Right, just watched through the entire video, and also read the previous article about the M10-D.
I have mixed feelings about this camera having now seen the app in action. I liked the idea of its predecessor, given its lack of screen, and old school feel. Plus you had to do things not knowing what the outcome was.. how 1900’s.
However, I don’t like the idea of live view via your phone, or being able to chimp via your phone. Oddly I have set my Df up not to show me the image I have just shot. Yes I can go back and check, but only do so if I want to make sure I have got what I want.
A few more videos would be nice as they break up the media on here, and also introduce us to a wider cast of people. Which is fun.
Keep up the good work – not sure if the site is in transition or not, but I’ve had issues opening the article screen on both my phone and mac.
It was good to see how remote control is possible. The new ap seems to have drawn mixed reviews in the Leica forum. Perhaps you could expand on its value and effectiveness, Mike. Also, list the cameras which can benefit from it.
I don’t expect to use the app much. I have no interest in sharing pictures with the iPhone, nor will I be fiddling with jpegs since I just take pictures and then look at them in Lightroom at the end of the day. I will certainly use the app to set up ISO Parameters (possibly just once) and, possibly, to format a card occasionally (although I can do this easily on the Mac). There’s not much else there that I can envisage using. I suspect most M10-D owners will feel the same —otherwise they would buy an M10-P.
The app handles most of Leica’s current range including SL, M, CL and TL. I am not sure about the Panasonic compacts, though.
The connection between camera and phone is not yet ready for prime time in my opinion. After switching on WiFi on the camera there is a green blinking light which seems to go on for ever. Only when it stops blinking can you instruct the phone to connect. This is quite counter-intuitive since a Bluetooth connection is normally made while the light is flashing, not when it stops.
This alone makes impromptu use of the app for settings impractical. The M10-D is best set up once — and here the extra facilities of the app are useful — and then left unconnected. It would definitely be a mistake to assume the the app just does what the screen on the M10 can do. Far from it and anyone assuming this will be disappointed.
I like the relaxed atmosmosphere Mike and Ivor. You make viewers feel they are with you in the shop. Well done.
Without intending to be critical about the video production, if you use two cameras in future productions, Mike and Ivor need to know which camera to look at. Eye contact is lost quite frequently in this video which breaks the bond between speaker and viewer. Why not use the second camera purely for ‘cut-away shots’ of the product in close-up so that speakers are always looking at one camera?
You are absolutely right, David, and it is mainly my fault. I was told in advance look at the middle camera but the left hand one was more in my line of sight and I kept looking at it. By the time we’d finished it was nearly 10pm and I don’t think we could have managed any more takes. As it was, Francis did a great job of stitching together lots of snippets and cutting out the bad bits. But there was nothing he could do with the way I was looking at the wrong camera. I suggested maybe having a light or a sign over the central camera to act as a constant reminder. We will get more proficient, I hope!
Another cinematic masterpiece, Mike. It was great to meet both yourself and Ivor again in London yesterday. This camera is not for me at all. I was in the Red Dot store yesterday looking at some much older and more interesting stuff and I did not ask to see the M10-D. I was glad to see Ivor using an M3 Double Stroke (DS) to demonstrate, what I believe to be, the origins of the ‘thumb thingies’, which I don’t use. There is a degree of logic in using the wind on lever as a thumb rest with the M3 DS as it enables the photographer to know that the film has been fully wound on and not to end up ‘shooting blanks’. The M3 DS is one of my favourite Leicas, along with some much earlier models from the 1920s and 30s. For digital stuff the M10 suits me just fine.
I am glad that you got the Leica Fotos App (still a work in progress in my view) to work. It won’t work for my M10, but the earlier M App, which seems to be fairly similar, does work. For the life of me, I cannot imagine why I would ever want to use either App. There is a certain delicious irony in a camera which lacks certain functions and features, which can be added by means of a phone. A sign of the times in which we live, perhaps.
I agree. I like the M -D models without LCD, but think all of the functionality should be on the camera. I have no desire for a wireless phone app or any wireless functionality in photography.
If they do want to add functionality that must accessed in another way, then instead of a wireless phone app, it could be more interesting to connect to a computer with a USB cable and have a command line program to adjust the parameters and then use the camera. As Mike said in the video, many of these are not parameters you would be frequently accessing, so I believe this would be a convenient way to do it, with the ‘retro’ command line program being a fun sort of way of staying in the technical spirit of a traditional Leica rangefinder camera.
Right, just watched through the entire video, and also read the previous article about the M10-D.
I have mixed feelings about this camera having now seen the app in action. I liked the idea of its predecessor, given its lack of screen, and old school feel. Plus you had to do things not knowing what the outcome was.. how 1900’s.
However, I don’t like the idea of live view via your phone, or being able to chimp via your phone. Oddly I have set my Df up not to show me the image I have just shot. Yes I can go back and check, but only do so if I want to make sure I have got what I want.
A few more videos would be nice as they break up the media on here, and also introduce us to a wider cast of people. Which is fun.
Keep up the good work – not sure if the site is in transition or not, but I’ve had issues opening the article screen on both my phone and mac.
Dave S
It was good to see how remote control is possible. The new ap seems to have drawn mixed reviews in the Leica forum. Perhaps you could expand on its value and effectiveness, Mike. Also, list the cameras which can benefit from it.
David,
I don’t expect to use the app much. I have no interest in sharing pictures with the iPhone, nor will I be fiddling with jpegs since I just take pictures and then look at them in Lightroom at the end of the day. I will certainly use the app to set up ISO Parameters (possibly just once) and, possibly, to format a card occasionally (although I can do this easily on the Mac). There’s not much else there that I can envisage using. I suspect most M10-D owners will feel the same —otherwise they would buy an M10-P.
The app handles most of Leica’s current range including SL, M, CL and TL. I am not sure about the Panasonic compacts, though.
The connection between camera and phone is not yet ready for prime time in my opinion. After switching on WiFi on the camera there is a green blinking light which seems to go on for ever. Only when it stops blinking can you instruct the phone to connect. This is quite counter-intuitive since a Bluetooth connection is normally made while the light is flashing, not when it stops.
This alone makes impromptu use of the app for settings impractical. The M10-D is best set up once — and here the extra facilities of the app are useful — and then left unconnected. It would definitely be a mistake to assume the the app just does what the screen on the M10 can do. Far from it and anyone assuming this will be disappointed.
Interesting concept but not one for me.
I like the relaxed atmosmosphere Mike and Ivor. You make viewers feel they are with you in the shop. Well done.
Without intending to be critical about the video production, if you use two cameras in future productions, Mike and Ivor need to know which camera to look at. Eye contact is lost quite frequently in this video which breaks the bond between speaker and viewer. Why not use the second camera purely for ‘cut-away shots’ of the product in close-up so that speakers are always looking at one camera?
You are absolutely right, David, and it is mainly my fault. I was told in advance look at the middle camera but the left hand one was more in my line of sight and I kept looking at it. By the time we’d finished it was nearly 10pm and I don’t think we could have managed any more takes. As it was, Francis did a great job of stitching together lots of snippets and cutting out the bad bits. But there was nothing he could do with the way I was looking at the wrong camera. I suggested maybe having a light or a sign over the central camera to act as a constant reminder. We will get more proficient, I hope!
Fantastic…Does the Academy have an award for this category? Was wondering when you were going to follow up to the first video. Keep em coming guys.
Another cinematic masterpiece, Mike. It was great to meet both yourself and Ivor again in London yesterday. This camera is not for me at all. I was in the Red Dot store yesterday looking at some much older and more interesting stuff and I did not ask to see the M10-D. I was glad to see Ivor using an M3 Double Stroke (DS) to demonstrate, what I believe to be, the origins of the ‘thumb thingies’, which I don’t use. There is a degree of logic in using the wind on lever as a thumb rest with the M3 DS as it enables the photographer to know that the film has been fully wound on and not to end up ‘shooting blanks’. The M3 DS is one of my favourite Leicas, along with some much earlier models from the 1920s and 30s. For digital stuff the M10 suits me just fine.
I am glad that you got the Leica Fotos App (still a work in progress in my view) to work. It won’t work for my M10, but the earlier M App, which seems to be fairly similar, does work. For the life of me, I cannot imagine why I would ever want to use either App. There is a certain delicious irony in a camera which lacks certain functions and features, which can be added by means of a phone. A sign of the times in which we live, perhaps.
William
I agree. I like the M -D models without LCD, but think all of the functionality should be on the camera. I have no desire for a wireless phone app or any wireless functionality in photography.
If they do want to add functionality that must accessed in another way, then instead of a wireless phone app, it could be more interesting to connect to a computer with a USB cable and have a command line program to adjust the parameters and then use the camera. As Mike said in the video, many of these are not parameters you would be frequently accessing, so I believe this would be a convenient way to do it, with the ‘retro’ command line program being a fun sort of way of staying in the technical spirit of a traditional Leica rangefinder camera.