REVIEWS - Leica M Typ 240 Digital Rangefinder

OVERVIEW

When first receiving the Leica M-240, I intended to write a M9-P versus M-240 type of review, but after a couple days with the M-240, it became clear that such a comparison would be pointless. By the 3rd or 4th day, I felt there was no compelling reason to to keep the Leica M9-P. The M-240‘s general operation felt quicker, smoother and more polished than the Leica M9 in every way. Some of those improvements over the M9 include (in no particular order):

• 3” rear LCD with 921,000 dot resolution
• Fast image review (of the actual DNG)
• LED illuminated framelines - switchable between white and red
• Full-frame 24 MP CMOS sensor produced by CMOSIS
• 13 stops of dynamic range at ISO 200
• Cleaner files at base ISO
• Improved high ISO
• Smoother, quieter shutter
• Live View and EVF capability
• Improved rangefinder focusing
• Improved battery life
• Improved SDHC card performance
• 2 year Leica manufacturer's warranty

Comparing the M-240's CMOS vs M9's CCD sounded like a good premise at first, but after a couple days with the Leica M-240 I realized there was a bigger at question at hand, "can the M-240 be my only camera?" Much of this review is focused on that question.

BUILD QUALITY

The M-240's fit and finish matches or exceeds the Leica M9-P. The M-240 is a bit larger, but in use I do not notice the difference. The M-240 bears the Leica red dot, which is bigger than the previous red dots. The “M” I could do without, it looks lonely without a number next to it. The subsequent Leica M-P Typ 240 and Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 removed the red dot and lettering. Relative to the Leica M9-P, some of the changes I immediately noticed:

• Shutter Release:  The button travel feels markedly smoother and the new half-press / full-press works better than the Leica M9’s three levels. The shutter sound and vibration are noticeably reduced. Shutter responsiveness is quicker than the M9-P.
• Play Button:  The new lay-out for the 6 buttons to the left of the rear LCD works fine. The buttons look better in person than they do in pictures. After a couple months the new layout feels normal and going back to the M9-P would now feel "wrong".
• Control Pad and Thumb Wheel:  The new thumb wheel and direction pad are more intuitive when reviewing images and working in the menus.
• Battery Life:  I use the rear LCD and Live View alot, so probably 500 to 750 clicks per charge. Compared to the M9-P, the M-240's battery life is awesome.
• Start Up Time:  Both my M-240 and M-P take around 2 seconds to start up with Sandisk 16 GB SDHC Extreme III cards. Over time the start-up time will degrade, so I do a deep format on each card each month with the SD Formatter application.
• Framelines:  The new LED illuminated framelines are bright, but Leica took away the frame selector. I eventually "upgraded" to the Leica M-P just to get the frame line selector back (yeah!). The LED framelines are only visible when the camera is powered-up.
• Rear 3” LCD Screen:  The screen size and resolution are an improvement for sure. The image review speed is great - no more waiting 2-3 seconds for the full-image to draw (like the Leica M9-P). Menus and navigation are fast. One minor gripe is the low-contrast highlight used to show the active menu item - sometimes it is unclear which menu item is selected - especially when outdoors. Leica eventually updated the M-240's firmware to show actual DNG file when zoomed in, not a low rez JPEG preview --- BIG improvement.
• Rangefinder Focusing:  Some owners note the accuracy of rangefinder focusing has improved. I tend to agree that rangefinder focusing is easier than it was with the M9-P. It could be the placebo effect.

HANDLING

From a handling perspective, the two big take-aways are the new rear 3” high resolution LCD and the smoother shutter. Both make the M shooting experience more pleasant. To further improve the ergonomics, there are several Leica M accessories which I consider as ‘must-haves’:

• Match Technical’s Thumbs Up:  The Match Technical EP-1S Thumbs Up fits and works like a charm. The little raised bump next to the M-240‘s rear control wheel is no substitute for a Thumbs Up. I tried the Thumbie but after a week's use in the 100º F Texas summer heat, it eventually slid off over time. Also, the Thumbs Up has a better ergonomic shape and feels solid. The Thumbie felt "squishy" with its foam adhesive backing.
• Open Back Half Case:  Initially I had a Artisan & Artist half case for the M-240, and then changed to the Arte di Mano for the Leica M-P Type 240. The Arte di Mano changed their cut lines to accommodate the frameline selector lever. Arte di Mano's leather fit, precise cutting and craftsmanship are superb.
• Artisan & Artist Silk Rope:  Love these things! Bought my first Artisan & Artist strap in 2006 for the Leica M8 and have been using them ever since. I like to loop the strap around the wrist for added security. When storing the camera or setting it down on a table, I loop the strap around the lens, thus providing some protection to the underside of the lens barrel.
• Really Right Stuff Leica M Bottom Plate:  I use just the base plate. With the grip and "L" portion removed, the RRS plate stores easily in my camera bag. You can buy just the Really Right Stuff Leica M Quick Release Base Plate.
• Leica 1.25x Viewfinder Magnifier:  My main M lenses are the 35mm Summilux-M FLE, 50mm Summilux-M ASPH and 90mm Summicron-M APO, so the Leica 1.25x Magnifier works out pretty well. When shooting a 21mm or 135mm, odds are I am using the Live View or the Leica EVF2.

The M-240 feels very refined compared to its predecessors. The only nagging annoyance is the craptastic Live View / EVF implementation, but we will get into that in the next section. If judging the M-240 based upon its rangefinder merits, it is a wonderful camera. It has grown alittle both in size and weight, though much of that weight gain is the M-240's new battery which has terrific capacity.

The rubberized grip covering used on the M-240 and M-P is pretty, but it does not offer much "grip". Aesthetically I much prefer how the M-P looks. The Leica M-P (Type 240) adds a small list of improvements: frameline selector added back, Sapphire rear screen cover, 2 GB RAM of internal buffer, blacked out hot shoe, "M" and the red dot removed from the front fascia, and Leica script added to the top panel. I really missed the frameline selector on the M-240, so was very happy to see it added back on the M-P.

ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER

When the Leica M-240 was announced, I was very happy to hear the M was finally gained Live View - I was looking forward to finally breaking the 135mm barrier on a rangefinder. Adding Live View significantly improves the Leica M's functionality:

• External optical viewfinders are no longer needed for wide angle or telephoto lenses, thus a cost savings, less to carry, better framing and no more parallax.
• Able to use telephoto lenses as well as just about any SLR lens via a lens adapter, manual focus and stop down metering.
• Ability to precisely focus and photograph in physical positions / conditions where rangefinder focusing is not feasible.
• Electronic viewfinders (EVFs) are generally better when focusing in dark conditions.
• Testing Leica M (Typ 240) and rangefinder coupled lenses to see if their focus is well calibrated with one and another.

The Leica EVF-2 itself is nice. The view presented in the EVF is large, bright and easy to see from center to edge. The real-time histogram is a nice touch, and helps with gauging the amount of exposure compensation (EC) needed. This live histogram is very helpful if practicing ETTR (expose to the right). The horizontal and vertical leveling overlay is handy.

With the EVF-2 the auto magnification feature makes more sense compared to using the rear LCD. Either way, the process is simple - focusing triggers the auto magnify, tap the shutter button to return to 1X. Repeat as needed. As-is the EVF works and is usable, but the overall experience is far from ideal. There is lots of button pushing when moving the image from the EVF to the rear LCD, and then back to EVF mode or exiting Live View / EVF all together. If the camera is shut off or goes to sleep in EVF / LV mode, the M-240 will remain in EVF/LV mode when powered up again. This might be attractive for some users, so there should be an option in the settings to control this behavior. There are also technical shortcomings:

• Focus Peaking:  Focus peaking in the 1X view is barely visible. The situation improves 5X and 10X, and firmware 2.0.1.5 added an option to change the focus peaking color (red, blue or green). However, focus peaking is far from being sure-fire way to gauge focus.
• Different Metering:  Regardless of the metering mode used in the EVF / LV mode, the exposure is usually 1/3 to 2/3 stops hotter compared to regular metering mode via the rangefinder (non EVF / LC mode).
• Shutter Lag:  If trying to use the M-240 as a pseudo SLR via the EVF, the shutter lag is around .5 seconds. With the VF-2 attached, the lag-time feels even more noticeable because my attention is so concentrated on the EVF view. Catching a critical moment is very difficult.
• Mini Earthquake:  Without lens or sensor stabilization, the EVF / rear LCD view is shaky, especially so at 5X and 10X. With lenses longer than 90mm, a tripod is highly recommended.
• Jell-o Effect:  Due to the slow refresh rate (60 MHz) and 30 FPS, the Jell-o effective is quite obvious - especially when using longer lenses and the mini earthquake effect is in its full glory.
• No Auto-Magnify with Non-RF Coupled Lenses:  Auto magnification relies on the RF coupling and sensing focus ring movement. With SLR lenses there is no such mechanical focus connection, thus no auto-magnify, thus alot of button pressing to manual toggle back and forth between 1X, 5X and 10X.
• Cannot Move the Magnified View:  This is the coup de gras. In the magnified views the Live View area cannot be moved, it is locked at the center. This almost nullifies the value of Live View because I cannot focus off-center, check corners, etc.

The criticisms above compound with one another - for example, with a telephoto lens the EVF preview is very shaky, the Jell-o effects adds blur and distortion, button pushing leads to more camera shake and delays taking the shot (no auto magnify), composition is all but impossible because the magnified view is just the very center area, and then there is the shutter lag... I am grateful to have LV functionality on the M and want to see Leica to continue to develop this feature. Leica needs to make major improvements - namely a moveable live view patch, higher resolution EVF and eliminating the shutter lag.

AUTO WHITE BALANCE

With the Leica M-240's initial release, colors were not ideal. Fast forward 18 months and the M-240 has had several firmware updates as well as Lightroom and Capture One. Nowadays my time spent setting white balance values in the raw editor and subsequent color editing in Photoshop is no more or no less time than spent on a file from the Canon 1Ds Mark III or a Phase One digital back. Leica M9 fans will probably still find the M-240's colors too warm. I was not a fan of the Leica M9's color rendition, but I would agree that the color of an untouched out-of-camera M-240 image is still on the warm side. That said, the M-240's white balance and color rendition has came a long ways since I first published this review (June 2013).

COLOR RENDITION

Generally speaking about Leica's color reproduction, their DNGs tend towards muted tones - instead of blue, it’s cyan. Instead of red, it’s burnt orange. Yellows have cyan or green undertone. Remapping their color to something I like can take hours of editing, and many times the Leica M8 and M9 files fell apart in the editing process. The M-240 colors seems more like the Canon 1Ds3 and less like the Leica M9. The M-240 has captured some nice colors across a broad range of conditions; I am generally happiest with the late evening pictures.

Getting a consistent color "look" from the M-240 for indoor shots, to outdoor daytime landscapes, to portraits, to night time shots has been a challenge. I have not found a common "look" or post processing work flow that works well across a wide range of conditions. From an editing standpoint the M-240 files are robust - the transitions do not crumble apart, color banding is held at bay, etc. I spend alot of time brightening files with brightness and levels layers in Photoshop. These mid-tone luminosity edits shift color hues and saturation, thus additional color editing is needed to bring the color rendition back in line with the overall file.

While the M-240's file quality is undoubtedly better than the Leica M9's in terms of dynamic range, noise, malleability, etc., I cannot say that the "color" or "look" is better. The M-240 "look" is just different. The Leica M9 is more of Fuji Velvia / Lomo look; whereas the M-240 is more of a Kodak Porta look. I prefer the M-240 over the Leica M9; however, I spend just as much time color editing a M-240 file as I did a Leica M9 file.

RAW FILE QUALITY

When it comes to file quality, my observations are based on how the M-240 files feel compared to the Canon 1Ds Mark III and the Phase One P65+. Below are some comments to this effect.

• ISO Performance:  At base ISO I feel the Leica M-240 files are cleaner than Canon 1Ds Mark III, and maybe as good as the Phase One P65+. Compared to the Leica M9-P, the M-240’s ISO improved ~1.5 stops. The M-240's high ISO images are far more malleable than the Leica M9's. The degree of ISO improvement is not earth shattering, but it is a very solid improvement.
• Dynamic Range:  Overall the M-240‘s dynamic range bests the Canon 1Ds Mark III and certainly the Leica M9. DXO shows the M-240 having at least a 1-stop advantage (over the Canon 1Ds Mark III). I also have a Sony A7rII and Leica SL Typ 601. Overall, at base ISO all these cameras have about the same dynamic range. I know the A7rII tops the scores on DXO, but in day to day shooting I do not feel there is much difference.
• Sharpness:  The M-240 files feel alot like a file from the Canon 1Ds Mark III and more subdued than a Leica M9 file. The Leica M9-P images felt crisper or sharper straight out of the camera. Net-net after post processing, etc., the M-240 is no less sharper than the M9-P. Lenses like the Leica 35mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH FLE are stunningly sharp, and files with that lens feel more detailed than the Leica M9-P files. I definitely like having the M-240's added megapixel count for printing and cropping.

CONCLUSION

Leica M9 users may be somewhat fussed by the M-240’s color mapping which yields a different look than the Leica M9, but this is par for Leica since they seemingly re-invent their color mapping with each new M. In trade the M-240 offers more resolution, more dynamic range, improved high ISO, live view, EVF, improved shutter, stable SDHC operation, high resolution rear 3" LCD, illuminated frames, support for a Leica SF-26 flash (capable of bounce), great battery life and so on. The Leica M-P (Typ 240) added back the frame line selector, a stealthier look, improved RAM buffer and the sapphire rear screen cover. It is hard to look back at the Leica M9 and miss much of anything.

If using the M-240 as a traditional rangefinder camera and not needing Live View, then I like the M-P (Typ 240). Moving from the Leica M9-P to the Leica M-P (Typ 240), I gave up nothing and gained alot. The vast majority of my angst with the Leica M-240 (and M-P) is the EVF.

I do not want the Leica M to lose that classic feel, but the LV and EVF specifications definitely need to improve. If buying a Leica M Typ 240 solely to use as a rangefinder camera, it is wonderful. If wanting to use the EVF and push beyond the traditional rangefinder boundaries, the EVF is disappointing, especially by today's standards (as of late 2016). Of course, the Leica M10 addressed many of the M-240's shortcomings.