Leica is about to captivate us once again with the beauty and mystery of black and white photography. The German camera maker unveils the Leica M11 monochrome. It’s the first new derivative of last year’s 60-megapixel M11, and his fifth digital camera that shoots exclusively in black and white. Launching today alongside the blacked out $9,195 camera is the new Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. A lens with a closer focal length and more aperture blades than the current model, it retails for $4,495 in black and $4,795 in silver.
If you’re unfamiliar with Leica’s monochrome cameras, here’s a quick recap. Leica uses its latest M or Q cameras to take out the sensor’s color filter array (which prevents it from taking color pictures). Black out most of the design, remove the famous red dot logo, and print the money by selling it to the gullible rich who secretly want a Henri Cartier-Bresson cosplay. I wish I could be the OG of photography (or, you know, rich), but I’ll settle for a week of shooting with the M11 Monochrome and indulgent fun in the joys of true black-and-white photography.
I have used every iteration of the Leica monochrome camera. The M11 Monochrome follows the usual playbook, but actually adds some new features to his M11-ready camera on the base. In addition to the usual monochrome treatment of the M11’s pixel-binning capable sensor, the new monochrome increases internal storage from 64GB to 256GB and opts for a more sophisticated sapphire crystal rear LCD cover that covers Gorilla Glass. Monochromes of the past often featured better features than their respective generation base Ms, but these improvements were always first unveiled in P variants like the M10-P. So if you’re pondering what potential upgrades the upcoming M11-P camera has, you can probably count on some of what we’ll see in the new monochrome.
New features aside, the M11 Monochrome uses the same aluminum build and matte finish as the black M11. And because it’s based on the M11, it’s lighter than the M10 Monochrome it replaces, has longer battery life, and has an MFi-certified USB-C port built into the non-removable bottom plate. But his 40MP M10 Monochrome is still a very formidable camera in 2023. With a new high price of around $9,200, the M11 Monochrome is $900 more than his 2020 launch price for the M10 Monochrome. The price since his M10 debuted at his $6,595 in 2017.
The new Monochrome is also around $2,000 to $2,700, more expensive than the current M10 Monochrome. I know the most loyal Leica loyalists have very big money but as nice as the M11 monochrome quality of life update is but this time it’s an easy upgrade over the previous generation You can not.
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The M11 Monochrom features 20 megapixels more resolution than its predecessor, and its sensor rises to a higher 200,000 ISO to reach a slightly lower 125 base setting while capturing a wider dynamic range. . But the M10 Monochrome was no slouch in the 160 to 100,000 ISO range, and the jump from 40 megapixels to 60 megapixels felt more like a computer than the extra 20 million pixels made you feel like you were doing a lot. processing time may feel slow. you. While the new Monochrome can certainly deliver amazing image quality and sharpness, all of its predecessors were possible at their respective lower resolutions.
If you’ve been using the much older Leica Monochrome, or are looking to dive first into these deep, dark black-and-white waters with the latest and greatest cameras, the M11 Monochrome makes some sense. (A lovely illogical camera can be made). But if you own the M10 Monochrome, TRUE I crave the green grass of lighter cameras. Otherwise, you might not think it’s radically different from what you already have, especially since the M11’s USB-C and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth implementation for transferring photos to your phone is a little slow. not. I thought it was more than the M10 generation.
All the technical benefits of the M11 generation and subsequent firmware updates (including a handy highlight priority exposure mode) are included in the new Monochrom, but it suffers from the same high ISO trapping as its predecessor. Yes, you can now shoot at ISO 200,000 and see in the dark.
These very high ISO files have as much depth and flexibility as balsa wood, show strong banding at 200,000, and many find them unusable. Going from underexposing and preserving highlights at low ISO, as with monochrome before, to nailing exposure at high ISO or lightening and darkening shots a bit in post-processing to try and remove noise You have to change your mindset. But this is the nature of monochrome cameras, and like ISO 3200 film, it’s a look worth exploring.
That’s what the M11 Monochrome and all Leica Monochrome cameras are all about. While the technical advantages of monochrome sensors are cool and inviting, these cameras are ultimately for romantics.
It’s really easy to fall under the magic of monochrome. Any digital camera or film can be used to create stunning black and white images, but monochrome combines modern conveniences like the ability to shoot at a darker ISO with a slap in the face of emotion. Do you think your life is boring and monotonous? Now is not the time to document in black and white.Do random snapshots of everyday life feel like the old, outdated early days of Instagram? No — now it does art.
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Black and white images have different hits, even when abused as cheap crutches of unwarranted authenticity. You can call it that, but it hits your heartstrings like few other visual mediums.
The M11 Monochrome has technical advantages and benefits that give it an edge in ISO performance and image clarity, but its greatest strength is that it takes some decisions away from the user. The world seen through that lens is forever in shades of black, white and grey. Living spontaneously within such constraints allows us to freely enjoy our creativity. In many ways, I think it’s one of the Leicas worth owning if you can only pick one.
Oh wait, do you have another Leica that shoots in color too?
Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto/The Verge
