After having used some of the popular street style cameras like Fujifilm X100V, X100F, X-Pro1 and some old Canon rangefinder camera, I’m finally getting Leica M11.
I never considered buying a Leica camera before, simply because it never justified the cost for me. But it occurred to me recently that I need a camera that can inspire me to go out and shoot more photos. People say it’s not the gear that makes the photo, but if the gear helps you to get motivated to go out there, gear does matter.
Leica M11 is priced at about $9,000 USD. I believe the official release price was a bit cheaper but it looks like the going rate is only going up due to limited stock, so I suppose the price you come across is probably the best deal you can get unless you’re buying it second-hand. One may argue that that’s a lot of money for a camera. Yes, I was also in the same boat, but after having a Leica Q in my possession for a while (more on that below), I came to realize that the Leica hype is real.
Surprisingly though, the digital camera I want (Leica M11) doesn’t even auto focus. In fact, all their M series digital cameras don’t support auto focus. It’s not that they can’t do it, it’s the deliberate choice they made to make the experience more enjoyable which I respect.
My first Leica experience
I actually got myself a Leica Q in 2022, but unfortunately it didn’t stay with me for long as it had one major flaw.
It freezed. Not once or twice but quite frequently at random times.
It was a lot of money and I sold quite a bit of my Sony gears for it, so a camera that freezes in the middle of shooting was simply unacceptable. Fortunately, it was still in the warranty period, so I was able to return it. It turned out that it’s a known issue amongst Leica community for digital Leica cameras. And Leica Q being packed with auto-focus and many other features, it seems to make it more vulnerable than other digital bodies such as the M series. I’m still surprised that a digital camera that costs a fortune have fundamental issues with their electronics. I suppose electronic is not the most strong suit for Leica. It also seemed that it wasn’t only my copy that had these freezing issues so I just moved on from getting Leica Q altogether. There’s a workaround to get the camera going which is to taking the battery out. But that’s not very graceful, is it?
So that was my first Leica experience. Not the most pleasant one, but I really loved the handling and how it felt in my hand. It was joy to use until it started to freeze on me. It definitely inspired me to shoot more photos while the camera was with me. So it’s the experience that I miss and I’m hoping Leica M11 will work out for me. I hear that the M series digital cameras also have some electronic issues but because they don’t do auto focus, I’d like to believe that there should be less things to go wrong.
I’m willing to pay for more if something is made with care and has beautiful aesthetics as I appreciate those qualities. I believe that they are all important part of customer/user experience. Though it’s not just a little more money when it comes to Leica cameras, I get why people still pay a premium for it. And it became more obvious to me after experiencing Leica Q in person. The freezing doesn’t help to prove my point but I hope you get what I mean.
Leica M11 alternatives
Leica M11 was released in 2022 and it comes with whooping 60 MP sensor.
Other M series cameras that are comparable to M11 would be M10 and even Leica M (Typ 262). Both M10 and Typ 262 come with 24 MP sensor, so in that sense they don’t come anywhere close to M11 but if that’s left out of equation, M10 and Typ 262 are still very viable options as they are significantly cheaper with Typ 262 at about half the price of Leica M11 at the time of the writing.
In my use cases, 24 MP sensor is plenty enough, so 60 MP alone isn’t really all that attractive for me. In fact, the improved 60 mega pixels is a bit too much that it would make me hesitant to decide on M11. The improvements that are more meaningful for me and certainly feel like a step forward are as follows:
- M11 is 25% (130g) lighter than M10 and Typ 262 (530g vs 660g)
- New battery that offers 64% more capacity than predecessors
- Internal storage (nice-to-have)
- New coating design that prevents wear and tear a bit better
Out of those many improvements, the weight improvement is most appealing to me as it’s quite a significant difference. I believe this would also appeal to many Leica shooters as being compact and discreet is Leica’s signature quality. But is this weight improvement a couple thousand dollars better? I’m not sure. I’m saving up for Leica M11, but I might end up with M10 or even Typ 262. Who knows. I still have a long way ahead to save up so I have plenty of time to think.
Film vs Digital
Leica brand reminds me of all the legendary photographers that shot analog film. And that strong image of Leica always made me want one of their film M series cameras. But the ever-rising film price has been holding me back from buying another film camera especially one with a Leica badge as I’m not confident that buying and processing film will be sustainable in the long term.
If running costs were not a concern, I’d reach for a Leica film camera in a heartbeat. They are still so much more affordable and they are what got me interested in getting a Leica. On top of everything, my favorite photos are mostly film photos. They have certain qualities that I’m not able to mimic digitally. The colors are richer and there’s this unique look that brings so much nostalgia even if the photo was taken from yesterday. I also enjoy the inconvenience of not being able to check each photo after taking in the back screen. It almost feels like I’m getting some secret present every now and then when I’m looking forward to receiving the developed scans. Film is precious.
Speaking of reality though, most people including myself would be inclined to invest for a digital camera over an analog medium. So that’s where I’m at today. Still juggling between analog Leica and digital Leica with slight edge on the digital side. And Leica M11 will the choice of mine if I’m going digital.
Leica Q photo samples
These are unedited files except for the first and the last images that I edited color temperature slightly.
I”m on instagram @seongs_lee if you want to see more of these.