Since its release in autumn last year, the Leica M11-P has been reviewed by just about all the popular influencers on Instagram, Youtube and all the other portals you can imagine. Leica as a company has spent huge sums to have every popular internet personality review the newest iteration of its M Line-up. It is said to be the ultimate tool for professionals.
What professionals…I ask. Professional enthusiasts? Or professional reviewers? So far I have only found one professional photojournalist, who is also a Leica brand ambassador, to speak about this tool. And it is a tool, by the way. In case some of the so called experts haven’t realised it. We don’t go to bed with it, we don’t cuddle it…and it definitely doesn’t make me a cup of coffee. There are far cheaper coffee machines on the market.
I use cameras for a living, dragging two Sony A7 Bodies and three Lenses with me every day, in addition to a Leica MP and a Leica M-E Type 220. I have been working with the latter ever since it came on the market. It is well worn and has shed loads of it gunmetal paint. That is through use and not artificial styling. It’s been with me to Iraq, Afghanistan, Canada and has served me well. However, it has come a time, when my back and shoulders are rebelling and the weight is causing too much pain. Downsizing is the solution!
I decided to trade-in EVERYTHING…including my beloved M-E and see what else there was to be had. I was looking for a brother for my Leica MP film camera. I already had the lenses to it was a no-brainer. I opted for the new Leica M11-P. It was the highest resolution, slightly lighter than my M-E and it was new tech which gave me some future-proofing. I was highly interested in the content credentials feature and above all, excellent battery power.
So here is what I have figured out. It is only my opinion…that of one person…only me.
The content credential feature is not ready…or better, the industry is not ready. Even though Adobe was one on the initiators of the scheme, Photoshop and Lightroom are still working with Beta Versions of the plug-in. If you don’t have the right version of the software you will not have the feature at all. Lightroom classic doesn’t have it yet! Meaning, if you have content credentials attached you your image (done by the camera when creating the file) it has to be specifically exported from your editing software with it enabled. PS doesn’t do it as instructed and LR…well, not with my classic version. The industry isn’t there yet. A lot needs to happen before anybody will care about this image security feature. What bothers me is that the internet is fulll of discussions, reviews and explanations how it is supposed to work…but it doesn’t…not like they say it does. It is still far too complicated! So far everything is a sales pitch to get these cameras shifted!
Internal memory in addition to an SD Card is a cool way of having huge capacity and only having to secure your data once a week. This camera will be able to store thousands of images as DNG before running out of space. But, Leica has built this camera with bluetooth and WiFi so you can transfer your images off the camera wirelessly. Naturally I tested this as soon as I was able to. The WiFi and Bluetooth transfer works ONLY with the Leica Fotos App and it takes…AGES!!! The fastest speed I got, even when connecting with the Lightning Data cable was approx one DNG File per minute. Imagine you have 60 images to transfer…you’ll be there for an entire hour! And have a guess what’s next: there is no USB-C cable. You can only transfer to devices with a lighting port. Stupidly enough, when plugging the camera into a computer or laptop, the camera doesn’t show up as a mass storage device. That wasn’t built into the firmware. It may come one day with an update, but this is only if Leica chooses to do so. But all is not lost. Lightroom Classic recognises the camera in the import dialogue and that transfer is swift. Normally I wouldn’t bother with a cable connection, but since you have to eject the battery to get to the SD card it is easier to just plug it in. As you can see…it’s not as simple as they all say. There is more to be done on the firmware. The Leica Fotos App is a sales gimmick and worthless for press photographers who have deadlines and need to work fast.
So…why would one get such a camera?
For me, it’s about future-proofing my workflow. As a professional I do concern myself with AI and the fallout that it may have on the industry. Even if the tech is not ready yet…it will be one day.
Any camera will do, especially nowadays. There is no bad camera on the market. I shoot with the Leica M11-P because it pleases me. I like using it because it is small, my kit is small and I do not have to lug around a big pack full of gear. The days have gone when one will only be considered a pro if one uses pro gear. That is a thing of the past. To that end its all about what I like using.
Coming back to the questions at the beginning of this post. Is it the best? No, not for what most consider it. It is right…right for me and my way of shooting, despite its flaws. Would I recommend it to others? No. Not until they tell me that they want to downsize and give up on joining the race for ‘better’.