Leica Introduce The M11 Camera Body Priced At £7500

Leica has consistently produced the highest quality kit, following and maintaining the rangefinder principle of design throughout the ascendency of the SLR. Devotees would have it no other way, and now the line that started with Oscar Barnack's idea of utilising 35mm cine film for stills photography continues to forge ahead in its digital incarnations with the new Leica M11 body.

The M11 follows on from the still current Lecia M10, but now reverts to the original dimensions of the M series cameras and, apart from minor profile changes to the top plate to incorporate the screen more neatly, is exactly the same as the original film M3.

What's New?

• New metering patterns in addition to centre weighted. We now have Classic and Live View centre weighted, Spot and Multi-field, all measured from the sensor.
• New image engine Maestro III 14-bit
• Mechanical or electronic shutter, the latter offering speeds up to 1/16000s
• Stabilisation of Live View image, but not of the exposure
• New Visolux 2 EVF housing available, with resolution increased from 2.4MP to 3.68MP
• The ability to turn off noise reduction
• An increased battery capacity, up 64% to 1800mAh, for 700 shots in LV mode and 1700 shots in Classic RF mode.
• USB-C port for charging and communication
• Now an Apple Certified Product compatible with Mac, iPhone and iPad via special Leica Photo cable.
• New Leica Phone App 3.0; firmware upgrades via App
• Internal memory 64GB
• SD cards
• New direct access to battery and SD cards without baseplate removal
• Much quieter shutter compared to M10
• 15 stops dynamic range
• Native ISO 64
• ISO range 64-50,000
• New CMOS sensor with pixel binning to enhance lower resolutions:
• L DNG 60MP, buffer 13-15 shots
• M DNG 36MP, buffer 30 shots
• S DNG 18MP, buffer endless shots
• 4.5 fps shooting
• Digital Zoom, choice of 1.3x and 1.8x

How Much?

The price tag of fine Leica engineering is always going to be high, and the new M11 is priced at a cool £7500, with the Visoflex 2 EVF adding another £600 should it be required.

The only other choice is to consider whether traditional brass with a black finish is the way to go, with the long term prospect of that rather impressive brassing from natural wear and tear, or to save 110g (a 20% weight reduction) by choosing the Aluminium silver finish.

M11 On Test With A Pro 

Street photographer Joshua Jackson has been putting the M11 through its paces for the last few months and is very impressed by the low light performance, the sharpness and low noise of higher ISO values and the overall quality of the results. He also appreciates the low noise of the M11 shutter and the overall unobtrusive nature of the rangefinder experience. 

We will be putting the Leica M11 through its paces very soon but for now, have a look at sample images supplied by Leica below. 

Leica M11 Other sample images

Leica M11 Photos of Equipment

From Leica:

The new Leica M11 combines the experience of traditional rangefinder photography with contemporary camera technology, delivering maximum flexibility to every photographer. Featuring an exclusive triple resolution sensor, expanded ISO range, dual memory, extended battery life and a streamlined and intuitive menu system, the Leica M11 represents a new benchmark in digital photography and the most flexible M-System camera in Leica’s storied history.

At the heart of the new Leica M11 is a full-frame BSI CMOS sensor with Triple Resolution Technology. Raw image files in DNG format and JPEGs can be recorded at 60, 36 or 18 megapixels, always using the full sensor area. The 60-megapixel option delivers unprecedented image quality and detail resolution, exploiting the full optical potential of Leica’s latest APO Lenses for the M-System – whereas the lower resolutions enable faster camera performance, extended burst lengths, and smaller files.

A special IR + UV cut filter – comprising of two extremely thin, cemented layers of glass – achieve an especially effective correction of even the most oblique rays of incident light. Thanks to a new colour filter array, the camera also offers an improved, more natural colour reproduction.

While maintaining the iconic look of a traditional Leica M, the carefully optimised design of the Leica M11 is focused on efficiency and ergonomics. The controls have been arranged in a unique layout around the new, 2.3 million pixels, high-resolution touchscreen. The menu structure of the M11 remains consistent with that of the Leica SL2 and Q2, unifying the acclaimed interface for a more user-friendly experience.

The Leica M11 has a sensitivity range of ISO 64 to 50,000; it records a 14-bit colour depth and has a dynamic range of up to 15 stops. With its Maestro III processor, the Leica M11 offers a fluid and responsive operation, even at the highest resolution and image quality. With the optional electronic shutter featuring a shutter speed of up to 1/16000 of a second, photographers are empowered to work with wide-open apertures, in bright light - without ND filters. The M11 marks the first-time multi-field metering in rangefinder mode will be available, affording photographers a valuable tool to curate light.

The black-finish variant of the Leica M11 features a top plate made of high-quality aluminium with an especially scratch-resistant coating, resulting in a body that is approximately 20% (100 grams) lighter than its silver-chrome counterpart. By comparison, the silver-chrome M11 features a classic brass top plate and weighs in at 640 grams.

Unique to the M11 is the deliberate omission of the traditional base plate, offering photographers easy direct access to the battery and SD card. In addition to the SD card slot, the Leica M11 is equipped with a generous internal storage capacity of 64 gigabytes. As a result, the M11 is the first M model to save image files simultaneously onto two different storage media. The 1800mAh battery stores 64% more energy than before, and combined with the camera’s more efficient operation, allows for considerably longer shooting sessions with a single charge. In addition, the newly added universal USB-C port also serves to charge the camera’s battery, using most USB-C chargers.

Upgraded connectivity features of the Leica M11 will be available through a new firmware version in the second half of 2022. This will enable the new M11’s advanced connectivity capabilities that will elevate users' mobile workflows and enhance the Leica FOTOS app with the possibility to embed location data, access images via Bluetooth connection, and allow increased transfer rates. Moreover, the Leica M11 is already an Apple “Made for iPhone and iPad” certified accessory and as such, offers unique abilities with the included Leica FOTOS cable.

With the evolution of the Leica M comes new accessories to enhance the rangefinder experience. The new Visoflex 2 electronic viewfinder features 3.7-megapixel resolution to provide outstanding image control in Live View mode. Encased in a metal exterior, the Visoflex 2 perfectly matches the M11 in terms of design and functionality. Full-frame viewing and the precise focusing of Leica lenses is supported by the Visoflex 2’s large diopter adjustment range of -4 to +3 and 90-degree tilt function. To improve ergonomics without obstructing access to the battery and SD card, photographers will have the option to complement their M11 with a newly designed handgrip. The new handgrip doubles as a tripod mount, where the Leica M11 can be attached to Arca-Swiss-standard tripod heads without the need for any additional equipment.