Leica M11 Review by Jono Slack

[gotium]

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5 minutes ago, Tailwagger said:

I'm not sure it's generically any more practical than the 10-R. I shoot in EVF extended and use the 4 way if I need to move the focus point. What is a noticeable improvement, particularly at 75mm and above is the EVF IS. 

Not on par with the Q2 or CL it sounds then?

[dkmoore]

Hello Jono,

Excellent review and images as usual. And thanks for entertaining and answering so many questions! Throughout your travels with the demo unit how has the rangefinder held up for alignment? I was curious if there were any changes to the unit or if the aluminum housing provided any less protection to keeping alignment. 

Mine arrives Wednesday so looking forward to testing it out. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by dkmoore

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[Tailwagger]

8 minutes ago, gotium said:

Not on par with the Q2 or CL it sounds then?

Own neither, cant say.

I think a lot probably depends on just what you use the EVF for. My typical methodology to focus with RF, have the EVF set to auto magnify, confirm focus, half press to check framing and fire. I don't typically try to compose or view details through the EVF.  I'm generally just quickly confirming exposure and that my edges are where I want them to be. All the rest is done prior. So for me, its works as well as any other EVF I've used, including the SL2, but again I'm not trying to inspect details, just ensure correct framing. 

[gotium]

8 minutes ago, Tailwagger said:

Own neither, cant say.

I think a lot probably depends on just what you use the EVF for. My typical methodology to focus with RF, have the EVF set to auto magnify, confirm focus, half press to check framing and fire. I don't typically try to compose or view details through the EVF.  I'm generally just quickly confirming exposure and that my edges are where I want them to be. All the rest is done prior. So for me, its works as well as any other EVF I've used, including the SL2, but again I'm not trying to inspect details, just ensure correct framing. 

Same - I use the EVF on the M10-R/M only for framing and, because I've found that my photos are usually better when I can't see what I'm framing, I just don't use the EVF.  Unlike the Q2 and CL, I don't find it useful for focusing. 

[tappan]

Jono, great review. I mean VERY thorough, as always, with your great photos, as well.
Just one question, if I may.
I am concerned, a little, about the weather seal of the battery, as it has no cover and lays flat/flush.
You wrote: "The new battery for the M11 is properly weather-sealed and fits into the base of the camera in the same way as the Q2 and SL2 battery (with a similar latch mechanism)."
Can you tell how "properly weather-sealed"?
Is this camera better weather-sealed than the M10-P?
Thank you, and kind regards,
Mark

[digitalfx]

12 minutes ago, tappan said:

Jono, great review. I mean VERY thorough, as always, with your great photos, as well.
Just one question, if I may.
I am concerned, a little, about the weather seal of the battery, as it has no cover and lays flat/flush.
You wrote: "The new battery for the M11 is properly weather-sealed and fits into the base of the camera in the same way as the Q2 and SL2 battery (with a similar latch mechanism)."
Can you tell how "properly weather-sealed"?
Is this camera better weather-sealed than the M10-P?
Thank you, and kind regards,
Mark

The M is not weather sealed...lenses would always be a weak point.

RE: the battery, it has a gasket around it to seal the large hole with access to media.

[SrMi]

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7 minutes ago, digitalfx said:

The M is not weather sealed...lenses would always be a weak point.

RE: the battery, it has a gasket around it to seal the large hole with access to media.

Yes, and USB-C port is weather-sealed internally. The lenses are the weakest point on all M camera.

Edited January 16, 2022 by SrMi

[Dennis]

6 hours ago, jonoslack said:

Hi there Mike

I guess that makes sense, but it isn't just about the colour temperature but also the tint - I'm happy to settle for what the camera company decides for that - but the point is the same - it's a consistent starting point which you can work with later if you want to.

best

 

As Mikemyers, my WB it’s set with manual temperature. I do 5000k. So all my shots are consistent. Then switch to colder K by night. I was using Sunny WB on D700 to shoot weddings. I remember I was thrilled by color tones, one of the best SOOC colors ever by Nikon (IMHO).

But now I’m very curious to try Sunny WB with M10. I will give it a try.

[Dennis]

By the way, I just realized I’ve read the review but didn’t leave any comment🤦‍♂️
Thank you so much for all the exciting and exhaustive opinions and tips. We all read many reviews out there. Most of the time, it’s a lot of bla bla bla with not a solid body of work. Yours are on another level. To me, your exposures delight the eyes and make me think I’m there, like a wind taking life in the image.

[jmahto]

2 hours ago, digitalfx said:

The M is not weather sealed...lenses would always be a weak point.

RE: the battery, it has a gasket around it to seal the large hole with access to media.

I never had problem with Leica mf lenses in rain. I have walked for more than 4 hours in continuous rain with my M240. At the end the problem was condensation in the OVF but no issues with the lens. I had a lens shade to avoid droplets on the front lens element. I read some time ago that grease in the lens helps. There is no electronics too. Just make sure to keep them in dry cabinet after the shoot to avoid fungus growth. But that applies to any lens you use.

The following pic was shot in a lovely hike in rain. I really don’t baby my M lenses in the rain. In fact your best pictures come to you in the worse weather and M is perfect camera for that (IMHO). 😊

I also remember @jonoslack talking about shooting with M11 in a long wet session in his review. 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by jmahto

[SrMi]

25 minutes ago, jmahto said:

I never had problem with Leica mf lenses in rain. I have walked for more than 4 hours in continuous rain with my M240. At the end the problem was condensation in the OVF but no issues with the lens. I had a lens shade to avoid droplets on the front lens element. I read some time ago that grease in the lens helps. There is no electronics too. Just make sure to keep them in dry cabinet after the shoot to avoid fungus growth. But that applies to any lens you use.

The following pic was shot in a lovely hike in rain. I really don’t baby my M lenses in the rain. In fact your best pictures come to you in the worse weather and M is perfect camera for that (IMHO). 😊

i also remember @jonoslack talking about shooting with M11 in a long wet session in his review. 

 

Thank you for sharing your experience. I cannot speak for digitalfx, but what I meant is that the lens mount is not weather sealed. Humidity can enter at the lens mount and, e.g., condensate OVF or do even worse things. I agree that some of the best shots can be done in inclement weather. We should use our M cameras in snow and rain as long as we take proper precautions (e.g., wiping off the water, especially near the lens mount; protecting the camera from the water when not photographing).

[harmen]

The review is fantastic - and a real factor in deciding to buy.  The discussion about whitebalance has me very keen to run outside and try.  I’ve always left it on auto, even though I never do when shooting underwater.  Underwater I set it to 4800, in line with my strobes.  Then shutterspeed  can be used to dial in the amount of blue or green ambient light.  In caves it even helps to place remote strobes further away that are less blue than those used nearby to even out the colour; though seeing the colour change according to distance is also marvelous.  It’s about time to use a manual whitebalance setting above the surface!

[RBB]

great review, many thanks!!

[Big John]

I see that Jono says that the 60/36/18 MP options are not cropped modes but several websites are reporting that they are crops.  Are they referring to something else?  Thanks. 
 

Edit…found the answer in the user instructions. Seems that some websites are mixing pixel binning with digital zoom. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Big John
Updating, found answer

[Edax]

A big thanks to Jono for mentioning his WB ‘trick’ already years ago; since then I always put the WB of the Leica’s on daylight when outside. For me it also works very well.

Doing that however with the M10, there is a small quirk when importing in Lightroom; with one the Adobe profiles the LR/ACR WB setting (for daylight set in camera) becomes (5350,13); switch to the Leica M10 profile and it suddenly becomes (5200,8). A little weird.

Also with M10, and this is independent of how WB is set in-camera, if one wants to change the colour temperature, one has to change both temp en tint sliders. E.g. I find that a warmer setting for (5200,8) is (6000,0). I wonder if this has changed in the M11.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Edax

[shirubadanieru]

For those of you who are interested, my friend send me some shots of the M11 Black with some vintage lenses. I think the Silver vintage lens looks great with this new black finish! Better than Black chrome even. And he also attached the Nocti, but to be honest I prefer how the silver looks on the black body VS the different shades of black between Nocti and the new black finish. 

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[charlesphoto99]

16 hours ago, jonoslack said:

Most people have done that . . . . . but I still maintain that it makes it much more difficult to evaluate a set of images, especially in bright contrasty conditions. Shooting with a fixed WB means that you have consistent colour over a whole shoot - you might want to change it later of course - but consider - it's a sunny day, you are in a shady lane, the colour temperature in the shade is 3k different from in the sunshine (more perhaps) every time you take a picture the WB will be different because there isn't a 'correct' answer, But the light hasn't changed and nor has the colour.

Let's face it, you don't allow your camera to decide what aperture you want - why let an impossibly challenged system decide what White Balance you want?

Best

You are entirely correct ct of course, it's just that I've never found it that much if an issue in real world practice. Might give it. try though (my D850  dedicated to a copy stand for neg/slide scanning is of course set to 5600k). 

[jonoslack]

16 hours ago, antialiasing said:

@jonoslack don't know how much time you spent on writing this excellent article, but I have spent hours so far reading it and checking out each image. I read it on your own web site where each photo has shooting data under it. I noticed that you use a wide variety of aperture values, and I'm curious -- how do you choose what aperture to use for a picture? That is something I struggle with. Do you do it by pre-visualizing the kind of background blur you require and knowing the amount of blur at various aperture/distance combinations?

Thank you for such enjoyable writing!

Harry 

Hi There Harry

I don't know how long I spent writing it either, but it was a long time and definitely a struggle! Choosing the images was easy - perhaps I should have chosen more on technical achievements, but I chose the images I liked instead . . . . 

Choosing the aperture is the think I think most about - I'm happy to let the camera sort the exposure, and yes, it's about visualising what I want, but I don't think very deeply - it's usually either wide open or stopped down to f5.6 or more . . 

Thank you for enjoying it (it really is my intent!).

all the best

 

[jonoslack]

18 hours ago, gotium said:

Would love to hear more on what you think of using the EVF on the M11 - namely if it makes it practical to focus off-axis with fast lenses and/or with human subjects. I've not had success with the EVF on the M10 cameras (even those with a touch screen, too slow and too hard to see) - this would be probably the ONE thing that would make me look at an M11. 

Most of the time using the EVF I don't zoom in - you can see very well what's in focus and what ain't - so you can see what's in focus for the full frame - I don't use focus peaking (it muddies the water with the composition). So you can see what's infocus right across the EVF

Best

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[SrMi]

6 hours ago, Big John said:

I see that Jono says that the 60/36/18 MP options are not cropped modes but several websites are reporting that they are crops.  Are they referring to something else?  Thanks. 
 

Edit…found the answer in the user instructions. Seems that some websites are mixing pixel binning with digital zoom. 

There is both: crop modes (like on Q2) and non-crop triple resolution modes.