Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 Review | 108 Data compared

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is a specialized, premium rangefinder featuring a 24MP CMOS sensor without a color filter array, offering improved performance over its predecessor with Live View, 10x magnification, and a large 2GB buffer. Its robust design, built from brass and magnesium alloy, is praised for its durability, while performance is boosted by a 3-inch 921k-dot display and Full HD video capabilities. Drawbacks include the inherent limitation of black-and-white-only capture and a higher base ISO of 320, requiring adjusted exposure techniques. Additionally, the review notes potential shutter-induced blur in specific metering modes, alongside typical rangefinder constraints regarding wide-angle lenses.

The Leica Monochrom Typ 246 is a specialized, luxury digital rangefinder dedicated entirely to black-and-white photography. Shifting from the previous model's CCD sensor, this iteration introduces a highly capable 24-megapixel CMOS sensor packed inside the more robust Leica M 240 body. When paired with the Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 ZM lens, the camera delivers astonishingly sharp images, deep tones, and an improved dynamic range that safely handles highlights without the harsh blowouts seen in the original Monochrom. Operating the camera provides an unmatched physical and emotional connection to the manual shooting process, making it a highly motivational tool for dedicated monochrome enthusiasts. Pros and Cons While the camera offers incredible performance, it comes with distinct advantages and drawbacks: Pro: Astounding high ISO performance, delivering exceptionally clean, detailed low-light imagery even at ISO 12,500. Pro: Massive leaps in battery life over its predecessor alongside a faster 2GB image buffer. Pro: Modern hardware updates, including a vastly improved LCD screen, a smoother shutter sound, and live-view monochrome video recording. Con: Exorbitant price tag of $7,450 for the body alone, which quickly balloons once...

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is a highly specialized digital rangefinder camera designed exclusively for black-and-white photography, doing away with traditional color filters to allow more light to reach its upgraded 24-megapixel CMOS sensor. This architectural change delivers exceptionally clean, detailed, and finely textured images with an expanded ISO range starting at a base of ISO 320 and stretching up to ISO 25,000. Alongside the sensor upgrade, the camera introduces a faster processor for quicker file handling, live view functionality, 24fps Full HD video recording, and a durable 3-inch sapphire glass LCD screen, all packed into a ruggedly built body that offers a premium, tactical feel. Despite its remarkable craftsmanship and excellent image sharpness, the camera is held back by several notable limitations and a premium $7,995 price tag. Reviewers highlighted a limited overall dynamic range and a metering system prone to burning out highlights, which demands careful exposure management from the photographer. Additionally, the camera suffers from an awkward exposure compensation button, inconsistent frame guide accuracy in the viewfinder, and a fully manual rangefinder focusing system that may...

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is a specialized black-and-white rangefinder featuring a 24-million-pixel full-frame CMOS sensor and a 2GB Maestro processor, providing 4 frames per second shooting. By omitting the anti-aliasing and color filters, the camera delivers exceptional sharpness, high-ISO performance up to 25,000, and a film-like luminance noise structure, according to What Digital Camera. Key disadvantages noted include a high base ISO of 320, requiring ND filters in bright light, and sometimes inaccurate in-camera metering. Additionally, the camera is a highly exclusive luxury item with a high price point, catering specifically to photographers seeking a dedicated, traditional, black-and-white workflow.

The Jonathan Slack review highlights the Leica Monochrom (Typ 246), codenamed "Elliott", as a highly successful, stealthy successor to the original M Monochrom. Built on the M-P (240) platform, it transitions from a CCD sensor to a 24-megapixel CMOS sensor without a Bayer color filter. This design choice increases resolution and light sensitivity. The reviewer finds that the camera represents a major practical leap forward, adding highly functional digital features—such as Live View, focus peaking, and video capabilities—to a traditional rangefinder body. The auto ISO configuration is praised as the best implementation the reviewer has used. It allows highly fluid shooting in low-light environments while retaining a beautiful, subtle tonality in the files. However, the reviewer also points out several physical and technical drawbacks to the system. On the hardware side, the Typ 246 is 100 grams heavier and 0.6mm thicker than its predecessor. While its high ISO performance is vastly improved, allowing usable images at a pushed ISO of 25,000, sensor banding remains a distinct possibility under extreme settings. The most severe drawback at the time of the review...

The B&H Explora hands-on review highlights the Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) as a specialized, premium, 24MP full-frame CMOS camera engineered for pure black-and-white photography. Key pros include exceptional sharpness due to the lack of a color filter array, excellent high-ISO noise performance, and a robust brass/magnesium-alloy body with an improved rear LCD for focus peaking. Conversely, the camera has a steep learning curve with its manual-only rangefinder focusing and tends to clip highlights, requiring careful exposure management. The review also notes the high price point, significant weight, and a noticeable "jelly effect" in video, positioning it as a niche, high-luxury tool.

The Photography Life review highlights the Leica M Monochrom (Type 246) as a luxury tool for black-and-white photography, with a 24-megapixel sensor designed for exceptional sharpness and low-light performance up to ISO 25,000. It improves upon its predecessor with a faster processor, live view, and focus peaking, offering a film-like grain. However, the review notes the high cost, lack of autofocus, and a high base ISO of 320, making it a specialized, niche camera. The 680-gram rangefinder camera is best suited for purists willing to manage potential highlight clipping in bright light.

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) upgrades from the previous generation's 18-megapixel CCD sensor to a 24-megapixel CMOS sensor that lacks both a Bayer filter and an anti-alias filter, capturing sharp, dedicated black-and-white images without digital noise artifacts. A major benefit of this technological shift is the addition of live view and electronic viewfinder capabilities, allowing photographers to utilize focus magnification and focus peaking lines to achieve precise focus when shooting wide-open with fast lenses (like f/0.95 or f/1.4). Additionally, the Typ 246 features an improved 921.6K LCD screen, a helpful 4-way navigation cursor for quick access to information screens like the histogram, full HD 1080p monochrome video recording, and a larger battery that provides at least double the battery life of its predecessor. However, the reviewer notes several downsides to the Typ 246 depending on the user's specific creative preferences and needs. While the CMOS sensor yields a much wider dynamic range (ISO 320 to 12500, expandable to 25000) for enhanced low-light performance, it loses the distinct, random pixel layout of the older CCD sensor, which some purists prefer...

The Leica M Monochrom Type 246 (named "Elliott") digital rangefinder review highlights it as a highly specialized tool designed entirely for dedicated black-and-white photography. Thorsten Overgaard frames the camera as a highly predictable, accountant-driven iteration that uses the exact robust chassis and internal architecture of the Leica M-P 240, but swapped with a black-and-white sensor. The prominent pros of this system focus on its exceptional image quality; because it eliminates the standard color Bayer filter, the sensor records pure luminance to deliver unprecedented pixel-level sharpness and finer texture clarity than typical 24-megapixel color cameras. Additionally, the upgrade from a CCD to a 24MP CMOS sensor significantly boosts low-light capabilities, presenting an extra stop of usable ISO (clean results up to ISO 12,500) and adding modern utility functions like Live View, Full HD video, focus peaking, and longer battery life. YouTube · Conversely, the review notes prominent cons and distinct operating parameters that users must adapt to. A significant technical drawback is that the Type 246 captures raw images in a 12-bit sensor depth, which is a downgrade from the 14-bit...

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) features a specialized 24MP CMOS sensor without a color filter array, delivering exceptional raw detail and high light sensitivity with a base ISO of 320. This design offers superior micro-contrast that rivals Foveon technologies by avoiding sharpness degradation from color interpolation. However, the camera captures no color data, limiting post-processing, and suffers from a significant shutter-induced image blur at specific shutter speeds due to its default "advanced" metering mode. To achieve peak sharpness, users must select "classic" metering to eliminate vibration, as noted in the analysis.

The Leica Monochrom Typ 246 marks a significant, mature upgrade over the original M9-based Monochrom, transitioning the specialized black-and-white camera line into the M 240 generation. The reviewer considers it a major improvement in nearly every category, delivering a refined body, a vastly improved and higher-resolution LCD screen, a much faster menu interface, and a quieter shutter. Equipped with a 24-megapixel sensor (up from 18 MP), it offers expanded dynamic range, superior high ISO performance, and a massive buffer capacity. Image quality shifts from the raw, hard rendering of the original model to a creamier, richer file structure. The reviewer finds these new files significantly easier to process during RAW development. Furthermore, it retains the highly praised, long-lasting battery life of the M 240 and features a body that pairs exceptionally well with classic, inexpensive lenses. Despite these advancements, the camera has notable drawbacks and points of contention. Its premium retail price of $7,450 remains a substantial financial barrier, even if slightly less expensive than its predecessor. Users transitioning from the original model face a distinct 1-to-2-week learning curve to...

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is a specialized rangefinder camera featuring a 24-megapixel, black-and-white-only CMOS sensor that delivers exceptional detail, rich contrast, and strong low-light performance up to ISO 25,000. Built with a durable brass/magnesium body and sapphire glass, it introduces modern features like Live View with focus peaking, a responsive display, and improved frame line accuracy. Conversely, the camera carries an extremely high price tag and suffers from a slightly slow startup, making it a niche tool rather than a general-purpose device. Its 320 base ISO can cause overexposure issues in bright daylight, and video capabilities are limited compared to its superior still-image performance.

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246), internally codenamed Elliott, is a dedicated black-and-white digital camera based on the M-P (Typ 240) platform. By removing the Bayer color filter array over its 24-megapixel CMOS sensor, the camera eliminates color interpolation and demosaicing, allowing each pixel to capture pure luminance data for incredibly sharp, artifact-free details. In terms of pros, the shift to a CMOS sensor delivers exceptional low-light capabilities, outperforming the original CCD-based M9 Monochrom by two stops, where images at ISO 8000 look as clean as the older model at ISO 2000. The camera also adds modern conveniences like a larger 2GB buffer for extended burst shooting up to 3.5 fps, a high-resolution sapphire glass LCD, live view focusing, external EVF compatibility, a quieter shutter, and surprisingly high-quality HD video capture at 1080p. However, the camera comes with specific cons and operational challenges. Most notably, it is entirely incapable of capturing color, making it a highly specialized, niche tool that often necessitates a second camera body for multi-purpose photographers. A major handling constraint is the absolute need to protect highlights,...

The ePHOTOzine review of the Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) highlights a specialized 24-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor that omits a Bayer filter and anti-aliasing filter to produce exceptional monochrome sharpness and high ISO performance. Upgrades include a 2GB buffer, 3.4 fps shooting, and Live View functionality, all housed in a durable, weather-sealed metal body. Key pros include excellent dynamic range, low noise up to ISO 25,000, and robust build quality. Notable cons include the high introductory price, lack of color functionality, and a relatively high base sensitivity of ISO 320, along with the inconvenience of removing the baseplate for battery/SD card access.

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is a specialized full-frame mirrorless digital camera designed strictly for black-and-white photography, featuring a 24-megapixel CMOS sensor completely devoid of both an anti-aliasing and a colour filter. Built like a tank with minimalist ergonomics, it completely ditches the signature red Leica logo for an all-black design and features an optical rangefinder viewfinder with 0.68x magnification. The reviewer notes that while the camera requires a strict commitment akin to shooting analog black-and-white film, its primary advantage lies in its exceptional rendering of rich mid-tones and shades of grey, alongside breathtaking sharpness and details. Furthermore, the absence of colour filters allows the camera to deliver highly pleasing, organic grain structure and noise control at elevated ISO settings up to ISO 3200. On the downside, the camera features a more restrictive dynamic range regarding highlights when compared to traditional full-frame colour sensors, making it impossible to recover blown-out details if overexposed by more than 1Ev. Performance is also limited by the appearance of digital banding in dark areas when pushing past ISO 3200, a lack of built-in...