussing, micro-adjustments aren't needed. The Leica is manual focus so often there's adjusting that need to be done to the lens (shimming) in order for the lens to be able to focus at it's closest distance to infinity. I had to shim an old Summicron lens to my M9 since there's no Live View I can't rely on that so the lens has to be shimmed for that specific body. So basically that specific lens is perfect on my M9, but not on my M240. Do you see where I'm getting at?
Yes. That's adjustment is still carried out mechanically and manually be Leica. They sort of had to deal with this for the last 70 years.
I some times wonder if the ease of adjustment (meaning no adjustment necessary) on the Leica SL, Leica Q and Leica S would make them think of ways to create an M that doesn't need focus adjustment.
Magic Of Light You would think in this digital age they'd do something in regards to this. I think it would be a wonderful feature and would be nice to have 2 M240 bodies that I can swap lenses with confidence. I really enjoy your videos and following you on instagram.
I assume the white balance is intuitively automatic, and not stuck on daylight or something.
Yes, there is only Auto White Balance available. So you you want to set it manually, you have to photograph a WhiBal card or white paper from time to time to be able to adjust in Lightroom or Capture One.
Simplicity; I use Leica M2 and Leica MD:)
Yes, I would expect some will mix the MD with a film camera :-)
Every brand can make a camera without a screen if it only had the functions of the md 262.
Yes, if they had an ISO dial, shutter speed dial and aperture ring. Few actually does, so they would have to rebuild the camera. The Leica just removed the screen and put an ISO dial where it was.
More on that in my article: www.overgaard.dk/Leica-M60-and-Leica-M-D-262-digital-rangefinder-camera-page-1.html
Charing you more for less is definitely Leica. For that reason, this camera is not for me as a photographer. Sure it will appeal to a lot of Leica collectors.
Fujifilm could do it, but I don't think it would have the appeal.
Great review Thorsten you done a great job man but the M-D 262 would not be my cup of tea, especially with no LCD the benefits of an LCD outweighs the negatives. What were they thinking putting that cheap and tacky looking silver dial on the back, surely black would have been more in keeping or at least make it look like old skool - Sean
I kind of like the silver ISO-dial, but I agree that after the first love, maybe we'll want a black one.
I would get it now if it had the red dot.
Glue..?
Sigh...
i like it better without the dot
This model would be (almost) perfect if it had what the M10P has - minus the screen. Unfortunately, the ISO doesn't have the same range as the M10P, and the viewfinder is not as good.
I could buy a x100t and travel to a few countries and take worthy pictures for the price of these stupid cameras. Yes I love leica, I have a m3 and love it to bits, but come on.
Man, come on..!
:-)
Albert Einstein once said: "Things should be as simple as possible but not simpler" :-)
Thorsten, the one point I get from your videos is that you have no self-control and too much money. Who needs to buy a WHOLE new Leica for inspiration because you cannot see the screen?! Hell, just don't look at the screen... I keep watching your videos for hope of some useful information, and god, I really want to find that, but this is just trifling. You may be very well a great photographer, but all you talk about are the nuances between on Leica model and the next. It must be nice just to run off to the shops and pluck another $8,000 down for whatever you like, just because. I really wish you would consider moving toward more substantive content about creating photos as opposed to just buying premium equipment. I don't mean this as an attack, but watching this is extremely frustrating. Maybe I have your channel all wrong. Maybe it is just a comparison of cameras like the videos for the LHSA.
you need to relax lol
Seems a bit counter productive if you ask me, a days shooting and get back to see all your photos missed the mark, opportunity lost. How is that making things simple? That's making a good thing less and charging more???? I guess this is why your courses are so damn expensive, so you CAN just order the latest Leica without worrying about the price.
Well, some days you may feel like just taking the chance and spend the time observing what's around you and not spend time running the camera. Other days you needs the certainty you can get with a screen.
It's not much different than what it used to be. You didn't know till later what you got, so you had to be careful with what you knew about how to get it right in camera.
Nice review of the most stupid camera ever made.
Sorry, but this is the truth at least from my point of view.
Oh boy... Another masochist...
I'm sure you mean something nice with that :-)
What I mean is that I absolutely don't understand how anybody could find the lack of important features to be appealing. I have a Zeiss rangefinder and a Mamiya 7. I sometimes use them, mostly the Mamiya, because of the amazing IQ. BUT I hate that I can not review the images. I hate the fact that I only have one non-movable focus spot and I often have to recompose. I hate that there is only manual focus, oftentimes AF would come in handy. You seem to find pleasure in these inconvenient quirks. MOREOVER, the sensor in the Leica is by no means the best FF sensor, as it should be for this price. You know what's ironic? When Sigma came up with the Merrill series, everyone was complaining about the fact that it took around ten seconds for the image to save, so that you could review it. But when Leica makes a camera with NO possibility at all to look at the photos, that's considered to be ''A step back to the future, representing state-of-the-art digital rangefinder photography in its purest form.'' [paraphrased from the Leica website] And people are like ''wow, that's so amazing.'' But no. It isn't. It's one big machination to stripe sentimental people of their money. You know what would be amazing? If Leica used the new super-expensive CMOSIS 48 MP sensor in the m10, combined with 8K video and dual color oled focus peaking in the optical viewfinder (they could leave the RF as well, for nostalgic folks). THAT would justify the high price. I remember back in the day, in the time of the m9, it actually made at least some sense to buy a Leica cam. It was always a niche product, but it was the most compact full frame solution. Now in 2016, what reason do you have not to buy a Sony A7Rii instead of a Leica?