Leica M Monochrom
![Leica M Monochrom is the first digital camera to shoot only in black and white](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4n7NsgarAfJUpVkKHCnimR-415-80.jpg)
As top-end still cameras add more and more multi-media functionality, Leica has launched a camera that does a lot less. The promise of course being that what it does do, it does very well. The Leica M Monochrom (the clue is in the title) is the first digital camera to shoot only in black and white.
Leica claims that excusing the camera - a new variant of the M9 rangefinder, first launched in 2009 - of colour duties means that the sensor can concentrate on dealing with light and shade, making for sharper images with much less noise. (And what noise there is, says Leica, is a finer, better sort of noise).
Given that most photographers shooting digitally work in colour before converting to black and white during processing, the M Monochrom is a genuinely radical proposition. But it shares the M9’s rugged construction and good looks with matt black chrome top plate and super soft leather trim. And like all M-class Leicas, the M Monochrom is built like a battleship.
Leica has also launched the Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’, the third special edition it has produced with the French fashion brand. It comes with an ochre leather trim and an even more pared down and elegant body design. The Edition Hermés will be available in two limited edition sets.
Leica claims that excusing the camera of colour duties allows the sensor to concentrate on dealing with light and shade, making for sharper images with much less noise
The camera is compatible with almost all M-Lenses manufactured since 1954, offering a variety of focal lengths and allowing flexibility
It is constructed with extreme durability and long working life in mind, with the top and bottom solid brass plates providing protection for camera's insides
Leica M Monochrom has all the characteristics of a traditional Leica rangefinder: simple menu navigation, manual focusing and intuitive handing
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
Apple packaging like you’ve never seen it before
Photographer Johann Clausen sheds rare light on Apple’s product packaging in a captivating new series
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Last updated
-
London’s Design Museum becomes a supermarket selling artist-designed essential items
The Design Museum shop will turn into ‘Supermarket’ designed by Camille Walala and will sell competitively priced items including toilet roll, porridge oats and coffee, in packaging created by emerging artists
By Ben Gorham Last updated
-
An insider’s guide to highlights at Object at Miart 2018
By Hugo Macdonald Last updated
-
’Origins in Progress’ by BCXSY at Pantaloon Gallery, Osaka
By Pei-Ru Keh Last updated