Review: Leica M10 Monochrom vs M Typ 246 Monochrom

These two Leica cameras shoot only in black-and-white—the Leica M10 Monochrom and the Leica M Monochrom Typ 246. But which one does it better? Ian Howorth to put the two to the test. Over to you, Ian.

Usually, camera reviews should lead you on a journey. You give a little and take a little, and finally deliver the verdict. Truth is, that's how it was going to go. I had prepared to fully compare the Leica M10 Monochrom to the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom. Leica for Leica, like-for-like. But things don’t always go to plan, and some things surprise you along the way.

So why compare the Leica M10 Monochrom to the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom? Well, Leica cameras are unique—you can’t really compare them like-for-like with other cameras. Their handling, usage and design make them very specific pieces of photographic equipment. While they have a strong following, they’re pretty niche. Traditional DSLRs are considered for their usability, features and tech to help with ‘getting the shot’, but Leicas are prized over the shooting experience, oneness with the camera and—of course—the lenses. Oh, the lenses!

Tracing back the Leica lineage, you inevitably arrive at black-and-white film. The street photography greats—Joel Meyerowitz, Bruce Gilden, Garry Winogrand—all carried a camera with a red dot, probably a Leica M3 Single Stroke, and most likely loaded it with Kodak Tri-X 400 speed film.

So, with such a steeped history in black-and-white imagery, it seemed fitting that Leica would make an exclusively black-and-white sensor. After all, many present-day photographers still shoot solely this way.

Of course, to us mere mortals, it makes no sense. Why would you narrow down your options in such an extreme way—and pay more for the privilege? Well, it’s simple. Tonality. By removing the colour filter array in the sensor, Leica made a sensor with fewer filter layers that usually impede the passage of light. These cameras are relatively straightforward, just two factors: light and contrast. While there’s more to it than that, it does summarise things nicely without going into too much detail.

The allure of resolution is one we like to pretend doesn’t interest us. But, the truth is, it’s irresistible. The Leica M10 Monochrom has 41 megapixels, compared to the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom’s 24 megapixels, but that doesn’t explain the jump in quality. Leica didn’t simply add more pixels. They totally redesigned the sensor.

In terms of lenses, I used the Leica 50mm f/2 APO-S-M ASPH Summicron and the Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux-M ASPH—arguably the jewels in the crown of Leica’s standard lenses.

I only slightly edited these images. Both sets of images from each camera used the same preset, only slightly tweaked if the exposure was different—but all the images had a similar exposure to within half a stop.

While each setup was set up identically—same lens, same exposure and same ISO—I found that either the Leica M10 Monochrom overexposed slightly or the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom underexposed slightly. So, I decided to shoot using aperture priority on both independently, rather than metering off one and sharing those settings with the other. The first thing I realised was that the Leica M10 Monochrom is more contrast-y than the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom—the gap between highlight and shadow is wider.

In general, two images from two different digital camera models—from the same brand and era—can be made to look quite similar with a bit of work. The colour science and shared sensor tech allow for edits that will respond similarly to each other. While I’m confident it would be possible to get these two cameras’ images to look similar, the tech is quite different and each camera has a very different personality.

Straight out of the box, I found the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom to have more pleasing tonality and organic renderings. But the Leica M10 Monochrom has its own beauty, which is cleaner and more clinical. The M10’s extra resolution adds quite a bit more detail to these images, which gives off a more realistic vibe than the poetry of the Typ 246.

I find the sky in the Typ 246 to be more controlled than on the M10, which led me to believe that the M10 overexposes slightly. It just required compensation dialled back to keep those highlights in check.

Not much between the two images here. As you can see, both cameras are doing a marvellous job of showing off their incredible tonality. And, of course, the wonderful Summicron APO gives us perfect contrast and textures.

It’s worth mentioning that both of these cameras carry a warning for highlight control. Don’t blow your highlights—there’s no fishing them back. Whereas black-and-white film might retain more detail in the highlights, these digital sensors operate the other way around. If in doubt, expose with a bias towards highlights and pull detail out of the shadows in post. There’s a ton of detail there.

This is what black-and-white photography is all about tonality and separation, the bits in between pure white and pure black. While we are taught to believe that neither is necessarily good in an image—especially considering Sony’s wonderful sensors with their magical dynamic range—it was Ansel Adams who taught us that the full spectrum of tonality isn’t a bad thing. If anything, a highly dynamic image, showing the whole tonal range, can be very pleasing. And who’s going to argue with Ansel?

The Leica M10 Monochrom gives you higher contrast straight off the camera, but its wonder lies in post. The sheer amount of detail you can pull back from shadows is exceptional. It just happens to give you highlights with more ‘ping’ than the flatness of the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom. The detail is there if you want it.

The Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom then rewards anyone with an eye for black and white. The tones might not be everyone’s favourite, but they’re good enough to please everybody.

For such a storied brand, with much of its history steeped in film, shooting with a Leica for many people means black and white. So trying to find the right combination of lens for the M10 was crucial to try to render a more filmic look. Enter the mighty Leica f/0.95 Noctilux.

I figured it might be good to try some images shot at varying ISO and f-stop combinations would give me a good idea as to the different ways of rendering a more filmic image—the inherent sharpness of closing the aperture down and high ISO, opening the aperture and high ISO and all combinations in between.

Now, this is where things get complicated, and the turning point in this review. At this point, I’m not going to talk about the Leica M Typ 246 Monochrom anymore. The next few paragraphs are all about the Leica M10 Monochrom. And here’s why. When doing this review, I didn’t really know much about the M10. Although I knew its high ISO capabilities, I didn’t realise the impact shooting at night would have. Even now, I haven’t stopped thinking about it. That’s the impression it has left on me.

The Leica M10 Monochrom, shooting at ridiculously high ISO, is frankly incredible. So incredible, in fact, that you’d need to add grain in post to images at 25,000, 40,000 and 50,000 ISO. Otherwise, the images were ‘too clean’.

The level of detail and tonality, even at these levels of sensor sensitivity, is unprecedented. All the while, any texture that is added seems organic and pleasing to the eye.

When shooting at extremely high ISO, you occasionally have to crush the blacks—especially if it’s dominant like the night sky here. But, after all, the sky was very dark. The scene is still rendered very naturally.

Just to get exposure with black-and-white film, any of this would require a tripod and a much slower pace. The Leica M10 Monochrom, on the other hand, takes even 40,000 ISO in its stride. Want a lot of grain but a sharp image? Shoot it at f/5.6, with a high shutter speed, and bring the ISO right up—perfect for fans of grainy Tri-X or Ilford HP5 pushed to 1,600.

Using different lenses with the M10 allows you to explore the possibilities of what look you can create. The mix of high resolution, high ISO and small/large aperture allows for unlimited looks, add in over- or under-exposure and it gets the shooting experience as close to shooting film as I’ve ever known with a digital sensor.

By 80,000 ISO, you can still get perfectly usable images. But care is needed. Artefacts may begin to show in middle-grey areas or muddy shadows. At this level of sensitivity, the detail is still amazing. That’s thanks to the lens, but also to the Leica M10 Monochrom’s sensor still managing to resolve small details and wonderful subtleties.

Often, we are impressed by a camera's features alone. Even if we don’t need them. But the Leica M10 Monochrom stays close to its roots and pays homage to days gone by. Tons of personality, texture, tonality and—of course—the experience of using a Leica.

So, do I really think the Leica M10 Monochrom is the best camera I’ve ever used? It’s a tough one to answer. For me, each camera serves a purpose. In an ideal world, we would all have a camera-specific to the job at hand or to fulfil a creative vision. An exclusively black-and-white sensor in a rangefinder is never going to do that. The limitations are too high. But if black-and-white photography is all you shoot, then the Leica M10 Monochrom is as close to perfect as you can get.

Read our Leica M Monochrom review or discover more camera gear guides on the MPB content hub.