Leica M11 Review by Jono Slack

[trickness]

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36 minutes ago, Chaemono said:

A car analogy. I’d say there is some truth to that. People who can afford a Porsche 911 probably can also afford an M.

The analogy has got nothing to do with pricing.

It's a reference to a manufacturer (Porsche, and Leica) respecting the lineage of a product, incrementally improving it over time, without losing sight of the essence and history of the product. It's a fine line as you have to both listen to and ignore the desires of your customers, who may think they know what's the best way forward, and quite often, don't.

The 911 and the M are unique siblings in this regard.

(The Lancia Fulvia hasn't been manufactured since 1976 by the way).

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by trickness

[Chaemono]

vor 10 Minuten schrieb trickness:

…
It's a fine line as you have to both listen to and ignore the desires of your customers, who may think they know what's the best way forward, and quite often, don't.

…

Thanks for elucidating. I bet, there will be an M11-S, though.

[MrFriendly]

16 hours ago, adan said:

20 milliseconds (1 fiftieth of a second).

 

[trickness]

10 minutes ago, Chaemono said:

Thanks for elucidating. I bet, there will be an M11-S, though.

All we need to do is take a stroll through that 6000 post long thread "M11 - Your next camera" to see evidence that Leica is wise to ignore at least SOME of it's customers 😆

[tightsqueez]

1 hour ago, trickness said:

Great review, Jono, and the images as always are fantastic.

I don’t see it mentioned often enough, but the M really is the Porsche 911 of cameras, and I am really glad Leica seems to view it as such in how they evolve it.

 

Two sad eras: the 911 and M became grand touring. 

[Chaemono]

vor 30 Minuten schrieb trickness:

All we need to do is take a stroll through that 6000 post long thread "M11 - Your next camera" to see evidence that Leica is wise to ignore at least SOME of it's customers 😆

The M11-S will meter off the shutter curtain. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Chaemono

[trickness]

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26 minutes ago, tightsqueez said:

Two sad eras: the 911 and M became grand touring. 

Well, the drivers mostly throw pets and children into the backseat, just like most of the snappers put them on their memory cards, so they might as well be grand touring 🤣

[didier]

18 hours ago, adan said:

I think the spec for film Ms was/is 20 milliseconds (2 hundredths of a second). Assuming one doesn't hesitate at the metering half-press point.

But film SLRs at their best were 50-60 milliseconds With a few of those with lots of mirror-damping (I'm looking at you, Leica R4 or Olympus OM) even longer (> 100 milliseconds).

If the 10 and 11 are indistinguishable, that'll be fine.

As far as I remember, the M7 was the M-series camera with the shortest shutter lag (closer to 10 ms)

On the M10M the shutter lag does not really bother me, though I sometimes feel the reaction time could be better (unless it my reaction time that went worse ).

 

[tightsqueez]

1 hour ago, trickness said:

Well, the drivers mostly throw pets and children into the backseat, just like most of the snappers put them on their memory cards, so they might as well be grand touring 🤣

Touché. Same goes for M users! Ha ha. 

[Eclectic Man]

21 minutes ago, didier said:

As far as I remember, the M7 was the M-series camera with the shortest shutter lag (closer to 10 ms)

On the M10M the shutter lag does not really bother me, though I sometimes feel the reaction time could be better (unless it my reaction time that went worse ).

 

As an aside, the camera with the longest shutter lag I ever used was the Olympus mu 2. Sometimes it was over a second.  A beautifully small camera but not the swiftest to us win a hurry.

[SrMi]

2 hours ago, Chaemono said:

The M11-S will meter off the shutter curtain. 

It will have a dial on the side to lower the curtain manually up and down :).

[trickness]

I think the removal of the bottom plate is akin to the switch in the 911 from an air to a liquid cooled motor - sacrilege to the faithful but a necessary improvement. Or perhaps that analogy is better attributed to the significance of the switch from analog to digital M’s???? 

[harmen]

On 1/14/2022 at 12:09 AM, jonoslack said:

[…] On the other hand I generally shoot 'Daylight' and then leave the colour as it is, particularly the case here, I really like it - files are fantastic to work with. […]

That is very helpful and good to know!

[Tailwagger]

7 hours ago, tightsqueez said:

Two sad eras: the 911 and M became grand touring. 

Unlike the 992, the wheelbase of the M11 has remained the same. If you insist on a Porsche analogy its more along the lines of the Cayman/Boxster going to the turbo 4. Faster and more efficient, but people dissed it for the shutter...er... exhaust sound. 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Tailwagger

[Tailwagger]

I received my camera this evening and truly my first impression is one of astonishment.  I've shot all my Ms with an RRS which somewhat brings the M up to adult size as a camera. It's been a while since I've actually held an M without one. Forget about everything else, cost, shutter sound, whatever little or big niggle has you annoyed.  That a camera this small and light... yeah I had to take black... packs this much of a punch is simply unbelievable. When you factor in that some 20% of the camera is taken up by the rangefinder and another 20% or so for the battery, it is simply magic. I know some folks are disappointed by this or that, but I mean, my god, just look at this thing. I know the form factor hasn't changed, but dang there's 64gb, BSI, 60Mpx, 2x or more the battery life... and in retrospect, I'm nearly as astonished by the 10-R.  Grab a cup of evening tea, find a quiet spot, turn the lights down, mount a 'cron and lay the thing on the table.  Zen moment.   

I've only made a test shot or two so and while I'm very encouraged, its certainly possible any number of disappointments will surface over the next couple of days. That said, if I had one wish for the M11, it'd be that my Hasselblad loving/Leica hating father was still alive to hold and shoot with this thing. It really is mind blowing. I'm sure even a Leica hater like him would have loved it. 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Tailwagger

[Tailwagger]

4 hours ago, SrMi said:

It will have a dial on the side to lower the curtain manually up and down :).

Would that be the D model? 😃

[davidvanchu]

25 minutes ago, Tailwagger said:

Unlike the 992, the wheelbase of the M11 has remained the same. If you insist on a Porsche analogy its more along the lines of the Cayman/Boxster going to the turbo 4. Faster and more efficient, but people dissed it for the shutter...er... exhaust sound. 

Thankfully Porsche brought back the NA 6 cylinder, maybe Leica will do the same

[eab]

2 minutes ago, Tailwagger said:

I received my camera this evening and truly my first impression is one of astonishment.  I've shot all my Ms with an RRS which somewhat brings the M up to adult size as a camera. It's been a while since I've actually held an M without one. Forget about everything else, cost, shutter sound, whatever little or big niggle has you annoyed.  That a camera this small and light... yeah I had to take black... packs this much of a punch is simply unbelievable. When you factor in that some 20% of the camera is taken up by the rangefinder and another 20% or so for the battery, it is simply magic. I know some folks are disappointed by this or that, but I mean, my god, just look at this thing. I know the form factor hasn't changed, but dang there's 64gb, BSI, 60Mpx, 2x or more the battery life... and in retrospect, I'm nearly as astonished by the 10-R.  Grab a cup of evening tea, find a quiet spot, turn the lights down, mount a 'cron and lay the thing on the table.  Zen moment.   

I've only made a test shot or two so and while I'm very encouraged, its certainly possible any number of disappointments will surface over the next couple of days. That said, if I had one wish for the M11, it'd be that my Hasselblad loving/Leica hating father was still alive to hold and shoot with this thing. It really is mind blowing. I'm sure even a Leica hater like him would have loved it. 

I am with you on this, small, light, but powerful.  Sometimes I pick up my iPhone and have similar thoughts.  I got into computing when 4bit processors were available to hobbyists and once in a while when I look at an iPhone I think to myself how far we have come.....

[Tailwagger]

8 minutes ago, davidvanchu said:

Thankfully Porsche brought back the NA 6 cylinder, maybe Leica will do the same

But retained the turbo, which with the slightest of tunes will give GT4 a run for its money.  No need to argue, it will be an EV soon enough and then we all can be pissed. 😃

Edited January 15, 2022 by Tailwagger

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[Stevejack]

5 minutes ago, Tailwagger said:

I received my camera this evening and truly my first impression is one of astonishment.  I've shot all my Ms with an RRS which somewhat brings the M up to adult size as a camera. It's been a while since I've actually held an M without one. Forget about everything else, cost, shutter sound, whatever little or big niggle has you annoyed.  That a camera this small and light... yeah I had to take black... packs this much of a punch is simply unbelievable. When you factor in that some 20% of the camera is taken up by the rangefinder and another 20% or so for the battery, it is simply magic. I know some folks are disappointed by this or that, but I mean, my god, just look at this thing. I know the form factor hasn't changed, but dang there's 64gb, BSI, 60Mpx, 2x or more the battery life... and in retrospect, I'm nearly as astonished by the 10-R.  Grab a cup of evening tea, find a quiet spot, turn the lights down, mount a 'cron and lay the thing on the table.  Zen moment.   

I've only made a test shot or two so and while I'm very encouraged, its certainly possible any number of disappointments will surface over the next couple of days. That said, if I had one wish for the M11, it'd be that my Hasselblad loving/Leica hating father was still alive to hold and shoot with this thing. It really is mind blowing. I'm sure even a Leica hater like him would have loved it. 

Any possible future disappointments aside, you're already in love - and love is truly blind!  I'm sure you'll get along great despite any niggles, and I look forward to seeing your photographs in the M11 image thread when you get a chance to head out for a play.   Enjoy!