maidenfan84

The fashion photographers edition M11!

This was going to be me, as well. I was considering buying an M11, or M11p, and decided against it considering all of the stories that can be found in most all places on the Internet about the model just having way too many issues. "Try to use this SD card but don't use that SD so it won't freeze", "make sure you push the buttons in a video game cheat code order so that way it doesn't freeze on you', "It's still the best camera ever even though it freezes on me when I use this lens, but not that lens!", and so forth. Completely unacceptable at any price point, let alone $9,000 USD, for a camera to work in such a manner. I could take a cheap run of the mill $100 10 year old digital camera and throw any SD card from any brand I want and it will work without fault. Any lens that will fit that mount will just work without fault, etc. Why people continue to just look the other way instead of holding Leica accountable for these sorts of things is absolutely beyond me. I know myself I don't have that sort of money to just say, "Oh, well!" and live with a half baked camera model. At this point, I don't see myself buying any variant of an M11 at any point time, now or in the future. An M12, if there will be one, isn't going to have me running to get in line for one, either. Will definitely wait a year or two to see if Leica gets their act together. If they want my money and my business, they have to earn it. I remember when "Made in Germany" actually meant something special. Harsh? Perhaps. Truth? Absolutely.

Thank you for the replies! Is this common to all M cameras and rangefinders in general, or just the m240? I shot with a borrowed M10 long ago and I don’t remember there being this shift in what I see in the window compared to what I get in the actual photo. Some of the pics in the m240 I’m seeing clear down the road through the window in between the blinds, then the picture that results is a window blind blocking any view of down the road.

My first taste of an M camera was the M10. I thought the world of it and it's definitely a great camera. I then tried an m240 and realized that for my uses, it's 90% or more of what the M10 offered me. The photos and colors depended more on the lens I was using than the body itself, at least from my experience. The biggest thing for me though was the size difference and the m240 is perfect for me. I wear an XL size glove and it's so much easier to hold the m240 than the M10. My fingers start feeling cramped on that camera whereas it feels perfectly fit and natural on the m240. Even though it's an older camera at this point, the m240 is a fantastic value for sure.

Going through the newly arrived camera and focus on whatever I am focusing on is absolutely spot on, but the further out I focus, the more the photo is off center or shifts. Any ideas what could be causing this or how to address it? The focus is always perfect it’s just the photo somehow shifts to the right. Thanks, in advance for any insight on this

I’ve posted in the past about an m240 and it’s taken a while but I ended up going with what I think was best for me and getting an m240. I ordered it from a well known US seller and it was rated as moderate scuffs, etc and figured fine with me. It arrived and I would have rated it a 9.5 easily. Looks brand new and no brassing even. Seems like everything is there except the neck strap which I’ll have to reach out because it said it did come with one. I was surprised to find a small Leica service booklet I included with it. Another cool detail is it has a label on the bottom with a name and phone number along with an email of its previous owner. I looked them up online at their website and seems like a really known fashion photographer who’s worked for vogue, various makeup brands, and even city museums. Really cool touch in my opinion and would make sense it’s in seemingly solid condition since it was a working professional who owned it. I have some experience with the M10 and was concerned about if I’d like the files on the m240…I was blown away by the punch of the colors and there’s a certain naturalness to the test shots. Can’t quite put a finger on it or put it into words other than natural. I even tried it at pull 6400 and I don’t see (yet) the commotion about it. It’s not 2023 sharp but it’s not bad at all! One question I do have is do I need to manually select a lens size and aperture since I’m using a non-coded voigtlander Nokton clsssic ll, or will it automatically adjust the frame lines? Also, how to get the live view focus highlighting to work? I have it set on red but I don’t see any highlighting when it’s in focus on the screen

It’s threads like this that reaffirm my refusal to purchase an M11 (new camera) and a new Leica lens. The wait and turnaround times for repairs and maintenance are simply inexcusable. If they had a policy in place that they loan you the exact equipment you’re sending in for months and months at a time, that would be different possibly. But, as it is, I expect a bit more. Especially if Leica has changed all of their reps to handle the products with white gloves, then I best get the white glove treatment. Imagine if Mercedes told their customers they need to leave their AMG with the dealership for 7 months to get an oil change…

that’s amazing! How did you protect the lenses and the bodies from fungus, etc after such a moisture intense experience?

Can I ask what blue neck strap that is? Love the color and the style of it!

Considering the M10 and M11 variations available, the age, etc…it seems that there seems to still be a strong community for the M240 and 262 cameras. What are your reasons for still shooting with these cameras in 2023?

Black shows as out of stock, but not discontinued.

Displayed on the Leica Miami website

I was looking around at some of the Leica stores online just to browse a bit and was surprised to see the regular M11 is discontinued? I thought they would still be sold alongside the M11-P?

Thank you! Just a general note of maintenance and care for the M series cameras, what’s the best way to clean the eyepiece glass and the front windows? Is a simple clean microfiber okay to use on the glass you put your eye up to?

Sorry, I should clarify that I don’t mean abuse them, but more so how the cameras get used in some Situations others might raise an eyebrow to

We all know there’s camera collectors, and absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I’m curious about the owners who use their equipment without second thought and use their M camera in manner some might consider rough. What do you subject your camera to and how has it held up over time?

I really wrestled back and forth with which camera to get. I had both in the checkout bin and in the end I decided to go with the M10. For my uses (casual day to day document my life and everything around it, one camera one lens, etc) I felt it was the better choice at half of the price of a new M11-P. The M11-P is a gorgeous camera for sure, there’s always a chance down the road of adding it to the collection. I appreciate everyone’s advice and insight, I learned a lot!

I remember I spent a weekend with a rented M10 a while back and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Great pics were hit or miss, but I boil that down to me keep forgetting that it’s center metering and not full matrix etc fancy stuff. I’m from the days of film, started out with a Minolta X700 and then got an older Canon F1, Pentax k1000, etc so I’m very simple in what I expect out of a camera. Speed, shutter, and let me get to work is what works best for myself. I wonder if the M10 would be the better option as compared to the M11-P. I do like the built in ND filter I’ve read about on the M11-P but it’s not a dealbreaker that I must have it and won’t settle for less. Between the M10 and the M11-P, I’m really looking at which one will last me the longest. I tend to keep my cameras for a long time and look at them as companions in my journey through life.

I’ve basically came to the point that I plan to keep an M camera for many years and new is going to be my best option. With that said, is an M11-P a solid purchase, or does it seem like there’s still way too many hiccups with it? I did come across a nice looking used M10 standard but then again, it’s already some years old and my aim is to at least get 8-10 solid years of shooting out of the camera. Even more if the camera can handle it. What would your suggestion be on how to proceed? Also, if purchased from a Leica store in the US, will they exchange the camera if it’s a dud on arrival or will they force me to ship it to Germany?

Peak Design Everyday Sling 3L….looks stylish without screaming camera bag. Nice materials and features, as well. I also use it often to carry my TL2 with 23mm Summicron and the 35mm Summilux (TL lenses.

A $600 Pentax K70 camera works perfectly out of the box. There’s zero reason a $9000+ camera shouldn’t work perfectly out of the box, either. Sorry to hear about your experience with it, I’ve been waiting to see how the new M11-P camera bodies perform, to see if Leica has fixed the issues on the standard M11. Seems I’ll be holding off for the M12 to see if Leica decides to finally get it right. Hope you can get a new one that actually works properly, or you at least return it to get something else that does work the way it should.

I think the CAI will open up some new possibilities for contests, etc. they can create a category now of “unedited” photos and straight out of the camera. Will be interesting to see contests and shows that rely on camera skills more than editing skills, of which can be now verified if the original photos have been edited or tampered with in any way.

All of the new features are great and all, but the most important question is did they fix the freeze bugs, misaligned RF’s out of the box, etc? It’s a fair question and one that can bring new M owners into the fold, or continue to keep them away from purchasing one.

I don’t mean to resurrect an old thread, but wanted to ask if anyone has the most recent firmware update file for the TL? Thank you, in advance

Thank you all for the suggestions and your feedback on the 18-56 lens! At the last moment, I decided to go for the lens that I always wanted...the Leica TL 35mm Summilux 1.4. I'm usually a fast and fixed lens type of person, so I jumped at the opportunity to grab one that came up for sale. I'll still add the 18-56 lens to the collection eventually. I'd love to collect them all over time.