Leica M11 first impressions after purchase and receipt

[hillavoider]

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I couldn’t sand my fingers on the black paint like Kai W could I think he’s got eczema or something, in fact it felt fine, maybe I’ve done too much manual labour on old manufacturing machines 

Edited January 16, 2022 by hillavoider

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[onasj]

8 hours ago, mon10a said:

Hi @onasj. I think I saw you purchase your silver M11 last Thursday at Leica Boston. (I was there to pick up a black one.)

I really like the less slippery feel of the black finish and I don't see any indication that it scratches easily. All your other observations are spot on, though!
 

I handled the black M11 floor model there and noticed some fine scratches that didn’t seem removable by the usual “hot breath and cloth wipe” method. But to be clear, I didn’t feel the black finish was undesirable, just that I suspect, as is true with most highly matte paints, that it is not difficult to scratch a smooth line in the black matte finish even if the scratch isn’t deep enough to show the metal underneath.

The black M11 is a lovely camera and those who prefer black likely will be happy with their purchase.

[Herr Barnack]

On 1/16/2022 at 5:40 AM, Artin said:

Here is my experience with the Black finish.. out of the box does feel like shark skin.. after a couple of days and manny hours of handling the camera it kind of smooths out and feels just fine .. I don’t know if that is the powder coating of the aluminum or just my touch getting used to it but it is not noticeable anymore. 

That's good to hear, as I have settled on getting the black finish. 

Both black and chrome M cameras are beautiful, each in its own way.  I have always admired the chrome M4-P, so maybe that will be my first chrome M.

[Gelatino]

After less than 2 months of light use my M11 is out of order.

The shutter button is faulty: a pressure on it does not trigger whereas the cable release does, so it may be simply mechanical but a way back to Germany is to be considered.

Deutsche  qualität  where are you?

Edited March 9, 2022 by Gelatino

[Overgaard]

14 hours ago, Gelatino said:

After less than 2 months of light use my M11 is out of order.

The shutter button is faulty: a pressure on it does not trigger whereas the cable release does, so it may be simply mechanical but a way back to Germany is to be considered.

Deutsche  qualität  where are you?

Try to screw it in. What I mean it rotate it clockwise, the entire shutter release. 

I haven't had this with the M11, bit several times with the M10-P that the shutter release housing unscrews itself. You can screw it counter-clockwise and take it out and see how it looks if you like, so nothing more serious can happen, so  just screw it back on. 

[Gelatino]

Thanks a lot, Overgaard.

I followed your advice and the result seems positive.

 I did not insist to unscrew the shutter housing as it is tightened.

Glad  the problem wasn't so serious, and thank you again for your effective help that saved me sendind the camera.

 

[Dob3rman]

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What first lens would you recommend with an M11. I want to stay under $5K. 28 35 50mm are all fine. I really like the Q2 Mono with 28, love my 35 on my Sony. So I am flexible with the focal length. Should I get the body only and get may be couple woigtllanders to start?

Also, what is must-have accessories?

[onasj]

7 minutes ago, Dob3rman said:

What first lens would you recommend with an M11. I want to stay under $5K. 28 35 50mm are all fine. I really like the Q2 Mono with 28, love my 35 on my Sony. So I am flexible with the focal length. Should I get the body only and get may be couple woigtllanders to start?

Also, what is must-have accessories?

Under 5k might be tight, but you can get a 50/1.4 summilux-M for that price.  It's an excellent all-around lens.  If I had to recommend just one lens with no budget constraint, it would be the 35 APO or the 50 APO.  But the 50 lux is more versatile in some ways—just less technically perfect.

[SrMi]

1 hour ago, Dob3rman said:

What first lens would you recommend with an M11. I want to stay under $5K. 28 35 50mm are all fine. I really like the Q2 Mono with 28, love my 35 on my Sony. So I am flexible with the focal length. Should I get the body only and get may be couple woigtllanders to start?

Also, what is must-have accessories?

Voigtlanders are certainly a good option, though I prefer Leica lenses. Sean Reid (reidreviews.com) has reviewed several CV-s and compared them with Leica lenses.

[Kwesi]

3 hours ago, Dob3rman said:

What first lens would you recommend with an M11. I want to stay under $5K. 28 35 50mm are all fine. I really like the Q2 Mono with 28, love my 35 on my Sony. So I am flexible with the focal length. Should I get the body only and get may be couple woigtllanders to start?

Also, what is must-have accessories?

28/2.8 ASPH V2 and 50/2 V5 would be a great place to start.

both current and really not much at all over budget if bought new or under budget if bought used.

I would avoid the voightlanders for now in favor of 6 bit coding and enjoying the complete Leica M experience.

Come to think of it buy used, enjoy them for now and they will hold their value when you are ready to move up the Leica food chain

[hdmesa]

4 hours ago, Dob3rman said:

What first lens would you recommend with an M11. I want to stay under $5K. 28 35 50mm are all fine. I really like the Q2 Mono with 28, love my 35 on my Sony. So I am flexible with the focal length. Should I get the body only and get may be couple woigtllanders to start?

Also, what is must-have accessories?

If you get a Voigtlander, get the 50 APO. It's nearly the same IQ as the Leica 50 APO for 1/9 the price. Just a stunning lens that will showcase what the 60mp sensor on the M11 can do, IMO.

[hdmesa]

On 1/13/2022 at 11:00 AM, onasj said:

Purchased a silver M11 today (~$9,000+tax) from Leica Boston and also tried the black M11.  Here are a few first impressions, along with some information I didn't know despite the extensive leaks...

My silver M11 finally arrived today. I found some things to add to your list of observations versus starting a new thread:

• The weight distribution in the body might feels more balanced than my M10-R/M10M did.
• Viewfinder seems much brighter, and the rangefinder patch feels like it's twice as close to my face as it was with the M10-P/R/M. Hard to describe, but what a joy to use. I had to flick the front frame line switch to get the lines to show up right – at first they were were not showing up right. All looks good now.
• The meter is not getting fooled nearly as often in rangefinder mode. No more going back and forth with the LCD after every shot to make sure nothing went haywire.
• Love the silver color (first for me) and how it gets a subtle patina very quickly from hand/face oil.
• All the knobs, dials, buttons feel much more satisfying to use than the ones on my M10 variants did.
• ISO dial takes much less effort to pop up than with the M10 variants.
• Got the silver Leica grip, which now feels like a must have – plus it gets rid of the ugly black plastic hotshoe cover.
• I barely notice the shutter opening when I power up the camera. I swear so many people just have lost their damn minds over this non-issue. Try starting up a Canon R5 if you want to know what a loud startup shutter opening sounds like. And the mechanical shutter, while it does make a clickity-click-click instead of click like the M10 in rangefinder mode, it still sounds/feels very dampened to me – again, way better sound and feel than my R5 mechanical shutter – the sound is like the word "SHIFT" versus my R5 which make "CLACK" sounds if that makes sense.
• Cladding feels just a bit nicer and a little more grippy than my M10s.

My only wish for either color of the M11 would have been for the base of the camera to have been exactly like the SL2/SL2-S – soft but tough rubber surface with little metal peg-feet. My SL2-S feels so satisfying to set down on a hard surface.

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Edited April 15, 2022 by hdmesa

[LMBSGV]

1 hour ago, Kwesi said:

Come to think of it buy used, enjoy them for now and they will hold their value when you are ready to move up the Leica food chain

I agree. With $5000 to spend, you can even get two lenses if you want or just get one for now and save your money to get another lens later. There are a lot of great lenses out there for under $3,000.

[Jeff S]

On 4/15/2022 at 6:24 PM, hdmesa said:

My silver M11 finally arrived today. I found some things to add to your list of observations versus starting a new thread:

• The weight distribution in the body might feels more balanced than my M10-R/M10M did.
• Viewfinder seems much brighter, and the rangefinder patch feels like it's twice as close to my face as it was with the M10-P/R/M. Hard to describe, but what a joy to use. I had to flick the front frame line switch to get the lines to show up right – at first they were were not showing up right. All looks good now.
• The meter is not getting fooled nearly as often in rangefinder mode. No more going back and forth with the LCD after every shot to make sure nothing went haywire.
• Love the silver color (first for me) and how it gets a subtle patina very quickly from hand/face oil.
• All the knobs, dials, buttons feel much more satisfying to use than the ones on my M10 variants did.
• ISO dial takes much less effort to pop up than with the M10 variants.
• Got the silver Leica grip, which now feels like a must have – plus it gets rid of the ugly black plastic hotshoe cover.
• I barely notice the shutter opening when I power up the camera. I swear so many people just have lost their damn minds over this non-issue. Try starting up a Canon R5 if you want to know what a loud startup shutter opening sounds like. And the mechanical shutter, while it does make a clickity-click-click instead of click like the M10 in rangefinder mode, it still sounds/feels very dampened to me – again, way better sound and feel than my R5 mechanical shutter – the sound is like the word "SHIFT" versus my R5 which make "CLACK" sounds if that makes sense.
• Cladding feels just a bit nicer and a little more grippy than my M10s.

My only wish for either color of the M11 would have been for the base of the camera to have been exactly like the SL2/SL2-S – soft but tough rubber surface with little metal peg-feet. My SL2-S feels so satisfying to set down on a hard surface.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I wonder if the VF/RF patch impressions are influenced by your alignment issues.  You are now the second person who has commented on differences vs the M10 (the other, however, relating only to framing differences using eyeglasses), but I haven’t read anything from Leica or from reviewers concerning any VF/RF improvements. And AFAIK, the RF patch is set at a virtual distance of 2m on all digital M bodies.

I think the ISO dial ease of operation might reflect sample variation (and usage) as much as model change.  My M10, M10-R and M10-M are somewhat different, as are other samples I’ve handled. But I’ve not tried the M11, so maybe there’s something more deliberate and consistent.

Jeff

Edited April 16, 2022 by Jeff S

[hdmesa]

5 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

I wonder if the VF/RF patch impressions are influenced by your alignment issues.  You are now the second person who has commented on differences vs the M10 (the other, however, relating only to framing differences using eyeglasses), but I haven’t read anything from Leica or from reviewers concerning any VF/RF improvements. And AFAIK, the RF patch is set at a virtual distance of 2m on all digital M bodies.

I think the ISO dial ease of operation might reflect sample variation (and usage) as much as model change.  My M10, M10-R and M10-R are somewhat different, as are other samples I’ve handled. But I’ve not tried the M11, so maybe there’s something more deliberate and consistent.

Jeff

The rangefinder alignment on mine only affects the center patch. The entire rangefinder window itself feels like a higher magnification than the M10. I don't wear glasses, and I have to cram my eyeball so close to the camera to see the 28mm frame lines that I swear my eyeball is going to touch the glass. Maybe some of the units have a misaligned optic that was installed backward or slightly in front of or behind where they are supposed to be. Leica did say in one of the official release-day videos (the one where they chat around a table) that some minor improvements were made to the rangefinder, but they didn't get specific. 

I had an M10-P, M10-R, and M10-M (2) that all had stiff ISO dials. The M11 is not just easier to raise, it feels more fluid to move. IDK, could be sample variation, though, like you said.