New Leica camera brings craftsmanship back into focus

The new Leica M11 digital rangefinder camera may well come from a completely different era. Do not misunderstand me; the technology inside it makes it feel modern enough. The M11 has a high-resolution sensor (a 60-megapixel full-frame back-illuminated CMOS sensor, to be exact), sophisticated metering tools, and even some of the common digital cameras of our time. But in many ways, it works just like the film cameras your parents owned. He is dissatisfied with autofocus, does not shoot video, and gladly accepts lenses that are decades old.

What’s more, the Leica M11 looks like an old Leica. The new M11 is very true to the legacy of the M series cameras that were released in the 1950s and went digital in 2006. It’s a compact and discreet box where you attach your lens.

The M11 is also true to its heritage when it comes to high price. The retail price of $8,995 is more than most of us are ever willing to spend on a camera. And this price is only for the camera body; Leica lenses ranging from $2,500 to $12,000 are sold separately. But even for those of us who can’t afford and will never own a Leica M11, I think it’s a device worth looking at and worth talking about. This deserves more discussion than a simple product review.

A wrench is just a wrench. Some wrenches may be better than others, but if you want to do something useful with a wrench, you need someone who knows how to use a wrench. This skill can manifest itself in different forms and guises. I know what I do with a socket wrench in an internal combustion engine, but I don’t have any skill to use a plumbing wrench on pipes in a basement.

In the same way, the camera comes to life when it is picked up by a person who knows how to use it. Put an outdated digital camera from the early 2000s in the hands of Maggie Steber and chances are you’ll get a great picture. Give me a brand new Leica M11 and the chances of getting a great picture become less favorable.

Leica loaned me an M11 and I shot with it for one week. The reason I say the Leica M11 looks more like a film Leica than a modern digital camera is not because it’s not capable, but because it was designed to be used in conjunction with human skill. In particular, your photography skills.

Cameras are increasingly being designed in such a way as to eliminate the human factor from the shooting process. With the addition of features such as autofocus, auto white balance, and auto light metering over the past few decades, the engineering effort of most camera manufacturers has been to replace the individual photographer’s informed choice with algorithms. These algorithms turn the process of creating a great image into something that is no longer a problem that you have to deal with or adapt to, but a range of options from which you can choose.