Member David Farkas

The firmware is exclusive the ASC 100 Edition.

I don't have any B&W conversion presets, but LR has a bunch if you look in the included presets. First apply the correct camera preset, then apply the B&W preset on top of that.

I don't have a preset for the C-Lux, but you can try to use others. Give the X Vario preset a try and see if that works for you as a starting point.

While I didn't test specifically for this and applied the same basic tone to all images, I would imagine that the M10 Monochrom will provide for more shadow recovery than the other cameras. We can base this on the rate of increase of noise as ISO ramps up. The M10M sees very little degradation over most of its ISO range. That tells me that a fair…[Read more]

Interesting idea. Back in the day, we'd use LAB space and drop the AB chrominance channels, while keeping the L luminance channel. For this test, my goal was to show “normal” processing in Lightroom. Also, if you drop the red and blue channels, you wouldn't be able to use the Black and White Mix (channel mixer) to fine tune color-tone mapping.

In theory, the M10M should provide superior tonal transitions, but I will leave it to the viewer to determine by how much. Of course, with so much better noise suppression, you will already get smoother tonality and gradation at any given ISO. At base ISO, this isn't as visible. Please download the full files and take a look at the gradient…[Read more]

Fora 75mm, I'd either go for the 75 APO-Summicron if you want small size, or for the 57 Noctilux if you want ultimate performance. Personally, I'd stay away from the 75 Summilux. It's just not in the same league and I don't think would be ideal for the high megapixel M10M or SL2…. unless you want the vintage lens for its not-so-sharp glowy-ness.…[Read more]

Good observations and summary!

You're still getting better quality at ISO 3200 and 6400 with the Monochrom. And less noise does result in smoother, more detailed tonal gradations. Download the full image sequences and look at the gradient background. Also, I had to work to get the color images to match the Monochrom ones, and still couldn't get 100% there.

Great points, David!

While I didn't test in the dark, I did need to make sure that the single light source was low enough to get a proper exposure at ISO 100000, but not so dark that I ended up needing dark frame subtraction (LENR) at base ISO of 50 on the SL2. Quite the exposure puzzle. And as I pointed out in the article, I did use a studio LED light with a CRI of…[Read more]

Perfect. So glad it was helpful. If you need help deciding, let us know.

Jim,

Don't be shy of venturing up into the higher ISOs of the M10 Monochrom. As someone who rarely shot anything faster than ISO 200 in my film days, it took me quite a while to get comfortable with the idea of a totally usable ISO 32000. But now I can't go back. 🙂

My pleasure.

The M246 is still awesome in 2020. No doubt.

I'd point you to the SL2 comparisons. The SL2 and Q2 share a very similar sensor architecture and the same resolution. I think you'll find they respond quite similarly.

Indeed it was. But worth it.

Haha. Next time I'll try to shoot something other than Italian food.

I wasn't really testing for banding, as this is often a function of pushing the shadows. Very often banding can be mitigated by pulling the blacks down.

I'd encourage you to download the full images and take a look in the shadow areas of the dark background.