From Fujifilm to Leica: My Experience with the M11

[Fatih]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi Everyone. I'm a decade-long Fujifilm user who switched to a Leica M11 three weeks ago. There were a lot of feelings about using a Leica, and I was baffled initially (no EVF). But more than that, using an X100V previously, I share my experiences and thoughts. It's a 5000 words extended essay, and I covered things like my lens of choice, M11 vs. X100V, why I love the M11, and many other things. I thought some of you would be interested in it:

 

https://arslan.io/2023/01/06/from-fujifilm-to-leica-my-experience-with-the-m11/

[robsonj]

3 hours ago, Fatih said:

Hi Everyone. I'm a decade-long Fujifilm user who switched to a Leica M11 three weeks ago. There were a lot of feelings about using a Leica, and I was baffled initially (no EVF). But more than that, using an X100V previously, I share my experiences and thoughts. It's a 5000 words extended essay, and I covered things like my lens of choice, M11 vs. X100V, why I love the M11, and many other things. I thought some of you would be interested in it:

 

https://arslan.io/2023/01/06/from-fujifilm-to-leica-my-experience-with-the-m11/

I’ve never understood the fixation with the Fuji x100 series… and I’ve owned the x100s, x100f and x100v. Imho, they feel cheap, aren’t that well built, average lens, terrible evf and the colors aren’t that great, though the x100v is slightly improved.

Maybe it’s because i bought a x100v after already experiencing a Leica. So much of the Leica is about the experience it provides as much as the fantastic photos it produces, the Leica makes you wanna pick it up, the Fuji does not.

Anyway, congrats on joining the fold, there will be times of frustration with the Leica, stick with it and you will be rewarded!

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Jeff S]

Try it without the soft release. No need, with good technique, and more rewarding tactile experience without it IMO.  

I far prefer Lightroom Classic to Lightroom ( cloud-based, no longer called CC). More complete features and editing controls, especially for print output, which is where one can truly see the benefits of high quality gear.  An iPhone can generally produce good results for screen viewing. 

Jeff
 

 

[robsonj]

1 hour ago, Jeff S said:

Try it without the soft release. No need, with good technique, and more rewarding tactile experience without it IMO.  

I far prefer Lightroom Classic to Lightroom ( cloud-based, no longer called CC). More complete features and editing controls, especially for print output, which is where one can truly see the benefits of high quality gear.  An iPhone can generally produce good results for screen viewing. 

Jeff
 

 

I second Jeff, ditch the soft release

[dpitt]

Nice review, thanks for taking the time to write it down. I am not sure I would manage to free this much time during my first 2 weeks with a M11 🙂

The 60 MP lured you to buy the M11. Yes, I know they will help if you need to crop a lot to save a picture.

Coming from the M8 at 10MP and even the Leica Digilux 2 at 5 MP, my experience is that the quality of the pixels is more important than the quantity.
Just try your M11 in 18MP mode and shoot the same with the 26MP of the X100V to get an idea. Then crop the M11 picture to 10 MP and compare again. Even printing the 10 MP at A2 size should be no problem. I think on A2 prints the difference might even be larger between the two camera’s.

[Fatih]

3 hours ago, robsonj said:

I second Jeff, ditch the soft release

Thanks for the advice. I’ll try it and will report back. I use a soft release button for years. But interestingly, I never used a camera without it. I’ll try it out and report back. 

[Fatih]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

6 hours ago, robsonj said:

I’ve never understood the fixation with the Fuji x100 series… and I’ve owned the x100s, x100f and x100v. Imho, they feel cheap, aren’t that well built, average lens, terrible evf and the colors aren’t that great, though the x100v is slightly improved.

…

For me it was the price. I wasn’t able to afford a Leica (family, priorities, etc.). Things have changed over the years so I bit the bullet and bought a M11 with a LUX 35mm F/1.4. Coming from a Fujifilm, I can understand why people pick them up. They are affordable and the best entry into learning photography, because the X100V has dedicated buttons for  everything, i.e: shutter speed, ISO, exposure and aperture. 

 

[Jeff S]

29 minutes ago, Fatih said:

Thanks for the advice. I’ll try it and will report back. I use a soft release button for years. But interestingly, I never used a camera without it. I’ll try it out and report back. 

Be sure to use proper technique…

Jeff

[robsonj]

52 minutes ago, Fatih said:

For me it was the price. I wasn’t able to afford a Leica (family, priorities, etc.). Things have changed over the years so I bit the bullet and bought a M11 with a LUX 35mm F/1.4. Coming from a Fujifilm, I can understand why people pick them up. They are affordable and the best entry into learning photography, because the X100V has dedicated buttons for  everything, i.e: shutter speed, ISO, exposure and aperture. 

 

Yea, I get it, drives me nuts all the influencers gushing over an average camera, now the Ricoh GRIII, now that’s a great camera

[Olaf_ZG]

13 minutes ago, robsonj said:

Yea, I get it, drives me nuts all the influencers gushing over an average camera, now the Ricoh GRIII, now that’s a great camera

Wrong. That’s a small camera.

[robsonj]

5 minutes ago, Olaf_ZG said:

Wrong. That’s a small camera.

Small but mighty

[charlesphoto99]

7 hours ago, robsonj said:

I’ve never understood the fixation with the Fuji x100 series… and I’ve owned the x100s, x100f and x100v. Imho, they feel cheap, aren’t that well built, average lens, terrible evf and the colors aren’t that great, though the x100v is slightly improved.

Maybe it’s because i bought a x100v after already experiencing a Leica. So much of the Leica is about the experience it provides as much as the fantastic photos it produces, the Leica makes you wanna pick it up, the Fuji does not.

Anyway, congrats on joining the fold, there will be times of frustration with the Leica, stick with it and you will be rewarded!

Obviously there was some sort of fixation since you’ve owned three of them! Or perhaps it’s just that the GAS is strong in you…. (just pulling your leg). Anyway, never owned an x100, but did try a Ricoh GR etc (even a Q for a week) and they always ended up getting returned. At the end of the day, if one is going to carry a camera and make photos, do it right. Otherwise a phone is all you really need if compactness is paramount. 

[sometimesmaybe]

2 hours ago, robsonj said:

Yea, I get it, drives me nuts all the influencers gushing over an average camera, now the Ricoh GRIII, now that’s a great camera

dont look now, but the next craze is 'digicams' - old point and shoot digital cameras 

[FrozenInTime]

I don't understand rubbishing cameras other than Leica ; to quote the o/p's blog post "The X100V has a different style, and I think they both have their place".

 

[jakontil]

2 hours ago, robsonj said:

Yea, I get it, drives me nuts all the influencers gushing over an average camera, now the Ricoh GRIII, now that’s a great camera

i dont understand about the hype of GRIII too.. being a former fuji x100 series as well, i know it was a great camera, but lately it's sounded far bigger than its potential hahahah

 

3 hours ago, Fatih said:

For me it was the price. I wasn’t able to afford a Leica (family, priorities, etc.). Things have changed over the years so I bit the bullet and bought a M11 with a LUX 35mm F/1.4. Coming from a Fujifilm, I can understand why people pick them up. They are affordable and the best entry into learning photography, because the X100V has dedicated buttons for  everything, i.e: shutter speed, ISO, exposure and aperture. 

 

the 35 cron was usually a step into the leica world, but i saw you get the lux, i don't see where you are lacking and missing the cron except for its more compact form factor, if you like the 35 lux, give 28 lux a try though im not quite a fan due to its size

 

42 minutes ago, sometimesmaybe said:

dont look now, but the next craze is 'digicams' - old point and shoot digital cameras 

it's happening here now, made me so curious... i thought i was missing something... i should look into my cupboard, i have a few of digicams stating back from canon gx to sony cybershot lol

 

43 minutes ago, FrozenInTime said:

I don't understand rubbishing cameras other than Leica ; to quote the o/p's blog post "The X100V has a different style, and I think they both have their place".

 

when i had my time with M9, i felt the x100 original was a step ahead and xpro 1 was a joy to use.. but it all changed when leica introduced m240... i understood when people favor the former

[cboy]

Perhaps the OP should do a revisit after 1 year after the honeymoon phase. Getting a full grasp of any camera and understanding the quirks of both the pros and cons. No camera is perfect for every genre and so most have at least a two or more system setup. And whilst the learning curve is not as steep as other systems it's still new ecosystem which one needs to adapt their own workflow to.

The excitement to the x100v came after many vloggers made glowing reviews after a short period of use touting as the perfect EDC camera; unbenknownst to the consumer, their motives not as genuine as one thinks.

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by cboy

[SrMi]

I own the X100V, GRIII and GRIIIx, as well as M11. All are different but great cameras, highly enjoyable and producing fantastic results.

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by SrMi

[robsonj]

4 hours ago, charlesphoto99 said:

Obviously there was some sort of fixation since you’ve owned three of them! Or perhaps it’s just that the GAS is strong in you…. (just pulling your leg). Anyway, never owned an x100, but did try a Ricoh GR etc (even a Q for a week) and they always ended up getting returned. At the end of the day, if one is going to carry a camera and make photos, do it right. Otherwise a phone is all you really need if compactness is paramount. 

I always carry a 8x10 view camera with me these days, it’s gotta be right 😀

[wdahab]

I loved the X100 series. Was super hyped when it was announced like, what, 12 years ago now? I've owned the X100, the X100F and the X100V. All were amazing. I love the 35mm focal length, so I found it super useful. 

Things the X100 series did worse:

- I found the raw files to be very difficult to work with, and extremely large relative to their resolution, if not in compressed mode (and even harder to work with compressed, with lots of incompatibilities). It's amazing how easy the DNG files the M11 produces are to work with.

- It often missed focus in wide-open scenes, because it wasn't sure what to focus on. By the X100V the autofocus was more than usable, and worked great.

- Even 18MP M11 vs 26MP X100V, the M11 has better fine detail. The X trans sensors are better for color noise, but much worse for fine detail.

 

The two things that the X100 series does better are:

- Autofocus. Makes it so much easier to get great fast candid portraits wide open.

- Close focus of 4 inches! I'm lucky to have gotten an APO35, but still, that X100V close focus with autofocus is extremely useful.

- Pivoting LCD, makes it really easy to take hip-level shots for that medium-format perspective.

- JPEGs. I mean, obviously, you don't need to do JPEGs if you shoot in RAW, but the X100 series JPEGs are a joy to use if you want that "shoot permanent" style. The Leica jpeg processing sucks, especially at high ISO where it leaves in lots of blotchy color artifacts.

 

All in all, I don't regret my change to the M11. I *do* regret selling my X100V though. I wish I could have justified keeping it. In a couple years I'll probably get either the next Fuji or a Q3/Q3 Monochrom for that style fast shooting.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[MyLeicaWorld]

Fatih, you have a great blog.. and congratulations with your m11.. you’ll love it .. just I have to say as a downside; it has a long start up time .. so as you did; the stand by time should be set to 60 mins not to miss anything on the streets..  enjoy your camera ..

All the best;

Kaan