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TESTED: LEICA M11 MONOCHROM & NOCTILUX-M 35MM F/1.2 ASPH Pure monochrome mastery £8300/£7700 leica-camera.com Pair the Leica M11 Monochrom with the Noctilux-M 35mm f/1.2 You may think its price and single- minded focus would make it a very rare
camera to buy, but it is a big seller for the German brand. This is thanks to a cult following of believers in the impressive, high-quality M camera and its matching lenses. Until now, the favoured 35mm reportage-lens companion to the M11 Monochrom has been the £6700 APO- Summicron-M f/2 ASPH or the £4499 Summilux-M f/1.4 ASPH. Nothing has yet been available from the hallowed Noctilux range – long known for ultra- fast apertures and a unique character. Now, the Leica superfan can get the lens to match their obsession with quality: the Leica Noctilux-M 35mm f/1.2 ASPH. It is the first time Leica has brought the Noctilux heritage to arguably the most versatile focal length in photography. The result is a lens that feels both groundbreaking and deeply familiar. And at £7700, it’s not as much of a price hike as you’d expect over the f/2 APO lens. So armed with £16,000 of exciting, new equipment, we set off to see if this dream package lives up to the hype. A design for life Once you are used to the unique handling of a Leica M rangefinder, it becomes second nature. And the M11 Monochrom is a classic Leica M in the hand. It’s compact, dense, beautifully finished and largely unchanged in concept from decades of rangefinders. Leica’s no-logo styling keeps the front clean and understated, and its minimalist approach reinforces the camera’s Monochrom philosophy: less distraction, more concentration. It also offers premium levels of durability with details such as scratch-resistant black paint and sapphire cover glass over the rear monitor. After years of thorough use, some of the paint will probably wear off to build up a patina – the mark of a truly serious Leica-holic. However, the top-plate is now aluminium instead of traditional Leica brass, so it won’t look quite as cool when the eco-friendly black paint has worn away to bare metal – that’s if it ever does! Ergonomically, it is still a rangefinder. Manual focus is the only way of working, and the viewfinder is optical to encourage a slower, more deliberate pace. Rangefinder focusing works down to 70cm. Closer than that you need Live View via the rear screen, which becomes relevant because the Monochrom has an extended close focus ability down to 50cm. Continuous shooting is modest by modern standards at up to 4.5fps, with a buffer of 15 DNG frames and over 100 JPEGs. It’s fine for documentary, street and portrait work, but not action.
for a set-up all about texture and character
If you think the Leica M11 rangefinder camera is little more
Specifications Sensor Full-frame monochrome BSI CMOS, 60.3 megapixels with Maestro III processor, no low-pass filter Storage 1x SD up to 2TB, 256GB internal Shutter Mechanical focal plane and electronic rolling, 60secs it’s very easy to spend less and get more. It’s not a camera for everyone. It’s for purists only... and well-heeled ones at that. Launched in April 2023 at £8300 for just the body, it lands in luxury territory. than a niche product for a specific sort of traditional photographer, the recent Monochrom version takes that idea a step even further. It makes no attempt to be everything to everyone, and that’s precisely the point. The camera fully commits the most modern digital Leica M platform to black & white photography, using a dedicated monochrome full-frame sensor without a colour filter array. The result is a shooting experience that feels deliberately narrow but also unusually pure. If you relish the idea of ignoring the colours of the world and will enjoy working with light, texture and tonality, the M11 Monochrom is one of the most compelling cameras you can buy. For flexibility, speed, autofocus or video,
PRICEY PACKAGE The Leica M11 Monochrom and Noctilux-M 35mm f/1.2 combo costs a huge £16,000, but oozes quality
to 1/16,000sec (electronic) or 1/4000sec (mechanical) Flash sync 1/180sec
Drive modes Up to 4.5fps up to 15 frames (Raw) or 100 frames (JPEG) ISO 125 to 200,000 Lens mount Leica M Still image formats 14-bit Raw, JPEG Video formats No Autofocus No Image stabilisation No Connectivity USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Screen 3in fixed touchscreen, 2.3m dots Viewfinder Bright-line rangefinder Dimensions (wxhxd) 139x38.5x80mm Weight 542g with battery
IN THE CAN The stunning quality of the
mono files from the Noctilux lens is simply sublime
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