Leica M11 for Wedding Photography

For years I debated sharing my experiences shooting Leica for weddings. Part of me always wanted to keep my tricks a secret but with the popularity of my Leica q2 blog and video review I’ve been more eager to share.The community feels like home and many people have reached out asking about the m system for travel and weddings. This is a review about my experience using the newest Leica M11 for Wedding Photography. I believe that great equipment will not make you a great artist but it will give you a good place to start. So here I am and here we go…

In a Nutshell
The Leica M system was long overdue for a major update. The M11 is beautifully crafted in the retro style it’s known for but updated with the latest in Leica technologies including a brand new BSI sensor and Maestro III processor. My M experience so far comes from photographing weddings on the Leica M240 for the past six years. My review will likely have more luster than other reviewers because, to me, M11 feels like wizardry overall. This is Leica’s latest and the price tag reflects that. I wish this camera had video, just for the option. The image quality is unmatched to any camera I’ve used in the past and already has far exceeded my expectations. This camera is a game changer.

How I Got Mine

Supply chain issues are still a problem with some cameras and lens and other gadgets in the photography world. I wasn’t quite confident in purchasing this camera sight unseen and started calling around to see who had it. Quickly I learned they are still a little tough to find. None of the big retailers in LA had these cameras, only the Leica store. They held one for me in black. Walking into the store, it could’ve gone either way. After playing around with it in the store and asking a million questions [Rob there is the best!] I didn’t see how I couldn’t go home without it.

The First Wedding with the M11

The next day I photographed my first wedding and felt like a bonafide rockstar. I spent the next week traveling in Scotland getting aquatinted with the gadgets and testing out some of the highly touted features. The upgraded system and customization was worth the wait. Since I was already familiar with the Q2 and Leica’s newer menus I was confident to jump right in for a wedding day after a brief afternoon of playing with buttons. Immediately this camera impressed me with its speed, image quality and overall usability. Using the M11 the past two months has renewed my artistry. I have shot nine weddings and a handful of sessions and events.

What’s Included

M11 Camera Body, camera strap, battery, charger, Leica FOTOS cable, instructions, branded cover bag for accessory shoe, warranty card. All purchasers get a two year warranty from purchase date.

For the price of this camera it wouldn’t kill them to include a thumb grip or an extra battery. I had to purchase both.

Unboxing of my Leica M11

Specs

The image quality was what I was most looking forward to. The BSI Sensor has triple resolution technology and is able to output images with 60 megapixels. The M11 gives you the option to shoot your DNG or Jpeg images in 18, 36 0r 60 megapixels. After living in the 24mp world for so long this feels like wild and uncharted territory. So far I’ve been shooting events and smaller shoots at lower 36mp DNG files and keeping entire wedding days at 36mp JPGS and full 60mp DNG files. In my busy fall season I plan to shoot 36mp DNG files, reserving only the higher 60mp for ceremony and couple portraits. It’s been a noticeable difference in sd and hard drive space, as one would expect.

There is a built in 64GB of internal memory and I have used this several times. It’s a terrific backup and easy to transfer photos to a real computer via an sd card. I haven’t tried connecting the USB-C yet. The wifi works quite well on the Leica fotos app. I was able to easily transfer images here and there to my phone when I was away from my home office. There is also remote shooting which I haven’t played around too much with due to time.

This camera still is top in being discreet. Almost every wedding someone still asks if I am shooting on film. A select few will remark about this camera or nod in approval. I just smile when people refer to my camera as ‘cute’. My secret weapon remains a secret. My joints appreciate it too as I rarely have back pain or joint problems going on eight years into wedding work.

One of the greatest improvements I’ve noticed to the M11 is the shutter. The Maestro III processor allows for a fluid and responsive operation. I am confident capturing anything in getting ready, the couple’s ceremony entrance and exit, birds flying above, first look moments, dancing moments, twirling moments. If I am in the right distance and ready to focus, the shutter is ready to go. There are a few different image capture modes, I keep mine on single or sometimes Continuous Low Speed. You can also do continuous high speed [4.5 fps], interval shooting and exposure bracketing for architecture.

I’m a big fan of the lowest ISO possible and the 64ISO mode on the M11 is a treat. I’ve personally shot up to about 1200ISO. Truth be told, I don’t use my Leica’s in low-light reception situations too often. The dance floor ambient light is tough to prepare from event to event and I don’t trust myself to manually find focus in moving darkness. I’ve never used flash on my M systems but would be open to be convinced in the future.

There is focus assist magnification and focus peaking, I usually keep those off. On a wedding day I will alternate between live view and the rangefinder.

This camera hardly has any scratches on it and I really use my gear. The new paint is smudge proof and has done a great job of keeping the body looking pristine. As with other M’s, the M11 is dust and weather sealed.

The battery is pretty good. I’ve tried to time exactly how much time I am able to get and it ranges between 3-4 hours. If I’m outside in heat it’s about 2 hours and the camera overall gets really hot. Cooler temperatures and rain there were no problems. There is an auto-battery saving mode and do find it works great.

A note on shooting manually with a rangefinder for a wedding day:

I would be derelict in my duty to describe using this camera without noting that using a fully manual camera on a wedding day is hard. I will most likely always have an automatic camera with me for those very fast, unpredictable and fleeting moments that wedding days are made up of. Rangefinder shooting is not easy. It takes lots of practice to become really skilled and is something that I constantly practice. For me, focusing manually is part of my craft. I feel purposeful behind the camera and the challenge keeps me on my toes. Mistakes will happen but so will art.

 

Cons of the Leica M11

-Expensive, the most I’ve ever spent on a camera body
-Fully Manual [as the M series is]
-No video option
-No double exposure option
-Battery life is better than Q2 but still not amazing.
-Must use highest caliber of sd cards
-Have to pay extra for thumb grip

Below are just a handful of before and after editing images:

And just a few of my favorite images from weddings so far, in the sequential order of when they were captured and became more familiar with using the M11.
I blend a few practical tricks into my shots from time to time so you may notice a ring of fire or reflection from glass. All of these were taken using the Leica M11 and a 50mm 1.4/f Summilux lens. Some of the flares are unique to this lens. The Leica M11 is a sleek, inspiring and highly capable of keeping up with the pace of a wedding day. This camera is not for everybody but it’s now an essential part of my artistry. Would love to know your thoughts!

Thanks again for checking out this post,
-teri b

Watch the Video on YouTube