Leica 10760, 10771 User Manual

Leica Camera AG I Oskar-Barnack-Strasse 11 I 35606 SOLMS I GERMANY

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LEICA M MONOCHROM

The fascination of digital black-and-white photography.

CONTENTS

LEICA CAMERA AG

The future of black-and-white photography.

LEICA REPORTAGE

Emotions within black and white.

LEICA M MONOCHROM

The fascination of monochrome photography
enters the digital age.

Sharpness redefined.

The ultimate in rangefinder precision meets
cutting-edge digital technology.

Technical details.

LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH.

Anything but a standard lens.

Sharp from corner to corner.

LEICA MONOCHROM PRINTS

Digital has never been so ‘analogue’ before.

TECHNICAL DATA

Leica M Monochrom.

Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH.

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L E I C A CAMERA AG

The future of black-and-white photography.

‘Only black and white reveals emotion’ – so said Henri Cartier-Bresson, perhaps the greatest black-and-white
photographer of the 20th century. He certainly counts as one of the most important in the history of photography.
With his Leica M, the co-founder of the legendary Magnum Photos independent photographic cooperative was
always looking for the one ‘decisive moment’ that expresses the inner truth of a scene. It is no accident that he
made an M-Camera his preferred tool. With the introduction of the rangefinder in 1954, many reportage photog­raphers and artists discovered the merits of the fast, discreet cameras of the Leica M-System, which are ideal
for capturing vibrant, authentic shots of life as it happens. Benefits that win the appreciation of many Magnum
photographers, now as in the past. The Leica M-System is not the only photographic legend to have survived to
the present day. The fascination of black-and-white photography, so often invoked by Cartier-Bresson, is as alive

Henri Cartier-Bresson photographed by his Magnum colleague Dennis Stock on the roof
of the Magnum building in Manhattan, 1961. Copyright Dennis Stock, Magnum Photos.

as ever. It is evident in the monochrome works of many young photographers – including members of Magnum
Photos – and in the dominance of black and white in art photography. With an authenticity that surpasses colour
photography, it enables the artist to ‘paint with light’. Light, and nothing else. So the time is right for a camera that
builds on the rich tradition of analogue black-and-white photography and brings authentic monochrome photo g­raphy into the digital era: the Leica M Monochrom. It is the world’s first digital black-and-white camera in 35 mm
format. With the M Monochrom, photographers have a camera that combines state-of-the-art rangefinder and
digital technologies to deliver black-and-white images of incomparable quality. The results rival those of medium­format cameras and effortlessly meet the demands of fine-art photography.

LEICA CAMERA AG I 05 04 I LEICA CAMERA AG

LEICA

REPORTAGE

LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH., ISO 800, f/4.8, 1/500 s

L E I C A REP ORTAGE

Emotions within black and white.

LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH., ISO 800, f/16, 1/125 s

The Yaroslavsky Railway Station stands proudly on Komsomolskaya Square in Moscow, a little way outside the
historical city centre. It is one of the busiest railway stations in Moscow. More than 300 trains depart daily from
here to destinations in the north. One of them is a particularly significant train. Every other day, ‘Train No. 2’
leaves the station on the start of its six-day journey to Vladivostok and the Pacific Ocean, 9,000 km away. On the
way, it crosses two continents, seven time zones and makes about 400 stops. It is the longest continuous rail line
in the world: the Trans-Siberian Railway.

It is a legend on wheels, and in cooperation with Leica Camera, the award-winning Magnum photographer, Jacob
Aue Sobol, took the new Leica M Monochrom on board on a journey of discovery. The young Dane, who represents
the third generation of a family of photographers, took the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Ulan-Ude, about
5,700 km away in south-eastern Siberia. From there, he continued through Mongolia and on to Beijing. This sec-
tion is not officially on the Trans-Siberian line (although it is often presented as such); in fact, it is part of the Trans­Mongolian Railway, branching off the Trans-Siberian at Lake Baikal. Sobol chose to deviate from the original route –
a decision that indicates that his main focus lies beyond making a historically accurate record of the railway itself.
This extraordinary journey fascinated him for other reasons.

LEICA REPORTAGE I 09