I just bought a used M246 and it is the best thing I have ever done. I have only one lens between this and a (also bought as used) M242, a summilux 50 mm 1.4. After years of using DSLR cameras the discipline of selecting shots and thinking about what it means to take a photograph has reinvigorated my love of photography. The image clarity is breathtaking although I have a way to go on using the rangefinder system effortlessly. I was really happy to see your video and learned a great deal about the functionality of my camera. Thank you

Two years later, I have re-watched this excellent presentation. Seeing your comparison images reaffirms my decision to remain with the M Type 246 Monochrom. As my posted comment, from two years ago, had indicated, I did buy lenses, starting with a pre-owned APO Summicron-M 75mm ASPH, rather than spend money on an M10 Monochrom. Thanks, again, for assisting me in making that decision.

I am grateful for this very useful presentation. Your results are helpful, in my decision whether to acquire an M10 Monochrom, or, keep using my M Type 246 and original-version M10 cameras. The slimness of the M10, and its viewfinder experience, are quite nice, but I think that I prefer the physical control set of the M246. I think that I would rather that a good lens be my goal, rather than acquiring a newer camera body. Thanks!

I have used both cameras extensively. The advantage of the M10M is in low light. Period. Otherwise, with the right lens the 246 is pretty remarkable. If you want to get into rangefinder photography today then I highly recommend the M246. To save money on lenses you can choose from any of the Summarit line of lenses or a Zeiss 28, 35, or 50.

The loss of functionality in the on/off switch - particularly the loss of the timer - was one of the reasons I sold my M10 and went back to the M240. I used mine a lot for landscapes and I liked to bracket my images. On the M240, I could select the timer on the on/off switch and bracketing in the drive menu. On the M10, I could only select one or the other from the drive menu. The M240 was a lot more functional (for my limited set of needs). Like you, I don't quite understand why Leica didn't see the logical value in keeping the on/off switch that way.

Both great cameras, would be happy with either one. But the OG M9 Monochrome.. once you see it, you cant unsee it.

Very interesting comparison. I am surprised that there was not a more obvious image quality difference. The minimum of 320 iso on the classic monochrom I can see as potentially being an issue at times, but a work around could be an ND filter of course. The M10 more minimalistic button count approach appeals, but, as you pointed out, it seems a shame that the drive control around the shutter button on the Classic has been dropped. Generally, it feels like in some areas they have stepped forward & in others arguably backward. Generally, i often find myself looking at Leicas offerings and thinking ‘if only they had incorporated design aspects from another of their cameras’ For example, the M10 D - its a more extreme back to basics, old school shooting experience.....to my mind, it seems an obvious platform to be a monochrom camera. ...or, the ‘fake’ wind on lever of the M10 D, why didn’t they put that on all the M10’s? It looks like a very tactile handy feature which improves one’s grip on the camera, without needing a hot shoe thumb grip which then means you can’t use a flash or the EVF at the same time - the fake film advance lever solves this. It’s also on livery. Many like the while ‘Leica’ engraving on the top plate, it should be standard on all M’s. In many respects, I find Leica M’s quite frustrating in the ‘if only they had done’ stakes.

Wonderful, as usual. Bigger isn’t always better and I think that unless you’re in the business of placing billboards on the moon, 24mp is the sweet spot. Heck, maybe even 18!

I’ve been watching your testing over the months and think you do a great job in real world scenarios. I really hate marketing hype. I have the Leica q and s. I still love the look of film very much and have film cameras. I wanted to pick up a monochrom for traveling oversees. I can save 3,000 on a brand new in box m246. I’m not chasing the pixel. What I want is a film look. I think the m246 should do the trick. Thank you for your help.

Great video as always. Owning both cameras I would say where the M10M shines over the 246 is in low light conditions. Both are very good but the M10M is just amazing in very low light

Great video! I'd love to see how these cameras compare to their colour counterparts though. A video where you compare the M monochrome to the M10 converted to Black and White would be great!

Danke für das Video - hätte nie gedacht, dass die Bilder der Typ246 der M10M so ähnlich sind!

What an excellent, well presented and well structured video. Thank you for this.

Considering that the market is full of almost new 246 for 3700 USD and that the M10M is only available new at 8200 +/- I guess that the 246 is a great way to enter the digital monochrome world?

I'm thinking about getting the Mono 246 and trading in my M10.... I will also have a M10r and SL2 in my kit... I shoot a significant amount of my work in BNW but I don't feel the need to invest heavily into the M10 Mono because the Mono 246 is so comparable to the M10 Mono... I've been converting my files since the beginning of time to BNW... I have used the Q2 mono and like it but I don't love it... I figured I'd pick up another lens for my kit with the Mono 246 instead of paying the price tag for the M10 Mono body... the Mono 246, in my opinion, might be the most underrated camera (and Best purchase) for BNW shooters that don't want to pay the M10 mono price tag EVER. Thank you for your review(s). I appreciate you!

I came to this video because i found in another review video the Monochrom classic’s output more to my liking than that of the M10M. And here in this review, I find again the M classic marginally more to my liking than that of the M10M’s. Thanks for this video. I’m in the market for a digital M (most likely the M11) and a Leica Monochrom - I’m quite convinced that I would prefer the Monochrom classic (Type 246) to the M10M purely in terms of the output. I currently own the last-gen film Leica MP (ala carte) and the original Leica Q, among many other mostly film cameras going all the way back to the Canon AE-1 which i bought in 1980.

Excellent video as usual

the classic was the mm m9

A very useful and through video, thank you. I've decided to buy the M 🙂

I heard the reason why Leica got rid of the movie funktion in the M10 series is the limited space in the compared to the M240/246 smaller housing and the related sensor heating.

nice but what about ISO?

Faster shutter speed on the classic? I think you have that backwards.

Hey Math! Great video as always. Wondering what the M10Mono picture would look like against the PhaseOne iq3 or iQ4 Achromatic?

Du hast dich gefragt warum Leica die Videofunktion weggelassen hat. Nun, es ist ganz einfach und wurde von Leica Verantwortlichen auch schon oft gesagt: mit integrierter Videofunktion war es nicht möglich die angestrebte Gehäusetiefe zu erreichen. So einfach ist das.

Reason why video capability was removed in the M10 series was due to introduction of the SL camera series and avoiding in-house competition.

Good review. Just a language point: you keep saying ‘classical’ it should be ‘classic’. Classical music, but classic cars, cameras etc.

cmos vs ccd as well - I thing the M246 actually produces better graduations in the blacks than the cmos sensor.

The older one seems more contrasty to me out of the camera. By the way which is you all time favorit camera? Cheers usem Aargau 😎 🙋🏻‍♂️

Hi Mat thanks for the for this old v new Mono, as a result I got my self am M246. Question Do you use a Poloriser or 3 Strop ND filter to better control the highlights? If so which one is best . Thanks Dominique .

6:25 Leica likely removed that feature on the new m10 to avoid the likely heat build up from its thinner design.

The older Monochrom still performs well, however when you over exposed both cameras it looks as if the weather changed enough where the M10M was another full stop over exposed over the 246 Monochrom’s overexposure... in this case it’s safe to say that the highlight recovery is probably even if the M10M has a slightly advantage. Personally I would probably opt for the M10M but the 246 Monochrom is still an amazing camera and amazing value.

Great comparison, have you experienced the issue when using colored filters and the rangefinder not being able to focus accurately?

Great comparison. Of course the test was done at base ISO, I would imagine M10M would start showing advantage at much higher ISO settings. As always correct exposure is the key to highlight/shadow recovery. Assuming one is satisfied with ISO 10,000 upper limit M246 is still excellent camera today. The way I see it comparing both and in with respect to EVF, M246 was terrible but the the M10M is derivative of the original M10 and that EVF is poor by the standard of 2020. My M246 will carry on until Leica comes up with improved EVF, or I may convert Nikon Z7 to Mono at some point 😉

Is there any chance you can do an identical comparison for the M10 vs M10r?

Just out of curiosity do you prefer Capture One to Lightroom, if so why?

thank you.

Always great videos enjoying your Chanel, Leica removed video capability on M-10 so they can sell more Q2 I guess

Can you make a comparison of the CFA (Color Filter Array) of the M10 and M10-R? The M10-R CFA is the same as in the S3, Leica claims to have made a big leap in color accuracy especially aimed at getting skin tones right by tweaking the red channel. Would be nice to see a direct comparison with a Color chart and some portrait for skin tones. Thanks.

ISO 160 is not native for M10M. It's a pull setting, which was deliberately omitted from Typ 246 because of inferior DR. You should have use 360 on both cameras.

Thanks to this video, I fell in love with your M Mono camera. I want to have it.,.^__^*

DOH! I've forgotten how many things you are coming back too lol

One of the most stupid things Leica have done in their design upgrade was to remove the two extra controls from the surround of the shutter switch. If people were complaining about switching on to C when they did not want to, then all leica had to do was make it stiffer to switch to C. Hardly difficult, and it would save diving into menus. I also notice that the implemented ISO dial only goes up to 12500, which for cameras like the M10M and the later M11M is obviously too limiting. Why not add 25000/25k? There is space, it just requires smaller, neater engraving.

M Monochrom Typ 246 хорорш!

Touch Functionality of M10M. Doesn't the M10M touch functionality enable much more precise focusing off-centre than the M246 ? I find the LV peaking and magnification on the 246 to be infuriating for landscape and especially using the super little 21 mm 3.4 Elmar. Zone focusing on the lens is not always what we want to do when the calibre of the LV screen otherwise allows much more precise selection of focus points. I love my 246 but this along with the truly awful EVF 2 are the greatest drawbacks of it in landscape work

I still prefer the M246

It's still camera not a movie camera that's why

Agree Leica need to bring video back to the new M cameras.

Not classical, classic

you are rich