Leica announced first its M10 rangefinder camera back in January 2017, and the company has since released it several variants the camera since. Last, The M10-R added a 40-megapixel sensor to the camera, a big step up from the original M10’s 24-megapixel. But today, Leica is ready to leave the M10 range behind and move on to an entirely new camera, the Leica M11.
Well, “completely new” could be a stretch. It will look familiar to anyone who’s seen Leica’s famous line of rangefinder cameras before, and it still uses Leica’s M-mount for lenses, but the company has incorporated enough new features to justify giving it a new name. First up is a new 60MP full-frame sensor, making this camera a huge upgrade for anyone who bought the original M10 back in 2017. The so-called “triple resolution” sensor can be used with either 60, 36 or 18 megapixels in DNG RAW or JPG. In particular, Leica says that when shooting at a lower resolution, it uses the full sensor area rather than cropping the image. However, these images may lose some of their sharpness due to pixel binning or interlacing that occurs when the full sensor is used to shoot at a lower resolution. .
Of course, shooting at a lower resolution saves storage space and also offers extended burst shooting. This camera’s ISO range is 64-50,000, up a notch from the 100-50,000 range offered on the M10 series. This camera’s ISO range is 64-50,000, up a notch from the 100-50,000 range offered on the M10 series.
Speaking of storage, the M11 has 64GB of internal storage, allowing photographers to save images to both internal storage and an SD memory card. Leica has also redesigned the camera’s bottom plate to allow quicker access to the SD card slot and battery. There’s also a USB-C port right on the bottom of the camera, making charging the battery and transferring images to a computer a bit easier. It’s a fairly common feature these days, but it’s still a welcome addition to the M11. Leica also says the M11’s 1,800mAh battery stores 64 percent more energy than the battery on older models
Leica
As with the M10 series, the M11 uses only Leica’s optical rangefinder and manual focus. But the 3-inch screen on the back, which you can also use as a viewfinder, has 2,332,800 pixels, more than double the M10’s 1,036,800 pixels. As a further concession to modern technology, the M11 has both a mechanical and an electronic shutter.
The standard mechanical option can shoot at speeds up to 1/4000 second, while the electronic shutter goes up to a whopping 1/16,000 second. Perhaps most importantly, the electronic shutter is completely silent, which street photographers should appreciate. The M10-R had an “extra quiet” mechanical shutter, but you can’t beat a motionless electronic shutter when you need absolutely silent operation.
Leica offers two models: an all-black M11 and a black and silver option. The latter uses a brass top plate and as such weighs 640 grams, 100 grams more than the all-black models. To save weight, this camera has an aluminum top with a scratch-resistant coating. Whichever finish you prefer, in keeping with Leica tradition, the M11 is extremely expensive. It costs $8,995 without a lens at the same price as the M10-R.
Given the numerous improvements here, it’s nice that Leica hasn’t increased the price any further, but – as we said when looking at the M10-R – Leica rangefinders are both a status symbol and a photographic tool. We said the M10-R was the king of this category in 2020, but now the M11 seems to have taken the throne. The M11 can be ordered now.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team independently from our parent company. Some of our stories contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may receive an affiliate commission.
