The reason I chose Hakodate was simple. I just knew my arrival time was after sunset and it was raining nationwide except Okinawa. So, I chose the town that matches rainy weather. I had only two lenses with me: the APO-SUMMICRON-M 50/2 ASPH. and the SUMMILUX-M 35/1.4 ASPH.. I was just interested in its high ISO performance as I have already checked its delicate lines, minute depiction, and tonality in the daytime. The M Monochrom doesn't have the color filter and the base ISO is 320, so the physical advantage is obvious and it will increase the dynamic range. Plus, the noise reduction process should be simplified because there is no need for demosaicing. Using a high ISO, I expected the film-like rough graininess by underexposing severely. The result? I was able to get what I had expected.

At ISO6400. The lighting was very limited. It becomes noisy, but it's like ISO800-1600 of a film and the M Monochrom outperforms in resolution. The noise isn't annoying and the images are very sharp maintaining thin lines. It also has high contrast, yet has a room for post adjustment. The noise reduction neither lowers resolution nor causes flat tonality. As I expected, the simple sensor structure contributes to the improved high ISO performance. With other cameras I used to add noises after converting color images to grayscale, but with this camera I would just raise the ISO and stop down.

At ISO800. It's hard to find noises in this image size, but there are some. Just like Yokohama or Otaru, there are red brick warehouses in Hakodate bay area, too. This camera captures each bricks and realizes the reflecting lights being absorbed in the darkness. The M8/M9/M9-P are lowpass-less and sharp, but the M Monochrom is even sharper and draws plain lines.

I shot this table through the restaurant's window by pressing the lens onto the glass, just like I was waiting for a police checkup...
At the base ISO, it's minute as if it was shot with a professional copy film (I guess there will be less people who gets this simile). And, this 50mm is a heck of a lens! The bokeh is just beautiful, too. I heard Leica made it taking no account of costs and I am convinced.

If you want the best results you want to be nervous in determining exposures just like when you shoot slide films or other digital cameras. For those who had shot monochrome negatives would agree that the best tonality only comes from the best exposure. Don't you have an experience that you didn't know how to tone the scanned shots that were severely overexposed or underexposed? The camera I borrowed this time allowed shooting DNG and JPG files (I could only shoot JPG files last time), so I developed the DNG files with Adobe Lightroom (I couldn't do it with Capture One Pro because of course this camera hasn't been released). My impression is that this camera requires the careful decision of exposure that I mentioned above. It's not that the dynamic range is narrow, but it's best to expose most correctly within the dynamic range without relying on the post adjustments with the software. Of course, you can always post-adjust the highlight and shadow detail to some degree, but it won't give you the very best tonality obtained only from the best exposure at the scene. However, I could be wrong because I am using this pre-released version, so for now I should say that it's best to use the best exposure to let this camera show its potential ability. I think this is a very interesting camera because it leaves no ambiguity in the output unlike other cameras that requires lowpass filtering and demosaicing. This is a double-edged sword. It generates the best results if a photographer exposes very carefully, but if s/he exposes loosely, the looseness will be shown as it is because there is no ambiguity to cover it. We used to have monochrome slide films until a few years ago, but this M-Monochrom doesn't require the nervousness needed for these films. Still, it will bring the best results if shot with an exposure meter, or at least with such attitude.

The texture of the roofing tiles is just beautiful. The matte paint due to weathering is very realistic and the reflection on the windows is nice. I took two other shots overexposed and underexposed to see if post adjustment would work, but none of them could bring this beautiful tonality. So, I can repeat that you may want to fine-expose to use its potential. If you would like to shoot more loosely, you can use the M9-P instead and convert the color images on the PC because it stills offers high quality pictures. The question is whether you want something even better or not.

There are so-called "thick negatives", and what this camera generates is exactly that. Contrast is high, yet the tonality isn't sacrificed. And I shouldn't forget that this beautiful image is also produced by the latest SUMMILUX 35mm. This lens takes unique pictures if shot wide open.

It stopped raining on the next day and there were thick clouds in the sky. I used to feel that summer had come when I started to see gray colored negatives, and such atmosphere is well depicted. What a sharpness. It's sharp enough to resolve each leaf of the trees. Of course, this is also because of the lens, still this clear resolution is only possible with this camera that generates one pixel output using one pixel in the sensor.

I hadn't used Leica for a while before this test shooting, and realized how compact the system is. If you bring a body and two lenses, you don't feel much of their presence when carried with other stuff. How relaxing! I walked around for hours in Hakodate and I was blessed by its smallness. I felt that my main activity had shifted to walking. This let me shoot more and I ended up shooting 520 pictures in one day. The majority of them were something that I cannot even tell what were photographed, but that's no problem. Leica isn't a tool for photographing, but for viewing. The bright frame and the parallax don't let you compose precisely and the rangefinder doesn't let you shoot close-up photos. Such features don't ask you to devote to photographing, and lets you keep a good distance from it. The potential is dreadnought, but you can use it casually - that's what makes the Leica M camera special.

Side by side, gentlemen! At a sushi restaurant "Sushimasa." I was so drunk and back-focused a bit. I don't have to repeat here, but one good thing about Leica is that it just doesn't intimidate people. The M8 had the 1/8000 shutter, but the M8.2, the M9-P and this M Monochrom have the 1/4000. They reduced the speed just to realize a quieter shutter, and that is where the essence of this camera lives in. By the way, converted grayscale images of human skin tends to be too white if shot under tungsten lighting, but that doesn't happen with the M Monochrom.

Hakodate has the similar mood to Kobe or Nagasaki because they are all port towns. They are all attractive cities for taking photography because there are streetcars, slopes, and modern buildings of Meiji and Taisho periods. Also, a good walk from the central town takes you to some out-of-the-way fishing ports. Although this city had once been prosperous because of fishing industry, it is declining in these days due to the outflow of young people. But it's a comfortably quiet and nice city to stroll about with a Leica M camera. The weather gets very misty in June presumably because of tide. If you want to take a look at famous Hakodate night view, you may want to go in spring, fall, or winter. One more thing. The seafood is just delicious...I should stop sounding like a travel guidebook. Anyway, it's truly a nice city to photograph.

Just like Kobe and Nagasaki, there are many churches in Hakodate. I was taking this shots for many times, a sister came to talk to me, "Are you a follower? (in more general sense)." I answered "I'm sorry my parents believe in Jodo Shin sect." and she smiled. I overexposed until the sky becomes completely white, the statue has a beautiful tonality.

Another attraction there is the morning market. Just like the one in Wajima of Noto peninsula, every salesperson will talk to you and they are very vigorous. I wonder how they get old in such positive way.