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Our team at DPReview TV hit the streets to test the new Leica M10-R. Find out what 40MP from a Leica rangefinder looks like in our sample gallery.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The M10-R is Leica’s newest rangefinder camera. It’s also the first M-series model to push resolution beyond 24MP, making the jump to a 40MP sensor. We take a look at what’s new – and what stays the same – in our hands-on review.
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Leica has introduced the M10-R, the highest resolution member of its M10-series yet. The M10-R’s 40 Megapixel sensor is largely the same as the one in the M10 Monochrom, with the main difference being (naturally) that it has a Bayer color filter. Leica claims that the new sensor offers a wider dynamic range in Raw mode and less noise than previous M10 bodies.
Like the Monochrom and the M10-P, the ‘R’ has the quietest shutter of any M-series camera (film bodies included).
The M10-R features a 3″ fixed touchscreen with 1.04 million dots, which can be used for live view and reviewing images. It has a single SD card slot (UHS-I only) and Wi-Fi, but not Bluetooth. As with its siblings, the M10-R does not have a USB or HDMI port. As always with Leica cameras, it’s made in Germany and build quality is exceptional.
The M10-R will go on sale later this month, in your choice of black or silver, for $ 8295.
Go hands-on with the M10-R
Press release
A new 40-megapixel color sensor brings broader capabilities into the creative landscape
July 16, 2020 – Leica Camera introduces a new high-resolution version of the company’s legendary rangefinder camera, expanding vivid creative possibilities from the most human moments in street photography to the most epic landscapes. With its unique 40 megapixel color sensor, the new Leica M10-R delivers enhanced rendition of details to fully explore the optical excellence of the legendary Leica M lenses. This new flagship expands the M10 family, which includes the M10, M10-P, M10-D and M10 Monochrom, and achieves maximum image output without compromising the tenets of M photography.
The M10-R’s newly developed 40 megapixel sensor represents a considerable increase from the 24 megapixels of the M10, and yet the M10-R offers significantly reduced image noise as well as a wider dynamic range. The sensitivity range of this new sensor, from ISO 100 to 50000, ensures it can be used in any situation a photographer may need. That base ISO of 100 helps allow bright light photos where the aperture can be kept wide-open for better background blur and bokeh, while on the other side of the spectrum the maximum exposure time has been increased to 16 minutes for more creative freedom with long exposures in the darkest light. Complementing the Leica M10-R’s imaging prowess and handling is its super quiet mechanical shutter, inherited from the M10-P. Its whisper-quiet operation helps the user be stealthy, when capturing that decisive moment requires the utmost discretion, and its minimal vibrations reduce the risk of camera shake to help yield sharper pictures.
As with all of Leica’s rangefinder cameras, the construction of the M10-R involves a large amount of hand assembly utilizing the best quality materials by highly trained specialists, carried out at the company’s production plant in Wetzlar, Germany. This ensures that the large number of components – such as the complex rangefinder mechanism – not only perform with the utmost precision but are also particularly robust and long-lasting. A Leica M is synonymous with reliability and durability, making it a valuable long-term investment.
The Leica M10-R reaches its full potential when paired with its native Leica M lenses. The camera has the capacity to fully utilize the outstanding imaging performance of this legendary, longstanding lens range. The M10-R truly sings when paired with the newest generation of Leica’s technical marvels of optics, such as the APO-Summicron-M 50 f/2 ASPH., capturing photographs of a truly exceptional quality. Concurrently, the M10-R’s newfound heights of image quality and resolution also emphasizes the distinct characteristics of older M lenses, many of which are still cherished by vintage photography enthusiasts to this day.
The Leica M10-R will be available end of July at Leica Stores, Boutiques and Dealers for $ 8,295.00 in black chrome and silver chrome finishes.
| Price | |
|---|---|
| MSRP | $ 8295 |
| Body type | |
| Body type | Rangefinder-style mirrorless |
| Body material | Magnesium alloy |
| Sensor | |
| Max resolution | 7864 x 5200 |
| Image ratio w:h | 3:2 |
| Effective pixels | 41 megapixels |
| Sensor size | Full frame (36 x 24 mm) |
| Sensor type | CMOS |
| Processor | Maestro II |
| Color filter array | Primary color filter |
| Image | |
| ISO | Auto, 100-50000 |
| Custom white balance | Yes |
| Image stabilization | No |
| Uncompressed format | RAW |
| File format |
|
| Optics & Focus | |
| Manual focus | Yes |
| Lens mount | Leica M |
| Focal length multiplier | 1× |
| Screen / viewfinder | |
| Articulated LCD | Fully articulated |
| Screen size | 3″ |
| Screen dots | 1,036,800 |
| Touch screen | Yes |
| Screen type | TFT LCD |
| Live view | Yes |
| Viewfinder type | Optical (rangefinder) |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.73× |
| Photography features | |
| Minimum shutter speed | 960 sec |
| Maximum shutter speed | 1/4000 sec |
| Exposure modes |
|
| Built-in flash | No |
| External flash | Yes (via hot shoe) |
| Flash X sync speed | 1/180 sec |
| Self-timer | Yes |
| Videography features | |
| Microphone | None |
| Speaker | None |
| Storage | |
| Storage types | SD/SDHC/SDXC card |
| Connectivity | |
| Microphone port | No |
| Headphone port | No |
| Wireless | Built-In |
| Wireless notes | 802.11b/g/n |
| Remote control | Yes (cable release) |
| Physical | |
| Environmentally sealed | Yes |
| Battery | Battery Pack |
| Battery description | BC-SCL5 lithium-ion battery & charger |
| Weight (inc. batteries) | 660 g (1.46 lb / 23.28 oz) |
| Dimensions | 139 x 39 x 80 mm (5.47 x 1.54 x 3.15″) |
| Other features | |
| Orientation sensor | Yes |
| GPS | Optional |
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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The Leica M10-R offers a familiar handling experience but ups the resolution from standard M10-series bodies to 40MP. We’ve been out shooting with a late preproduction M10-R, to give you a sense of what that extra resolution looks like.
To reflect the manner in which the M10-R is likely to be shot by most owners, the majority of the images in this gallery are converted from Raw, with some out-of-camera JPEGs included for spice. Really mild spice.
Please note that the images in this gallery were shot with a pre-production M10-R. As such, image quality may not exactly match results from shipping cameras (but is likely to be extremely close).
Check out our gallery of samples from the Leica M10-R
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Leica has just released a major update to the M10-series, with a big leap in resolution over the original M10 models. The new M10-R features a variant of the 40MP sensor found in the more recent ‘Monochrom’ version, and includes a couple of the nice extras introduced in the older ‘P’ model. Read on to learn more.
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Externally, the only difference between the M10 and M10-R is the addition of an ‘R’ to the engraving on the hotshoe.
Internally, it’s a different story. The M10-R offers a big jump in pixel count, from 24MP to 40MP. For anyone who was expecting the next-generation M to feature the 47MP sensor from the SL2 and Q2, we’re told that the reason Leica opted for a ‘color’ version of the M10 Monochrom’s 40MP sensor is simply size. The 40MP sensor is thinner, and better optimized for use in the compact body of the stills-only M10-series cameras.
Like the original M10, there’s no option to shoot video. There’s also no low-pass filter on the sensor, to really make the most out of all those pixels. The downside to that is that moiré can be an issue in some situations (especially when shooting fabrics).
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The M10-R’s processor is the same Leica Maestro II that we’ve seen in previous M10-series models, but Leica claims that thanks to the new sensor, dynamic range has been substantially improved in Raw mode. Despite the significant increase in the size of its files, the M10-R’s continuous shooting rate is 4.5 fps – barely slower than the original M10’s 4.8 fps.
Like the original M10/P, native ISO sensitivity spans 100-50,000 (everything above 6400 is accessed via the ‘M’ setting on the ISO dial shown here) and the maximum exposure time has been extended to 16 minutes (from 4 minutes on the M10/M10-P).
Raw files are recorded in the DNG format, in 14-bit, with lossless compression.
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Leica aficionados can skip this section, but for the uninitiated, the Leica M10-R is a rangefinder-type camera. It has an optical viewfinder, offering a comfortable field-of-view of approximately 28mm.
A series of prisms and mirrors under the top-plate (linked to a cam which connects to the lens) project two overlapping images into a small patch in the middle of the finder which, when they line up, indicate accurate focus. This was considered high technology in the 1920s, and still works well 100 years later, once you’ve got the hang of it.
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One of the first questions I asked Leica representatives when they showed us the M10-R was whether the focusing system had been revisited to increase its accuracy, given the demands of a new 40MP sensor.
The answer I received was ‘no’. The system was overhauled and improved for the original M10, and has not been tweaked since. From my shooting on the M10-R so far, focus accuracy is about what I’d expect from shooting with the original M10. When working wide-open, it’s sensible (if you can) to focus bracket a little bit, but with practice, it’s not too hard to get focus where you want it, in most situations – despite the higher pixel count. For critical work, the optional Typ 020 viewfinder (shown above on an M10) allows for precise manual focus.
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The approximate field of view your lens is indicated in the viewfinder using projected frame lines. You can preview the field-of-view provided different lenses (from 28mm to 135mm) by moving the lever below the viewfinder window (shown in the previous section of this article).
When you mount a different lens, the frame lines will automatically adjust accordingly. To accurately frame shots using lenses wider than 28mm, you’ll need to attach an optical finder to the M10-R’s hotshoe. This image shows how much the 75mm Summilux intrudes into the view, but it’s an exception: most M-mount lenses don’t take up this much visual real estate.
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The M10-R borrows from the M10-P in a couple of key respects, one being its touch-sensitive rear LCD. The touch functionality is well-implemented, to the extent that it doesn’t get out of the way of the shooting experience. It’s useful mostly for flipping through images in playback mode mode, and pinch-to-zoom to check focus. And you can tap as hard as you like – the screen is protected by Gorilla glass.
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It’s a bit disappointing that there’s no option to customize the touch function. It would be nice, for example, to be able to rate images by touch or use the screen as a focus point positioning pad with your eye to the (optional) EVF.
On the plus side, navigating through captured images and zooming in/out is very fast, with virtually no ‘lag’ despite the large file sizes. Please note that the image above shows the M10-P, and was taken at a time when we could still get friends to hold cameras for us from less than 6 feet away.
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The M10-R’s ‘silent’ shutter is actually nothing of the sort, but rather the nicely-damped, very discreet mechanical shutter from the M10-P. While not silent, it is less obtrusive than the shutter sound of the original M10. There is no truly silent, fully electronic shutter mode available, in either normal or ‘EVF’ (live view) shooting.
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No surprise here – the M10-R’s battery and memory card are still accessed via a latched door on the base of the camera. Leica will tell you this is to help keep the camera sealed against dust and moisture (which is it, by the way) but we suspect that tradition plays a big part.
Having to remove the base of the camera to swap out a battery or SD card isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it does make using the M10-R on a tripod (or even just in a soft case) more awkward than it probably needs to be. We had hoped for USB charging on this model, via a more-accessible port somewhere on the body but alas, tradition won the day, yet again. There’s no official word on battery life, but we’d expect the M10-R to offer basically the same stamina as the M10 Monochrom (350-400 shots per charge).
The M10-R supports SD cards up to the SDXC standard. In other words, there’s no benefit from using UHS-II cards in this camera. You can do it (and they’re mechanically perfectly compatible), you just don’t gain anything.
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The M10-R is fully compatible with the FOTOS app, allowing for remote capture, image review and file transfer to a smart device. A fully-featured ‘Pro’ version of FOTUS is also available for iPad, for an annual fee. The app is shown here running alongside the weird and wonderful M10-D (which as you can see, doesn’t have an LCD of its own).
The Leica M10-R is available in ‘black chrome’ and ‘silver chrome’, for an MSRP of $ 8,295 (the same price as the M10 Monochrom).
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)