Leica M10-P
Is Leica’s quietest-ever M-series camera the ultimate model for street and documentary photography? We test it out
Does this near-silent model impress in our testing?
The Leica M10 was introduced in January 2017 and it was significantly different from the M Typ 240 that went before it. The M10-P is a variation on the M10 (which continues in the range), and as you might surmise from the name, it has a lot in common with its predecessor. Nevertheless, there are some interesting features that make the M10-P an attractive alternative to the M10.
As in the M10, the M10-P has a full-frame CMOS sensor with 24 million effective pixels and no optical low-pass filter. This is coupled with a Maestro II processing engine that enables 5fps shooting along with a sensitivity range of 100-50,000.
Leica M-series cameras are rangefinders, so there are no moving mirrors and they are renowned for being quiet. In fact, they were traditionally the only type of cameras allowed in some theatres. Leica wanted to build on this and make the M10-P very discreet, so with this in mind, the company’s engineers worked on the shutter mechanism. As a result, the M10-P has the quietest shutter of any M-series camera to date. When you take a shot with the M10-P it’s not completely silent, but it’s very close. If there’s some background noise, you tend to feel the strangely satisfying and dampened movement of the shutter rather than hear it.
In a first for a Leica M camera, the M10-P has a touchscreen. This is a three-inch 1,036,800-dot LCD with a Gorilla Glass cover. You can use the screen to adjust aspects such as white balance, exposure compensation or file format – any parameter that doesn’t have a dedicated dial. In addition, you can use gesture control on the screen to select the exposure metering area or to set the point that enlarges for focusing in Live View mode. It’s especially useful for enabling you to zoom into images quickly to check focus.
As with all Leica M cameras, the M10-P has manual rangefinder
“The Leica M10-P has the quietest shutter of any M-series camera to date”
focusing. This means that when you look in the viewfinder you see two images of the subject at the centre. focus is achieved by turning the lens focus ring until the two images are in perfect register. Leica’s M lenses have sublime build quality and their focusing rings invariably rotate smoothly with wide focus throw. However, rangefinder focusing is an art that takes a little practice. Even then, it can be tricky with dark subjects or when there’s little contrast.
Spectacle wearers are also likely to find the built-in viewfinder a bit awkward to use while wearing their glasses, and it’s easy to get the framing a little out. However, Leica produces optional correction lenses from -3 to +3 diopters, which can actually make wearing spectacles redundant.
The screen on the back of the camera offers an alternative means of focusing as you can see a magnified view with focus peaking if you want. Even better, if you invest in the optional Visoflex electronic viewfinder, you can see the magnified view and focus peaking when the camera is held to your eye. It really transforms the user experience and speeds up focusing.
Leica slimmed the M10 in comparison with the M 240 that went before it to give it the same profile as the company’s film cameras. Leica has stuck with the same size and shape for the M10-P and it makes the camera easier to hold and use than earlier models.
Exposure is changed using an aperture ring on the lens and shutter speed dial on the top plate. However, both have an A for automatic
setting which means you can also shoot in program, aperture priority and shutter priority in addition to manual exposure mode.
On the left edge of the top plate, there’s also a sensitivity dial with settings running from ISO 100 to 6400. An M option can be set to any value that you like up to ISO 50,000. The dial has to be lifted to be rotated and it’s rather fiddly to pull up. However, you can leave it in the up position if you need to change ISO on a frequent basis.
The M10-P feels wonderful in your hands but it’s the image quality that really excites. When practice has paid off and the subject is nice and sharp, there’s an impressive level of detail visible in the 24MP images. However, what really set the results from the M10-P and Leica lenses apart is the natural look to the detail. At low sensitivities, the images look very lifelike and not especially digital. There’s also a pleasing level of contrast, but watch out for exposure errors if there are large bright or dark areas in the scene.
We recommend keeping the sensitivity to the settings marked on the ISO dial. You can still get decent results above those values, but colours then start to lack saturation and noise levels will creep up, so you don’t really get the Leica quality that you buy an M10-P to obtain.
“The M10-P feels wonderful in your hands but it’s the image quality that really excites”