This is the 3rd Leica M11 that is bad.

I wish this was click-bait! This is in fact my 3rd Leica M11 that is broke. First two were the freeze-ups then just died. This one the shutter won’t open on startup. Keeping my fingers crossed that this may be a priority repair as it is 6 months old and my third one.

[Deetroiter]

It’s really sad how widespread these issues are with the M11. I watched a livestream tonight from one of the actual Leica stores and they were talking about the M11 monochrome…they answered all questions people asked EXCEPT about if the M11m has the same issues as the regular M11. The hosts completely skipped people asking those questions and were pretending there’s zero issues with the M11, overall. It’s awful how Leica officials refuse to acknowledge what’s going on and try to keep it hush hush. I was going to buy a new M11 and thank god I haven’t. I believe it’s a stellar camera but until Leica fixed these problems, they won’t be getting my wallet any time soon.

[imajinest]

I purchased a Leica MP a few months ago and I love it. I was thinking about jumping into the digital Leica world with an M11. Too many stories like yours 😢. Good luck

[rexgigout]

Sorry to see this happen to you. Thanks for keeping us informed.

[tangosix]

what an honest video. This increases your street cred. I suspect that the focus system on my M11 was not calibrated correctly and for a new M shooter, it was confusing as hell. Now, I did use the M11 with the profoto trigger (following your advice) and captured some family portraits and three weddings that were epic images ... gallery level stuff. However, calibration issues with a new m50apo did something to me. I missed some shots that hurt me. I appreciate your clips. I switched to a sl2s and am enjoying the ride. No, the images are not as rich and detailed as the m11, but they do have that leica moody look and I am going to run with it. Thanks to your flash clips I know how to use profoto now manually and that is worth a lot.

[ahpphotos]

Mine too. :(
Same shutter problem. Guess exposures and shot with it like that all night last night. Calling Leica NJ first thing tomorrow when they open. Of course, I work again in five days. Hopefully they can take care of me fast.

[MikePrevette]

After being a very early owner of the M8, I vowed to never buy a new Leica product ever again. Sensor recall, switch issues, IR contamination that was undisclosed prior to launch, and worse each time it would be a trip back to germany taking 3-6mo with now communication. They burned every bridge with me. Love the system, but they aren't the company they used to be.

[streetphotojournalism]

So wild that the freezing issue still hasn’t been resolved after 2yrs. Odds are it’s a hardware issue and Leica has just decided to ignore it while still selling M11s. How has no one started a class action lawsuit yet?

[henryt]

Reminds me of an old BMW E30 that I used to own. They first came out with the electronic service indicator and it has all the bells and whistles of determining the way you drive to come up with the service lights to tell you when to service your car. However, the algorythm never works. Half the time you have to bring your car in to service the service indicator so that the service indicator can tell you when to service your car. The irony of German perfection is the very root of the problem. They tend to introduce such complexity in their software algorythm that ironically is the very hindrance to reliability. That is why mechnically they have no equal, but electronically, the tend to dig themselves into a hole. For those that thought that they will eventually fix the problem, I guarantee you that they would fix one thing and break something else.

[phototristan]

I've had the M10, M10-P and M10-R. No issues ever with any of those. I'm skipping the M11...

[MarcSR]

one of the reasons why i got out of the SL system was the lack of Pro Customer service with a fast turnaround time. Good luck with your M11, hope it will get fixed fast.

[RobertFalconer]

Sorry to hear this. At the same time, I gotta be honest (and I say this as a Leica owner and enthusiast): after three failures, I'd be out. Leica's been making these same basic rangefinders since 1954; there should be no excuse for quality control issues in 2023...especially not at the prices they're asking. Pro Nikon and Canon bodies historically don't have these sorts of QC incidents.

[WilsonGomez]

Leica needs to recall and rebrand the M11 like Nikon did with the D600, but heritage plays a big role in Leica ego and I don't see this happening

[ralph]

Thanks so much, sorry for your troubles. I'm on the fence with the M11. After your video, and other negative comments online, i.e. on B+H of all places, I am reconsidering. This should not happen!

[vvvvvvvvv]

Hopefully they fix this issue with the next model because if they don’t that’s definitely gonna be a problem

[bberns]

Your continued loyalty for the M11 made me think Albert Camus had you in mind when he said - “Nostalgia is stronger here than knowledge...[Reason] is an instrument of thought and not thought itself. Above all, a man's thought is his nostalgia.”

[FotosyMas.]

$10K camera that doesn't work, yet you keep coming back to it. This is the definition of Stockholm syndrome and derangement mixed together.

[jerrythompson]

I’m having this issue now. Camera is only three months old. Did they fix it? How long did it take?

[stevemphoto]

I am going to be sending mine in soon. How long has the turn around time been??

[krisceuppens]

Oh dear, i'm sorry to hear this. Hopefully this gets resolved quickly, and fourth time lucky?

[rexgigout]

I reckon that I was fortunate, not buying an M10 until more than a year had passed, since the M10 had started shipping. By then, any minor, early growing pains had been resolved. (I do not reall there being problems, other than sorting-out which SD cards were truly fully compatible.) It is disheartening to see the M11 still having problems, but, I am not a candidate for acquiring an M11 anytime soon, if ever, anyway. Not being a working professional, I can remain content with my 24MP M10 and M Type 246 cameras, for the task of simply being an old retiree, walking-about with a camera.