Limitations
Recouping from a hernia repair means laying low, or trying to, semi-successfully. Not even that. Calls to make, zooms to attend, remote support sessions here and there. Scheduling my tech guys. Marketing. Still, I spent hours watching YouTube videos about the anachronistic Leica M9. I was less than twenty-four hours into my Monochrom-only mission when I became obsessed with the color M9. It’s got that mystical CCD sensor, designed to mimic Ektachrome film. Prone to corrosion, as anyone with any sense will warn you. But should you acquire an M9 whose sensor has not been replaced, you can always send your camera out to Kolari Vision for a corrosion-proof replacement for a cool $1000 or so. Considering what even a used, thirteen year old M9 will set you back in the first place, what’s another $1000 between friends?
My gut, at times, hurts like a sonofabitch. I’ve only downed four extra strength Tylenol caps, so it must not be too bad. I also spilled most of a papaya salad all over myself. I never spill, ever, except for today. I allow myself the luxury of a second shower, the water turned up hot, and I stand there feeling somewhat okay. Before I enter the shower, I stare at my wounded belly in the mirror, and I think of my dad, when he was already old, the way his belly looked, and how mine will eventually look, more ancient than today. My belly’s more bloated than my dad’s was. It’s already a dreadful sight.
Since the Monochrom showed up, not only have I fallen back in love with photography, I’m also lurking here at The Courage Run a lot more. The juices are flowing. I’m doing the write thing. The YouTube videos bring up another drawback of that CCD sensor on the color M9. ISO performance. What that means, to those of you who haven’t absorbed the ubiquitous photographic terms that pervade our photo-saturated world, is that the color M9 shows ugly digital noise in low light situations, unless you use flash or slow the shutter down. Slowing the shutter down means you’ll eventually show movement in the frame. You can also open up the aperture, which brings in more light. Opening the aperture means a shallower depth of field, which means you’ll have less of your subject in focus, front to back. This can actually be a good thing. The Monochrom doesn’t have this low light problem, because it’s black and white. Digital color noise is not a black and white problem. But let’s suppose we arbitrarily impose a restriction, based on the limitations of a color M9. The color M9 is said to work best at no higher than ISO 800. What if I impose that same restriction on my Monochrom? We end up with Mazie in repose at 1/60 of a second, with the aperture wide open at f/2. The image is not tack sharp. But does it need to be? Which brings me to another point. These Leicas are manual focus only. It means we miss more shots. But do we? Sure, the camera doesn’t grab all you can grab with a non-anachronistic hyper-auto focus system. You can’t spray and pray with one of these temperamental creatures, you’ll choke the buffer. But are you really missing the shot? Or are you gaining reflection time, and time to converse with your subject? Should I be concerned? If I’m being honest, I enjoy the down time. I enjoy the notion of clicking with people rather than clicking the shutter, as Eisenstaedt would say. I stare at my Leica with admiration and gratitude. I can feel its heft without picking it up. I’m a part of its history. I’m not missing a thing.
