Leica’s M11 is one of those cameras that makes you think about how and why you shoot. It pushes you to slow down, notice the details, and really work a scene instead of blasting through frames. In a world where you’re flooded with options, it’s good to know what a camera like this does differently and what it asks of you.
Coming to you from Mike Chudley, this thoughtful video takes you along the coast of Essex with the Leica M11 in hand. Chudley decides to experiment with shooting JPEGs instead of sticking only with raw files, which is unusual for him. He sets the camera to vivid mode, goes completely manual with exposure, and even tweaks things like noise reduction and dynamic range. The point isn’t to argue JPEG versus raw, but to show how the M11 handles straight-out-of-camera images and whether they can stand on their own. You get to see how small adjustments to in-camera processing affect the look of a photo in real-world shooting.
The important takeaway isn’t just whether the M11’s JPEGs are usable. It’s how committing to a manual workflow can change the way you engage with scenes. Chudley points out that in a year and a half of owning the M11, he almost never touched JPEGs, and yet here he finds himself questioning if there’s more value in them than expected. He also highlights how even minor settings, like sharpness or saturation, subtly shift the feel of a photo. That’s useful if you ever want a streamlined process without relying too much on editing later.
Key Specs
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Sensor: 60.3 MP full frame CMOS (9,528 x 6,328)
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ISO: 64–50,000
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Shutter Speeds: 1/16,000 to 60 s (electronic), 1/4,000 to 60 s (mechanical)
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Continuous Shooting: Up to 4.5 fps
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Display: 2.95" fixed touchscreen LCD, 2,332,800 dots
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Storage: Single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) plus 64 GB internal memory
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Battery: BP-SCL7, approx. 700 shots
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Connectivity: USB-C, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 4.2
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Body: Magnesium alloy, 1.2 lb (body only)
What stands out in the video is how the M11 encourages a balance between technical control and creative play. Chudley takes you through quiet coastal scenes, working with light as it shifts, and showing how the camera’s JPEGs handle subtle variations. You see how changing shutter speed or aperture on the fly creates different moods, and how the files hold up even without edits. The process is about exploration as much as results, and it gives you a sense of how the M11 behaves when you trust the camera’s internal processing. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Chudley.
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