Leica M10 for Product Photography (advice: choosing best lens): Leica Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review (2024)

I'd like to explore using the Leica M10 for product photography for a multitude of reasons, but I've never really shot with a digital Leica (only film) and I'm not as familiar with their lenses as Canon.

Right now, I use a Canon 5D MKii with a Canon Macro 50 2.5. I have zero issues using this, it produces distortion free, accurate images for the product photography I shoot.

Reason why I'd like to use the M10 for product photography:

- smaller, easier transport (i travel a lot with camera gear)
- i only shoot manual, never use autofocus on the mkii or any extra features
- 99% of time shoot at narrow apertures, focusing is no prob
- i only shoot with flash/strobe lights in the studio

What I'm looking for:

- a 50mm lens that has zero or extremely minor distortion
- solid for product photography
- i already have the LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50mm f/2 - would this be exactly what I need?

Any feedback or thoughts on using an M10 for product/studio photography with strobes is welcome...I see no reason why not, I never use literally any features on my MKii but 100% manual and taking a photograph...love my M6 beyond words...any con to using an M10 in for studio photography?

1

I went through this a few weeks ago - I think the easiest way is to get the Leica M Macro adapter and just use it with your existing lens(es), at least this is what I did:

https://leicarumors.com/2017/06/11/my-new-leica-m10-macroproduct-photography-setup.aspx/

harryhoods wrote:

I'd like to explore using the Leica M10 for product photography for a multitude of reasons, but I've never really shot with a digital Leica (only film) and I'm not as familiar with their lenses as Canon.

Right now, I use a Canon 5D MKii with a Canon Macro 50 2.5. I have zero issues using this, it produces distortion free, accurate images for the product photography I shoot.

Reason why I'd like to use the M10 for product photography:

- smaller, easier transport (i travel a lot with camera gear)
- i only shoot manual, never use autofocus on the mkii or any extra features
- 99% of time shoot at narrow apertures, focusing is no prob
- i only shoot with flash/strobe lights in the studio

What I'm looking for:

- a 50mm lens that has zero or extremely minor distortion
- solid for product photography
- i already have the LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50mm f/2 - would this be exactly what I need?

Any feedback or thoughts on using an M10 for product/studio photography with strobes is welcome...I see no reason why not, I never use literally any features on my MKii but 100% manual and taking a photograph...love my M6 beyond words...any con to using an M10 in for studio photography?

Product photography, as you may well know, means miticulous setups, tripod, strobes... basically, a studio location as you mentioned it above. Getting a small camera that costs that much money for studio work would be so contradictory. I use my M when on the streets shooting both people or fashion, I use my DSLRS when I don't have to worry about the weight and seize of my gear.

If I would betaking my studio photography to the next level, i would consider an even bigger camera than my 5D, I would go all the way toward the Medium Format.

The beauty of studio work is that you can shoot big cameras and have them tethered...

Rodrigue Zahr wrote:

Product photography, as you may well know, means miticulous setups, tripod, strobes... basically, a studio location as you mentioned it above. Getting a small camera that costs that much money for studio work would be so contradictory. I use my M when on the streets shooting both people or fashion, I use my DSLRS when I don't have to worry about the weight and seize of my gear.

If I would be taking my studio photography to the next level, i would consider an even bigger camera than my 5D, I would go all the way toward the Medium Format.

The beauty of studio work is that you can shoot big cameras and have them tethered...

But what is the advantage to using a bigger camera in the studio? I don't use a tripod, I don't use any extra features. I use a wireless trigger, strobes, and shoot manually, never autofocus. What can a bigger camera do that I can't do with an M10? Honestly, I don't understand the advantage if one would use none of the features.

harryhoods wrote:

Any feedback or thoughts on using an M10 for product/studio photography with strobes is welcome...I see no reason why not, I never use literally any features on my MKii but 100% manual and taking a photograph...love my M6 beyond words...any con to using an M10 in for studio photography?

The 50mm Summicron-M is practically distortion-free as rated by Photozone:

http://www.photozone.de/leicam/678-summicron50?start=1

But since you say you've used an M6 then I'm going to assume you are already fully aware of all the issues of trying to shoot with a rangefinder, i.e. primarily parallax as well as limited minimum focusing distance.

Parallax can probably be solved by shooting in live view mode, mfd issue was suggested by someone else above by using an extension tube.

Alternatively get a better lens suited for the job, the Macro-Elmar-M, though that is a longer lens (90mm) which may not work with whatever products/subjects you are dealing with.

Adrian Tung wrote:

harryhoods wrote:

Any feedback or thoughts on using an M10 for product/studio photography with strobes is welcome...I see no reason why not, I never use literally any features on my MKii but 100% manual and taking a photograph...love my M6 beyond words...any con to using an M10 in for studio photography?

The 50mm Summicron-M is practically distortion-free as rated by Photozone:

http://www.photozone.de/leicam/678-summicron50?start=1

But since you say you've used an M6 then I'm going to assume you are already fully aware of all the issues of trying to shoot with a rangefinder, i.e. primarily parallax as well as limited minimum focusing distance.

Parallax can probably be solved by shooting in live view mode, mfd issue was suggested by someone else above by using an extension tube.

Alternatively get a better lens suited for the job, the Macro-Elmar-M, though that is a longer lens (90mm) which may not work with whatever products/subjects you are dealing with.

Word. What is the parallax issue?

harryhoods wrote:

Word. What is the parallax issue?

The mismatch between frame lines and captured scene?

One of my photo-buddies used to make his living in that field, and quality, colour accuracy, etc. were paramount, and clients were obsessive, to say the least!

All of his workwas done with large-format film view cameras, using camera movements to deal with issues of perspective and depth of field. Nowadays, many of those things can be dealt with in digital post-processing (e.g. distortion correction, focus stacking...), so I imagine smaller-format digital cameras are the norm these days.

In the end, a camera is just a light-tight box with a shutter and a lens, so you can use just about any camera; but it is a commercial field, so the results are measured against the expectations / requirements of your client. As Rodrigue said, all of the benefits and advantages of your M10 don't really apply to this sort of work, and you will be competing with photographers with larger format cameras using digital backs with technologies such as multishot to obtain very high resolution images with true colour and the complete elimination of Moiré and other aliasing effects, and the lenses are every bit as expensive as Leica's...

J.

Joe Pineapples II wrote:

One of my photo-buddies used to make his living in that field, and quality, colour accuracy, etc. were paramount, and clients were obsessive, to say the least!

All of his work was done with large-format film view cameras, using camera movements to deal with issues of perspective and depth of field. Nowadays, many of those things can be dealt with in digital post-processing (e.g. distortion correction, focus stacking...), so I imagine smaller-format digital cameras are the norm these days.

In the end, a camera is just a light-tight box with a shutter and a lens, so you can use just about any camera; but it is a commercial field, so the results are measured against the expectations / requirements of your client. As Rodrigue said, all of the benefits and advantages of your M10 don't really apply to this sort of work, and you will be competing with photographers with larger format cameras using digital backs with technologies such as multishot to obtain very high resolution images with true colour and the complete elimination of Moiré and other aliasing effects, and the lenses are every bit as expensive as Leica's...

J.

Makes sense. I guess I'd be interested in what the most 'advantagoues' camera is for studio/product photography. I've been using the Canon 5D MKii and have zero issues, does everything I need it to do..but i just use it 100% manual, etc. Love using a Leica more, figured I could swap it out with no issues, not necessarily 'is it the best option'.

harryhoods wrote:

Rodrigue Zahr wrote:

Product photography, as you may well know, means miticulous setups, tripod, strobes... basically, a studio location as you mentioned it above. Getting a small camera that costs that much money for studio work would be so contradictory. I use my M when on the streets shooting both people or fashion, I use my DSLRS when I don't have to worry about the weight and seize of my gear.

If I would be taking my studio photography to the next level, i would consider an even bigger camera than my 5D, I would go all the way toward the Medium Format.

The beauty of studio work is that you can shoot big cameras and have them tethered...

But what is the advantage to using a bigger camera in the studio? I don't use a tripod, I don't use any extra features. I use a wireless trigger, strobes, and shoot manually, never autofocus. What can a bigger camera do that I can't do with an M10? Honestly, I don't understand the advantage if one would use none of the features.

Don't get me wrong Harry, I'm a Leica Addict myself. But at the same time, I'm a bit like you in the sense that I do commercial photography or direct it for the magazine I work for. Also like you, I once thought of selling all of our DSLRs gear and reinforce my Leica M setup so I can shoot only with the system I love but I never did it. I never did it because the M system is simply not suitable for this type of jobs, besides the Parallax issue "it means that what you see is not what you get frame wise" you also lose the ability to do focus stacking which is one of the most important aspect in product photography. Besides that, you'll also miss the Tilt and Shift lenses that are important for bigger product shoots like furniture...

the Canon you have is very good already for what you're shooting, I'm mentioning the medium format just in the case you're willing to make your clients a positive impact by showing them resolution and detail they have never dreamt of. Doing so, your rate will raise of course

So what the M for? my wife once asked. The M is like that beautiful classic car or roadster, you won't use it to drop kids at the school or make the supermarket, you do that with an SUV, the M is for primetimes, for different jobs, assignments or even walks or travel.

IMHO Leica M10 for product photography is kind of ridonkulas. If you are doing it for the leica look, you can happily use X-M1, X-E1 or XPro1 etc with zeiss lenses. I personally do jewellery catalogues in my bedroom studio and sometimes locations shoots with models wearing jewellery. You know what I use ?? Brace yourself..... Sony A200, Nikon D200, Fuji X-E1 with macro tubes. The D200 with some M42 lenses with a glassless adapter, which essentially makes it a macro set up. I am of the opinion that clients pay you for the images you create, NOT the cameras you use.

harryhoods wrote:

I'd like to explore using the Leica M10 for product photography for a multitude of reasons, but I've never really shot with a digital Leica (only film) and I'm not as familiar with their lenses as Canon.

Right now, I use a Canon 5D MKii with a Canon Macro 50 2.5. I have zero issues using this, it produces distortion free, accurate images for the product photography I shoot.

Reason why I'd like to use the M10 for product photography:

- smaller, easier transport (i travel a lot with camera gear)
- i only shoot manual, never use autofocus on the mkii or any extra features
- 99% of time shoot at narrow apertures, focusing is no prob
- i only shoot with flash/strobe lights in the studio

What I'm looking for:

- a 50mm lens that has zero or extremely minor distortion
- solid for product photography
- i already have the LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50mm f/2 - would this be exactly what I need?

Any feedback or thoughts on using an M10 for product/studio photography with strobes is welcome...I see no reason why not, I never use literally any features on my MKii but 100% manual and taking a photograph...love my M6 beyond words...any con to using an M10 in for studio photography?

Technically you can do that but IMHO better stay with 5DII and EF 50/2.5 because the EF 50/2.5 although quite old but still amazingly sharp even with the 5DSr, which I sometimes use. By what you described how you would use the system, you would at least need a viewfinder EVF2 to be able to focus withMacro-Adapter-Mwhich is needed to reduce the focusing distance, even it is not needed, the EVF is still critical for precise framing and arrangements of products. I use Leica cameras "A LOT" and never consider them for product shot, especially product shot often require tilt/shift/swing that there are more appropriate systems to use. The Canon 5DII is still great camera in studio today! And I see no better reason to have to use Leica unless you absolute want to use Leica M.

Hello veterans,

Can you recommend a camera/lens for photographing watercolors? I've been using Sony RX100 for a few years, they're not bad, but the colors are not quite there, so I'm looking for a proper setup. I'm willing to spend up to around €8k if I have to, but I am not filthy rich that I can affort to trial and error a bunch of expensive setups. I had my eye on a Leica Q, so it could double as a fun camera for street photography, I'm suspecting it's a bad idea though.

Thanks guys!

Wout

Wout de Zeeuw wrote:

Hello veterans,

Can you recommend a camera/lens for photographing watercolors? I've been using Sony RX100 for a few years, they're not bad, but the colors are not quite there, so I'm looking for a proper setup. I'm willing to spend up to around €8k if I have to, but I am not filthy rich that I can affort to trial and error a bunch of expensive setups. I had my eye on a Leica Q, so it could double as a fun camera for street photography, I'm suspecting it's a bad idea though.

Thanks guys!

Wout

With Leica M may be first choice will the Macro-Elmar-M 90/4, with SONY with most macro lenses that can go on it.

Not an old man wrote:

IMHO Leica M10 for product photography is kind of ridonkulas. If you are doing it for the leica look, you can happily use X-M1, X-E1 or XPro1 etc with zeiss lenses. I personally do jewellery catalogues in my bedroom studio and sometimes locations shoots with models wearing jewellery. You know what I use ?? Brace yourself..... Sony A200, Nikon D200, Fuji X-E1 with macro tubes. The D200 with some M42 lenses with a glassless adapter, which essentially makes it a macro set up. I am of the opinion that clients pay you for the images you create, NOT the cameras you use.

It is not the camera, which limits. THIS is ridiculous. All bodies are the same technology wise.

It is the lens-system!

For real world proper product photography you need the leave the view angle, present within ALL cameras in the market.

I am searching for a set like that, but capable to use in landscape photography too.

The are actually two options (affordable) in the market being capable a I need.

Novoflex offers two different kinds of bellows (1-end/2-ends T/S ) including with a dedicated lens ( that's for infinity/landscapes). Without that dedicated lens/similar lenses in the market, the system is NOT capable to focus at infinity. For further information check the English version of Novoflex' site. The set-offers are from the German version, which is the newer edition. B&H do have this in stock, AFAIK). But compare US- v/s European prices. I am shocked. The gear is sold nearly the double price in the US - Import Taxes. (Is it this, which shall make America great again?)

Compared to go in parts, the sets are e real bargain on German Manufacturers High Tech Precision Products

BAL PRO T/S 2-end TILT

CASTBAL T/S 1-end TILT

Additionally check-ou the videos from Novoflex at youtube. They and others offer a lot of tricks like "doing Scheimpflug" etc.

I will be hopefully happy to check the system in a week or so.

Wout de Zeeuw wrote:

Thank you for the recommendation. Would there be a lot of gain with the elmar lens compared to the lens on the Leica Q? The Leica M is quite a bit more expensive (without lens), plus I'm afraid of practical things like dust on the sensor.

The lens on Q is a 28mm permanently attached to Q so the only way to use it is with Q and it is a little more limited - however, not exactly knowing what you are trying to shoot. For pure cost sense you may simply use your existing camera, be it a Nikon/Canon/SONY and SONY for example can use a huge number of lenses (old and new, Leica optics included) that will be the economic decision.

Leica's strength is not on its sensors and macro lenses from practically all makers are all very good and there is little reason to have to use a Leica unless it is the only camera you have.

Wout de Zeeuw wrote:

Hello veterans,

Can you recommend a camera/lens for photographing watercolors? (...) I'm willing to spend up to around €8k if I have to

With that kind of budget, you have no shortage of options.

I'm assuming watercolors will be relatively small (they are rarely wall-sized paintings), and that color-accurate and distortion-free results are desired.

I would first set aside some money for a proper repro stand and/or tripod, and lighting.

For what the camera concerns, I would not use a Leica Q. Its fixed 28mm will force you to work uncomfortably close to the subject and its software-corrected distortion will rob a bit of sharpness.

I would rather use a high-res DSLR or hybrid with a couple of macro lenses (say a 50 and a 100mm), or even a (used) digital medium format camera. You'll probably want to work in live view, manual focus and manual exposure.

I spent years trying to think of a reason to get a M for my clients photography, I could never think of one for what I did. There was always something better suited. I do have a M these days it takes film and I shoot the things I want to with it, no one else to please.

For evetything else it has to be my other cameras, a M10 would do a lot of what I shoot commercially , other cameras do it all.

I feel you are trying to create a case for using the M10, I would of thought getting a tilt shift might be a better option, a 5D isnt exactly heavy kit to cart around.

I think what you try to do is what the Leica M is the worst for !

I am not saying tou will not be able to do your work...but what a hassle...

I like M's because they are different, simplistic and works in a traditional way. It is a pleasure camera.

But what you want to do just seems painful to me !

Good luck though and show us your results.

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