Review: Leica M11

While most of us will probably never own an M-series Leica, we all owe the camera a nod of gratitude. The Leica 1 (released in 1925) was the first stills camera to use 35mm film, and while the small, near silent camera was invented for landscape photography, it was soon being used by the likes of Henri Cartier-Bresson to define documentary photography and the “decisive moment”.

Key to the Leica’s success is the pure simplicity of its design. On the top plate is the shutter speed dial, while on the lens is an aperture and focusing rings along with distance and depth-of-field scales; at a glance a photographer can quickly check the exposure and focus settings, and everything else is about the moment.

In 1954 Leica added a built-in rangefinder and a bayonet lens mount to the camera, along with the M-prefix but to this day, Leica rangefinder cameras maintain the same minimalist design.

Leica’s latest camera, the M11 is no different. At first glance the M11 could easily be mistaken for an old-worldly camera, but beneath its fine leather cladding is a 60-Megapixel BSI CMOS sensor with Dual Pixel Gain to provide up to 15-stops of dynamic range at the base ISO of 64 ISO, and exceptionally smooth high ISO performance at 25,000 and even 50,000 ISO settings.

Before getting too excited about the M11 and its amazing sensor though, it is worth noting three facts. First, there is no image stabilisation on this camera. Unless you’re shooting at fast shutter speeds or using a tripod this 60MP sensor will probably reveal every hint of camera shake. Fortunately, the Leica M11 also gives you the option to capture DNG and JPEG files at both 36MP and 18MP

The second fact is that the M11 lacks autofocus; instead, focus is achieved using a rangefinder that has changed little since the 1950’s. As you look through the camera’s optical viewfinder and adjust the focus you will see two images near the centre of the frame diverging or converging; when both images appear to be perfectly aligned atop of each other you know your subject is in focus.

Experienced Leica users will tell you that you can also prefocus using the focus scale on the lens, or use “muscle-memory” to know exactly where the focus lever (positioned beneath some M-series lenses) needs to be for various focusing distances.

And the third fact? The body only price is $13,890, or as some Leica users might say, affordable.

Build

Leica has maintained a lot of the traditional styling in the M11, but they have also made some useful improvements. The 3” LCD touch screen on the rear of the camera now has 2.3 million dots (compared to 1-million dots on the M10) and the three control buttons to the left of the display have been reorganised into the more practical sequence of (from the top) Play, Function and Menu buttons.

Along with a five-button navigation pad to the right of the LCD display, this rear control panel is one of the cleanest and easiest to use digital interfaces on the market.

Aside from the Function button next to the LCD, Leica have also added two additional function buttons; one is just to the right of  the shutter release button while another has been added as a press action to the thumbwheel. 

The two buttons can be assigned a variety of functions, from Live View, Focus Assistant, Exposure Compensation or Exposure Metering adjustment. The ISO control dial, with settings from 64 and 6400 ISO is still located on the left edge of the top plate, but for those of you who find this knob to fiddly to adjust (particularly in cold conditions) you can assign a function button to electronically adjust the ISO, from 65 ISO through to 50,000 ISO.

One of the biggest improvements though, can be found underneath the camera. Rather than having to remove the camera’s base plate to access the camera’s battery and SD card, Leica have developed a new battery for the M11 that has its own weatherproof cover that extends over the SD card slot. This design is so much easier and faster to use.

And while there is only one memory card slot in this camera, the M11 also has 64GBs of internal memory that can be used to backup images in parallel with the SD card or manage any overflow when your SD card is full.

Just next to the battery on the base plate you will also find a USB-C port which can be used to download your photos, charge the battery, and even connect the M11 directly to an Apple iPhone or iPad for use with Leica app. The one thing I did find disappointing about this USB-C slot though, is that it has no cover; putting the camera down onto a grimy surface could easily contaminate this port.

Optics

Leica make over twenty different lenses for the M-series cameras, from the Tri-Elma 16-18-21mm f4 lens through to a 135mm f3.4, and in between are some incredibly exotic optics, including a 21mm f1.4, a 50mm f0.95 and a 75mm f1.25 lens (valued at $20,290).

All of these lenses will work perfectly with the M11, but it is worth noting that unlike SLR and EVF viewfinders, the optical viewfinder on the M11 will only show a 28mm field-of-view, with frame lines appearing in the viewfinder as you move to longer lenses. To use wider lenses, you can just rely on Live View mode, or buy a Universal Wide Angle Finder ($1490), or the new Leica Visoflex 3.7-Megapixel OLED electronic viewfinder ($1190).   

Handling

A road trip to South Australia provided a good opportunity to test a silver M11 with a Summilux-M 35mm 1.4 ASPH lens. At "Blands of Goroke”, an old garage in West Victoria I used the camera on a tripod and the 60MP sensor offered great detail all the way down to the small numbers on the bowsers. Leica’s built-in perspective correction system also compensated for the “converging verticals” in this architectural image.

One thing I did notice as I was photographing “Blands" was a slight delay in the shutter mechanism; I tried to frame some young cyclists as they peddled past but despite two attempts to place them central to a door, both were off-centre. Later testing revealed a 1/8th of a second delay between pushing the shutter release and the shutter actuation.

I raised this with Leica and in a response from Germany I was informed - “the effective shutter lag depends on various circumstances like the lighting situation, shutter type and synchronisation status of the light metering. Therefore, it can differ in practical use between 50 and 125 ms.”

In fairness, any good photographer can learn to anticipate both the moment and shutter delay, but given Leica M-series film cameras have always had an instantaneous shutter action, this 125-millisecond delay was a little disappointing.

Determined to test the Leica M11 as a documentary camera though, I went wandering the streets of Adelaide. Quite often when working in doco mode I will preset the camera and literally shoot from the hip, and thanks to both the legible focus scale on the Leica lens and the camera’s near silent operation, this was rather easy to do with the M11.

When I did stop to ask people if I could make a photo (particularly if there were young people in the frame) the camera was a wonderful ice-breaker. Most people assumed it was an old camera, and after a small introduction to my little German friend they were quite content to carry on with their day while I made a few photos.

The true test for this camera though, was the chance to make some photos at a rave. The wild lighting at the event made it challenging to both nail the focus the camera and to get the exposure correct in the moment but despite missing quite a few shots, the camera also delivered some impressive images, particular in some of the darker corners of a bar.

My favourite image was of two women illuminated by the glow of a smartphone, shot in the 18MP mode at 25,000. Yes, there was some grain in the image, but the photograph would still look very acceptable in an exhibition print. 

The ratings

Wrap Up

If you can cope with the price tag, the M11 is without doubt an impressive camera, but it is for the purists - those photographers who like to know they are the ones making all the focus and exposure decisions - not the camera.

And as for whether it is going to be one of the great documentary photography cameras, that remains to be seen but for now, but for now I am certain a few landscape photographers with deep pockets will get some enjoyment from this camera. ❂