New Leica M11 Firmware 2.5.1 (M11 / M11-P / M11-D / M11 Monochrom)

[colint544]

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I skipped the last couple of firmware upgrades mainly because my M11 was performing faultlessly. But there was also some talk on here - if I remember rightly - about unnecessary EU red tape affecting the battery, or the battery display or something.

Anyway, decided I should probably just get this 2.5.1 firmware. Installed it a couple of days ago, all seems fine, camera operating smoothly and reliably, as before. Good job, very happy with my M11 now.

[SrMi]

1 hour ago, THEME said:

As a means of camera maintenance and hygiene, why not regularly

My M11 took about 7 minutes

The only thing that you get with secure formatting is that not a single bit of your previously recorded images survives. 

It is likely that regular secure formatting reduces the lifespan of internal memory. SSDs have a limited number of writes before they fail.

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, SrMi said:

The only thing that you get with secure formatting is that not a single bit of your previously recorded images survives. 

It is likely that regular secure formatting reduces the lifespan of internal memory. SSDs have a limited number of writes before they fail.

Sure about the lifespan?

https://www.protectstar.com/en/blog/how-long-your-ssd-really-lasts-everything-about-write-cycles

[colint544]

I had a staff job at a newspaper for seven years. This card was my workhorse that entire time. It was originally in a Canon EOS 5D mk2, then was transferred to an EOS 1DX. I formatted that card multiple times a day for those seven years. Hundreds of pictures per day. I shot jpegs for the newspaper, and TIFF files for the weekend magazine. Freelanced for four years after I left the paper. Continued using this card.

I rarely do paid photography work these days, but if I do, I still use this card. I know cards can corrupt or fail, but this one has never let me down.

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[SrMi]

2 hours ago, jaapv said:

Sure about the lifespan?

https://www.protectstar.com/en/blog/how-long-your-ssd-really-lasts-everything-about-write-cycles

Thank you for fhe link. A quote from that good article that matches my thinking:

Secure erasure methods are safe as long as you don’t overuse them

 

[Derbyshire Man]

On 7/31/2025 at 4:03 AM, kiwidad said:

And really a useless feature unless you sell the camera and want to stop anyone from recovering images from internal memory which last i heard no one knows how to do. A great feature for those who fear law enforcement recovering images!

I guess at least they didn’t implement any encryption.

Not so sure about that. We’ve had a couple of users who’ve ended up with full/fragmented internal storage. My plan is to use this feature for a spring clean every once in a while. 

[THEME]

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8 hours ago, SrMi said:

Thank you for fhe link. A quote from that good article that matches my thinking:

Secure erasure methods are safe as long as you don’t overuse them

 

Exactly, as with everything.

Occasional secure erasure ≠ harmful

Frequent or obsessive erasure = unnecessary and wears the SSD faster

[SrMi]

1 hour ago, THEME said:

Exactly, as with everything.

 

Occasional secure erasure ≠ harmful

Frequent or obsessive erasure = unnecessary and wears the SSD faster

FWIW, there is considerable difference between erasure/format and secure erasure.

[THEME]

2 hours ago, SrMi said:

FWIW, there is considerable difference between erasure/format and secure erasure.

One would assume that the Leica M11 line-up likely uses a quality SSD with built-in controller that supports wear-leveling by default to minimize uneven wear. That's a standard in devices designed for durability and reliability.

The secure erasure process, even if it involves multiple overwrite passes, constitutes a single operation per cell, which is negligible compared to the thousands of write cycles modern SSDs can handle.

 

In fact, one secure erasure operation (assuming a single pass) is essentially like filling the Leica's SSD with photos once, as both involve writing data across the entire SSD capacity. Both processes are managed by the SSD’s wear-leveling to minimize wear, and neither significantly affects the SSD’s lifespan when done occasionally.

[costa43]

I think this will be used by me if I sell my camera at some point down the line but I don’t see a real need during ownership. 

Edited August 4 by costa43

[Ne314satel]

16 hours ago, colint544 said:

but this one has never let me down.

Previously, you could drive a SAAB for 25 years and it wouldn't break down. The same with the card, there were completely different quality standards. This card will serve your grandchildren (it will fit one photo😀). 

Seriously, no amount of formatting the card will affect its reliability.

[M11 for me]

Has that secure erasure not simply to do with new EU regulation. Other brand will follow as well. Considering that the use of the new functions takes a very long time then I wonder why someone should want to do that all the time.

Is it not enough to just inform the user that when selling his camera he can do that. But I winder what the next owner of my Q3 would want to do with fragments if my images on that internal memory. They are not that great. 

[kiwidad]

11 hours ago, THEME said:

One would assume that the Leica M11 line-up likely uses a quality SSD with built-in controller that supports wear-leveling by default to minimize uneven wear. That's a standard in devices designed for durability and reliability.

The secure erasure process, even if it involves multiple overwrite passes, constitutes a single operation per cell, which is negligible compared to the thousands of write cycles modern SSDs can handle.

 

In fact, one secure erasure operation (assuming a single pass) is essentially like filling the Leica's SSD with photos once, as both involve writing data across the entire SSD capacity. Both processes are managed by the SSD’s wear-leveling to minimize wear, and neither significantly affects the SSD’s lifespan when done occasionally.

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/how-to-secure-erase-ssd

Erasure of an SSD is an electrical erase no repeat passes are required andtehre is no latent information to recover unlike magnetic media.

However what concerns me is secure erase done correct is very fast since. Since the Leica way takes time  are they doing it the old school way which is bad for SSD life. 

 

Edited August 4 by kiwidad

[T25UFO]

13 hours ago, M11 for me said:

 But I winder what the next owner of my Q3 would want to do with fragments if my images on that internal memory 

Probably nothing because the Q3 does not have an internal memory 🙂

[M11 for me]

vor 11 Stunden schrieb T25UFO:

Probably nothing because the Q3 does not have an internal memory 🙂

M11 of course. Sorry.