How I Setup my Leica M11

[@rudigerwolf9626]

Dave, thank-you. No fluff, just the setting that work for you. Really appreciate that approach.

[@davidherring]

Thanks!

[@grantmichael7229]

My new m11 showed up 20 minutes ago. Opened KZbin while charging the battery and this was at the top of my feed lol

[@DelusionalNYC]

did you get a delivery notification via Gmail?

[@grantmichael7229]

Nope! Which makes it wilder. lol @@DelusionalNYC

[@davidherring]

It was meant to be!

[@danielscheerer3032]

My M11 arrives tomorrow - thanks for the kick-start! I've been waiting for years to invest in this system, and the day has finally come - Very excited!

[@davidherring]

So stoked for you!

[@johannesgeenen4169]

Always interesting to see other's preferred settings, which give a glimpse into shooting habits. I found the battery life of the M11 so good that I set the the camera stand-by to 30min and the monitor stand-by to 5min. This helps to compensate for the longish startup time of the M11 without risking to drain the battery while the camera sits inside the bag unused. Your idea to use the BW setting to tweak your preview style sounds great. Need to test it out myself

[@davidherring]

Thanks for sharing!

[@TomokoMurakami]

Thank you for this BRILLIANT (but fast paced!) intro to the M11. Exactly what I had been looking for.

[@davidherring]

Awesome! Glad it was helpful!

[@banamai]

Thank you Dave, for an excellent discourse. I'm getting my M 11 tomorrow and will use your guidance. Appreciate the straight to the point approach, unlike most guys on KZbin running around shooting with the M11 talking a lot about dynamic range, blah blah but don't really tell you how to set up the menu.

[@davidherring]

If you have any questions or need anything specific, hit me up on IG, @daveherring

[@jmwhittaker]

Thanks Dave this was a great help setting up the M11 & 35mm Summicron I’m test driving this weekend. I’m an original Q shooter testing out the M system for the first time. Really enjoying your content 🙌

[@davidherring]

Thanks man! I came from the Q series to turn M, and eventually sold my Q2!

[@ryanthigpen]

Just bought a M11P yesterday so this video came in handy. Trying the settings out here in NYC!

[@davidherring]

So cool! Enjoy!

[@dzkilnd]

Good video on your settings. I don't know if you mentioned it (I may have missed it), but much of what you have as a favorite is available on the first press of the menu-then touch the setting you want to change.

[@davidherring]

For sure, thanks for sharing!

[@IntrovertAmateur]

With my Q3 I have quite similiar settings like you do. Total agree on the WB, that auto WB drives me crazy on Leica cameras, don't know why there is a difference by all camera brands. Regarding MP I keep it at least 36 or even 60MP, simply because crop a lot, even for family stuff :) Great quick video Dave!

[@davidherring]

Thanks for sharing!

[@j3ffyang]

Configuration is optionally personalized. Prefer your opinions with confidence. Thanks for sharing. Keep it up :-)

[@davidherring]

Thanks!

[@dzkilnd]

Man, using Kelvin is what I've needed to do. Thanks for that. I used AWB for a long time, and the camera tends to tilt towards cool/magenta, which sometimes hides in the shadows.

[@davidherring]

I only shoot K and never AWB. It’s the secret sauce.

[@spooky_lights]

I love the halation!

[@davidherring]

Thanks!

[@NullN8]

I enjoy the vids! Would be interested in seeing a m11 dng Lightroom walk through. After moving from Fuji to a m11 kit I have noticed my normal editing is way over the top on Leica files

[@davidherring]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind!

[@stevieraveon]

I set the digital zoom to the button next to the shutter. I usually use 18mpxl for most stuff, and if I feel I want to crop or have more detail, I just use digital zoom, which automatically makes it a 60 mpxl image. I guess it is like a Leica Q.

[@davidherring]

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

[@GillesQuennevilleGQ]

I do exactly the same settings. Only difference in camera settings i turn off the stand by mode and never review my photos on the back screen and rarely use the back screen to frame. I can shoot all day long with the same battery.

[@davidherring]

That’s mostly how I operate as well. I do review at times to check focus but I never use the screen for composition. Rangefinder all the way.

[@GillesQuennevilleGQ]

@@davidherring we save battery this way.

[@exalbino]

How you like the thumb grip? Is that OEM? I’ve being thinking of getting one but I’m not sure how different the handling would be. Thanks for the video!

[@davidherring]

It's a Haoge, and I took it off my M10 and put it on my M10R, then off my M10R and onto my M11. Fits great and works great. amzn.to/4ezonPG

[@exalbino]

@@davidherring Thanks David!

[@pnw_md]

I'm a little surprised that your maximum ISO is so high. What is your maximum ISO that you find to be useable for color pics? Great video as usual!

[@davidherring]

I’ve found that the high ISO on the M11 doesn’t look bad at all, and is way more pleasing than any other camera I’ve ever used. I shot at ISO25000 on a Disney ride and the photos look awesome.

[@mikepeters93]

Thanks for the video, Dave! Which lenses are your work/daily drivers?

[@davidherring]

Hey Mike, the 35 Summilux FLE is riding 60% of the time, followed by the 50 Summilux (close focus) 30%, and the 90 Summarit and Zeiss Biogon 21 the remaining 10%.

[@mikepeters93]

Thanks @@davidherring I appreciate you!

[@antoniorussell9893]

Surely WB doesnt make any difference if shooting RAW as you can change it afterwards in post.

[@davidherring]

See my answer to @bobskyes in the comments. Thanks!

[@iam.neekeeteen]

a remark, 18 megapickles, not megabytes

[@davidherring]

Oops

[@bobsykes]

Why would you care about white balance if you shoot RAW (DNG) files for virtually all of your work? The RAW files contain the same thing and everything the sensor captured no matter what white balance is set to. The white balance setting only affects in-camera compressed JPG files, and for the way you use JPG, I'd think you would want auto-white balance for those casual family shots.

[@davidherring]

This is a “yes and” answer. Yes, you can edit white balance to anything you want in post. But for me and my work, I shoot custom so it’s what I want on the front end. My presets I’ve built do not change white balance, and therefore I can easily and quickly create a gallery of work without adjusting white balance at all. This is the main benefit of shooting a custom, as all my photos have the same tonality immediately. Doing commercial work and batching edits makes this essential.

[@michaelleski7480]

Well, I find that setting different white balance while shooting affects the histogram. And from then on, you know how this song goes, right?😊