We've been quiet for a while. Three and a half years ago, we posted about new 50MP CMOS sensors powering the first commercial mirrorless medium format cameras, which went on to pave the way for arguably affordable mirrorless with Fuji. Nikon finally release a mirrorless line, while simultaneously iterating on their SLR lines along with Canon. Leica meanwhile has released the M10, returning from their numberless-M experiment which fortunately only lasted one Leica generation. They've brought-back the second version fo the M-D but have killed the excellent X line, leaving what is still the best rugged camera in the X-U as its swan song.
The M10 finally brought the handling and feel of the film M to the digital world. Each of the three previous generations modified the M towards the end of its run to produce the Monochrom, which had similar specs but with the Bayer and low-pass filters removed. The M10 generation, however, sees Leica again zigging when we expected a zag as return-to-form: the M10 Monochrom is here, but has a distinct 40MP sensor—closer to the sensor found in its new fixed-lens Q2 than the 24MP sensor found in the rest of the M10 generation.
The M10 Monochrom has a physical dial for ISO settings, which tops-out at a setting of 12,500 that produces reportedly solid, usable images (compared to the pixelated splotches of the Q2). There are also options to go a high as ISO 100,000 if necessary, but quality there is less forgiving.