Morocco on the Leica M11-P and M7
In February, my partner Divya and I flew to Marrakech for 10 days of exploring and relaxing. This was our first time in Morocco and we were both super excited about visiting this beautiful country. I knew, as this was first and foremost a holiday for us, that I wanted to pack a light camera kit. Last year, I picked up the Leica M11-P after borrowing one to test out and fell in love with this camera. Using the rangefinder is a lovely step away from the EVF that I am used to looking through on my usual work camera (Sony A7RV). The colours are beautiful, and there is no compromise on image quality for a camera this compact. As a glasses wearer, I anticipated that I might find the range finder patch difficult to use. But honestly, it’s been fine. Using it does take some getting used to, but after a while, I've found it to be very fun and it has become second nature.
I’ve been getting into film photography a lot this past year or so, and decided to take the plunge on a Leica M7 and bought one from the Leica Store in Manchester. As a travel kit for digital and film, the M11-P and the M7 are a great pairing, sharing lenses and working in a pretty similar way. I tend to use the M11-P in aperture priority mode, so the M7 makes it quite seamless to switch between the two. As a kit, all of this fits very comfortably in a small sling bag with plenty of space for other essentials for days out.
In terms of lenses, I’ve been using the 28 mm Summicron v2, 35 mm Summilux close focus, and the 50 mm Summicron v4. I gravitated toward the 28 mm for most of the trip, particularly in the tight streets of the Marrakech Medina. On the M11-P, I often zone focus, and I think the 28 mm paired with the 60 megapixel sensor is a great combination as it gives me plenty of space to crop and re-adjust the angle of my images if I’m shooting quickly. On the M7, I tend to gravitate more towards the 35 or 50 mm, as on trips like this, I often give the film images a little more consideration to get the perfect framing. That’s just personal preference, though, and I’m sure it will evolve as I use these cameras more. On the M7, I shot both Kodak Portra 800 and Kodak Gold 200. All my film was developed and scanned by Gulabi in Glasgow. All the images are edited with my Nostalgia Presets – which are available to purchase here.
Here’s a collection of my favourite images from this trip to Morocco on the Leica M11-P & the Leica M7:
