New to M11/rangefinder

[deekay]

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I'm about to take possession of my first rangefinder camera - and an M11 to boot... I'd appreciate any suggestions for good resources on photographing with a rangefinder (or anything else you think an M newbie needs to know). Thanks.

[Jeff S]

Jeff

[raizans]

Any edition of Günter Osterloh's "advanced school" books and Morgan's Leica Manual are basic resources that everyone should read.

Hicks & Schultz's Rangefinder: Equipment, History, Techniques is more general, but packed with relevant info.

Edited April 23, 2022 by raizans

[Kwesi]

20 hours ago, deekay said:

I'm about to take possession of my first rangefinder camera - and an M11 to boot... I'd appreciate any suggestions for good resources on photographing with a rangefinder (or anything else you think an M newbie needs to know). Thanks.

Hi deekay,

Welcome to the forum. Even though there a thousands of proclaimed experts out there on video willing to give you their version of how to,use the M, there really isn’t much to it. 
here are my thoughts. 
For the first month or so:

use on;y the rangefinder for focusing. 
‘Don’t sweat the focus. Align your subject once and shoot. Don’t doubt yourself that the image is in focus. 
don’t go for bokeh. It’s a nice effect when used with restraint but it gets boring real quick. 
With the M11 choose an aperture like f4 when out on the street in daylight and just enjoy the process of firing the M.

‘Don’t chimp. the world passes you by when you chimp. 
look at all,your work when you get home. 

‘shoot mostly in multi field metering with the M11. You can trust it. 

make stories not photos. That’s the domain of the M
 

[fsprow]

16 minutes ago, Kwesi said:

Hi deekay,

Welcome to the forum. Even though there a thousands of proclaimed experts out there on video willing to give you their version of how to,use the M, there really isn’t much to it. 
here are my thoughts. 
For the first month or so:

use on;y the rangefinder for focusing. 
‘Don’t sweat the focus. Align your subject once and shoot. Don’t doubt yourself that the image is in focus. 
don’t go for bokeh. It’s a nice effect when used with restraint but it gets boring real quick. 
With the M11 choose an aperture like f4 when out on the street in daylight and just enjoy the process of firing the M.

‘Don’t chimp. the world passes you by when you chimp. 
look at all,your work when you get home. 

‘shoot mostly in multi field metering with the M11. You can trust it. 

make stories not photos. That’s the domain of the M
 

Agree 100%. Also, stick to one lens until you know exactly what “it” sees, which will differ from what your eyes see. 

[ianforber]

Agree all the above.

As someone who had a 15yr break from rangefinders before getting the M11, I tend to zone focus by setting the lens at f5.6-ish and choosing a focus point that means most things I want will be in focus (with aperture priority and auto ISO). Means I can just enjoy taking the shot - most of the fun for me is in the pressing of the shutter button. Sad I know…

If not working that way, I’ll leave the lens at infinity in between shots so that when I raise it to my eye to focus, I know I always need to turn the focus ring clockwise to bring the subject in focus. Keep forgetting to do this though!

[FlashGordonPhotography]

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I don't know if they like external links here so I won't. There's a thread on the Fred Miranda Forums called "a 30 day project". Do a search for that in the Leica forum.

Gordon

[Tailwagger]

I'd second all of the above.  Most folks either see in 35 or 50mm; it's best to go with the one you see in so that compositionally what you see through the OVF matches the framing you roughly had in your head.  If, OTOH, you are coming from a Q and are most comfortable with 28mm you can go that way, just a bit more difficult to deal with if you wear glasses.  Obviously, the wider the lens and the narrower the aperture, the less critical it is to nail focus. The great thing about digital is that the cost of a shot is essentially zero, so you can practice focussing pretty much anywhere on anything anytime you have a moment to play around.  In a few days, you'll have the focussing aspect down. 

From there is all depends on what you intend to shoot and the style you're looking for. If you're a budding HCB, for example, you might find a scene on a street corner somewhere, work on pre-focusing for passerbys.  One exercise I did early on was to hang around outside of a Comicon convention and shoot all the characters as they were entering the convention. Was both fun and worthwhile. If you're more of a landscaper, then working on how to compose and frame more precisely over a range of focus points as well as shooting level and square with no aids might be helpful.  

Assuming you spend time using rather than admiring the camera, very shortly you'll likely come to find the whole process becomes second nature. I suspect many of us here envy you as one only get to experience the joy and exhilaration of discovering a different Tao once.  Shooting with the M is literally and figuratively an eye opening experience.  Best of luck!

[deekay]

Thanks all for this - really useful info. 

[LikameLeica]

I have taken the plunge into the M World after starting my Leica journey with the Leica Q, original SL and SL2-S.  I truly love the SL2-S with M glass, but the M has lured me for a bit and the M11 was too tempting to pass-up.  I purchased my Leica M11 last week.  I know the learning curve can be steep, but after a holiday weekend using the M11, I am getting use to the experience.  Still have a ways to go.  That being said, I am finding a few things frustrating.  How long is the learning curve to where I begin to "become one" with my new M?  

I think some of my frustrations are more around the functionality of the M11 (slow from start-up to taking a picture, settings getting changed by accidentally bumping settings without a way to locking function buttons, light metering seeming a bit glitchy (but could be user error), camera locking up periodically for no apparent reason (firmware issue?).  

I love the idea of the M experience, should I be patient and give it some time?  I know this is a personal question, but curious as to others that have been through this journey?  This has been my dream camera, but have limited window to return it to the store so appreciate any advise.

[Luke_Miller]

I can't speak to the M11, since my M journey is holding at the point of the M240 & M246, but with those bodies I don't have the issues you are experiencing.  In my case the learning curve was mastering rangefinder focusing.  Once done it has been smooth sailing.  I do think the addition of function buttons in the M11adds to the possibility of inadvertently changing settings. I saw this with my SL when I first got it.  Previously I've owned the M8.2 and M9 and currently own the MM, M240, and M246.  Their appeal (to me) is that they are virtually digital versions of the film M bodies.  The further the new M bodies move from that concept the less appealing they are to me.  I have the SL series for when I want something with more technology.

[charlesphoto99]

Focus and recompose, focus and recompose, focus and recompose - do that 10,000 times, like the Karate Kid washing and waxing Mr Miyagi's cars, and then you will START to get somewhere with the M. It's a process.

One thing with M's that is good to keep in mind, is to stay loose when working with it. Take the picture even if it's not in perfect focus, take pictures without looking through the viewfinder (or live view), take the picture even if the exposure isn't perfect. Too me, the M is about being loose and imprecise and art arising from practiced fortuitousness. . 

[Photoworks]

For years I have been focusing Noctilux on M bodies...

it is possible, take practice. my suggestion is to keep the lens at a distant scale that you may be using. Anticipate you frame and action, prefocus and recompose. 
Try to lens to see you plane of focus and pick an area that has contrast lines.

few focusing option are still difficult.. fast moving people, repeating patterns , water waves... focusing in low light.

Exposure..

I often use AUTO ISO, and AUTO shutter selection. It works quite well on M11.

 

[deekay]

On 4/26/2022 at 9:45 AM, charlesphoto99 said:

Focus and recompose.....

Would you expand on this? Do you mean with hyperfocal distance?

[hdmesa]

Post removed. Read something incorrectly.

Edited April 29, 2022 by hdmesa

[Overgaard]

On 4/22/2022 at 5:36 PM, deekay said:

I'm about to take possession of my first rangefinder camera - and an M11 to boot... I'd appreciate any suggestions for good resources on photographing with a rangefinder (or anything else you think an M newbie needs to know). Thanks.

Welcome to the forum and the M class 🙂 I think having the camera around and working with it for real photos and casual situations will help you grasp it rather quickly, and whenever a question arise, you will find it in the manual, looking at the camera operations and trying things. 

The most foreign idea is likely the rangefinder focusing. I find that  using it will make you familiar rather soon, and then as mentioned, you do need high contrast edges to focus on things. It's very elementary that if you can't see the overlapping focusing image, you can't focus. Nobody can, so it is never eyesight or old eyes or anything. It's just that you have to pick a subject that can be focused. 

Focus on something at the distance of your subject, which is easy to see, then recompose the frame and take photos. If you or the subject moved, focus again and recompose and take more photos. It's actually very easy, but often made very difficult by thinking it is difficult (maybe because there is no acknowledgment from the camra as in an AF camera red dot) or beep). Be sloppy and relaxed with it and it will be easy, be stiff and trying to hard and it will fail.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Overgaard