Leica M EV1: The first M with EVF instead of Rangefinder

[lct]

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1 minute ago, M11 for me said:

The camera hast to know, when you turn the focus ting so that the firmware can switch to magnification.

It is the way autozoom works on the M11 i guess but i'm no techie. I just hope the MEV1 works the same way as the M11 in this respect.

[algrove]

33 minutes ago, lct said:

It is the way autozoom works on the M11 i guess but i'm no techie. I just hope the MEV1 works the same way as the M11 in this respect.

Elmars mentions it is not sensitive and as way too slow to activate.

[lct]

5 minutes ago, algrove said:

Elmars mentions it is not sensitive and as way too slow to activate.

It should work the same way as the M11 i  guess. I cannot imagine why it would do otherwise, since both cameras use the same roller cam to trigger focus magnification. I have no experience with the MEV1 for now but according to my dealer, that did the test to my request, both M11 and MEV1 work the same way with the same Leica M lenses in this regard.

[elmars]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb Telecaster:

Unfortunately, Leica didn’t include the fast file transfer feature from the Q3, but I assume that’s because the digital core of the EV 1 is mostly copied from the M11.

There is not enough space in the M11 cameras for the needed WiFi module. 

[elmars]

vor 4 Minuten schrieb lct:

It should work the same way as the M11 i  guess. I cannot imagine why it would do otherwise, since both cameras use the same roller cam to trigger focus magnification. I have no experience with the MEV1 for now but according to my dealer, that did the test to my request, both M11 and MEV1 work the same way with the same Leica M lenses in this regard.

So it it. It is a bit slow but not unusable. Many like it, I am not one of these. I prefer manual activation for many reasons. I would not even use it if it would be faster. 

[lct]

Just now, elmars said:

So it it. It is a bit slow but not unusable. Many like it, I am not one of these. I prefer manual activation for many reasons. I would not even use it if it would be faster. 

Matter of taste and/or experience i guess, autozoom is almost always on with my M11. Do you confirm it works the same on M11 and MEV1? Just curious.

[charlesphoto99]

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17 minutes ago, elmars said:

So it it. It is a bit slow but not unusable. Many like it, I am not one of these. I prefer manual activation for many reasons. I would not even use it if it would be faster. 

I can't even imagine the up/down/up/down/up/down of auto-magnification. Fine if one is on a tripod and/or photographing a still subject/scene, but in any dynamic situation I would imagine one just getting lost to the overall scene if trying to focus as one would with a rangefinder with auto zoom enabled. On demand makes much more sense. 

Here's an example where auto-mag would absolutely make one miss the photo. If I was magnified into the center background of this pic while focusing, I would never have caught the great and sudden movement/expression of the woman in the foreground. With the traditional finder, where one sees everything at all times, even while focusing, photos like this are what make the traditional M special from most other cameras. M10M with 28 Summicron.    

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Edited Saturday at 03:12 PM by charlesphoto99

[BlueIn2Red]

10 minutes ago, charlesphoto99 said:

I can't even imagine the up/down/up/down/up/down of auto-magnification. Fine if one is on a tripod and/or photographing a still subject/scene, but in any dynamic situation I would imagine one just getting lost to the overall scene if trying to focus as one would with a rangefinder with auto zoom enabled. On demand makes much more sense. 

Each to their own of course, but I really like it. You can argue it's still somewhat manual in that it only magnifies when you move the focus ring. You can then either manually revert back to the full view with a button/lever press, or wait for it to time out and do it automatically (if you stop moving the focus ring for a second or so).

[BlueIn2Red]

I should say I would still want Leica to implement a better focusing aid in firmware - ideally a small "patch" in the centre of the EVF which shows a split or possibly magnified image. No reason that can't be done in firmware. Ditto focus confirmation, although that's something I don't have experience of on other systems, so don't know quite how well it might work (and indeed if the EV1's hardware can support it).

[charlesphoto99]

16 minutes ago, BlueIn2Red said:

Each to their own of course, but I really like it. You can argue it's still somewhat manual in that it only magnifies when you move the focus ring. You can then either manually revert back to the full view with a button/lever press, or wait for it to time out and do it automatically (if you stop moving the focus ring for a second or so).

Yes, I've used it like that with my 020 when doing some tripod work. But as I pointed out, it falls apart when the important bit is not exacting focus but when what is important is what is going on in the entire scene. Even a with a revert back button press I would have missed the example above entirely. The rf was perfectly easy to see and use, and I didn't take my eye off the ball, so to speak. 

[charlesphoto99]

8 minutes ago, BlueIn2Red said:

I should say I would still want Leica to implement a better focusing aid in firmware - ideally a small "patch" in the centre of the EVF which shows a split or possibly magnified image. No reason that can't be done in firmware. Ditto focus confirmation, although that's something I don't have experience of on other systems, so don't know quite how well it might work (and indeed if the EV1's hardware can support it).

One thing they could do to imitate an rf patch is have two sets of focus peaking colors come together to make a third when it is in focus.

[SrMi]

56 minutes ago, lct said:

Matter of taste and/or experience i guess, autozoom is almost always on with my M11. Do you confirm it works the same on M11 and MEV1? Just curious.

Auto zoom does not work in the close-focusing range. A manual trigger is helpful even if relying on auto zoom.

[lct]

12 minutes ago, SrMi said:

Auto zoom does not work in the close-focusing range

Autozoom does work from infinity to 0.5m on my M11. Just checked with my Summicron 50/2 DR. Same with Skopar 50/2.2. Are you sure it does not work below 0.7m on the MEV1? I

[elmars]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb lct:

Do you confirm it works the same on M11 and MEV1?

Yes it works the same.

[SrMi]

8 minutes ago, lct said:

Autozoom does work from infinity to 0.5m on my M11. Just checked with my Summicron 50/2 DR. Same with Skopar 50/2.2. Are you sure it does not work below 0.7m on the MEV1? I

It does not work with Summicron 28/2 CF below .7m with M-EV1. Will recheck once my flight is over.

[elmars]

vor einer Stunde schrieb charlesphoto99:

I can't even imagine the up/down/up/down/up/down of auto-magnification. Fine if one is on a tripod and/or photographing a still subject/scene, but in any dynamic situation I would imagine one just getting lost to the overall scene if trying to focus as one would with a rangefinder with auto zoom enabled. On demand makes much more sense. 

This is my opinion too.

[DenverSteve]

When one is tired of the speculation, here is Hugh Brownstone's hands-on review. Hugh is a long-time Leica shooter and educator. 

 

 

[pgk]

1 hour ago, charlesphoto99 said:

I can't even imagine the up/down/up/down/up/down of auto-magnification. Fine if one is on a tripod and/or photographing a still subject/scene .....

Yes, that's when it is at its best and is how I use it. An excellent solution if you have the time to shoot like this. Oddly enough its how I operate with my (Large and Medium Format) stitching cameras. Its a slow, very effective and precise way of shooting - much like working with Large Format (film) cameras. I don't find it particularly useful at other times and it is obviously a slow way of working, substantially slower than using a rangefinder.

Edited Saturday at 04:33 PM by pgk

[thighslapper]

5 hours ago, S Maclean said:

What I don’t get is the massive backlash in this thread.  
For a good number of years there has been a strong segment of the Leica community voicing the desire for an EVF M.  Now it’s out, and we reverse the narrative.  It’s strange not to see the merit of it for many.

From my recollection the assumption has always been some form of hybrid evf that combines both optical and electronic displays like Fuji implemented. There has never been a very vocal request for a purely EVF M.

This is typical Leica ..... wring as many variants as possible out of the original form factor and watch the well heeled jump for the latest model. 

Having said that, the Visoflex is a bit of a pain and I'd be glad to ditch it.... plus using a Noctiflex wide open is guesswork with just an optical VF. 

Edited Saturday at 04:35 PM by thighslapper

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[hexx]

Just returned from the “town” and tried it out at Leica Mayfair store. I shall eat my words and correct what I’ve said about it before. It definitely is M rather than Q with M mount. It feels nice and solid in the hand like M11. It had 35 Lux on it and focusing was quite easy at 1.4. Tried few captures with and without magnification and it was tack sharp so that means, at least from that brief experience, that the EVF works well for focusing. Now I have a dilemma - should I sell Q3 and get this or not 😀