The $10K 60MP Leica M11 Announced
Related: digital sensor, EVF, Leica, Leica M, Leica M11, oversampling, pixel binning, rangefinder
The $10K (when made functional) 60-megapixel Leica M11 should ship in volume within 2-3 years, based upon past delivery performances.
Leica M11• Leica BP-SCL7 battery • Leica Visoflex 2 • Leica M11 Handgrip • Leica M11 Thumb support
Glad to see it in concept, but after years of waiting it’s still the wrong design and far out of my price range. And while that latter point might not trouble some readers, it is getting a bit absurd.
Technical*
- 60MP Full-Frame BSI CMOS Sensor
- Triple Resolution Technology (pixel binning)
- Optical 0.73x-Magnification Viewfinder
- 2.95" 2.3m-Dot Touchscreen LCD
- Internal 64GB Memory and SD UHS-II Slot
- ISO 64-50000, Up to 4.5-fps Shooting
- Wi-Fi & USB Type-C, Dedicated FOTOS App
- Lightweight Aluminum Top Plate
- Electronic Shutter up to 1/16000 (transit time?)
- Multi-Field Metering
- Live View Stabilization
* Could Leica will fix their web site so that clicking on "Stories" or "Technical specs" does not produce an http 403? Firmware team also does web design maybe? Is it that hard to pay someone for 10 minutes to click on key links?
I will probably review the Leica M11, but the pricing blows a huge hole into my equipment loaner budget, which makes it exceedingly difficult to manage, given unpredictable delivery times (budget is deducted as soon as I request the camera).
I’d take the Fujifilm GFX100S system any day over this. And you can have two or 3 Fujifilm GF lenses with the GFX100S for the price of the M11 without any lenses.
Disgrunted “hung out to dry” 11-year M user viewpoint
No lessons learned at Leica. No practical usability improvements. Pricing up.
No built-in EVF, rangefinder useless for sharp pictures, still only 2 or 12 second self-timer, poor ergonomics without spending a lot to make it heavier and bulkier, decent but inadequate rear LCD.
Did I mention no built-in EVF? You have to pay extra for the FrankenEVF.
Still the useless-for-sharp-pictures space and needlessly expensive rangefinder design, which makes the camera unnecessarily complex, inaccurate, heavy and bulky and in need of adjustment any time a new lens is obtained (but that only takes 2-3 months of downtime and is a risky proposition with more than 2 lenses). Not that the rangefinder is adequately precise for even a 40MP sensor. Diehards with cognitive commitments love it though, and you can get the FrankenEVF for only another $740. Price no object? The FrankenEVF will trouble your stowage and degrade your usage of the camera forever vs a built-in EVF. And that’s a price no one can afford.
Add a handgrip with baseplate for only another $430 and a thumb support for only another $290. Bargain!
You can mount lenses incapable of sharp images on a 40MP sensor on the 60MP Leica M11, to capture more of that delicious Leica je ne sais WTF. OK, oversampling has its benefits, and a little of the frame might be sharper. Perhaps this is why Leica is offering 18MP and 36MP image capture from the 60MP sensor, via pixel binning, a form of downsampling, in camera.
- $8995 Leica M11
- $200 Leica BP-SCL7 battery
- $740 Leica Visoflex 2 Electronic Viewfinder
- $430 Leica M11 Handgrip
- $290 Leica M11 Thumb support
= $10655 + 9.25% sales tax in California = $11640. Use the B&H Payboo card and you can save the sales tax.
Without a lens!
Bank account drained, when you save up for your first lens, get the Zeiss ZM 35mm f/1.4 Distagon or the Voigtlander M 50mm f/2 APO-Lanthar. Best optical performance, best haptics/ergonomics, best build quality, lowest price by far.
Not in stock at B&H? Voigtlander VM 50mm f/2 APO-Lanthar Aspherical @AMAZON
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$2030 SAVE $360 = 15.0% ZEISS 35mm f/1.4 Distagon T* ZM Lens (Silver) IN STOCK in Lenses: Rangefinder
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$949 SAVE $200 = 17.0% Voigtlander 35mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR .0 Aspherical IN STOCK in Lenses: Rangefinder
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$899 SAVE $100 = 10.0% Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5 Nokton Aspherical Lens (Silver) IN STOCK in Lenses: Rangefinder
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