My new Leica M11

[jpark114]

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Congratulations!  I really love its silver chrome color!

[Derbyshire Man]

On 5/12/2025 at 4:09 PM, colonel said:

Yes I know, late to the party as usual - well there is always one

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I am thoroughly enjoying my new M11, and to my surprise it is my favourite digital-M.

A 60mp sensor, which I am now addicted to (following A7CR, SL3) is very sharp and colourful, with excellent colour depth and dynamic range. It is somewhat more neutral then some previous M bodies, but this allows greater latitude to muck around with the colours later.

The low light performance is also excellent at the pixel level and I am happy to use up to 6400. Perhaps even more, but I haven't tried yet.

The multi-field exposure is also improved. The downside is that there is no sensor independent spot sensor anymore, which means that the start up time is impacted, as the sensor has to be fired up. The effect is that although this is the fastest digital M I have used, switching on and sleep prevention needs to be more deliberate in street situations.

I railed against the loss of the bottom plate. I still do. The times you replace the sd card or battery in flight are very small. The bottom is the bit that gets the most marked, and it is always nice to know that you can get a replacement easily. This option is no longer there. Then add to this issue that you have to take the battery out to get to the card. Maybe I am old fashioned and you guys are using wifi or USB to get the raws off. I should perhaps explore this more seriously. I would have also preferred a cap or door for the USB port.

My camera has been stable throughout, except when I tried one of the naughty SD cards. It is interesting that the M11 has gone back to the sensitivity of the M9 for SD cards, after the M240 and M10 were so benign towards SD cards. Luckily I have a supply of Lexar, so these work well.

Although I bought the silver version, the weight reduction on the black is very welcome for those that want it. The range of under 200g f2 lenses with biting sharpness available today can make for a very light kit (20g saved over the M10 for the silver and 120g if you go for the black non-brass versions).

The evolution of the buttons and menu options also has evolved well. Perhaps we are on the edge of leaving simplicity, so Leica has to be careful not to get carried away for future generations. Having touch menu command options is a usefulness that you can't drop once used to.

The battery is also longer lasting then the M10, I guess one of the advantages of that new base. It is also nice to see one of the last camera's standing that ships with a charger. Although for GBP 7900 the word value is best not referred to....

The shutter is quiet, around the same as the M10-P, but it does seem to be a bit less of a high pitch. Not at the height of leaf shutters yet. Maybe one day ...

I can't say it a necessary upgrade from a M10-R. It does feel more refined and faster in usage, with a longer battery, but the M10-R is an amazing camera. The question is the pricing, but it does seem that sometimes used M11 prices in the UK can get very close to a used M10-R, in that case the M11 is a no brainer. 

This is certainly Leica's best M yet. I expect to look at the M12 in, say, 5 years  

 

Great review and I particularly liked that final photo, made me laugh out loud!

[graphlex]

On 5/12/2025 at 8:22 AM, kiwidad said:

Congrats! 
I might add the bottom plate is probably the most lost part too 🙂

I never thought about the spot meter but since the m11 essentially function in live view all the time it doesn’t really mater.

If you set it to fully manual exposure, I suppose it stays in live view nevertheless. 

Edited May 16 by graphlex

[kiwidad]

5 minutes ago, graphlex said:

If you set it to fully manual exposure, I suppose it stays in live view nevertheless. 

The m11 does everything directly off the sensor, so, essentially the entire sensor is open to the rear of the lens all the time even when not using the rear screen. In this regard it differs from every previous M.

so regardless of exposure setting it is always reading directly of the sensor. What you perceive as live view is just turning the rear lcd on or off to preview what the sensor sees, nothing else changes. All metering modes work directly off the sensor. The shutter closes and reopens and closes to image and then reopens to meter the next shot hence the unusual shutter sound! This also seems to add a delay on shutter release as well how be it very short.

its an amazing camera and is as capable as the hands holding it. I feel somewhat spoiled every time it gathers the light from the 50 sumilux asph I have most of the time on mine.

The original poster will enjoy the new baby 😉 

 

[thierry40]

On 5/12/2025 at 8:38 PM, marchyman said:

Why is this an issue?  I move the SD card from camera to computer to bring my images into my editor.  It's fast and easy.  Removing the battery as part of that process doesn't bother in any way.  It might even help... there is much less likely a chance that I'd grab the camera without re-installing the memory card.

How is removing the battery to get the card any different from older cameras where you had to remove the battery to put it on the charger?

I found the Leica photo app handy till recent when connecting had become somehow long. Then transfer is ok for a couple of images but when I came back with 30+ (and more) it was becoming an issue … and draining the battery  the Q2. I recently bought for some 30€ a simple card reader that I can plug to the iPhone or iPad and download to LR takes only few seconds. 
now with the M11 it seems it can be done even direct from camera to iPhone w/o touching the card even… just need a cable usb c / usb c for that. If it works like that I’ll love it !