Leica M11M + Q3 or M11+Q2M?

[Steadimann]

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Hello everyone,

my first post here after reading alot. 

I currently own Q2M which I love, but at the same time I shoot colour Fuji X series for occasional travel stuff.

After experiencing Leica, I want to dive deeper and get to M series and get rid of colour Fuji, stay with Leica, but the riddle I am trying to resolve is:

1. Get M11 + 35mm together with Q2M or
2. Get M11M + 35 and get Q3 after sellinf Q2M.

I read a bunch of posts and topics and I know this all dependant on priorities etc, but I sure some of you would have some points I did not consider. Myself I am leaning towards second option as I like BW, I like slow shooting and M11M would be amazing for this with 35mm lens (Q series lens is a tad too wide for me) and colour Q3 would make a perfect companion with wider lens together with M11M . My wife does like taking pictures so she would enjoy Q3 for sure

What I am a bit hesistant about is M11 issues.. it does seem from social media that M11 has issues. My Q2M has been rock solid so far..

Once of the shots I made on film set this summer.

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[LikameLeica]

Always a personal choice, but I would keep your Q2M and get a M11-P.  Logic as follows.

1. The Q2M will give you a camera that does purely B&W/Mono and a fixed lens.  It is limited in the sense of B&W and fixed lens, but these limitations are the beauty of using it.  It also produces amazing images with the 28 summilux lens and is an easy to use travel companion.
2. The M11-P gives you the latest version of the M11 with the versatility of interchangeable lenses, color and B&W shooting, versatility of 60MP resolution (which for me has me primarily using the 35M 1.4 FLE Summilux for 90% of my pics), latest version of hardware for M11 product range, and P variations of M cameras typically have more appeal in resell value.

In terms of the issues with M11, they are real but improving with firmware upgrades.  I have had the M11 since just after it has released and it has taken over as my primary, almost only, camera and I have the SL2 & SL2-S.  The glitches are infrequent but non-the-less frustrating for a the price paid.  I truly think they are software related and believe that the firmware upgrades will keep improving on the issues.

 

[adrianh]

Both the M11 and Q3 can and will eventually freeze on you, but both are getting better with each firmware iteration. Personally, I had no picture loss from any of this models however I was only an early adopter of the Q3 and a late adopter of the M11. 

Anyways, both are pretty reliable cameras, not sure if this matters to you but the wireless connection to Fotos is way faster and more reliable on the Q3.

[Olaf_ZG]

About a year ago, I had similar question, just with the m10 and q2. I decided for the m10m, mainly cause I wanted also be able to use different lenses for b/w. Meanwhile I sold off the Q as I was not happy with the low light performance, leaving me with a m10m and a sl2s.

 

[T25UFO]

Firstly, welcome to the forum where you will find lots of good [but often conflicting] advice, as is the case with the responses so far.

I have been combining M and Q for several iterations, sometimes both colour (I hate changing lenses) sometimes colour and B&W.  The biggest advantage of a 60mpx sensor is not printing large, but rather the ability to use one lens and crop.  That's obvious with the Q3, but using the 35mm APO lens on M11M is probably a better example.  The B&W resolution, coupled with low light performance, is nothing short of astounding.

So my recommendation would be Q3 + M11M + 35mm APO.  More conflicting advice 🙂

[Steadimann]

Hey,

thank you for your opinions. The more I read, the tough it get's especially with lens choices  I think I will go with M11-P +35mm APO and keep Q2M. Reason being that M series does have OVF which does not show BW image (unlike Q2M with it's EVF) so it does not make much difference during shoot and in post I can have both with Q2M to be used in really dark situations.

What about lenses? 35APO and then see if I really need 28 or go with 50 and which ones..

[exnihil0]

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M11M 35 lux + SL2s m adapter 50 lux. Interchangeable lens on both systems make it a very capable low light combo and I shoot exclusively with M until I get an itch for color. 

[Steadimann]

1 hour ago, exnihil0 said:

M11M 35 lux + SL2s m adapter 50 lux. Interchangeable lens on both systems make it a very capable low light combo and I shoot exclusively with M until I get an itch for color. 

Hey,

i do not need SL2s for sure, as I have Gfx100II for work related stuff. I want to get M for my personal stuff for with that amazing photography feel - no evf, manual focus etc. But the question was bugging me whether I can do all personal stuff in BW. With Q2M I noticed i shoot BW more from autumn to summer and in summer i tend to reach for colour camera. Libra decisions… 🤦🏼‍♂️

[Chris_Jenks]

Well, speaking as someone who owns the Q2M, M11 and Fuji X-T5 … I’m very happy with my choices. Known issues aside I think they’re all great cameras. Much as I’d like to commit 100% to Leica, I’m still a landscape fan and the flexibility of the Fuji and lens selections are hard to give up. 

[nameBrandon]

I've done something similar.. though I'm not a Monochrom guy, despite me trying really hard to be. I enjoy the B/W conversion process and the color channel data too much. I also love the Fuji film simulations / recipes as well as both the X and GFX systems. My kit looks like this..

• GFX 100s - Landscape (typically with the 20-35) or anything super critical, and my adapted lens platform (mainly 645 lenses) for the YT channel content.
• Fuji X-T3 - Lives tethered to capture one in my basement studio / primarily shooting product photos and still life
• Fuji X-S20 - YouTube video camera / kids sports (Canon 70-200 2.8 Mk II is a great value for this!), occasional informal portraiture (XF 50 1.0 and Viltrox 75 are awesome..)
• Q3 - Grab and go, every day camera / travel
• M11 - Makes my soul happy, part of the Leica travel kit with the Q3 (50 Summicron v5 / Nokton 1.1 for low light)

FWIW, I like the HC mono JPG setting in the Leica's when paired with the lower contrast lenses like the Summicron and Nokton 1.1. It's not Monochrom, but you get some nice images and they're pretty consistent between the Q3 / M11.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by nameBrandon

[icenine]

I have the Q2M and just added the M11-P with the 50mm apo and, so far, am loving the combo this provides. Like you I debated what the right mix and match would be and settled on this as the Q2M is a known entity - it’s rock solid like you said and its files are mind blowing. I also like having autofocus for low light, which is where the Q2M excels (low light), and I already feel like that was a good choice because, for me, since I’m still learning how to use the rangefinder effectively, shooting in low light is tough sometimes. Drawing that line is also helpful in determining which camera to grab for different times of day/locations/shooting needs. 

I am wondering now about what lens to add next, but instead I bought two straps - one long and one short and will just sling both and pretend I’m a photojournalist.