Is monochrome technology a trend or just a romanticization of the beauty of black and white photography? Two new digital cameras – one for moving images and one for still – the Red Epic-M Monochrome by Red and the Leica M Monochrom (Leica decided it was best to lop off the E) – that were released within the past few months, are challenging the obsoleteness of an art form and negating the very definition of technological progress.
When tools were invented to capture images from real life – whether still or moving – amazement abounded, much the same way it did when people were able to hear their own voice, but alas the image remained faithfully monochrome. It continued this way for the better half a century; save for a few hand dyed photographs and the painted films of perhaps Georges Méliès. There is certainly something je ne sais quoi about the graininess of old photographs, the sepia tones of antique landscapes, and the celluloid shades of a classic Hollywood movie. As cameras improved so did the picture quality, but monochrome remained and it seemed people began to fall in love with seeing their own world in black and white. It seemed the focus was on improving the depth and the tonality – and the art form of black and white image making was born. And people could become “photographers” and “cinematographers.”
When the first photographers began experimenting with color, purists lifted their pitchforks and argued that color was for hacks. The exact same way analog purists were up in arms about the advent of digital photography. But what is technology if not an impetus for change? The art form always seems to catch up – doesn’t it?
With release of the Red Epic-M Monochrome – by the folks who are trying to revolutionize digital filmmaking (films like The Hobbit and The Social Network were both shot on Red cameras) and are making leaps and bounds – is “engineered exclusively for B&W cinema and photographers.” The Leica M Monochrom is black and white only too.
It’s not ridiculous if you consider how many people still love black and white. The love affair continues even in the digital age. And it’s often true; we do look better in black and white photographs. As digital image technology improves so do it’s tools in the preciseness of functionality. These two cameras boast that by eliminating the color sensors and using a unique sensor that does not see color it offers a richer, sharper black and white image – offering true black and white instead of a desaturated image.
Could this be the beginning of some kind of digital monochrome revolution? The Leica M Monochrom is available now for roughly $8,000 retail and the Red Epic-M Monochrome will be available October 1st for $42,000.
