Leica’s New Camera Puts Skill Back Into Focus Shooting with Leica’s M11 digital range

swanlefitte · 03-25-2022, 02:27 PM - **2 Likes**

Leica?s New M11 Digital Rangefinder Puts Skill Back Into Focus | WIRED

So now the Pentax philosophy is cool again?

"This is because the M11 shows that the engineers at Leica are trying to keep something alive, something that I think the rest of the camera world has forgotten: that the camera doesn't matter, but rather the photographs matter. The camera is just a tool, and any tool is only as good as the person using it."

**BigMackCam** · 03-25-2022, 02:34 PM - **6 Likes**

Originally posted by swanlefitte

"This is because the M11 shows that the engineers at Leica are trying to keep something alive, something that I think the rest of the camera world has forgotten: that the camera doesn't matter, but rather the photographs matter. The camera is just a tool, and any tool is only as good as the person using it."

LOL

Yeah, the camera is just a $9K tool...

swanlefitte · 03-25-2022, 02:48 PM - **3 Likes**

Leica is never underpriced. It does have plenty under the hood though. 60MP triple resolution tech whatever that means. 64gig internal memory, native ISO 64 It can make the kessel run in 12 parsecs. She's got it where it counts, (if you have the ability)

stevebrot · 03-25-2022, 02:51 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by BigMackCam

LOL

Yeah, the camera is just a $9K tool...

I still want one.

Even better would be something similar, only as a digital equivalent to my Ricoh XR-2s but with maybe a few more options for auto-exposure/metering.

Steve

**GUB** · 03-25-2022, 03:03 PM

Originally posted by swanlefitte

60MP triple resolution tech whatever that means.

I wonder if that actually means 60mp or is something like a pixel shifted 18mp?

**GUB** · 03-25-2022, 03:11 PM

And for all that hype about back to basics it is just good old manual focus with all the other stuff the usual modern auto this an that.

tuco · 03-25-2022, 03:16 PM

The article says it takes skill to use. I have an old M9 and the only thing hard about it is the manual focus when it comes to needing to take your pictures quickly (eg moving subjects toward/away). Otherwise, it has a builtin lightmeter and a LCD screen for chimping your shots plus histogram which is a piece of cake to use compared to the kind of film cameras I actively shoot. The M11, with its modern CMOS sensor, looks like it will go well beyond the 'goldilocks zone' of ISO/exposures compared to the CCD sensor in my M9 though.

**RobA_Oz** · 03-25-2022, 04:04 PM

Originally posted by GUB

And for all that hype about back to basics it is just good old manual focus with all the other stuff the usual modern auto this an that.

Everything old is new again. Still, everything is new for people who have no experience.

It’s the philosophy that’s important. Leica (Pentax, for that matter, in their own way) doesn’t have to invent a heritage to pin that philosophy to. Nonetheless, there are some cameras in their range that do have the usual modern this and that. It’s the barrier to entry that keeps most folk away. I’m quite content with my old IIIf, if I want the full manual experience (my old Spotmatic F has full aperture metering for the occasions when I want some new-fangled experience in an old camera

).

**Digitalis** · 03-25-2022, 05:31 PM - **5 Likes**

The article is a paid endorsement, the affiliate link in the first paragraph couldn't be more conspicuous. The author was paid to have links placed in the article - the bulk of which is mostly ghost written by someone in a PR company on Leica's payroll.

aaacb · 03-25-2022, 07:39 PM - **1 Like**

That's the same line of thinking that better cameras necessarily make better photos. Except with skill instead of tech, in the sense of the ability to manipulate things like focus. Photography seen as an athletic event.

**ramseybuckeye** · 03-25-2022, 07:47 PM - **1 Like**

You must have this camera to make a good photo, the only camera that takes skill to use.

Gerbermiester · 03-26-2022, 12:09 AM

My initial impression of the article was that it read like an ad telling its audience 'Don't be a phony musician! Keep it about the music, man. Buy a FENDER® guitar!'

But, there was one part of the article that kept my interest, it's quoted below:

"The Leica comes from a time before picture-taking had morphed into a means for social approval, a time when photography was about narrative, drama, and tension."

Do you fine folks believe this to be true?
Was there a time when photographers would get together and share their work without any sense of social approval being involved? Or, is this an imagined past?

My knee jerk reaction was to think of the Leica brand as a symbol of conspicuous consumption. I cannot recall a time in my life when Leicas weren't a status symbol.

**termy** · 03-26-2022, 12:32 AM - **1 Like**

the hilarity of it is just overwhelming.

been practising that since the day i used my very first SLR (borrowed from an uncle back then since i didnt have the funds to get one at that age).

And, that was a Nikon FM2 to boot.
Fully Manual.
Nothing fanciful.
Plain good old centre weighted metering.

Took Leica such eons to get that?

hahahahahaha.
This is as hilarious as it is (somewhat) nonsensical.

**BigMackCam** · 03-26-2022, 01:10 AM

Originally posted by termy

the hilarity of it is just overwhelming.

been practising that since the day i used my very first SLR (borrowed from an uncle back then since i didnt have the funds to get one at that age).

And, that was a Nikon FM2 to boot.
Fully Manual.
Nothing fanciful.
Plain good old centre weighted metering.

Took Leica such eons to get that?

Leica knows this as well as any of us. It's just using a well-proven marketing technique - appealing to our sense of nostalgia for what we think (accurately or otherwise) were simpler times. The amusing part for me is that they're selling that concept with a $9K camera...

**StiffLegged** · 03-26-2022, 01:26 AM

Despite the expressed scepticism, it’s a genuine 60 megapickle sensor and fits in your hand like every other M Leica, but price apart that’s why it’s not for me. I didn’t like the handling/UX of the M8 someone let me try some years ago: much prefer the sculpted grip of my crusty old K7 and its viewfinder.

One thing would be rather nice - the compact glass. A set of M glass is decidedly more compact than my zooms for packing around. And it’s rather good glass too …

.

03-25-2022, 02:27 PM - 2 Likes	#1
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	Leica’s New Camera Puts Skill Back Into Focus Shooting with Leica’s M11 digital range Leica?s New M11 Digital Rangefinder Puts Skill Back Into Focus \| WIRED So now the Pentax philosophy is cool again? "This is because the M11 shows that the engineers at Leica are trying to keep something alive, something that I think the rest of the camera world has forgotten: that the camera doesn't matter, but rather the photographs matter. The camera is just a tool, and any tool is only as good as the person using it."

03-26-2022, 01:10 AM	#14
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,694	Originally posted by termy the hilarity of it is just overwhelming. been practising that since the day i used my very first SLR (borrowed from an uncle back then since i didnt have the funds to get one at that age). And, that was a Nikon FM2 to boot. Fully Manual. Nothing fanciful. Plain good old centre weighted metering. Took Leica such eons to get that? Leica knows this as well as any of us. It's just using a well-proven marketing technique - appealing to our sense of nostalgia for what we think (accurately or otherwise) were simpler times. The amusing part for me is that they're selling that concept with a $9K camera... Last edited by BigMackCam; 03-26-2022 at 01:28 AM.

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03-25-2022, 02:34 PM - 6 Likes	#2
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,694	Originally posted by swanlefitte "This is because the M11 shows that the engineers at Leica are trying to keep something alive, something that I think the rest of the camera world has forgotten: that the camera doesn't matter, but rather the photographs matter. The camera is just a tool, and any tool is only as good as the person using it." LOL Yeah, the camera is just a $9K tool...

03-25-2022, 02:48 PM - 3 Likes	#3
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068 Original Poster	Leica is never underpriced. It does have plenty under the hood though. 60MP triple resolution tech whatever that means. 64gig internal memory, native ISO 64 It can make the kessel run in 12 parsecs. She's got it where it counts, (if you have the ability)

03-25-2022, 02:51 PM - 2 Likes	#4
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by BigMackCam LOL Yeah, the camera is just a $9K tool... I still want one. Even better would be something similar, only as a digital equivalent to my Ricoh XR-2s but with maybe a few more options for auto-exposure/metering. Steve

03-25-2022, 03:03 PM	#5
GUB Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Wanganui Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,760	Originally posted by swanlefitte 60MP triple resolution tech whatever that means. I wonder if that actually means 60mp or is something like a pixel shifted 18mp?

03-25-2022, 03:11 PM	#6
GUB Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Wanganui Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,760	And for all that hype about back to basics it is just good old manual focus with all the other stuff the usual modern auto this an that.

03-25-2022, 03:16 PM	#7
tuco Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pugetopolis Posts: 11,030	The article says it takes skill to use. I have an old M9 and the only thing hard about it is the manual focus when it comes to needing to take your pictures quickly (eg moving subjects toward/away). Otherwise, it has a builtin lightmeter and a LCD screen for chimping your shots plus histogram which is a piece of cake to use compared to the kind of film cameras I actively shoot. The M11, with its modern CMOS sensor, looks like it will go well beyond the 'goldilocks zone' of ISO/exposures compared to the CCD sensor in my M9 though.

03-25-2022, 04:04 PM	#8
RobA_Oz Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Tasmania, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,209	Originally posted by GUB And for all that hype about back to basics it is just good old manual focus with all the other stuff the usual modern auto this an that. Everything old is new again. Still, everything is new for people who have no experience. It’s the philosophy that’s important. Leica (Pentax, for that matter, in their own way) doesn’t have to invent a heritage to pin that philosophy to. Nonetheless, there are some cameras in their range that do have the usual modern this and that. It’s the barrier to entry that keeps most folk away. I’m quite content with my old IIIf, if I want the full manual experience (my old Spotmatic F has full aperture metering for the occasions when I want some new-fangled experience in an old camera ).

03-25-2022, 05:31 PM - 5 Likes	#9
Digitalis Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria Photos: Gallery Posts: 11,694	The article is a paid endorsement, the affiliate link in the first paragraph couldn't be more conspicuous. The author was paid to have links placed in the article - the bulk of which is mostly ghost written by someone in a PR company on Leica's payroll.

03-25-2022, 07:39 PM - 1 Like	#10
aaacb Pentaxian Join Date: May 2016 Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,726	That's the same line of thinking that better cameras necessarily make better photos. Except with skill instead of tech, in the sense of the ability to manipulate things like focus. Photography seen as an athletic event.

03-25-2022, 07:47 PM - 1 Like	#11
ramseybuckeye Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hampstead, NC Photos: Gallery Posts: 17,295	You must have this camera to make a good photo, the only camera that takes skill to use.

03-26-2022, 12:09 AM	#12
Gerbermiester Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: British Columbia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 377	My initial impression of the article was that it read like an ad telling its audience 'Don't be a phony musician! Keep it about the music, man. Buy a FENDER® guitar!' But, there was one part of the article that kept my interest, it's quoted below: "The Leica comes from a time before picture-taking had morphed into a means for social approval, a time when photography was about narrative, drama, and tension." Do you fine folks believe this to be true? Was there a time when photographers would get together and share their work without any sense of social approval being involved? Or, is this an imagined past? My knee jerk reaction was to think of the Leica brand as a symbol of conspicuous consumption. I cannot recall a time in my life when Leicas weren't a status symbol.

03-26-2022, 12:32 AM - 1 Like	#13
termy Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2019 Posts: 1,155	the hilarity of it is just overwhelming. been practising that since the day i used my very first SLR (borrowed from an uncle back then since i didnt have the funds to get one at that age). And, that was a Nikon FM2 to boot. Fully Manual. Nothing fanciful. Plain good old centre weighted metering. Took Leica such eons to get that? hahahahahaha. This is as hilarious as it is (somewhat) nonsensical.

03-26-2022, 01:26 AM	#15
StiffLegged Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2018 Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,634	Despite the expressed scepticism, it’s a genuine 60 megapickle sensor and fits in your hand like every other M Leica, but price apart that’s why it’s not for me. I didn’t like the handling/UX of the M8 someone let me try some years ago: much prefer the sculpted grip of my crusty old K7 and its viewfinder. One thing would be rather nice - the compact glass. A set of M glass is decidedly more compact than my zooms for packing around. And it’s rather good glass too … .