LEICA M11 Monochrom REVIEW - What You Need To Know

In this video I'll Review the Leica M11 Monochrom exposing its strengths and downsides.
s the Leica M11 Monochrom a photographic game-changer, or just a Luxury Gadget? Let's get into a world where black and white isn't just a filter.
In the first Part of the video We'll talk about the Leica M11 Monochrom specs, Iso performance, Low light performance.

Then We jump into Lightroom to unveil the Leica M11 DNG files and their power
With this comprehensive black and white editing tutorial in Lightroom, where I'll unveil my personal workflow secrets to get the most out of the DNG files this masterpiece produces

The Leica M11 Monochrome is designed to perfection by the renowned German craftsmen at Leica.
Thee M11 Monochrom isn't just a camera—it's a bold statement that foes in a whole different direction than most camera companies.

With the Leica M11M, Shooting exclusively in black and white, its 60MP sensor is untouched by the common Bayer filter, giving you high ISO shots (ranging from a native 125 right up to a whopping 200,000) that redefines clarity, with noise levels never seen before.

Now, why go Leica M11 monochrome in a colorful world? Monochrome photography is about luminance, contrast, shadows, highlight where color pays no role in the power of the image. The leica M11 Monochrom changes your approach to capturing in black and white. At least it did it for me.

The Construction the the Leica M11 Monochrom Is robust full-metal housing made of magnesium and aluminum exudes elegance.

The M11 Monochrome takes storage to a new level: One single UHSII SD plus a whopping internal memory of 256GB that ensures you're never short of space even when shooting in its highest resolution.

The Leica M11 Monochrome is driven by the powerful Leica Maestro III processor, Sporting a vibrant LCD panel.

Leica has redifine Mobile app and teh Leica M11 Monochrom allows you to wirelessly transfer files via its efficient dual-band WLAN capabilities

And for those who like a touch of vintage, the Leica M11 monochrom's rangefinder mechanism brings a nostalgic experience, complemented by modern touches like Focus Peaking and Magnification assist.But here's where the plot thickens: while SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) files can sometimes feel a tad flat, lacking that dynamic punch we all crave, fear not!

As an added bonus, I'll walk you through an exclusive Lightroom tutorial, unveiling my step-by-step workflow to extract every ounce of potential from these Leica M11 Monochrome DNG files, turning them from flat to fab.

So, is the Leica M11 Monochrom revolution or luxury hype? Watch the video, learn the tricks, and let your senses be the judge.

Thank you for watching and make sure to drop your input in the comments.

[GastonShutters]

Do we really need a black and white sensor? What's your take on this matter. Would love to hear your opinion👇

[thatRyzzle]

This is a very helpful video! The key phrase, to me, is, “It's for B&W lovers who LOVE the editing process, ” which isn't me at all. I love B&W, but I hate editing with a passion.

This video has actually helped me with my gear acquisition syndrome with regards to the M11-M. I've been day-dreaming about this camera a lot lately. But having heard that key phrase, the camera has become a lot less interesting to me. So, thank you very much!

[cyrilcornetphoto]

Great video which greatly helps me in my future decision to acquire an M11M !
I have been the happy owner of the M11 since its release and which I use professionally with my SL2S as a complement. My style of photography is architecture, construction site monitoring, events, and sometimes portraits.

My favorite: black and white since I was a teenager. And I regularly process my images in black and white whether for my pleasure, sometimes exhibitions, or for clients. I had the chance to test the M11M for 15 days last summer. It was a new world opening up to me. A new way of working and capturing a monochrome world from start to finish. In short... since then I have only thought about that!

But my reason tells me "your M11 can continue to process in black and white"... My heart and part of my reason tells me "But the M11M will offer you the world in monochrome instantly with all the advantages that the we know Monochrome from Leica"...

My question is this : is it interesting, useful, differentiating, to work with an M11 and an M11M to optimize your workflow and allow you to have an optimum rendering of your images with each of them...

[vampolascott]

I've learned that the best b&w images go through the range from inky black shadow to white. Pulling out shadows is fine unless it makes the entire image gray. An all-gray image looks like poop. When I got my M10M, I was excited about its performance. Now, I just use the M10M like any other camera, but I pay more attention to light and exposure. I use live view sometimes to get a better idea what it will look like. I also shoot more in manual mode instead of aperture priority. This helps me get the right exposure directly from the camera, so I don't need extreme Lightroom manipulation to save the shot.

[dandipalma]

Enlightening presentation. I have been shooting with negative 2/3 exposure compensation, center weighted to protect highlights. Do I need to continue this exposure compensation if I set "Highlight Weighted" Please, more about M-11 mono. Love mine. Thank you. Dan

[ABarrera]

The M11 Mono is incredible! Great video 👏🏼

[stewartlogie]

I making enjoy black and white images, but being able to balance the color channels is a big part of the editing choice for me. Having a monochrome camera is having spectral response baked into the $9500 device. That's a huge $ commitment compared, for example, to choosing a particular roll of black and white film. I have used a Leica Q2M for a few days' project and it was enormous fun, but I also noticed that some of my software wouldn't handle the monochrome DNG files. DXO Photolab doesn't support it and Lightroom's Enhance doesn't as yet do raw details or denoise on the files. Maybe you could argue that it's not necessary.

[RobertLeeAtYT]

I don't think a monochrome sensor is worthwhile. Yes, all you've said about increased sensitivity and resolution is true. However, having three color channels available means much more freedom for color filtration in post.

A large part of B&W photography is about tonality control, for being able to map the scene tones to where you want them to be on the print. With a monochrome sensor, either you give that up or you make that decision earlier than necessary by using filters on the optics. With a color sensor, essentially you've three images captured with R, G and B filters applied concurrently. This lets you mix and match filtration to match your vision on even the same image, e.g., red filter to darken the sky, blue filter on the old woman in scene to emphasize wrinkles.

Yes, the Bayer interpolation decreases spatial resolution somewhat. However, you've more than enough to go around with 61MP on that camera. Keep in mind that film capture for an equivalent M6 would only give you at most ~18MP.

[robertjureit]

I have the M10M and M10R, I use the Mono much more than the M10R. I am 69 years old and started with B and W. had a Hasselblad. 500cm, shot only B and W. back in the 1970s an 80s.they was just something about, shooting, developing and printing all on your own, back then. now we just use a computer instead, and a Great printer also helps. also, most people don't understand, shooting B and W, and the use of filters and there effects. making those changes in POST, does NOT have the same effect. my 2 cents.

[antonedvinsson]

I’d love to see more monochrome dng-editing like this. Use Q2M myself and havent, yet, found a good editing consistency.

[tylor]

Greeting sir, do you encounter any orange light issues or froze during a shoot?

[MB-orjs]

Still using M 240 and MM 246 cameras successfully. I normally don't need high ISO in my photography. I am using my MM 246 to complement my Leica film camera especially since film prices started skyrocketing. Still shooting B&W film but more selectively now. For me a monochrome camera is simply an efficient tool to visualize in B&W similar to B&W film.

[caffeinatedcameras]

Finally got to try my first M. Was the monochrome. I really like the idea of it, however, not a fan of that shutter.

[gzafra]

Bit late to the party... however I still fail to see scenarios or images where you can make use of that dynamic range unless you wanna push the image to its limits or shooting in extreme conditions.

I would love to see images edited from a Monochrome and the same in a M color not being able to be replicated.

[Leicashootr]

I noticed that the color conversion into black and white photographers who doesn’t use a dedicated Black&White sensor camera, do not know exactly where they talking about because they never had used an achromatic sensor camera before .

[garymc]

Just got my M11M to accompany my M11 and can support all the points here. But I’m learning the real difference in shooting and processing mono. There are differences that must be utilized in order to justify this move.

[michelecintramika]

Black and white sensor is for a small group with each other. Because in real life, most post cell phone photos, apply filters and post on Instagram and other social networks. No one is imposed if the sensor is monochrome. Using a Leica M Monochrom or Pentax K3 Monochrom is only a personal satisfaction for the owner than an advantage in practice. Because nowadays modern camera sensors already deliver incredible qualities in high ISOs; Dynamic range, etc. The only advantage of a monochrome sensor is for star photographs. Every sensor is originally black and white. So, just buy a Sony A7RV, take it to specialized assistance and remove the color matrix. And it will have a monochrome sensor. And for those who don't have money, just buy a cheap camera and remove the color matrix.