Not so high speed, high speed mode

[thrid]

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This is probably old news to a lot of longterm M11 shooters, but I thought I would point this out.

I've had my M11 for about two months now and finally had a chance to really get out and shoot.

I set her to 'high-speed' thinking this was the correct mode for rapid shooting.

Well, it turns out that is true and not true at the same time.

It works as expected if you intend to hold the shutter down and fire away in a continuous sequence. But the M11 will trip over itself if you start to take rapid consecutive shots in high speed mode.

M11 set to high speed, DNEG+jpeg to IN, 60MP

SCENARIO A
If I hold the shutter release down the camera will hammer away very rapidly and successfully take a series of images until the buffer is full. Works as advertised and expected

High-speed mode continuous shutter cycle
Open-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-open

SCENARIO B 
If I take a rapid series of individual shots in quick succession the camera chokes after 2-4 shots and trips over itself, as it struggles to write the images to memory and descends into a chaotic symphony of shutter noises and an erratic shutter response.

High-speed mode rapid individual shots:

open-closed-open-closed-open
open-closed-open-closed-open
open-closed-open-closed-open
open-closed-open-closed-open
choke! stumble!

Here is where it gets interesting.

Single Shot Mode

If you switch the camera to single shot mode the problem mostly goes away.

Now you can rapidly take consecutive individual shots and the camera behaves as expected.

It is not quite as fast as the camera hammering away in continuous high-speed mode, but I attribute that to the extra step involved in the open-closed-open-closed-open shutter cycle that needs to be completed for every individual shot, as opposed to the quicker traditional closed-open-closed sequence.

Anyhow, this is probably old news, but it did come as a surprise to me...

'Traditional' Shutter Mode

I have brought this up a few times before, but one way around this would be for Leica to add an additional optional shutter cycle mode. Call it the 'Traditional' shutter mode.

Closed-open-closed

Yes, we would lose metering, but there is a work around.

When entering 'traditional' shutter mode they could convert the function button next to the shutter release to an AE-L button. 
You press it the function button, the shutter opens briefly and takes a meter reading that is stored until you take another reading with the same method. 
Maybe a long press or double press on the function clears the memory.

I'm pretty sure this would solve the problem.

I know that the loss of metering in this mode would be a deal breaker for some, but there are many occasions where the lighting is fixed or very constant and predictable, and  maximum responsiveness is the paramount priority.

Certainly a lot of street photographers would welcome this new shutter mode...

 

 

[Photoworks]

I don't remember the M10 to be any faster shooting.

This is a camera to make you slow down and reflect.

I did test them on a baseball field once and realized the is no high speed.  Hitting the baseball in frame one and completed the swing in frame 2 and no ball in frame. 🤪

 

The alternative is to shoot into internal memory that is faster and don't forget about electronic shutter.

[ianforber]

On 2/24/2024 at 9:50 PM, thrid said:

This is probably old news to a lot of longterm M11 shooters, but I thought I would point this out.

I've had my M11 for about two months now and finally had a chance to really get out and shoot.

I set her to 'high-speed' thinking this was the correct mode for rapid shooting.

Well, it turns out that is true and not true at the same time.

It works as expected if you intend to hold the shutter down and fire away in a continuous sequence. But the M11 will trip over itself if you start to take rapid consecutive shots in high speed mode.

M11 set to high speed, DNEG+jpeg to IN, 60MP

SCENARIO A
If I hold the shutter release down the camera will hammer away very rapidly and successfully take a series of images until the buffer is full. Works as advertised and expected

High-speed mode continuous shutter cycle
Open-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-closed-open-closed-open

SCENARIO B 
If I take a rapid series of individual shots in quick succession the camera chokes after 2-4 shots and trips over itself, as it struggles to write the images to memory and descends into a chaotic symphony of shutter noises and an erratic shutter response.

High-speed mode rapid individual shots:

open-closed-open-closed-open
open-closed-open-closed-open
open-closed-open-closed-open
open-closed-open-closed-open
choke! stumble!

Here is where it gets interesting.

Single Shot Mode

If you switch the camera to single shot mode the problem mostly goes away.

Now you can rapidly take consecutive individual shots and the camera behaves as expected.

It is not quite as fast as the camera hammering away in continuous high-speed mode, but I attribute that to the extra step involved in the open-closed-open-closed-open shutter cycle that needs to be completed for every individual shot, as opposed to the quicker traditional closed-open-closed sequence.

Anyhow, this is probably old news, but it did come as a surprise to me...

'Traditional' Shutter Mode

I have brought this up a few times before, but one way around this would be for Leica to add an additional optional shutter cycle mode. Call it the 'Traditional' shutter mode.

Closed-open-closed

Yes, we would lose metering, but there is a work around.

When entering 'traditional' shutter mode they could convert the function button next to the shutter release to an AE-L button. 
You press it the function button, the shutter opens briefly and takes a meter reading that is stored until you take another reading with the same method. 
Maybe a long press or double press on the function clears the memory.

I'm pretty sure this would solve the problem.

I know that the loss of metering in this mode would be a deal breaker for some, but there are many occasions where the lighting is fixed or very constant and predictable, and  maximum responsiveness is the paramount priority.

Certainly a lot of street photographers would welcome this new shutter mode...

 

 

Did you try Low Continuous mode? I have that as my default mode for most of the time but usually only take a single shot and only ever keep the shutter pressed down to take 3-5 shots at a time.