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

[schipper]

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I am going to buy this Mev1 and some M lenses, i hope they are selling a few and that they will continue the ev series and that we will get a ev1 monochrome.

It would be a drama for me to buy some apo M lenses and to be discontinued in the future… i do not like the range finder and the visioflex do not look good and a camera (for trying being discret).

[schipper]

Well i was at the lsi monochrome meeting yesterday, it was clearly said (Stephan Daniel) that no ev1 monochrome will come in the futur.

i love monochrome so why would i spend money for an ev1 color and 4 apo lenses quite expensive if i can not have the monochrome after?

it’s unfortunate cause the combo  1 ev1 color and 1 ev1 monochrome and a few lenses was perfect to me…

i will never buy a range finder so it close the door to move for the M system for me.

Hope they will consider this issue one day but it does not look like.

Edited Tuesday at 08:32 AM by schipper

[Smudgerer]

26 minutes ago, schipper said:

Well i was at the lsi monochrome meeting yesterday, it was clearly said that no ev1 monochrome will come in the futur.

i love monochrome so why would i spend money for a ev1 color and 4 apo lenses quite expensive if i can not have the monochrome after?

it’s unfortunate cause the combo  1 ev1 color and 1 ev1 monochrome and a few lenses was perfect to me…

i will never buy a range finder so it close the door to move for the M system for me.

Hope they will consider this issue one day but it does not look like.

Bonjour.......Just  an idea for you if the monochrome question is stopping you considering the M-EV1, ( et plus the fact you say you don't like rangefinders )...........As mentioned elsewhere on the Forum I have a M11-D and a M11-M, my M11-D is the body that gets used 85% over the M11-M, and that same percentage, 85%, or more of my images are finished in B&W/Monochrome. I've owned and used all iterations of the M Monochrom's plus the Q2-M as well and to be quite honest what I can get out of the M11-D's DNG/JPEG files converted to a monochrome image I find works extremely well. Perhaps for what and how I shoot the M11-M's files would have more workable "depth" to them, but the difference I find not to be a significant working issue...................The M-EVF1, the M11-D and the M11-M all have the same sensor so frankly I think you could be happy with that camera's B&W output, so why not go to a Leica Store in Paris, ( Beaumarchais is excellent ), ask to shoot some images with a EV1 on your own SD card, ( set the Jpeg setting to monochrome too ), go home and dig into the DNG & JPEG files and see if the camera could work for you. If later on pigs fly and Leica comes out with a M-EV1 Monochrome just trade your body in for a M version at that time.

Edited Tuesday at 08:47 AM by Smudgerer

[schipper]

I will talk in english even if i am french like you for the other.

I am a Leica enthousiste and have already a sl3 and a Q3 monochrome but i travel a lot and sl lenses are fantastique but heavy for plane.

The Q3 monochrome makes my day i love the raw files, their is something more i can not reproduce even with the sl and sl lenses. (I agree you can do very well with raw color but once you tryed the monochrome…beleive me it’s diferent).

So not having the possibility to have one day an ev1 monochrome just is a no go for buying expensive apo M lenses and i tryed many time range finder without sucess.

The ev1 evf is worth than the sl evf but good enough, the visioflex is realy even worth so i will not buy a M11 monochrome with a visioflex.

Guess Leica do not want me to move to the M system. Okay i will continue with the Q3 monochrome, good enough.

I go often to Leica village royal, wonderfull people there specialy Vanessa

Edited Tuesday at 09:14 AM by schipper

[SrMi]

If Leica did not have any monochrome cameras (and I have them all), I would still enjoy B&W photography with (non-monochrome) M11, Q3, or SL3.

A monochrome Leica is a luxury that I can afford, not a necessity for shooting in B&W. 

I do understand that for others it may be a necessity.

[schipper]

Once they have explained how good monochrome is and once you have tryed yourself it is hard to go back.

the perfect choice would be to have both ev1 color and monochrome.

But i am happy with the SL3 and the Q3, i will probably had the Q43 mono later.

 

[Planetwide]

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On 12/10/2025 at 1:40 PM, Markey said:

Many use the SL cameras with M lenses the M EV is simply a smaller package 

A  marketing solution is precisely what its about .

With out that you wouldn`t have had the M in the first place and we would still be using plate cameras

Every company needs to innovate or stagnate.

I`m sure the MEV will be improved and enhanced as all the other models have . 

This is a sensible first step .

I use M lenses with my SL3, as I have done with the original SL and SL2. I can assure you that the MEV is not an SL in a smaller package. The lack of IBIS and a tilt screen were deal breakers for me. Saying that this is some kind of "testing the market" with an inferior camera, seems like it is designed to fail IMHO.

Had they put the SL3 sensor, IBIS and a flip screen into an M body, I would have bought it in a heartbeat... For now, my SL3 will soldier on. But since, Leica didn't want my money - the X2D II is a callin'

[Markey]

3 hours ago, Planetwide said:

I use M lenses with my SL3, as I have done with the original SL and SL2. I can assure you that the MEV is not an SL in a smaller package. The lack of IBIS and a tilt screen were deal breakers for me. Saying that this is some kind of "testing the market" with an inferior camera, seems like it is designed to fail IMHO.

Had they put the SL3 sensor, IBIS and a flip screen into an M body, I would have bought it in a heartbeat... For now, my SL3 will soldier on. But since, Leica didn't want my money - the X2D II is a callin'

I can appreciate that POV .

I`m new to the flip screen (Q3 43) and am slowly appreciating how useful it might be although I must admit ,for me ,I`m always forgetting its there .

As for IBS ... again I`ve had 40 years of using M`s and the lack thereof hasn`t been an issue ,but again I can see that it could be .

I didn`t mean to suggest that it was a smaller SL in every respect  just a useful Iteration of the current M style.

[schipper]

May be ibis is more usefull with 60 megapixel.

[SrMi]

31 minutes ago, schipper said:

May be ibis is more usefull with 60 megapixel.

In my experience, the difference in the minimum handholding shutter speed (24 vs 60MP) is about one stop (a 60% difference in linear resolution).

IBIS helps about four stops, regardless of resolution.

[Pixeleater]

I remember when the M10-R came out and folks were concerned about focus acuity jumping from the M10-P to the higher pixel sensor. The P being more forgiving when handheld. I chose the R anyway and it has served me well. However, I also use my M lenses on the SL2 and IBIS is quite helpful. 

In the past there have been discussions about the M body not having room for IBIS. But with the MEV-1 could there be room for IBIS in a future iteration?

[SrMi]

13 minutes ago, Pixeleater said:

I remember when the M10-R came out and folks were concerned about focus acuity jumping from the M10-P to the higher pixel sensor. The P being more forgiving when handheld. I chose the R anyway and it has served me well. However, I also use my M lenses on the SL2 and IBIS is quite helpful. 

In the past there have been discussions about the M body not having room for IBIS. But with the MEV-1 could there be room for IBIS in a future iteration?

Leica said the space for IBIS can be made available by eliminating the mechanical shutter.

[jrichie]

1 hour ago, SrMi said:

Leica said the space for IBIS can be made available by eliminating the mechanical shutter.

EV for rangefinder, no mechanical shutter, IBIS.......

They will need to launch the MM model [M Mechanical] as a special release.  And the MMM for the monochrome version.   Would be fun asking for that one in the shop.

Mayaswell add autofocus lenses on to it whilst we are at it  

[SrMi]

10 minutes ago, jrichie said:

EV for rangefinder, no mechanical shutter, IBIS.......

They will need to launch the MM model [M Mechanical] as a special release.  And the MMM for the monochrome version.   Would be fun asking for that one in the shop.

Mayaswell add autofocus lenses on to it whilst we are at it  

We can expect IBIS in the EV model only when it arrives in the rangefinder model as well.

Advances in stacked sensors may make mechanical shutters superfluous.

[jrichie]

1 hour ago, SrMi said:

We can expect IBIS in the EV model only when it arrives in the rangefinder model as well.

Advances in stacked sensors may make mechanical shutters superfluous.

I was just joking for fun.

But yes, I would support all these developments.  MMMMM

[charlesphoto99]

Leica got lazy. They should have redesigned the body from the ground up. A few mm taller and wider wouldn't have killed anybody, especially if they could squeeze some heatsinks for a more powerful CPU and memory, better focus aids, and IBIS. Even me, an avowed EVF disliker (hate is too strong of a word), would probably consider one if that was the case.

The killer: slower start up/standby times from the already slow M11. Time to get with the other 99% of the camera market that is typically instantaneous. 

[SrMi]

17 minutes ago, charlesphoto99 said:

Leica got lazy. They should have redesigned the body from the ground up. A few mm taller and wider wouldn't have killed anybody, especially if they could squeeze some heatsinks for a more powerful CPU and memory, better focus aids, and IBIS. Even me, an avowed EVF disliker (hate is too strong of a word), would probably consider one if that was the case.

The killer: slower start up/standby times from the already slow M11. Time to get with the other 99% of the camera market that is typically instantaneous. 

That would not make any economic sense for Leica. The M-EV1 is a pilot program to check whether there is a genuine interest in a model that Leica itself did not believe in launching. Smartly, they added enough flexibility in M11 to launch an M-EV1 model with little effort if something changed. Then the LSI meeting happened :).

I would rather have Leica focus on the M12 development.

The EVF-based M will probably always be only a derivative of the rangefinder. 

[lct]

50 minutes ago, charlesphoto99 said:

The killer: slower start up/standby times from the already slow M11.

May i ask if you did any measurements? Just curious as i don't feel any difference in start up/standby times between my M11 and MEV1 personally.

[WvE]

I guess, or fear, is that the M EV will be the future of the M. The OVF will disappear completely over time. 

 

 

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[lct]

1 hour ago, WvE said:

I guess, or fear, is that the M EV will be the future of the M. The OVF will disappear completely over time.

Reminds me of the 70s when SLRs were supposed to take over the market back then but RFs are still here fortunately.