I think the price does still stick out. No biggie though, thatās always been the case. This time though, the position is a bit different to the past. The M is slowly turning into less of a rangefinder and more of a mirrorless camera, prodding customers towards live view and that EVF. For these more modern non-rangefinder features, I canāt see how, if thatās the priority and for manual useage as well as AF, one wouldnāt be better off using canikonsonyfujim43 cameras which have been specialising and improving this for years. Also in terms of optical quality, there has been a serious levelling up and evening out to the point where, say, the Nikon Z 50mm F1.8 is every bit as good optically as an APO Summicron 50 (I didnāt believe it till I saw it), maybe just maybe even better(!). But all this is irrelevant to those of us that use RF cameras for the traditional reasons ie the very simple process and mechanism, focus patch (or pre focusing), shoot, thatās it. To these people, and I am one of them, the new features of the latest model wonāt really be needed, with the (mainly older/ classical) M mount lenses being largely responsible for the mythical āLeica Lookā if it exists - all of which can be acquired for a fraction of nine grand if cost is your concern.
My only concern for Leica is those turnaround repair times, I worry that todayās customer that gets into the M11 as their first Leica purchase might not find what was acceptable in the past acceptable now, 2 to 3 months is a long time for anyone outside the bubble.