Bringing the new digital age of photography back to its roots, Leica has finally made it possible to capture authentic 'true' black and white digital photographs with the creation of the black M Monochrom Digital Camera. For years Leica fans had sought such a combination of modern digital technology and traditional Leica black and white photography. Well, they will be happy to finally see a dedicated 35mm black and white digital camera released by the pioneering manufacturer. Its CCD sensor makes no compromises and ignores all color data whatsoever--every pixel records pure luminance values. As a result, it delivers authentic black-and-white images that do not need to be converted or processed in order to achieve sharp monochrome photographs.
Although the camera offers plenty of in-camera adjustments and alterations, the M Monochrom is supplied complete with a professional digital workflow solution: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and a full-version of NIK Silver Efex Pro, the world's leading black-and-white image processing software. This software bundle is available to customers as an online download after product registration with Leica. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom offers a wide range of functions for the management, processing and presentation of digital images. For example, this software allows for the creation of simple print layouts, slide shows and photo books. Silver Efex Pro offers an impressive collection of unique and powerful, darkroom-inspired tools for the creation of high quality black-and-white images. Keeping in line with their renowned commitment to extreme system compatibility, almost all lenses of the Leica M range can still be used on the M Monochrom digital camera. From photojournalism and available light photography to discreet, artistically aesthetic, creative compositions, the Leica M Monochrom adapts to every application and enables the expression of your personal photographic style. The enormous potential performance of the current M-Lens portfolio, with focal lengths from 16 to 135mm, is also fully accessible.
The M Monochrom also utilizes the popular M system's intuitive and discreet handling. Its manual and aperture priority exposure modes are built-in to aid photographers and their creative freedom. In combination with the 2.5" monitor display on the back of the camera, rapid access to the entire range of camera functions is achieved via simple menu navigation, and everything is just a few clicks away. The camera's almost silent shutter, together with its compact construction, benefits discreet and unobtrusive photographers who seek to capture natural, candid moments without interfering. Photographers even have the option to select the appropriate moment for re-cocking the shutter. When longer exposure times require an extremely steady camera stance, a slight press on the shutter release button in 'soft release' mode is all that is required.
With its full, native resolution of 18 megapixels, the Leica M Monochrom delivers sharper images than is made by color sensors. The fact that its sensor does not "see" color means only real brightness values are available for each individual pixel, and they record a black-and-white image directly. In combination with the brilliant imaging performance of Leica lenses and the perfect matching of the sensor to the M system, this creates pictures of outstanding sharpness and natural brilliance. The impressively low noise level of the monochrome CCD sensor also delivers an extremely fine-grained image, which is quite usable even at the highest ISO settings without disturbing noise levels.
For discerning users and fine-art photographers, a raw data histogram for exact control of tonal values is available on the digital LCD display. In contrast to standard histograms, it depicts the actual raw data, unprocessed or compressed. This, in combination with the parameter clipping view, enables exposures to be optimized with great precision in order to accurately utilize the available dynamic range.
In-Camera Tone Changes With the M Monochrom images can be adjusted to the characteristic tones of analog black-and-white photography at the press of a button--whether sepia, cool or selenium.
The classic, iconic Leica M camera design is carried through in the Leica M Monochrom. The matte black chrome-finish of the top cover leaves the camera discrete and unassuming, while an engraving on the black accessory shoe reveals the product name. The soft, tactile leatherette body covering also keeps with the overall discrete look. The camera also comes with a real-leather carrying strap made of high-grade cowhide, and additionally there is a new handgrip available, featured with the same black chrome finish and leather trim as the camera. After registration of the camera, a full version of the world's leading black-and-white image processing software, NIK Silver Efex Pro, is supplied as a free download along with a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Silver Efex Pro incorporates a unique and powerful set of darkroom-inspired tools to maximize the quality of monochrome prints produced by the M Monochrom. Silver Efex Pro emulates over 20 different black and white film types to recreate the classic monochrome look of film. The emulation is based on detailed analysis of multiple rolls of each film type. This results in accurate reproductions of popular film from ISO 32 to ISO 3200.
