Leica builds on the legacy of the M Series with the new full-frame M11.
If you’re looking to splurge all the money you saved not travelling on holiday over the past 24 months, and have a passion for precision German engineering and photography, you’re in luck with the arrival of the new Leica M11, a stunning piece of kit that combines a traditional rangefinder system with cutting-edge tech.
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There’s nothing quite like a Leica and while it’s not the go-to for most professional photographers, you can’t deny the beauty of its camera systems, from their minimalist design to their forward-facing technology. The Leica journey now continues with the addition of the M11, a full-frame shooter with an expanded ISO range, dual memory, a triple resolution sensor, and extended battery life. Brilliant.
Promising to be the most flexible of Leica’s M series, the new M11’s full-frame BSI CMOS sensor with Triple Resolution Technology means that raw image files are recorded in DNG format while 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.
For photography purists, a special IR + UV cut filter – comprising of two extremely thin, cemented layers of glass – achieves an especially effective correction of even the most oblique rays of incident light. Thanks to a new color filter array, the camera also offers an improved, more natural color reproduction. Add to that an ISO sensitivity range of 64-50,000, a dynamic range of 15 stops, multi-field metering in rangefinder mode (a first for Leica), and an optional electronic shutter with a shutter speed of 1/16,000 of a second, and you have an impressive digital photography powerhouse.
While maintaining the iconic look of a traditional Leica M, the carefully optimized design of the new M11 is focused on efficiency and ergonomics, with controls 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 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, making the M11 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.
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