Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 Olive Green

The Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 has a 24MP full-frame sensor with no color filter array, which produces black and white images with exceptional detail and tonal purity. But it shoots at 3fps, records only 1080p video, and has no stabilization, landing at the 1st percentile for both burst and video in our database. At $9,999 USD, it's a luxury specialist tool, not a versatile camera.

The sensor is the whole show here. By stripping out the color filter array, Leica lets every one of those 24 million pixels capture pure luminance without interpolation. That means no demosaicing artifacts, no color noise creeping into your shadows, and a level of fine detail that punches well above what the 48th percentile sensor ranking suggests. The Maestro processor pushes ISO from 320 to 25000, and in black and white, high ISO grain looks like film grain rather than digital mush. It's genuinely lovely.

But the rest of the performance envelope is, let's say, deliberate. The 3fps burst rate with a 2GB buffer gets you about 30 frames before the camera needs a breather. That's the 1st percentile in our database, which means every other mirrorless camera we track shoots faster. The optical rangefinder with 0.68x magnification is a joy for manual focusing, and focus peaking with 10x live view zoom helps when you're using the rear screen. But that screen is fixed, 3 inches, and ranks at the 28th percentile. The EVF situation is even rougher at the 39th percentile. You're buying this for the rangefinder experience and the sensor, not for speed or modern conveniences.

Stacked against the Fujifilm X-H2S, the Leica looks like it's from another decade. The X-H2S shoots 40fps bursts, records 6K video, and has class-leading autofocus, all for roughly a quarter of the price. The Sony a7R V brings 61MP of resolution, best-in-class autofocus, and 8K video. The Nikon Z9 and Canon EOS R6 Mark III are in completely different performance universes. But none of them shoot pure black and white the way this Leica does. The Monochrom's sensor has no color filter array, which means every photon hits the photosite directly. That's a real technical advantage for monochrome work that no color camera can replicate in post. So the comparison isn't really about specs, it's about whether you want a specialized instrument or a versatile tool. The Leica is the former, and it's not even close on the latter.

At $9,999 USD, this camera costs more than a Sony a7R V and a Fujifilm X-H2S combined, and that's before you buy a lens. The Canadian listing at $14,185 CAD is even steeper. You're paying for the Leica name, the rangefinder experience, and the Kravitz special edition cosmetics, not for performance per dollar. The sensor is genuinely special, but the value proposition only makes sense if black and white photography is your entire identity and you've already accepted that you're buying a luxury object as much as a camera. For everyone else, this is a hard sell.

The Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 is a camera that makes zero apologies for what it is. A 24MP full-frame sensor with no color filter array and no low pass filter means every pixel is dedicated to luminance, and the result is black and white detail that most color cameras can only dream about after heavy processing. But the numbers also tell a harsher story: burst shooting sits at 3fps, video tops out at 1080p, and there's no stabilization anywhere in the body. This is a specialist's tool, not a generalist's workhorse.

Our database puts this camera at the 1st percentile for both burst and video. That's not a typo. It's dead last among modern mirrorless cameras in those categories. But build quality lands at the 72nd percentile, and that magnesium alloy body with brass top plate feels like it could survive a fall down a flight of stairs and still nail focus. The Lenny Kravitz Special Edition adds olive green paint and python leatherette, which is either the coolest thing you've ever seen or a $9,999 fashion statement. There's no middle ground with this camera, and honestly, that's kind of the point.

Skip this camera if you need any kind of speed or versatility. The 3fps burst rate is the slowest we've ever recorded, the 1080p video is the 1st percentile, and there's no stabilization to help with handheld shooting. The fixed 3-inch display at the 28th percentile makes awkward angles a pain, and the lack of weather sealing means you can't treat this like a rugged field camera despite the premium build. If you shoot anything in color, need autofocus that tracks moving subjects, or want to record video beyond basic clips, the $9,999 USD price tag becomes impossible to justify. This is a camera for a very specific person, and if you're not that person, you'll be frustrated within a week.

The Leica M Monochrom Typ 246 is a camera for people who know exactly what they want and are willing to pay a premium for it. The black and white output is genuinely stunning, with a level of sharpness and tonal purity that color cameras can't match. But the 1st percentile burst and video scores, the lack of stabilization, and the fixed display mean this camera fails at almost everything except its one specialty. If you're a dedicated monochrome shooter with deep pockets and a love for rangefinders, this is a dream. If you need a camera that does more than one thing, look elsewhere.