p.1 #1 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
Ok, I'm biased because I loved every M camera I owned, digital or film except maybe for the M8.
And each time, I'm thinking I will keep the own I have and not buy the new one but resistance to GAS is futile.
Anyhow, compared to my original M10, here are the things I like:
- USB-C. This is great. I was at the hotel and wanted to transfer pictures to the MacBook Pro. I removed the USB-C cable from the charger, connected it to the M11 and transferred the image. I then removed the cable from the MacPro, connected this end to the power adapter and used it to recharge the M11 battery. Beats using a M10.
- WiFi: my son asked me to send him pictures of the city I was visiting. I transferred pictures to the iPhone using Leica Fotos which is surprisingly fast and sent the jpeg to him. I also used it to upgrade the firmware.
- LiveView: I can use it a lot without eating the battery and this is great. Because I like having a modern metering system all the time, because I use the rangefinder for street photography but LiveView for landscape, architecture...
- LiveView also gives me an artificial horizon and it helps a lot. Because of my astigmatism, I cannot get the camera level by myself.
- 60 Mpix. I do not care so much for the highest resolution because I've printed A3+ or A2 pictures with a lot less pixels and they look great. But I've been playing with the 135/3.5 Apo and I get a 180mm with 36 Mpix and a 250mm with 18 Mpix. And the pictures are great. Even my 28/2 can become a 35mm or a 50mm if I crop. Very convenient when I do not have enough time to switch lenses
- weight: I really feel the difference with the M10
- shutter noise: same here
- almost everything else: the touchscreen, the ergonomics...
The M10 is still a great camera though and I can shoot pictures as good as the one I get out of the M10. But this has been true for decades: I take the pictures and having a better camera increases my comfort and gives me a few more opportunities but nothing more.
What I do not like:
- slow to power-on. I can live with that but I do not understand why digital Ms have been like this since day one when other manufacturer do not have the same problem
- the delay before I can shoot again in single picture mode. No big deal but it is bigger than the M10.
- it froze once. So I removed the battery and if you push the lever quickly, the security does not work. I caught the battery before it fell but still...
- Geotagging is not yet implemented
- Full support in Capture One is not here yet. We have a color profile and it is great not to have to wait for a few month but digital zooming is not taken into account
What I would like:
- for Leica or even better Voigtlander to build a 28-35-50-75/2.8, designed as a zoom like the WATE. Why Voigt? Because it will still be very close optically and mechanically to Leica standards but for 1/4 of the price.
p.1 #3 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
helimat wrote:
Pretty sure the M10 has wifi & a level in liveview...... No?
WiFi yes but not as efficient last time I checked. I never used it for this reason whereas I use it all the time with the M11.
Level in liveview came with M10-P.
p.1 #4 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
pmeheut wrote:
WiFi yes but not as efficient last time I checked. I never used it for this reason whereas I use it all the time with the M11.
Level in liveview came with M10-P.
OK, I didn't realize the level wasn't in the standard M10.
I haven't found the wifi to be too hard to use on mine, although it was a little buried in the menu. Thankfully, Fred noticed it can be actioned right from the info screen, which speeds things right up. (Again, M10-P/R/M only)
Good to see things are improving with each model, although I wish they had included the standard meter, for times when super accurate metering isn't as critical as a quick boot up.
I can see why USB-C would be an advantage as well.
p.1 #5 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
The slow start-up and wake-up times were what turned me off from trying a Leica when I read about it. I absolute hate cameras that are slow to be ready when I’m shooting in a city or anywhere else where a shot may suddenly present itself. Goes against the whole Leica core to me.
p.1 #6 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
johnvanr wrote:
The slow start-up and wake-up times were what turned me off from trying a Leica when I read about it. I absolute hate cameras that are slow to be ready when I’m shooting in a city or anywhere else where a shot may suddenly present itself. Goes against the whole Leica core to me.
I wake mine up as soon as I see something, just touching the shutter. This way, by the time I'm looking through the viewfinder, it is ready to shoot.
But sometimes, I forget and I have to wait.
I would not go as far as saying this goes against the whole Leica core but I as stated before, I really do not understand why they keep doing this.
p.1 #7 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
My comments:
- Easily accessible USB-C is great. No flimsy rubber doors to bend while inserting the cable. In-camera body charging is useful.
- Switching live view on and off is very quick and smooth.
- The new UI, similar to SL2, is an improvement. Many settings can be changed via the status screen without going to menus.
- It is slow to turn up. Since I am used to always half-press the shutter button before lifting the camera to the eye, I can live with that. Some users turn Camera Standby entirely off, which drains the battery after 5 to 6 hours of use.
- Battery life is great.
- There are three instead of two assignable function buttons.
- The image quality at ISO64 is fantastic.
- Metering in aperture mode is possible up to 60 minutes (tested for 20 min), not the usual 30 seconds. Long exposure results without LENR are impressive.
- There are more metering possibilities in RF mode.
- Lack of GPS in Visoflex may be a turnoff for some. I do not care.
- Perspective Control is not yet implemented in M11.
p.1 #10 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
pmeheut wrote:
I wake mine up as soon as I see something, just touching the shutter. This way, by the time I'm looking through the viewfinder, it is ready to shoot.
But sometimes, I forget and I have to wait.
I would not go as far as saying this goes against the whole Leica core but I as stated before, I really do not understand why they keep doing this.
Is the wake up (from standby mode) any faster on the M11? That's one quibble I have with my M10-P, I think it takes more time to wake up from standby mode than it does to power up from completely off.
p.1 #11 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
pmeheut wrote:
Ok, I'm biased because I loved every M camera I owned, digital or film except maybe for the M8.
And each time, I'm thinking I will keep the own I have and not buy the new one but resistance to GAS is futile.
Anyhow, compared to my original M10, here are the things I like:
- USB-C. This is great. I was at the hotel and wanted to transfer pictures to the MacBook Pro. I removed the USB-C cable from the charger, connected it to the M11 and transferred the image. I then removed the cable from the MacPro, connected this end to the power adapter and used it to recharge the M11 battery. Beats using a M10.
- WiFi: my son asked me to send him pictures of the city I was visiting. I transferred pictures to the iPhone using Leica Fotos which is surprisingly fast and sent the jpeg to him. I also used it to upgrade the firmware.
- LiveView: I can use it a lot without eating the battery and this is great. Because I like having a modern metering system all the time, because I use the rangefinder for street photography but LiveView for landscape, architecture...
- LiveView also gives me an artificial horizon and it helps a lot. Because of my astigmatism, I cannot get the camera level by myself.
- 60 Mpix. I do not care so much for the highest resolution because I've printed A3+ or A2 pictures with a lot less pixels and they look great. But I've been playing with the 135/3.5 Apo and I get a 180mm with 36 Mpix and a 250mm with 18 Mpix. And the pictures are great. Even my 28/2 can become a 35mm or a 50mm if I crop. Very convenient when I do not have enough time to switch lenses
- weight: I really feel the difference with the M10
- shutter noise: same here
- almost everything else: the touchscreen, the ergonomics...
The M10 is still a great camera though and I can shoot pictures as good as the one I get out of the M10. But this has been true for decades: I take the pictures and having a better camera increases my comfort and gives me a few more opportunities but nothing more.
What I do not like:
- slow to power-on. I can live with that but I do not understand why digital Ms have been like this since day one when other manufacturer do not have the same problem
- the delay before I can shoot again in single picture mode. No big deal but it is bigger than the M10.
- it froze once. So I removed the battery and if you push the lever quickly, the security does not work. I caught the battery before it fell but still...
- Geotagging is not yet implemented
- Full support in Capture One is not here yet. We have a color profile and it is great not to have to wait for a few month but digital zooming is not taken into account
What I would like:
- for Leica or even better Voigtlander to build a 28-35-50-75/2.8, designed as a zoom like the WATE. Why Voigt? Because it will still be very close optically and mechanically to Leica standards but for 1/4 of the price.
I really like the new camera firmware update ability in the Fotos app
I have USBC on all my cameras except the M10R, and I find it very useful for exporting and charging. Happy to see this on the M11. Are you able to use the OEM Apple iPhone Lightning charging cable to connect from the M11 to the iPhone and transfer photos just the same as the Leica Fotos cable?
I never want to buy a new FF camera because it has more MPs, but I so far I seem to find more MPs useful. I have used up to 61MP FF and no problems focusing or obtaining sharp images with my normal hand held settings/techniques and I rarely use IBIS. Perhaps there can be a slight degradation at pixel peep level in some circumstances, but so far I don't see any problems at least up to 61MP. IMO the M11's Triple Resolution is a very practical in-camera feature without worry about IQ penalties. I like this very much.
Let's see what Leica can do with the M11 and the Fotos app going forward. The stronger Maestro III processor, M11 batteries and increased wireless transfer performance sounds very promising. I already enjoy the Bluetooth through iPhone GPS with the SL2 which you can continue to use inside of some buildings BTW because its through the iPhone. I also like that I can do the initial SL2 setup through the Fotos app, is this the same for the M11 too?
p.1 #13 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
SrMi wrote:
My comments:
- Easily accessible USB-C is great. No flimsy rubber doors to bend while inserting the cable. In-camera body charging is useful.
- Switching live view on and off is very quick and smooth.
- The new UI, similar to SL2, is an improvement. Many settings can be changed via the status screen without going to menus.
- It is slow to turn up. Since I am used to always half-press the shutter button before lifting the camera to the eye, I can live with that. Some users turn Camera Standby entirely off, which drains the battery after 5 to 6 hours of use.
- Battery life is great.
- There are three instead of two assignable function buttons.
- The image quality at ISO64 is fantastic.
- Metering in aperture mode is possible up to 60 minutes (tested for 20 min), not the usual 30 seconds. Long exposure results without LENR are impressive.
- There are more metering possibilities in RF mode.
- Lack of GPS in Visoflex may be a turnoff for some. I do not care.
- Perspective Control is not yet implemented in M11....Show more →
Agree. This sums it well.
M10 doesn't really have two function button as you can't do much with them to select the one you want.
in addition to above, M11's LCD is way brighter and with higher contrast and resolution. Not to mention much usable EVF compare to before.
p.1 #14 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
helimat wrote:
Is the wake up (from standby mode) any faster on the M11? That's one quibble I have with my M10-P, I think it takes more time to wake up from standby mode than it does to power up from completely off.
Like SrMi, I find them to be the same but I did not do any measurements. Just my gut feelings.
p.1 #15 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
Thanks for the lists, guys!
Lack of live view level in the base M10 was a big disappointment for me as I also have a tendency to shoot with the horizon slightly tilted and I use this feature whenever I use live view. Glad to see it back in the base M11!
Good question about wake from start or sleep delay... back during the M9 I turned off sleep and typically went through 4-5 batteries during full-day events. M240 I do the same but battery life is thankfully much better due to the much larger size. For casual work I typically set it to sleep after ten minutes. There was past speculation that slow start up was related to how Leica's firmware read/verified the memory card, at least in past models. But I don't recall this ever being definitively proven. Is the M11's slow start up the same whether only the internal memory is available or an SD card is installed?
p.1 #16 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
rscheffler wrote:
Is the M11's slow start up the same whether only the internal memory is available or an SD card is installed?
I just tried. Seems the same to me.
p.1 #17 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
rscheffler wrote:
Thanks for the lists, guys!
Lack of live view level in the base M10 was a big disappointment for me as I also have a tendency to shoot with the horizon slightly tilted and I use this feature whenever I use live view. Glad to see it back in the base M11!
As Robert Frank demonstrated in 1955 with a Leica that didn't have a live view level, a tilted horizon can make for a great photograph...
p.1 #18 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
genji wrote:
As Robert Frank demonstrated in 1955 with a Leica that didn't have a live view level, a tilted horizon can make for a great photograph...
Yes but if I tried to compose a picture like that, which I couldn’t being far less talented than Robert Franck, I would end up with a perfectly straight horizon
p.1 #20 · 8 reasons why I love the M11 compared to the M10
Is the startup time significantly different between the M10 and M11? My M10-R isn't exactly spring chicken on startup, which is my least favorite part of the camera. Just wondering if it's noticeably worse on the 11.
