Leica Summilux-M 50mm Sharpness

Last week, I headed out for an early morning walk. Playing a bit with my new Leica Summilux-M 50mm Asph, I was amazed by the sharpness of this lens at f/1.4. The following image was taken at the minimum focussing distance (~0.7m);

Frozen Heath @ 50mm f/1.4Viewing a part @ 100% shows a small hair 'caught' by the heath branch;

100% magnificationI must admit that it took 'some' luck to capture this, but it shows the quality of this lens @ f/1.4

Leica M9 Firmware Update

In September I reported that there were some issues with the Leica M9(-P) and certain SD memory cards (SanDisk in particular). They released an update for this problem in the beginning of November.

Last week they released another update for the SD card problem. Something to do with the initialization (formating) of some cards. The update (v1.176) for the Leica M9 (and M9-P) can be downloaded from the Leica Service pages.

Bug fixes:

• Fix of a seldom-occurring error when initializing the SD-card.
  With that firmware update, we revoke the constrictions made with respect to the compatible cards. Generally speaking, the Leica M9/M9-P is compatible with any SD card that is in accordance with the respective standards. Unfortunately, it is impossible to test the compatibility of every single card of every single supplier. All cards available from SanDisk have been compatibility-tested and the firmware version 1.1.76 ensures their proper function.

I must mention that I didn't have any problems after the v1.174 firmware update, and I haven't run into problems with this one as well.

iPhone 4S versus Leica M9

Today I enjoyed a small walk in (foggy) Heidestein (Zeist) with my M9. During this short break I took a couple of photos with my (new) iPhone 4S and the M9. Standing in the same position with comparable focal lengths (35mm). The (Adobe Photoshop Lightroom screenshot) results are shown below.

Mind you that the M9 delivered RAW DNG files, while the iPhone coughs up JPEG files.

The one thing that really shows is the noise in the iPhone versions of the photos.

On a lighter matter, I also snapped two photos using Instagram on the iPhone 4S. Again, results below.

This app rocks on the iPhone 4S

HDR and Panoramic Photos

Many use the Leica M9 (or any other M-series) for street / portrait / candid photography. I also see lots of questions about the M9 in combination with nature / landscape photography. No idea why they ask these questions, because the Leica M-system is just as capable of shooting landscapes as any other camera.

The first photo is an 8 photo panorama shot from the hand (in manual mode). The second photo is a 3 exposure HDR (-2EV, 0EV, +2EV). Also shot without a tripod.

So, if anyone tells you that a Leica M-system camera isn't suitable for anything else than street / candid / portrait / documentary photography doesn't know what he/she is talking about. The limitation is the photographer. Not the equipment.

Cleaning the Leica M9 Sensor

The last couple of days, I noticed those well known dust spots in my photos. So time to clean the camera. I already tried the blowing technique with a Giottos Rocket-Air blower. This usually does the trick, but not this time.

Checking for dust on the sensor is done by using the following procedure;

• Use a small aperture on the camera (f/11 or smaller)
• Overexpose the image  by 1 or 2 stops (by using exposure compensation)
• Take a photo of a white piece of paper. No need to keep the camera stable, because the dust ain't moving anyway.
• Check the photo for spots by zooming in on the LCD screen on the back, and move the around. The dust spots should be very visible this way.

So, it's operating time:

Leica M9 and the Cleaning SetItems used are (clockwise): cheap-ass headlamp, VisibleDust cleaning fluid, VisibleDust Arctic Butterfly, Giottos Rocket-Air blower, the patient (with lockable cable release to be used with the Bulb setting on the camera), and Delkin full frame swabs.

First I tried the Giottos Rocket-Air blower to remove the dust. Result; nothing... Next up; the Arctic Butterfly. Still dust visible on the photo's. So, one option left; wet cleaning.

I used the full frame swabs from Delkin, but even though these are specially made for full frame sensors, I found the maneuvering in the camera housing troublesome/cramped. Also, it seemed that more dust was getting on the sensor by using these swabs. After two tries I quit using these swabs, and got my crop sensor swabs from VisibleDust out. I used those before on my Nikon D300 (with success). The advantage of these swabs is that they are smaller, which gave me more room to maneuver in the camera housing. And guess what; the dust was gone after the first swipe.

Excellent!!

For those who are wondering about cleaning their camera; there's not really much to is. As long as you prepare yourself, and use the right tools.

• When you have dust in your up-right corner on the photo, it means that the dust on your sensor is on the lower-left part (when you're looking in the sensor housing). The image you see through the lens / view-vinder is flipped horizontally, AND vertically on the sensor. This helps in determining where to put your cleaning efforts.
• Make sure you have a way of locking the shutter when performing the cleaning. I can't image what will happen to the shutter, when your swabbing the sensor and your finger slips of the shutter release. I always use a lockable cable-remote.
• Use a (Rocket) blower to remove the dust particles that are not stuck (glued) to the sensor.
• Try a Butterfly-like brush to remove the particles that not that stuck. Problem is, you don't know if they will come loose.
• Finally, use the wet method.