Anyone new to M11? Advise please!

[IkarusJohn]

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It seems our OP is a bit of an internet guerrilla - drop a post, raise interest and disappear into the ether, only to pop up again elsewhere.  But he raises a common question that generate responses which have become the received wisdom.

While sensible, I don’t follow any of the advice about renting, trying and all the other advice which suggests there is a camera for you, and you might make a wrong decision.  I’m far more simplistic - I generally understand what photography I’m interested in and what sort of camera is likely to work for me.  I then try to make the best decision based on that understanding and what the camera has to offer.  I then accept that I will have to change what I do to make my camera choice work.  I bought the M9 sight unseen, and then had to adjust to going back to a rangefinder with parallax focusing.  It took time, but was worth the investment, because I understood what I wanted in photography and I understood what the M9 offered, even though the initial reality of the rangefinder was a shock.

So, for the OP or anyone else intrigued by these cameras, or captivated by the mystique of Leica, my advice is to understand what photography you’re interested in, then ask yourself honestly if an M camera is likely to meet that need.  It’s really only useful or workable between focal lengths of 21mm and 90mm; everything is manual (including taking the lens cap off); and if you get the bug, you will sink a fortune in lenses.  You will have to learn and adjust, but it’s worth the effort.

If you then make the jump, deciding that you want to learn a new way of taking photos, the first thing you must do is master the rangefinder - it is the heart of the M system.  If you get your subject in focus, then it will be in focus regardless of the lens or aperture, so get it in focus - don’t zone or hyperfocal focus, get the patches to match.  That’s the point of the system.  Everything else falls into place, if you think about it.  M cameras make you think.

Unless you’re exceptional, or have a huge background in M cameras or rangefinders already, renting or trying one in a shop is unlikely to help.  It will confuse you more than anything, and the OP sounds a bit confused.  Renting or trying is also not as widely available as some suggest (I remember buying my first Hasselblad in Hong Kong - I had to go to the distributor, subsequently a shareholder in Hasselblad, to see one and they wouldn’t take it out of the glass case for me to hold unless I agreed to buy it).  I loved that system, despite its limitations.

As to the choice of M10-R or M11, I’d go M10-R.  I don’t have either (I have the M10-D); for me the M10 based cameras are perfection.

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[Alvin Greis]

I started to use my M11 in May and sometimes  swapping it with my Canon R3 depends on the situation and idea.

The only advice I have is very simple: don’t rush.

Everything works well if you’re making your shots deliberately and slowly, swaying or slightly moving your camera backward and forward to have a precisely made image (if you need to).

IMHO first months this camera requires a lot of time and passion to give you the outstanding result. But if you’re enjoying this process - M is for you.