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My take? I’m not trading my M11 for one, but I’m damn glad they built it. The older I get, the fuzzier the world looks through that tiny rangefinder patch. At some point, my eyes will tap out completely... and when that day comes, that EVF will be the only lifeline keeping me in the M game.

So yeah, I’m relieved. My lenses stay useful, my muscle memory still matters, and I won’t have to give up the feel of the machine I’ve spent half my life learning to shoot.

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Thanks for the review. I agree that for the present there is room for both, and each has its pros and cons. Having used Leica lenses on a non-Leica mirrorless body for a couple of years as well as on vintage Leica film bodies, as a pure amateur, I appreciate both. I'm glad to see Leica beginning to catch up with modern developments housed in the size and form of the traditional Leica bodies. I probably won't buy the M11-EV1 due to my advanced age, but think it and it will be worthy successor to today's digital Leicas.

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Thank you for the presentation and the nice photos, Jono.

I was hoping Leica would have incorporated a focus confirmation feature...but as you say, maybe in the future. In the meantime, I'll stick to the rangefinder version 🙂

Edited by Lelmer
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Years back I went with a Sony A7II to achieve a small, travel kit to use my Nikkor rangefinder lenses.  All of what you describe here regarding focus applied to my learning to use the evf.   I still use this kit, and simply understand it takes time, but delivers exceptional image quality for situations that warrant it.

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Thanks for your usual excellent review Jono. It’s telling that my first reaction was “I wonder what Jono thinks?”  

I’m a bit surprised there isn’t focus confirmation which I take absolutely for granted on my Nikon Z9, for example.

What about battery life? I never went beyond the M10 but did add the Visoflex 2 but with that, the battery life is very poor, with no ability to use an additional battery or substitute a larger one.

As always with Leica, it’s an interesting next step but I feel the job is not done and having now reached the age of 70, the iterations need to keep on coming! 

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What a great review!! You wrote everything and I agree 100%. As a M addict I can say that this M Ev1 is excellent and it found its room beside my M’s easily. I mostly used it with a WATE but also longer lenses as 4/135 , 1,4/75, 2/50 APO and even Barnack lenses with their M-adapter ring.

 

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Hi, I add my thanks for your excellent and clear introduction to this camera.

I am also a long in the tooth M user, going back to 1968! Now retired, I currently, I only have an M-P(240) and an SL2.

These days I pretty much only use my M240 with my WATE. Focus, if required, with the rangefinder and compose with the EVF2, frequently with the finder at 90°.

I used my SL2 with my M lenses, and that works quite well, but not as well as with a rangefinder. All the SLRs I used in the past (Hasselblad, Canon,) let me focus wide open and at the press of the shutter button that lens would close down to the working aperture. With a mirrorless camera that does not happen.

With the SL2 and an M lens, focussing wide open and then manually closing the aperture down by feel is not exactly a good solution. I imagine that this will be the same with the new camera. Focussing at the working aperture is OK, but pretty much a guess work as to where is the actual focus plane.

Thanks again for your review, and all your previous ones.

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Thank you, sir, for a beautifully thoughtful and balanced consideration of this new model. 

First impressions matter, and I'm grateful for all those first impressions you have shared with us over the years. Not once, with a new model in hand, have I ever thought to myself, "Man, Jono really blew it on this one..." You've consistently managed to get to the heart of a newly introduced model, and for that, I thank you. 

Many years to you, and thanks again!

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39 minutes ago, jps1 said:

As always, very good article and Thank you.

Little question: when is the battery wear compared to an M11?

Thanks

Hi There - glad you enjoyed it.

The battery life isn't quite as good as the M11, but it's certainly not bad - generally I can shoot all day with one battery. 

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How's the start up time? Better, same, worse?

Nice review, but honestly, I did not see a single image (excluding anything shot closer than .7m) that couldn't have been quickly and easily shot with the traditional M. For me, a three decade long M shooter, the EV1 is a solution looking for a problem. I'll give it a hard pass. Even for telephotos, I find seeing the space around the subject outweighs the ability to focus (sort of - still have to recompose) with an EVF. And seeing a clear bright optical view in any situation is a huge plus. 

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