Weather Resistance

[kinetic]

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I often shoot when it's foggy, snowing, or light rain. I hear that the M11 has decent weather sealing, so a light rain or melting snow might be OK. Does anybody have any experience with this on their M11?

I guess there's also the question of lenses, but I guess that's a topic for the lenses forum?

[Photoworks]

I don't think leica claims weather sealing on M camera.

[elmars]

Jono Slack uses his M11 in all kinds of Brtish weather - including rain. He never had problems.

[darylgo]

Several Leica M digital bodies but I don’t have an M11 to comment have been fine in light rain and snow.  

Edited March 8, 2023 by darylgo

[maxpower]

I always wonder about it well but don't think there will ever be official word on this, reading peoples experiences with it does give me some comfort. From what I've read so far everything is pretty tight and well done making it more difficult (but not impossible) for water to become an issue, and I believe the weakest point overall is the lens mount and some people recommended putting a hair tie or something over there as an extra barrier?

But none of that is from personal experience, I have been caught with my camera in very light rain without an issue but so far been lucky enough to avoid bad conditions 

[Photoworks]

Yes the mount and the lenses are the weakest point. 

Even the M camera are ok in the rain the water came come in between . I have seen umidity on the mount ring in florida when taking the lens off and coming from inside to outside.

I think the Hair ties are used for long exposure, to mitigate the light leak in the mount.

[maxpower]

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16 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

I think the Hair ties are used for long exposure, to mitigate the light leak in the mount.

Ah could be that i misremembered that then yeah!

[jaapv]

I have even used an M240 in the tropical rainforest. The viewfinder was completely fogged up internally  but the camera came to no harm. Problems with the lens were raindrops and mist on the front lens. It needed frequent wiping.
I also had the sensor fog up in a rainstorm once. Again the camera came to no harm. Of course moisture ingress can destroy a camera but they are not as sensitive as  is suggested from time to time. 

[colint544]

I've used my M Monochrom mk1 in the rain plenty of times. Obviously it's not water resistant, so I avoid it getting completely soaked, and wipe it down regularly. I also try to keep it upright so water doesn't run into the holes under the shutter release/speed dial. It's always been OK. I'm sure your M11 will be fine.

Edited March 8, 2023 by colint544

[SudaliuS]

Hello guys. Interesting topic.
What about freezes? Anyone used his M camera at winter? Something about -10, -15 C degrees? Or it's pretty cold conditions for this camera?
I just afraid not minus temperature, but a strong condensate after that

[fenykepesz]

vor 42 Minuten schrieb SudaliuS:

Hello guys. Interesting topic.
What about freezes? Anyone used his M camera at winter? Something about -10, -15 C degrees? Or it's pretty cold conditions for this camera?
I just afraid not minus temperature, but a strong condensate after that

i used the m10d and now the new m11d every single day for the last 5y in hot-humid, rainy or ice-cold Montréal weather, down to -25°C for hours, then back to room temperature with all fogging up - but never had a technical issue with the camera, except for the wait till body & lens warmed up again and got rid of the condense water.  just the lens(es) make me nervous while walking in the rain - which i try to protect then, not that easy while carrying the camera on my shoulder or around my neck.

[Derbyshire Man]

Note to self; don’t buy Canadian second hand Leica lenses 🤣

[kinetic]

9 hours ago, SudaliuS said:

Hello guys. Interesting topic.
What about freezes? Anyone used his M camera at winter? Something about -10, -15 C degrees? Or it's pretty cold conditions for this camera?
I just afraid not minus temperature, but a strong condensate after that

I've used the camera down to -14 degrees farenheight. Battery does a decent job if you're not shooting too much, though carry a spare. I also stash the battery in an inside jacket pocket when I'm not using the camera, BUTTTTTT, sometimes the difference in temp is so much that when you pop the battery in, it warms up everything else in the camera enough to create condensation, but at that temp, your eye up to your rangefinder will create more heat.

[J S H]

Agreed. Cold weather is not an issue for the M11. I live at 10,000 feet and have used the M11 in winter temps below zero many times for long exposures and time lapse sequences. I have never seen any problems and the battery seems fairly robust compared to other systems I use. I have had it out while it's snowing plenty of times, but temps are usually cold enough that you can just dust the snow off without it melting. Might be a different situation if it were around freezing and the snow was melting as it hit the camera. Rain is much more worrisome and I am pretty careful there, so don't have any real experience with the M11. 

I will say that if you really want a camera that can shoot in any conditions, the SL system is on another level when it comes to weather sealing. I have shot multi-hour time lapse sequences in the rain with mine using the 24-90 and also had it drenched in the ocean by an unexpected wave. I hosed it down with fresh water after the ocean dunking and it never missed a beat. 

[kultflamingo]

I had an M9 some years ago that I had in a crazy rainfall for about 25minutes. Afterwards, occasionally the shutter wouldn‘t fire when clicking the first time.
I send it to Leica for repair but they weren‘t able to fix that issue. Probably were was not able to identify were the problem was located.

So now I‘m not paranoid but a bit more careful with rain.

[Herr Barnack]

My M-P 240 has preformed flawlessly in - 18 F (-27 C) wind chill temps.  I would expect the M11 cameras to do at least as well.

As for rain, just use common sense.  If it's a downpour, don't risk it.  Light rain is okay.

 

 

[sebas_]

I was using my M11-P at around -5 degrees celsius and I could hardly see anything on the back LCD. Does anybody has experienced the same issue?
The display is set to AUTO but I have also tried it to push it to max brightness, but it is almost completely black. 

[Jammy Dodger]

Probably an indication Leica likes the cold:

 

https://www.dpreview.com/news/5103777926/shackelton-frank-hurley-leica-field-jacket