The Leica M11-P Safari Review: A Camera That Finally Feels Like Me

I still remember getting the Leica M11 in 2022, the year of release and picking it up. My first Leica M. Sleek, dense, and whispering with possibility. I’d dreamed about it, read every review I could get my hands on, watched youtube videos on it. And when I finally took it out, it delivered. Flawlessly. Shot after shot. Frame after frame.

Toward the end of 2023, the Leica M11-P came along. While the new features were a bit of a draw card, I still stuck by the Leica M11 and wanted to get the most of it. Multiple cities, airports, restaurants, car shows, events and thousands of shots later I was still enjoying it.

The rumour mill this year swirled around the Leica M11-P Safari and that changed everything.

Selling the Leica M11 felt like moving out of a place that had been home. There were memories etched into that camera, sunrise to sunset and capturing moments I loved, late-night street shots with nothing but ambient light, entire cities documented.

The M11-P Safari was something I always wanted though.

It felt like it wasn’t gimmicky and the Safari range had been with Leica since the film days. It promised everything I already had, but with refinement, restraint, and confidence. A camera that didn’t feel like a product, but a partner.

So I made the leap.

I was in Sydney, walking the streets at dawn. The light was soft, the city still half-asleep. I didn’t bring a bag. Just the Leica M11-P Safari and a 50mm lens, and my hands in my pockets. No red dot. No noise.

Yes it’s green but it’s something I always wanted. My life changed a lot this year and thought screw it, get what you want and life is short as long as you use it for what it is.

With the Safari you’re getting all the goodness of the M11-P and coming from the Leica M11, the storage saved me. 256GB. The Sapphire glass on the back is a winner, especially if you’re OCD about scratches.

It’s hard to explain to someone who’s never shot a Leica, but the M11-P doesn’t feel like gear.

It feels like an extension of your curiosity.

You don’t check your photos as often. You don’t chimp. You don’t rush. You start to trust your instincts again. It’s the kind of camera that invites you to walk slower, see more, and shoot less, but better.

I didn’t need the Leica M11-P Safari.

But I wanted it and it’s a natural progression from the Leica M11. The M11 gave me capability. The M11-P gave me clarity.

Leica just shows up, meets you where you are, and invites you to see more deeply.

If you’ve been chasing a camera that feels more like a friend than a machine, one that doesn’t just take great photos but enhances the act of photographing, this is it.

The M11-P is not about specs or bragging rights.

It’s about presence.

And for me, that’s more than worth the trade.