M-EV1 Availability

[Jon D]

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On 10/24/2025 at 2:27 PM, SrMi said:

I have not compared it to the Visoflex 2, but the EVF on the M-EV1 seems better. If you are shooting an RF M mainly with EVF (some seem to do), then the M-EV1 experience is better and a good alternative to M11.

I expected something as delivered and hoped for some innovation in focusing with EVF. It seems that Leica was never 100% persuaded that the EVF M was the way to go, so they could not invest much in R&D and basically reused as much as they could from the M11. Sales will determine whether the line survives.

I’ve had the opportunity to try the M-EV1 and I would say the EVF certainly feels better than the Visoflex 2.  It may just be the location, size of window, etc. but I found it noticeably better. I was also able to comfortably use it whilst wearing glasses, something that I find harder with a Visoflex 2. I can’t speak for how the focussing via the EVF is in terms of hit rate versus a rangefinder. 

[LocalHero1953]

58 minutes ago, SrMi said:

FCC is closed for business during the government shutdown. No approvals can be issued until the government reopens.

No doubt there will be a backlog of work as well.

[ellisson]

1 hour ago, charlesphoto99 said:

Perhaps open a newspaper before spinning off into conspiracies? 

Actually, Leica does pay a tariff to the U.S. government for all its items sold in the U.S., and the cost is passed on to consumers.   

So you can publish your own conspiracies, I'll stick to the facts.  

[AlanJW]

1 hour ago, ellisson said:

Actually, Leica does pay a tariff to the U.S. government for all its items sold in the U.S., and the cost is passed on to consumers.   

So you can publish your own conspiracies, I'll stick to the facts.  

Nobody published conspiracy theories except you.  Your post was full of completely unsubstantiated "maybes" not facts. It is not in Leica's interest to forgo sales in the United States.  The FCC is shut down, along with the rest of the Government so the usual quick and pro forma FCC approval could not be obtained.  Hopefully that will soon change.  

[charlesphoto99]

2 hours ago, ellisson said:

 

I'll stick to the facts.  

As so am I, which is the US government was shut down (still is) for the last forty days. Pretty hard to ignore that. Leica do FCC certification at the last moment so as not to give away the secret of their release. Those are the facts. Tariffs have nothing to do with it - those are passed on to the customer in the final MSRP. Leica cannot control the fact that we will have to pay more for the camera due to the unfortunate circumstances we find ourselves in. 

Edited November 11 by charlesphoto99

[CDodkin]

9 hours ago, Jon D said:

I’ve had the opportunity to try the M-EV1 and I would say the EVF certainly feels better than the Visoflex 2.  It may just be the location, size of window, etc. but I found it noticeably better. I was also able to comfortably use it whilst wearing glasses, something that I find harder with a Visoflex 2. I can’t speak for how the focussing via the EVF is in terms of hit rate versus a rangefinder. 

Agree 100% - it's a better experience using the M EV1 EVF than the Visoflex II on the M11. Hit rate is almost 100% using the EVF, as you'd expect. RF, not so much , especially wide open with fast glass.

[CDodkin]

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On 10/24/2025 at 1:30 AM, Alexander108 said:

If it weren't available a thread would have been opened: Isn't it strange that Leica introduced the M-EV1 and you cannot buy it anywhere? Didn't they learn from the past?

I think they learned from the past. The typical suspects on YT (Chris Niccolls, Ted Forbes and a few others) immediately uploaded their first impressions. Unlike before no one claimed that this was a pre-production camera. 

But I do believe that the price is indeed €2000 or so too high. Either the RF if the most expensive part or not. I also believe they should have priced it slightly over the Q3 or on par as there is no lens included. If it were 1500 EUR less I'd buy it immediately. 

My theory is that Leica have raised the initial EU price by around two grand, to allow them to sell at the same equivalent price in the EU as the US - The US price is of course including a 15% tariff for a German manufactured camera imported into the US market.

You can do that when you launch a new product - bake the tariff into the new sku price from the get go.

Apple are baking tariffs into their new sky's in teh same way - nice game of smoke and mirrors.

[o2mpx]

Ending a tour in Asia and had a layover in HK for 2 days and by chance Rangefinder.com has the EV1 in stock, ordered it online and picked it up 2 days later. First time customer of Rangefinder, but transaction was smooth and efficient with Ms. Lee in their office. Picked up the charger and extra battery as well. Alex the owner followed up with email; overall a great experience. Got the version for US and CN and upon 1st turn on, menus are in English so presumably it’s the same as if purchased in US when available. Registered successfully with Leica to get warranty extension.

A plug to Alex and Rangefinder.com. Will check with them if traveling there for future Leica needs.

Was traveling with the SL3 and the APO 21 + the 28-70 and the weight was really a strain. Surprised how light the EV1 was, probably similar to the black version of M11 with aluminum instead of brass. Like the EVF;better than having a visoflex on the M10-R which I plan to keep. 

Know this is a model with much debate but my expectation is to have the 60mp sensor, without the visoflex, to use with M lenses natively instead of the SL3 where weight and bulk would be compromising offsets. 

 

 

[CDodkin]

4 hours ago, o2mpx said:

Ending a tour in Asia and had a layover in HK for 2 days and by chance Rangefinder.com has the EV1 in stock, ordered it online and picked it up 2 days later. First time customer of Rangefinder, but transaction was smooth and efficient with Ms. Lee in their office. Picked up the charger and extra battery as well. Alex the owner followed up with email; overall a great experience. Got the version for US and CN and upon 1st turn on, menus are in English so presumably it’s the same as if purchased in US when available. Registered successfully with Leica to get warranty extension.

A plug to Alex and Rangefinder.com. Will check with them if traveling there for future Leica needs.

Was traveling with the SL3 and the APO 21 + the 28-70 and the weight was really a strain. Surprised how light the EV1 was, probably similar to the black version of M11 with aluminum instead of brass. Like the EVF;better than having a visoflex on the M10-R which I plan to keep. 

Know this is a model with much debate but my expectation is to have the 60mp sensor, without the visoflex, to use with M lenses natively instead of the SL3 where weight and bulk would be compromising offsets. 

 

 

Alex and his Rangefinder.com team are indeed first rate

[AlanJW]

8 hours ago, o2mpx said:

Ending a tour in Asia and had a layover in HK for 2 days and by chance Rangefinder.com has the EV1 in stock, ordered it online and picked it up 2 days later. First time customer of Rangefinder, but transaction was smooth and efficient with Ms. Lee in their office. Picked up the charger and extra battery as well. Alex the owner followed up with email; overall a great experience. Got the version for US and CN and upon 1st turn on, menus are in English so presumably it’s the same as if purchased in US when available. Registered successfully with Leica to get warranty extension.

A plug to Alex and Rangefinder.com. Will check with them if traveling there for future Leica needs.

Was traveling with the SL3 and the APO 21 + the 28-70 and the weight was really a strain. Surprised how light the EV1 was, probably similar to the black version of M11 with aluminum instead of brass. Like the EVF;better than having a visoflex on the M10-R which I plan to keep. 

Know this is a model with much debate but my expectation is to have the 60mp sensor, without the visoflex, to use with M lenses natively instead of the SL3 where weight and bulk would be compromising offsets. 

 

 

Just curious whether you had to pay a tariff when you got home.

[steve edmunds]

i could buy one right now , not the case with M11 series or Q3 series , UK

[scott kirkpatrick]

On 11/11/2025 at 1:14 PM, Jon D said:

I’ve had the opportunity to try the M-EV1 and I would say the EVF certainly feels better than the Visoflex 2.  It may just be the location, size of window, etc. but I found it noticeably better. I was also able to comfortably use it whilst wearing glasses, something that I find harder with a Visoflex 2. I can’t speak for how the focussing via the EVF is in terms of hit rate versus a rangefinder. 

The EV1 has about twice the pixels in its viewfinder as the plug-in EVF in the Visoflex-2, I believe.  I am currently using a two stage framing path -- focus with the normal M11 or M11P viewfinder window and RF,  then actually frame and shoot with the enlarged view of the VF2.  Pause to refocus when needed.  This works especially well with 28 and 24 mm lenses.  Haven't tried yet with 21.  

[KenTanaka]

On 11/11/2025 at 12:14 PM, Jon D said:

I’ve had the opportunity to try the M-EV1 and I would say the EVF certainly feels better than the Visoflex 2.  It may just be the location, size of window, etc. but I found it noticeably better. I was also able to comfortably use it whilst wearing glasses, something that I find harder with a Visoflex 2. I can’t speak for how the focussing via the EVF is in terms of hit rate versus a rangefinder. 

As a long-time a Visoflex 2 / M11 shooter and now an M-EV1 owner I’d call the development a draw.  Yes, the EV1’s viewfinder is higher-res and a bit sharper than the Visio’s. But the Viso has the advantage of 90 deg of tilt. I would not say that focusing is any more accurate on the EV1.

[scott kirkpatrick]

14 hours ago, KenTanaka said:

As a long-time a Visoflex 2 / M11 shooter and now an M-EV1 owner I’d call the development a draw.  Yes, the EV1’s viewfinder is higher-res and a bit sharper than the Visio’s. But the Viso has the advantage of 90 deg of tilt. I would not say that focusing is any more accurate on the EV1.

I suspect the EV1's focusing is less accurate and a bit slower than rangefinder focusing.  And an optical viewfinder for me is the sharpest way to see the world through 35 and 50 mm lenses.  I wear glasses, which push the white lines out so that I can't see all of them at the same time for a 28 mm field of view.  I'l probably continue to work with both sorts of viewfinder, as it is nice to have both.  I'm hoping for the bigger image of the EV1 and Q viewfinder to show up in a next generation Visoflex. 

[EddieCheddar]

Per Leica Rumors:

The Leica M EV1 camera is rumored to be officially released in the US in the next few days (most likely on Monday, November 24th). The price will be $8,995. 

[kiwidad]

On 11/14/2025 at 8:59 AM, KenTanaka said:

As a long-time a Visoflex 2 / M11 shooter and now an M-EV1 owner I’d call the development a draw.  Yes, the EV1’s viewfinder is higher-res and a bit sharper than the Visio’s. But the Viso has the advantage of 90 deg of tilt. I would not say that focusing is any more accurate on the EV1.

But the new camera does fit better in a bag! Not many bags out there these bays small and boxy enough fit the m11 with evf2 on it. Tried the Oberwerth for this purpose and it sagged horribly in the bottom I returned it.

[AlanJW]

Dealer just called that he had received EV1s.  I should have mine tomorrow.  Failing that, Tuesday.

[EddieCheddar]

19 minutes ago, AlanJW said:

Dealer just called that he had received EV1s.  I should have mine tomorrow.  Failing that, Tuesday.

Excellent news!

[AlanJW]

It will be Tuesday.  US sales are not to begin until Monday.

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[EddieCheddar]

2 hours ago, AlanJW said:

It will be Tuesday.  US sales are not to begin Monday.

😭