The Leica M11-D
Introduction
Leica M11-D Camera
I have been shooting with the M11-D for 6 months now, which has included trips to Fuerteventura, Porto, Cornwall and Wetzlar, so I have had a lot of time to get to grips with the camera. Much of that time has been testing firmware and the connection to Fotos, but a lot more time has been spent simply having fun shooting with the camera.
Over the last year or so I have had two serious excursions into film cameras. First of all with a beautiful mint condition Leica R8, and then with one of the gorgeous M6 remakes. But dealing with film developing and scanning is just too time consuming, and after 25 years shooting digital going back is not going to happen, so I had given up the struggle.
It's lovely shooting with a film camera - no chimping possible, you can just concentrate on what you are doing. Sometimes I felt it would be still better to leave the film out of the camera so that you could have the satisfaction of looking and looking and shooting, without the bother of processing (or being disappointed with the results).
Then along came the M11-D, and the shooting experience was just the same, although I suppose the internal memory means that you can't shoot 'without film'! For the images in the article, I've largely used my triumvirate of Leica's classic remakes of old lenses (it seemed appropriate) so most of the images are with the 28mm Summaron, the 35mm Summilux (steel rim v1) and the wonderful 50mm Noctilux f1.2).
Stormy Weather - Leica 28mm Summaron @ f11
In this article I'm going to try and put the M11-D into it's historical context, and to look at the technology and connectivity in some detail. I hope you enjoy it, and that it helps you to understand what the camera is all about and perhaps even to take the plunge and own your own!
History - The Leica MD
In 1964 Leica released the MD, and this was perhaps the first and most extreme example of Leica's minimalism. The camera was mainly designed for technical and medical purposes, and to that end had no rangefinder.
The Leica M Edition 60
Ten years ago in September 2014 Leica introduced the M Edition 60, designed by Audi. This limited edition model was to celebrate 60 years of the M camera (since the original M3 was announced in 1954).
This was no 'ordinary' special edition though, Leica had removed the LCD rear screen and replaced it with an ISO dial - in their words:
Reduced to only the essential camera features, the Leica M Edition 60 is the first digital camera to concentrate exclusively on the bare functions required for digital photography – shutter speed, aperture, focusing and ISO sensitivity. This is also the reason for the replacement of the camera’s display with an ISO selector dial. For reasons of quality, exposures are saved as raw data in DNG format. Working with the Leica M Edition 60 intentionally demands the same care and attention as working with an analogue model. Only the sensor and the entire electronics reflect the state of the art of contemporary camera technology.