silver or black

[brickftl]

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I'm curious why people prefer a silver M11/M11P body over a black one, and vice versa.

I recently bough a mint used M11P that I absolutely love, even though in my heart of hearts I really wanted black for the lighter weight and more discrete appearance. But I bought the M11P because of its 12/234 build date (which knock on wood hasn't ever had a freeze problem, even before I updated to 2.1.2) and because the seller has a great rating on Fred Miranda (with whom I've since gotten friendly, really nice guy).

There's a side of me that would still like to look for a mint used black M11P, obviously paying at least $1000 more than I paid for the silver M11P, and then selling the silver M11P which I'm sure I'd have no problem doing. But then, I do like the aesthetic of the silver camera over the black camera, albeit that the silver camera is heavier and less discrete than black.

Okay, please feel free to slap some sense into my fool head 😵‍💫 

Edited August 6, 2024 by brickftl

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[Bobonli]

I like the appearance, that's all. Silver and Black make the same images AFAICT. I think black might be perceived as more "professional" and it's certainly a little less conspicuous. I might pay a little more for black, but I can't define how much "a little more" is....I know it when I see it. 

[Jeff S]

Various earlier discussions…

Jeff

[brickftl]

8 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

Various earlier discussions…

Jeff

Thanks for that, looks like this is an often repeated topic

[pippy]

18 minutes ago, brickftl said:

Thanks for that, looks like this is an often repeated topic

Yup.

FWIW (not much)?

A Black-Chrome / Black-Paint camera is more 'Stealth' than a Silver-Chrome camera; as such you might be less conspicuous with a B-C / B-P camera than with a S-C camera. On the other hand a S-C camera looks more likely to be a camera used by an amateur than a 'Stealth' B-C / B-P camera so 'targets' might be less suspicious.

There is no 'Correct' answer. Choose whichever you feel to be prettier and take some photographs.

Philip.

Edited August 6, 2024 by pippy

[lct]

Matter of taste indeed. I prefer brass (silver) to aluminum (black) and the greyish tint of my black M4-2 looks rather ugly after 40 years. Also silver doesn't warm up as much under the sun and i like when people ask me in a smile what is this old silver camera. De coloribus...

[gotium]

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Prefer the look of silver but with the M11 the lighter-gripper black would be more important to me. But for the P version I would personally definitely want the silver. Black engraving on silver looks fine, but I don’t like the look of white engraving on black. And if I already owned one I’d never spend time and energy selling it and buying the other. 

Edited August 7, 2024 by gotium

[THEME]

Black. But I could go for something all-metal, like the good old Contax G2 (don't mind the grip). To this day my most favorite camera. The glass!

Back to black. To me, silver generally looks more like jewelry.

Black is less shiny and seems generally more inconspicuous. And I don't want to draw attention as a photog.

I also like the red focus point on black. People seem to focus "more" on that red spot, so you get the look straight into the lens. Or maybe I'm just telling myself that 😛

Edited August 7, 2024 by THEME

[lexffm]

Hello, as always in life, it's a matter of taste. People used to say that silver housings were for collectors and black ones for those who had to make money with them. Fortunately, that's no longer the case. I would have liked to have my M11M in silver, but they don't exist, which of course has to do with the philosophy behind this camera. Personally, I always try to get silver lenses, but that's just my current taste. I don't care about the extra grams of weight.

[Kiwimac]

My personal preference since I began photography in about 1978 always been black. 
 

I’d prefer Leica to offer black paint on brass as a permanent special order but they prefer to reserve that for silly special editions. 

[Mute-on]

38 minutes ago, Kiwimac said:

[ … ]
 

I’d prefer Leica to offer black paint on brass as a permanent special order but they prefer to reserve that for silly special editions. 

Oh, if only! IMO all black Leicas should be black paint over brass, or at least something that doesn’t fade like black “chrome”. 

[Smogg]

I like the silver version much better visually, but due to the noticeable weight difference, all my M11s are black.

[maxpower]

My setup is pretty simple: silver for colour camera, black for monochrom (and safari green for fun)

Edited August 7, 2024 by maxpower

[Viv]

11 hours ago, brickftl said:

I'm curious why people prefer a silver M11/M11P body over a black one, and vice versa.

I recently bough a mint used M11P that I absolutely love, even though in my heart of hearts I really wanted black for the lighter weight and more discrete appearance. But I bought the M11P because of its 12/234 build date (which knock on wood hasn't ever had a freeze problem, even before I updated to 2.1.2) and because the seller has a great rating on Fred Miranda (with whom I've since gotten friendly, really nice guy).

There's a side of me that would still like to look for a mint used black M11P, obviously paying at least $1000 more than I paid for the silver M11P, and then selling the silver M11P which I'm sure I'd have no problem doing. But then, I do like the aesthetic of the silver camera over the black camera, albeit that the silver camera is heavier and less discrete than black.

Okay, please feel free to slap some sense into my fool head 😵‍💫 

The colour difference is not worth $1,000.

Nor is the weight difference.

Yes, a black camera may be more discreet, but not by much.

[IMAGEPOWER]

I own a silver M11 and a black M11-P. As posted above, it is mainly a matter of taste, but let me add my observations:

The silver body heats up much less than the black body. I work a lot in hot environment, 30°C, and the silver M11 always feels "cool" whereas the black bodies (M11-P and M10-R black chrome) always tend to heat up.

The silver body appears vintage, old-fashioned, and thus invites people to contact you. Many think of it as a film camera. So if you intend it, conversations are much easier to start. Some people even want me to take a photo of them with my "old" camera. This is also the case on weddings and similar events. The black body is stealthier, as stated above. Not really professional as the 'P' might indicate, if I need to come over as professional photographer I stick to my Nikon Z9 and D6 with big lenses...

The black body actually feels lighter (meaning it not only weighs less but also transfers this reduced weight into a lighter feeling in reality) and more grippy due to the surface. But 100g weight saving is really nothing to write home about IMHO.

Last but not least if you are into camera design the color of your lenses might be an argument. I think that silver lenses more often look better on silver bodies but that's just another question of personal taste.

If I were you I would just stay with the silver version and perhaps if you are ready to add a second camera body you could choose a black one...

 

 

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Here I combined a black lens with a silver hood (actually to differentiate the SEM in my bag from the Summilux-M 35/1.4 with the same hood in black - too often I grabbed the wrong lens as they look so similar)

Edited August 7, 2024 by IMAGEPOWER

[costa43]

I'm a fan of both colours with a leaning towards a black body if I was buying today. I like the stealthy look of the M-A in black chrome the best. 

[brickftl]

I've just about decided to stick with the silver. The possibility of black was a slight/momentary diversion mainly because of weight difference. 

[chasdfg]

10 hours ago, brickftl said:

I've just about decided to stick with the silver. The possibility of black was a slight/momentary diversion mainly because of weight difference. 

You can always get a black skin to paste over the camera and remove it when you don't want it as a black camera any more. The weight difference is noticeable when you have no lens mounted, but I always felt when I had a lens mounted (particularly those about 300g) the difference was less apparent.

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[Marley]

we have the same case! I chose the M11 in silver but now feels like I wanted the black. The added grip and weight savings are the main reasons. But too late my lens is in silver

so just have to stick to silver until my next M body for sure its gonna be in black. 

 

 

[Abram]

Honestly I didn’t really care. I was originally in the market for an M10-R in either color (whatever popped up first) and then wound up finding an dealer demo M11 body for an M10-R price so I picked that up. Happened to be silver, seems fine to me, though all my lenses are black and my other bodies are also black. I never really looked too closely at the M11 to be fair as on paper I didn’t care for the updates, but now knowing that the silver is brass and the black is aluminum I’m glad I found silver because if there’s one thing I do prefer, it’s the feeling of the brass body in my hands, impractical as that may be. I allow myself that one vain pleasure.