The Leica M11 may look like the other M-series cameras that came before it, but it has some notable upgrades and changes. Find out why Chris thinks it's the most enjoyable 'M' camera he's used.
The internal memory feature is a long overdue and great idea, beyond that I doubt that spending 9000 dollars on this camera will do much to improve pictures of my cats...
Chris, you are The Man for sure but… why do you focus the camera like a 90 year old lady on a cruise ship taking her shots with an iPad? It’s a rangefinder FFS….
I'm sure we did talk about it. Regardless it is very flexible, and can be used as a redundant backup, or just overflow if you fill your card, or even without a card altogether.
Hi. I appreciate this camera test but above all I love the music in the background. Can someone help me to find that original jazz music ? Many thanks in advance et greetings to all.
One day I'll rent a M body just to get it out of my system, but I doubt it'd ever actually tempt me... Now the Q2 I'm more afraid to try, cause I could see myself rationalizing that one, and this 61MP sensor on a Q w/stabilization & AF would be most interesting.
I wonder if this 60mp sensor makes its way to a Panasonic S body in the near future. If I'm not mistaken, this Leica is the only camera that has native ISO64 as base other than the Nikon high mp sensors. Leica must have received feedback that not all customers shoot street and some like to do landscape. Could even be possible that Leica and Nikon cross-licensed some of their patents and the Z7 mark 3 could get a very similar sensor. As the camera market shrinks there could be more and more cooperation behind the scenes that are never announced.
I think it’s more about the 61mp nearly completely drowning out digital artifacts. It’s the most film like of any sensor, and I think only foveon is an alternative.
Why should I choose a $9000 Leica to use manual focus with a parallax skewed rangefinder versus a $3000 Fuji GFX 50R with autofocus and TTL framing? Seriously, can someone help me understand? You can plug all those 50 year old M-mount lenses onto the Fuji.
Shooting with a Leica is like being Cartier-Bresson in your imagination, or Robert Capa, all of whom gave Leica its. reputation for discretion and quality. It's not hard to feel Mitty-esk holding that solid, hand-sized, round ended box.
I bought my M2 in 1964, when the Nikon F was dominating the field, but for its unmatched features, ncluding solid reliability, facility in dim light and otical quality. I used it for nearly 40 years, largely unencumbered by flash or tripods, with 3 lenses - 35, 50 and 90.
With sole exception of auto exposure, you are responsible for everything you get from a Leica M11, with a shutter release instead of a keyboard. Hemingway hunted jaguar with a spear. Photography with a Leica may be something along that order.
My response was only partly tongue in cheek. There is no question that a Leica M is finely crafted, but the technology is years out of date. The last Leica I encountered in the field (other than mine) was carried on a waist-level strap by an older gentleman wearing sandals and argyle socks - an example of conspicuous consumption. For the foreseeable future, I have a Sony A7iv and a set of Zeiss (Batis) primes which meet my artistic needs.
The Leica lens (Ms included) technology is far from years out of date.
I see Leica M digitals being used on the streets of my City approximately once a month 3 seasons out of the year. And before early 2020, the frequency was once a week. This was true for years, not just one or 2 years, eg 2018-19. Until the release of the Sony A7 III, I saw more Ms than I saw Sony A7 bodies.
Furthermore, no it's not just people over 60 with Leica Ms. Now, the Q/2s are even more common.
The A7R IV is a nice body, but the menus are still not upto those in the Leica M10, and later, M bodies.
Many of the Zeiss Batis lenses are optically excellent -- and of course they're AF. So there's a lot to commend your system. However, the M10-R is a better higher ISO body, and Leica's best M lenses (there are only about 5 and they start at 7500usd) are optically better than the excellent Zeiss Batis lenses for the EF mount from Sony.
Thanks for the nice gallery shots. I downloaded some files and developed them in ARC. What I can see is, that the amount of time my computer needs to export is too long...... For me the 45MP of my Nikon are enough. The production version you have to test in Wetzlar, Wetzlar nett vergesse.... Greetings to Canada Bernd
Great review as usual. I'm not sure wether being a Leica camera review, it is the first time I see the price of the camera right in the beginning of a dpreview tv video, if at all mentioned. It's like a sign that says: if this number is too big, stop watching now. I think the all black one is worthwhile because it is made of a new metal called "aluminum". The idea of having the battery's bottom close the whole slot is quite practical. Saves a step and helps simplifying manufacturing.
I think aluminum is found only in the US, because it is only mentioned in that country. Luckily the rest of the world has the use of a similar metal, aluminium, which is very versatile stuff.
I think having the battery's bottom close the whole slot is is quite practical for Leica, in that it makes it harder for 3rd-party manufacturers to sell cheap Leica batteries.
Fantastic sample photos! Wow that lens and camera makes some gorgeous colours and rendering. And seems like the rangefinder was inspirational for the photographer.
I actually used the rangefinder a ton on this trip. More than I usually do, but I'm not sure why all the shots of me are with the lcd panel. We often go back after I take a picture to capture the B-Roll and I must just use the LCD for Jordans shot.
Wow outstanding video out of the Olympus Em1x. But that seems like such an odd choice of camera to shoot this video on. Does this mean the new Olympus camera in February will have the Em1x form factor? Or was Jordan afraid of being mugged in New York and wanted a heavy duty camera to beat off an attacker?
I didn't realize they used the EM1X until you mentioned it.
But the thing is, nothing bothered me about the video itself, which is what you want in a video production. Content first, with no technical distraction.
But it makes me wonder, they used the Panny 10-25 F1.7 lens, right? There was a fair amount background separation. I know Jordan raved about the 8-25 F4 Pro, but I don't think that lens was used here.
Well I imagine the choice of lens for the video camera was due to possibly needing low light support. There are 3 1/3 stops of light difference between the f/1.7 of the Panasonic 10-25mm lens and the f/4 of the Olympus 8-25mm lens. Sure, if you can control the light, the f/4 lens would be great, but particularly for run-and-gun situations at night, that is always not possible.
Another thing is since Jordan's name was mentioned, perhaps he did not shoot the video. Perhaps it was done by somebody local in New York who happened to have the E-m1x and 10-25mm lens.
I couldn't pack a monopod for this trip, so I wanted a camera with really good IBIS. Rain was in the forecast, and I wanted really solid battery life. The E-M1X checked all the boxes.
I love the Olympus 8-25mm F4, but really needed the wide aperture for the night scenes. Overall, I'm really happy with the kit I chose.
Thanks Jordan, so you did want a heavy duty camera to thwat people with. Not weather sealed, but I like the Tokina 14-20mm f2 lens on a metabones 0.64x speed booster to become a 9-13mm f1.2 lens, in combination with the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 on a metabones 0.71x ultra speed booster to be a 13-25mm f1.2 lens. Those were great over Christmas break.
Oly IBIS is still as good as it gets when it comes to handheld video without any other aids, one of a couple of reasons I've not gotten rid of my OM-D (along w/the teles I own for it, and Live Comp...). Solid quality stable video beats superb quality shakycam any day...
Looks like a great camera. After years of pushing extremely high ISOs and the largest possible file size, we are now going in the opposite direction, trying to get the best quality at low ISO, with the ability to reduce file size. But that's technology.
I didn't watch the whole video, but there might be a use for the 60mp. Since you're not going to carry a giant telephoto with an M camera, you can just crop.
Great review (preview) guys if only proving one thing; It's very hard to take a boring picture in my City. I really wish Leica included a second memory slot. There now should be a law that states that any given camera above a certain price point must have 2 memory card slots. Nevertheless, this camera looks like a real winner despite its Leica price.
Strangely, before two card slots became a thing, nobody ever complained about a single slot. I still have several cameras with only one slot each, and have never been let down by any of them.
I can easily see why anyone getting paid would want two slots, but as an amateur I've never used the 2nd slot for redundancy (I'll often do like RAWs on 1 and JPEG+video on 2, or just overflow); and when half the point of a certain kit is it's relatively compact size I could easily forgive only having 1 slot.
Well, Jordan is proving himself to be a master cinematographer and editor with this video, so I'd bet he could wow us even with a Pentax K-01. (Oh wait... he did.) The E-M1X is also no slouch...
The EM1X is a wonderful camera with excellent to near extraordinary native lenses. And once one figures out how to turn off the menu suggestion bubbles, Olympus (OM Whatever) menus are perfectly easy to use and understand.
The failing is that the EM1X is not a good higher ISO body. It's fine in 2020-22 4/3 terms, but that's nothing when compared to just the best from Canon (the R6), and then Nikon/Leica/Panasonic have bodies which best Canon for higher ISOs. (No, I didn't forget Sony.)
Nice video af what looks like a lovely little camera. One of a stream of recent cameras that I could never justify puchase of, but it is still interesting to hear about them all.
Good to hear that Leica has finally cached up with other brands in terms of image quality. Leaving this aside it has always been one of the best cameras for street photography but I still remember the first digital M models delivering same quality as under 1000 USD cameras... Since I can't spend this kind of money I'll keep using Fuji's X-system, which is also very good and in my opinion has a much better quality/price. In the meantime I'll keep dreaming about wining the lottery, which seems more likely than for Leica to offer reasonable prices. Do you guys think they would sell more than triple number of cameras if the were to offer one third of the price? I certainly do.
Not necessarily, it would depend on the increase in sales and margins in each situation. Let's not forget that producing x-times more cameras is not x times more expensive. Do you really think producing this camera is more expensive than producing the Z9 (if you expect to produce and sell similar numbers)?
Lenses would still be relatively expensive (to other brands like Fuji) - giving something else for the punters to complain about... I use both systems, does the Fuji offer better image quality? no not really, but the "quality"increase is not directly proportional to the price multiplier either. And why would Leica want to enter the mass market when demand for their products is strong and unlike other producers they seem to still make a decent living out of it?
Let's not forget that for cameras at this end of the market, part of the appeal IS the price. Owners can talk all they want about the "experience" and other reasons they shoot them, but there's a certain pride in owning something most could never afford.
Sell this camera for $2K and suddenly it's not the object of desire it used to be...
@gripper51 "...but there's a certain pride in owning something most could never afford."
Pride is not the right word if the aspect of owning this camera that brings pleasure is that others can't afford it. That's just being a snob.
There are other reasons to take pride at owning a Leica which is the engineering that goes into the camera and lenses which just happens to result in the price being what it is. Nothing wrong with taking pride in owning a bit of top class engineering.
There is of course a debate as to how much the price does reflect the engineering as in does the way it's built really result in these prices being a necessity? My own view is the higher prices were more justified in the film days due to more mechanical moving parts. These days mechanically cameras are much simpler and what determines image quality is the electronics (plus lenses of course) and electronics are not mechanically complex.
I am sure the M11 is a fine Leica camera, "That said" I did notice Chris using the newly improved rear LCD panel a lot during the shoot. I keep reading the Leica M experience is about shooting with the rangefinder up to the eye to focus, I have read it is the gestalt of Leica. I know they have a new and improved "Visoflex" for those who prefer a digital viewfinder..I just wonder out loud if the "M" rangefinder is reaching it's limitations as pointed out by Mr. Britton and Mr. Butler. I am sure those who purchase the camera will use it anyway they see fit and so they should. Congrats to Leica AG, I wish them every success.
Getting accurate focus on something even like a Voigtlander f1.2 lens at 1.2 is still a challenge (for me anyway) without the benefit of the live view focus assist. And that's on an M10's 24MP sensor. Perhaps it's part of the charm?
@tbgv I made a similar point in the Initial Review comments. To make the rangefinder work reliably on a 60mp sensor you need to start turning it into something else such as Barnaby's suggestion of focus confirmation.
@gustobod Is something being harder to use really charming? Not for me it isn't. There is the argument less automation can be a good thing such as using manual mode and manual focus but that doesn't equate to hard to use manual mode and manual focus. Things that are hard to use tend to get used less especially if there is an alternative available. People will naturally gravitate to the thing that is easier to use.
@mxx that maybe true and perhaps it comes out of habit or conditioning to live a screen based existence! Even so there are unfortunately plenty of examples of bad user interface design around on many devices including cameras.
My own personal view is I almost subconsciously stop using something completely over a period of time if every time I use it, it is a pain in the neck to use almost to the extent I'd give up a hobby. I don't think ease of use can ever be over stated as a design goal.
In this photo gallery we're taking a visual tour of the M11, and comparing it against two classic M-mount rangefinders, the M4-P from the 1980s, and the M7 – Leica's first true electronic multi-mode rangefinder, from the early 2000s.
Sunshine, showers, fog and a civil rights march - it must be January in Seattle. Since it was launched last week we've been out and about with the Leica M11, and we've prepared a gallery of samples from our pre-production camera. Click through to check them out.
The Leica M11 is a great platform for M-mount lenses, but arguably, its modern capabilities bring into question the future of a camera that builds so much on heritage.
The M11 is the latest in the Leica's series of rangefinder cameras, which date back to the early years of the 20th century. While it may look like Leicas of the past, it offers technology that 20th Century film photographers could never have imagined.
The Leica M11 may look like the other M-series cameras that came before it, but it has some notable upgrades and changes. Find out why Chris thinks it's the most enjoyable 'M' camera he's used.
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