From Fujifilm to Leica: My Experience with the M11

[grahamc]

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4 hours ago, colint544 said:

Hi Graham,

Cheers, yes. OK, here's my experience of the Makina 67..

I bought mine from a guy I know in Glasgow, just over a couple of years ago. It was in lovely condition, and I found it immediately easy to get on with. The rangefinder patch is large, and I'd say even easier - for me anyway - to nail focus with than a Leica M. The greatest thing about the Makina 67 is the lens. It's hard to describe precisely why. It's not overly sterile, like the Mamiya 7 lenses can be. It's certainly very sharp, but it blends that with an old-school charm that defies description. And it's still lovely at 2.8, an aperture that few medium format cameras can go to.

I also like that the lens is fixed. I shot an entire project on this camera, and the fixed lens gave the images a uniform quality. Another advantage is that the camera is very slim - although heavy - when folded shut, so it's fairly portable.

Sadly, halfway through my project, the film advance jammed, and I had to get the camera repaired. It turned out that the shutter wasn't re-cocking correctly either. My project films were all in a big box awaiting processing. When I got them developed, there were nine films with nothing on them. Other ones had occasional blank frames. That was a bit of a disaster, but I took it on the chin, and the camera has behaved faultlessly since the repair.

This is not uncommon with the Makina 67. The bodyshell, the bellows, the tongs which support the bellows, and the lens are all solidly constructed, and almost over-enhgineered. The trouble is the internals, which are known to be a bit fragile. The film advance is a known Achillies heel. So you have to wind on very smoothly, and not just let the lever spring back by itself. And, like most bellows cameras, you must remember to set it to infinity before you fold it shut.

So, it's not a perfect camera. I love mine, and since I've spent £220 (about a year ago) on repairs, it's been fine. The big beautifully detailed negatives it produces make me forgive it pretty much anything. The design is superb. It's so minimalist, and even the font where it says Plaubel and Makina is Helvetica, the standard font today for Apple Macs. It's a beautiful picture-making machine, simple to use and carry. You just have to take a bit of care with it.

Thanks Colin for the detail here, much appreciated.  
Interesting that you shot The Barracks project on it, I bought the zine for that one so hopefully it’s winging it’s way down under. 
I spent quite some time looking at Flickr galleries yesterday for the Makina and the images are just captivating, the lens looks sharp enough but has a beautiful character.  
I’m sorry to hear of the troubles with the camera although sounds like it’s well worth the little bumps along the way. I was reading yesterday that in the updated 670 the film advance was changed to double stroke, so it may be that protects the Achilles heel a little more , but who knows. I can’t see any reports that the lens changed in any way in that update, which is good.  The general feedback seems to be that either model should be treated carefully including the retraction of the bellows , and they will return the love in spades !

im excited to get one, seems it has be done as despite the reliability issues the only thing I was really worried about was the slightly odd focusing. It doesn’t seem to be an issue. 
Thanks again 

Edited January 22, 2023 by grahamc

[colint544]

6 minutes ago, grahamc said:

Thanks Colin for the detail here, much appreciated.  
Interesting that you shot The Barracks project on it, I bought the zine for that one so hopefully it’s winging it’s way down under. 
I spent quite some time looking at Flickr galleries yesterday for the Makina and the images are just captivating, the lens looks sharp enough but has a beautiful character.  
I’m sorry to hear of the troubles with the camera although sounds like it’s well worth the little bumps along the way. I was reading yesterday that in the updates 670 the film advance was changed to double stroke, so it may be that protects the Achilles heel a little more , but who knows. The general feedback seems to be that should be treated carefully including the retraction of the bellows , and they will return the love in spades !

im excited to get one, seems it has be done as despite the reliability issues the only thing I was really worried about was the slightly odd focusing. It doesn’t seem to be an issue. 
Thanks again 

The focusing, I find, is a breeze. You soon get used to turning the knob to rack it in and out. It's very smooth and precise. I'm sure you'll love the camera, and if it's not for you, you'll not lose money selling it on.

And thank you for purchasing the zine. The publisher had a few issues with overseas orders initially, due to Royal Mail being hacked, but hopefully you'll have it soon.

[grahamc]

On 1/23/2023 at 6:48 AM, colint544 said:

The focusing, I find, is a breeze. You soon get used to turning the knob to rack it in and out. It's very smooth and precise. I'm sure you'll love the camera, and if it's not for you, you'll not lose money selling it on.

And thank you for purchasing the zine. The publisher had a few issues with overseas orders initially, due to Royal Mail being hacked, but hopefully you'll have it soon.

Hi Colin.   Just an update here as I've taken the delivery of a Makina, thanks for your feedback about it.   The focussing is an absolute breeze, very intuitive and huge rangefinder patch making it simple. Also fun moving the dial on the shutter button.  

I've just had my first rolls back (1 x colour and 1 x B&W).  All I can really say at this point is "WOW !" 

[colint544]

6 hours ago, grahamc said:

Hi Colin.   Just an update here as I've taken the delivery of a Makina, thanks for your feedback about it.   The focussing is an absolute breeze, very intuitive and huge rangefinder patch making it simple. Also fun moving the dial on the shutter button.  

I've just had my first rolls back (1 x colour and 1 x B&W).  All I can really say at this point is "WOW !" 

Nice one, Graham. I'm very happy for you. Sounds like everything is working just as it should. And yes, that lens - it's the best thing about a very good and unique camera.

[budjames]

On 1/7/2023 at 8:35 AM, 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!

When I shot Fuji-X for five years before switching to Leica in 1997, I owned several versions of the X100. I have not shot with the latest version with the new lens, but the previous versions were great travel cameras. I have many nice images that I enlarged to 16x20. One is still hanging in my office lobby.

Back then, I was frustrated with the IQ using LR, so I switched to Capture One Pro. The improved image quality resulting was immediate. Now that I have been shooting Leica since 1997, I just renewed my LR Classic subscription to give it a try. It's way better than LR from 6 years ago, even with Fuji-X files.

An important point not mentioned yet, is that the Fuji X100 costs less than the third of the cost of a Summicron M lens, and, you still need to spend $8k on a body. 

For the cost of entry, I think that the Fuji X100 is still one of the best little cameras you can buy. It's certainly a great value when compared to an entry level M 10 or M 11 kit.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography.

Edited February 25, 2023 by budjames

[Ouroboros]

I agree with the above, I’ve used X100S, T & F extensively, mainly at weddings for documentary and bts images where a Nikon D810 or D850 is overkill.  Small size, quiet leaf shutter (ideal during a wedding ceremony and for off-camera flash), nice Classic Chrome & Acros ii profiles and great Fujifilm colours.

Never felt the need to upgrade the F to a V as it’s plenty good enough.  Only real weaknesses for my use are my own high iso limit of 1600, anything above that is too noisy for this use with an X100F and slow af especially in low light.

 Otherwise, nothing much to not like.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Ouroboros

[tom0511]

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I bring this up again. I saw there are some of you who own both the M11/or M10 and a X100v. When would you use the x100v instead the M?

Is it when you want a lighter camera or when you don't want to carry such expensive equipment?

I am an M lontime user, want a smaller camera. Just got an G3xIII - but with the display I can only shoot with glasses and I miss a finder. So so far I am not 100% happy with it.

But the X100v is so close in size to the M...

[Olaf_ZG]

23 minutes ago, tom0511 said:

 

Is it when you want a lighter camera or when you don't want to carry such expensive equipment?

When the x100 came out, I was one of the first to have it, and I shot many weddings with it. The last one I had was the x100f.

Having switched to Leica, I bought a “cheap” m240 as daily carry which can be tossed around, taking to parties, let others use it etc. wouldn’t do this with the m10m, but with an older m it’s ok.

rather have an old m then a x100. The latter one is great, but I came to appreciate the m.

[jakontil]

On 12/16/2023 at 9:20 PM, Olaf_ZG said:

When the x100 came out, I was one of the first to have it, and I shot many weddings with it. The last one I had was the x100f.

Having switched to Leica, I bought a “cheap” m240 as daily carry which can be tossed around, taking to parties, let others use it etc. wouldn’t do this with the m10m, but with an older m it’s ok.

rather have an old m then a x100. The latter one is great, but I came to appreciate the m.

In line with my experience shooting with the series since the original x100, but nowadays, im just keeping the old M bodies with a compact lens and treating it like a snapshot, happy with it

[MattMaber]

I got the original X100 too (Stiil do). Ordered it as soon as I could, was definitely a gateway drug to film and Leicas 😁 

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[Rona!d]

The shot with the original X100 and the M is a bit confusing sizewise. Wide angle close-up with the X100 in front. Showing the X100 with lens AND lens hood in comparison to an M body WITHOUT ANY lens, doesn´t help much either.

The original X100 is by far smaller and lighter than any M camera I know of. And when it comes to easy lightweigth travelling on a bicycle or hiking having an X100 makes the big difference. There are situations even an M (system) is too much to carry around.

Over the years I donwsized from a full two body, several lenses "Billingham for Leica" bag to "Billingham Stowaway" to "no bag" (just one camera, spare battery or 2nd lens in the pocket of my jacket). I HATE taking a camera bag meanwhile, especially for street shootings or hiking.

An X-Pro3 with a small and lightweigth lens or an M with just one lens is the first step, but the X100 is another level and you still have a true camera to shoot with.

Back in the era of film the size/weigth-difference between an M and a Minox GT was even more impressive. Sure it all depends on which image quality you expect, but nowadays that’s not such a big issue anymore for the photos the avarage amateur takes.

 

[MattMaber]

1 hour ago, Rona!d said:

The shot with the original X100 and the M is a bit confusing sizewise. Wide angle close-up with the X100 in front. Showing the X100 with lens AND lens hood in comparison to an M body WITHOUT ANY lens, doesn´t help much either.

The original X100 is by far smaller and lighter than any M camera I know of. And when it comes to easy lightweigth travelling on a bicycle or hiking having an X100 makes the big difference. There are situations even an M (system) is too much to carry around.

Over the years I donwsized from a full two body, several lenses "Billingham for Leica" bag to "Billingham Stowaway" to "no bag" (just one camera, spare battery or 2nd lens in the pocket of my jacket). I HATE taking a camera bag meanwhile, especially for street shootings or hiking.

An X-Pro3 with a small and lightweigth lens or an M with just one lens is the first step, but the X100 is another level and you still have a true camera to shoot with.

Back in the era of film the size/weigth-difference between an M and a Minox GT was even more impressive. Sure it all depends on which image quality you expect, but nowadays that’s not such a big issue anymore for the photos the avarage amateur takes.

 

oh the X100 is FAR lighter and a little bit smaller. 
I wasn't trying to demonstrate anything with the pic though 🤷‍♂️

[marchyman]

8 hours ago, MattMaber said:

I got the original X100 too (Stiil do). Ordered it as soon as I could, was definitely a gateway drug to film and Leicas 😁 

And digital Leicas, too.   The original X100 led me to the original Q (still have it), an M 262, and now the M11.  I mostly limit my film use to medium format using an old Mamiya RB67.

[RMF]

8 hours ago, MattMaber said:

I got the original X100 too (Stiil do). Ordered it as soon as I could, was definitely a gateway drug to film and Leicas 😁 

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

@MattMaberLove the stickers on the Ms and yellow contrast gel on the M6!  You can tell these cameras are loved and used.😀