Quite apart from the Leica M11’s undoubted abilities as a camera, it has introduced some very useful and revolutionary improvements to a camera that, at least in appearance, is not all that dissimilar to its distant ancestor, the original M3. They are all innovative engineering solutions that make life easier. The M11 is easier to handle, has improved power and storage management and is cheaper to run.
There are three particular engineering solutions that I welcome wholeheartedly. One is in-camera charging, the second is a much higher capacity battery, the third is a massive 64GB internal memory and, the fourth is the absence of the removable bottom plate that has been a feature of Leica rangefinder cameras for nine decades.
But there is one more major advantage. You don’t need a spare battery. Read on.
Internal storage
Many digital cameras offer a small internal but the 64GB chip built into the M11 came as a surprise, but a very useful one at that. With almost all higher-end digitals now offering two SD card slots, the M10 was beginning to fall behind in the feature stakes. Having a second card as a backup or for selective storage of RAW/JPG images is undoubtedly useful. But a second card slot would have been impossible to squeeze into the M11 without a sacrilegious radical change of the body.
The chosen alternative, fast internal storage, is actually the better option. For one, it completely avoids the common problem of leaving home without a card (or two cards if you have two slots). You can never leave behind that internal storage. For most purposes, you could use the M11 without removable storage.
Incorporating storage of this size was probably forced on Leica in order to keep up with the Joneses. But it has turned out to be a better solution than double card slots. It is one of the best features of the new camera.
Bottom plate
The removal of the bottom plate is another big bonus point in my book. I’ve heard some diehards complaining that it is heresy, that the detachable plate is such an integral part of the ethos of the M that it was wrong to remove it.
But I believe they are wrong. This is a step forward and the implementation of the new battery compartment is acceptable, if not perfect.
I would have preferred a separate door to accommodate the SD card, similar to that on the Q2. However, I suspect this could not have been implemented because there isn’t enough spare space to fit a slot without, again, a radical redesign of the camera’s internals. Instead, the engineers have created a compromise solution where the SD card sits in the usual place next to the battery but is protected by an overhang in the battery’s bottom plate.
This works well in terms of weatherproofing, but it leads to some awkwardness in changing cards. The battery must first be removed before the card can be extracted. Having got rid of one thing to hold (the bottom plate) we now have something else to land in the mud in the form of the battery. I can live with it, but it isn’t a perfect solution.
There is something else, too, that isn’t perfect. The new USB port sits on the bottom of the camera next to the battery. It is about as convenient as the port on the Apple Magic Mouse, which is on the belly of the rodent, meaning that it cannot be used during recharging.
The M11 has to be placed on its top plate or on the front, lens-down, in order to connect to the USB socket. A side port, as on every other camera I can think of, would have been much more convenient. But I know why this wasn’t possible on the M: It would have compromised the integrity of the clean, traditional M body and, furthermore, there probably wasn’t a suitable space for the internal gubbins. The position of the port, right at the far edge of the camera bottom, probably speaks for the difficulty the engineers had in finding a suitable spot.
These are all minor quibbles and I can accept that the designers and engineers did their very best to convert a 1953 design to cope (at last) with the demands of modern connectivity. We can live with them.
Battery bliss
I have always been a great fan of in-camera charging. It just seems so logical to me. It’s extremely convenient, it avoids the need to carry a very costly charger which is almost impossible to replace quickly in an emergency. And if you sally forth without a USB-C cable, you can now buy one easily and at little cost.
The only current Leica which is excluded from the in-camera charging club is the Q2, but I feel sure a port will be added to the Q3 when it eventually arrives.
In-camera charging offers M11 owners complete freedom to travel and can avoid the need for spare batteries. In the past, I have always felt obliged to buy at least one spare battery, especially if I didn’t want to lug around the charger and cable.
Now I can plug in anywhere, using a common USB-C outlet. I’ve even charged it in Starbucks. I certainly have no intention to buy a spare battery at a cost of £142. A cheap power bank, such as the 10,000 mAh device you see in the pictures, is well capable of trickle-charging the M11 battery, rated at 1,800 mAh. I now keep the power bank in the camera case and keep it plugged into the camera so that the M11 is always fully charged. It’s a sort of power dock for the M11.
But there is a more compelling reason why most users can manage without a spare battery. The M11’s battery has 63% more capacity than that of the old M10. As a result, this battery has a remarkable life. It is rated at 700 exposures but that includes the use of the rear screen or the Visoflex. Switch off the electronics and maximise power saving and you can squeeze as many as 1,700 shots out of one battery charge. That’s more than enough to see most photographers through a day. It’s enough to last me a week. I must say, though, that I have never exhausted my single battery on a day’s use, so the power bank has remained unused save for test purposes.
My advice is the avoid buying the £142 spare battery and, instead, invest around £20 in a good power bank. You are unlikely to need more than one in any conceivable circumstances.
Convenience
All these improvements in the M11 make for a more relaxed life. Don’t worry about forgetting your SD card or a spare battery. Fall back on the internal storage (if you must), and do thousands of shots in one day (if you must) with the aid of a power bank.
It all boils down to convenience. Even the removal of the bottom plate is a convenience for the user. Factor in all the enhancements in image quality and the M11 makes a compelling case for itself.
What’s your poison?
Are you a dedicated spare battery person? Do you lust after a £142 M11 battery because it looks good and gives you peace of mind? Or are you up for the one-battery, one-year challenge? Let’s discuss…
Signing up for the Macfilos newsletter
The SUBSCRIBE button (below) is now working again. If you have recently been unable to register for the Macfilos newsletter, please try again now. We apologise for the error which crept in during the recent site redesign. If you have any other queries or wish to contact us, use the CONTACT button.
The M type 240 (the one and only M) has a battery capacity of 1800 mAh. I can shoot with that camera from early in the morning till late in the evening without any battery problems. Love that camera. That changed with the M10, who has a battery capacity of 1100 mAh (61% of the M), and made a spare battery for me a necessity. Now with the M11 the situation fortunately has been restored, the M11 too comes with an 1800 mAh battery. So no more range anxiety, no need for a spare battery. No autofocus, no ibis and no EVF makes battery life in practice a non-issue.
I recall that the smaller battery of the M10 was considered an acceptable sacrifice in order to achieve size parity with the M7 (and almost with the M3). But clearly they’ve found a bit of extra space and, perhaps, used improved battery technology, to get back to the efficiency of the M240. I’ve been using the M11 almost exclusively in rangefinder, low-power mode. I tend to prefer the Q2 or, even, the mich bulkier SL2 for times when I want autofocus.
And when do you want auto-focus, Mike? or not want it? It is gorgeous to read of another M coming off the assembly line, but I am still wanting someone to explain to me the special virtue, attraction, usefulness of a rangefinder camera with all its limitations – parallax, limited focal length lenses……….
Please, anyone? I’d really like to understand. Meanwhile I’ll enjoy the Panny-Leica products I have!
over a year later but why not? I have had many Leica digital cameras, just got my 4th version of the Monochrom yesterday. I got a Leica Q3 last week. To start with, I’m glad you’re happy with what you have. Good for you! I mean it. I do not suggest Leica cameras and more often than not discourage them as a choice. That being said, the difference for me from shooting with a Q3, which is amazing, to shooting with an M body is just no comparison. I don’t really use the range finder that much and use the Live View or no view as I use either a 28mm or a 24mm lense and zone focusing is easy with those focal lengths. Rather than convince you of why many of use are Leica fan boys and M body in particular, it’s not for everyone and clearly not for you but for me..Nothing comes close to the experience of shooting with an M body, film or digital and the M11 is the best yet. If you know you know, for many but again, clearly not for you!
I’m not quite sure what point you are making here. I use both Q3 and M11 and enjoy both. But this article was about battery life on the M11 as far as I can recall. But I agree on the charm of zone focus with the M and an appropriate wide angle lens.
The bottom plate of all previous M’s is an inconvenience I deal with almost daily, yet I am not a fan of the new battery system despite it’s ubiquitous use on Q, T, S and SL systems. As much an inconvenience it is a pleasure to handle the Leica M body and the precision of placing the plate back. After writing this I have two bodies sitting with arca plates needing card removal to download images, the plate makes it additionally difficult yet it is a labor of love, there’s a haptic pleasure of inconvenience.
A right angle usb-c end solves the issue partially, perhaps. The angle makes it incompatible with other devices and I don’t have an M11 so I can’t say with certainty this works. Worth a try.
I rarely use a second battery, yet I have them for every camera and often forget to take them when I shoot. The M10 is the only camera that I get to the last few percent of battery capacity.
Despite the logic of being non-essential I would purchase one to have a spare if anything should happen to the original, secondly two batteries like two pairs of shoes last longer.
Despite all this, I could adapt if absolutely necessary, the M11-P beckons pending features. Ibis would be most welcome with 60+ megapixels and I couldn’t imagine the wait time if introduced.
The bottom plate is an interesting one, I find I miss it a lot less than I imagined I would. On the new battery system, yes it’s similar to the Q, SL systems but not the same. IMO it might have been nice if it used the same batteries as I already have some for my SL system, as it’s an inconvenience having yet another new battery. But, it is made easier by the aforementioned USB-C charging meaning I personally don’t need two chargers as well. IBIS is an interesting one. Yes, it does work brilliantly on the SL platform, and I’ve read all sorts of articles about how it’s not possible to take sharp pictures at slow shutter speeds on the M11 with 60MP. I can confirm this as complete ‘tosh’. I have no problem taking pin-sharp images on mine at full resolution. Would IBIS be nice? Yes of course, but it’s no more important on the M11 than it was on previous M models. If you like the M10-R, then I think you’ll like the M11 more.
I am happy to have a second battery. I exercise my batteries by changing the battery when the charge is low. Also, I sometimes forget to charge my battery until I pick up the camera. I am delighted with the long lasting power and keep my camera on ready to capture a fleeting moment.
I wholeheartedly agreed that the USB-C charging and increased battery life are game changing improvements of the M11. I do have a spare battery, but only one unlike previous cameras with 2 or 3 spares. Knowing that I have a fully charged battery to hand in the unlikely event that I run out of juice is reassuring. That said, I do venture out regularly without a spare battery, something I’d rarely risk with an M10. I also find myself making good use of the hybrid electric/mechanical shutter which for me was the other massive improvement for my work flow. Ability to shoot very fast primes wide-open in sunny conditions without ND filters is another reason I’m very pleased with the M11.