LEICA M MONOCHROM (Type 246)

Release Date : 30 April 2015
Price : £5750 / $ 7450
Availability : May 2015
Pre-order : B&H | Adorama

Key Features

Black and white rangefinder camera
24 megapixel full-frame black-and-white CMOS sensor
ISO range of 320 – 25000
Leica Maestro image processor
2Gb buffer
Live View function with focus peaking
1080p HD video recording

The next level

Photographers who consciously employ the unique aesthetics of black-and-white photography to express their creativity can rely on the Leica M Monochrome as a modern tool. As the successor to the world’s first digital black-and-white camera, it offers the latest technologies to support creative visualisation in its archetypal form. For pictures of unequalled quality. For pictures with previously unimaginable sharpness, depth and clarity. A pioneer in every respect. A true Leica.

Instantaneous response

Black-and-white photography with unrivalled speed: with the Leica Maestro, the Leica M Monochrom not only features the same high-performance processor as its counterpart with colour vision, the Leica M, but also offers the extra speed reserves of a 2 GB buffer memory. This enables sequential shooting at three times the speed of the previous model – with pictures in the exceptional M quality photographers expect. The pictures are instantaneously available for display in review mode and written as JPEG files and/or RAW data in DNG format to the memory card.

See more

Leica M Monochrom – the sharpest way to see things in black and white: thanks to a high-resolution 24-megapixel sensor that captures images in 35 mm full-frame format – with three times the speed of its predecessor. As the sensor records only luminance values, this leads to 100% sharper pictures with an exceptional depth, clarity and resolution of details that by far exceed those of colour exposures – even when shooting with the highest ISO sensitivity settings. Pictures that already satisfy professional demands in JPEG format.

A discreet delight

Discreet and solidly built, the Leica M Monochrom brings all the essentials anyone could ever need for unobtrusive photography – to last a lifetime, if you wish. Its endurance is guaranteed by the superior quality and solidity of the materials that go into its construction – top deck and baseplate are machined from solid brass and the camera body is engineered from high-strength magnesium alloy. Equally hard-wearing is the extremely scratch-resistant and almost unbreakable sapphire glass cover plate for its LCD monitor. This reduction to the essentials is what makes it a true Leica.

As if painted with light

The omission of colour filters in front of the sensor allows more light to reach its surface. More light for aesthetic, pin-sharp and finely resolved exposures at sensitivities up to ISO 25000. Pictures that possess a finely grained noise signature at the highest ISO values that are reminiscent of the look of analogue photos. Thanks to the combination of low susceptibility to noise, a bright viewfinder/rangefinder, a low-vibration shutter release and fast lenses, the Leica M Monochrom opens up entirely new dimensions for available-light photography.

Creative contrasts

By modifying the conversion of colours to grey scale values, yellow, green and orange lens filters – calculated especially for use with the Leica M Monochrom – offer new opportunities for the exploration of creative effects with light and contrast. This means that the colour of the filter in the original scene becomes brighter and its complementary colour darker. This is effective for creating unusual moods in landscapes, portraits and other genres of photography. At the same time, multilayer coating reduces reflections and ensures high transmission without vignetting.

Full visual control with Live View

In Live View mode, the high-resolution 3″ monitor with a resolution of 921,600 pixels enables complete control of composition, framing, exposure, focusing and depth of field. Live View also offers two additional focusing methods: Live View Zoom for tenfold magnification of the scene or subject, and Focus Peaking, which automatically marks the edges of objects in colour when they are sharply focused. All leading to the same destination: pictures with exceptional sharpness.

Moving pictures in M quality

Video at the press of a button: the Leica M Monochrom has a separate release button for activating video recording in 1080p full-HD format. Thanks to a dedicated adapter, the legendary R-series lenses can also be used for recording video with all available functions. Perfect sound is ensured by an optional Leica microphone adapter set, comprising an adapter and a stereo microphone.