Leica M EV2 -- your next camera?

[carlosgavina]

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27 minutes ago, SrMi said:

That is already in M-EV1, as is in M11.

My wish is for people requesting improvements to first shoot with M-EV1 for a while. 😜

I want more digital stabilization then, I find is really jittery on the M11 at least.

[Hanno]

On 10/26/2025 at 10:47 PM, frame-it said:

its basically like an SL in an M body anyway.  

 

I personally don’t agree on this point, and do use SL3 and EV1 differently.

The SL3 has auto focusing, IBIS, and many buttons to configure (vs EV1) so a huge and fast flexibility at your finger tips, all the more so when combined with user profiles. And weather sealing for those who cares about it.

The EV1 is a very different user experience for me, bringing me back to the simplicity and elegance of shooting film on M6, despite the OVF vs RF big difference. I was shooting M lenses on SL3 but back to EV1 now. 

The core of the EV1 experience is digital manual focusing, so there should be a wow factor in that user experience. I don’t see it yet on the EV1. I think Leica, being unsure of the market, may have wanted a lower price point and also to squeeze this one out before M12 iteration, therefore cutting out some of the things which could have made it a very unique experience.

Whenever with a new firmware or EV2, I would certain enjoy:

- focus confirmation

- 120 fps

- higher resolution EVF

- more choices in configuring existing function buttons and ideally 1 more button

- probably more internal memory 

I will do more testing, but I realised that under my living room’s artificial lights (with old bulbs which need replacing!), the flickering when metering was insane on the EV1 while light on 2x SL3s and non-existant on 2x X2D IIs. Also, the auto WB was perfect on the SL3s while completely off (full yellow screen) on the EV1. Not a problem for me given I use RAW, but quite surprised when comparing with the SL3. Switching the WB to Tungsten solved of course the issue.

I personally like that Leica has released the EV1, it has its own space and use alongside M, SL, Q.

My true dream is a EV- Monochrome. Praying the Leica Gods. 

Edited October 31 by Hanno

[FrozenInTime]

3 minutes ago, Hanno said:

I personally don’t agree on this point, and do use SL3 and EV1 differently.

The SL3 has auto focusing, IBIS, and many buttons to configure (vs EV1) so a huge and fast flexibility at your finger tips, all the more so when combined with user profiles. And weather sealing for those who cares about it.

The EV1 is a very different user experience for me, bringing me back to the simplicity and elegance of shooting film on M6, despite the OVF vs RF big difference. I was shooting M lenses on SL3 but back to EV1 now. 

The core of the EV1 experience is digital manual focusing, so there should be a wow factor in that user experience. I don’t see it yet on the EV1. I think Leica, being unsure of the market, may have wanted a lower price point and also to squeeze this one out before M12 iteration, therefore cutting out some of the things which could have made it a very unique experience.

Whenever with a new firmware or EV2, I would certain enjoy:

- focus confirmation

- 120 fps

- higher resolution EVF

- more choices in configuring existing function buttons and ideally 1 more button

- probably more internal memory 

I will do more testing, but I realised that under my living room’s artificial lights (with old bulbs which need replacing!), the flickering when metering was insane on the EV1 while light on 2x SL3s and non-existant on 2x X2D IIs. Also, the auto WB was perfect on the SL3s while completely off (full yellow screen) on the EV1. Not a problem for me given I use RAW, but quite surprised when comparing with the SL3.

I personally like that Leica has released the EV1, it has its own space and use alongside M, SL, Q.

My true dream is a EV- Monochrome. Praying the Leica Gods. 

60/120 Hz frame rates seem like a possible issue for the majority of the world, which uses the 50 Hz supply frequency. Even Japan has a east-west 50/60 Hz split.

 As the camera is not to be sold in the US why not refresh at 50/100 Hz 😉

Cameras would benefit from dual refresh rates especially if the metering and white balance is tied to live view; there is probably also a need for a 10 Hz low pass smoothing on the metering ( firmware should be able to solve this ).

[Hanno]

1 hour ago, FrozenInTime said:

60/120 Hz frame rates seem like a possible issue for the majority of the world, which uses the 50 Hz supply frequency. Even Japan has a east-west 50/60 Hz split.

 As the camera is not to be sold in the US why not refresh at 50/100 Hz 😉

Cameras would benefit from dual refresh rates especially if the metering and white balance is tied to live view; there is probably also a need for a 10 Hz low pass smoothing on the metering ( firmware should be able to solve this ).

My limited understanding is that metering and WB are tied to live view / electronic shutter read out. I will let experts chime in. You can reduce / eliminate it by reducing the shutter speed so it’s manageable. 

The EVF screen experience on the SL3 is way superior in quality and clarity than on the EV1, and for me it is a major disappointment of the EV1 given it’s at the core of the EV1 experience. Hopefully FMW update will make it at par. Currently it’s better EVF experience using M-lenses on the SL3 than EV1.

Edited October 31 by Hanno

[AdrianL]

On 10/25/2025 at 12:05 AM, lct said:

My next camera? Good question. Owning both M11 and MEV1, unsure if i need anything else. An M13 with global shutter and Visoflex 3 perhaps?

@lct Will you be posting any of your experiences with both cameras. Is the EV1 focusing solution similar to the LCD screen on the M11? My personal experience with the M11 is that the LCD focusing is deliberate but slow. How were you able to achieve focus confirmation on the EV1's EVF with the same simplicity as the M11 rangefinder? 

[lct]

5 minutes ago, AdrianL said:

@lct Will you be posting any of your experiences with both cameras. Is the EV1 focusing solution similar to the LCD screen on the M11? My personal experience with the M11 is that the LCD focusing is deliberate but slow. How were you able to achieve focus confirmation on the EV1's EVF with the same simplicity as the M11 rangefinder? 

I never shoot with the LCD sorry. As for EVFs, to each his own method i guess. My favorite one FWIW is autozoom at working aperture together with focus peaking. This way i can shoot the same speed more or less in 3 steps, focus, recompose, shoot. But sometimes i don't need to recompose, which never happens to me with RF cameras.

[AdrianL]

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On 10/29/2025 at 3:04 AM, Smudgerer said:

Firstly,I have not seen the new M EV1 "in the flesh", my regular / favoured Leica dealer is a +500 Kms drive from where I live so a trip just to fondle the new M isn't going to happen, ( although he's promised to send a "loaner" whenever possible to try and tempt me I guess, why not it's worked before......), but honestly although I do applaud Leica for taking this step and even though I have zero interest or reason, ( or the €€€€ ), to buy the M EV1 I think this camera is some sort of a "stepping stone" for them.......albeit one that for those who buy this first version will probably end up with them wishing they bought waders. I can't see it in it's present form being of much use other than having the ability of using M lenses without an adapter.......and of course I really do not like EVF's anyway.

The lack of IBIS that so many M users seem to want and the lack of any real useful focus confirmation seem to be serious omissions even at this early point in the life of an EVF M, one or the other, or both, should have been there, ( I don't count peaking as a focus aid, it's a confusing mess at best and I agree with many others that something like Nikon's "green dot" confirmation aid would have been much better, but I also read the reasons why that wouldn't work with the present sensor....and anyway to have to open the lens to get good peaking confirmation then close it to shoot is nonsense ).

Since it's launch there's been a flood of advice here as to what Leica "should have done", as per every time they launch something new be it a camera, a lens or a neck-strap but I think Leica did what they could by using what was available on their production lines and stock so as not to commit a pile of money to something that might prove to be less than profitable, a "toe in the water". I think with the restrictions inherent with using much off the shelf pieces to put this camera together they've hobbled it somewhat, it's neither fish or fowl.......I think what would have been more interesting as a first stab at this M EVF bear would have been to make it without a LCD, even cheaper for them to produce and another bold statement, really, with an EVF does it need a LCD especially a non-articulating one?

Anyway, I do hope it works out financially for Leica, of course I do, it's a sideways step for them but not as interesting or as useful in my mind as the Monochrom or the Q 's that they have come up with in the past, I also look forward to reading the real life reports of the early adopters too.........Good luck with that,

@Smudgerer I agree with your assessment but Leica has the tech in hand for a better EV1. Maestro 4 is available to be adapted for the M - why did they not do that? My feeling is that it would upend the current M lineup. The slow startup of our current M11s that we have come to accept would be terrible if the EV1 has Maestro 4 and a better startup time. The SL3 image sensor has on-sensor phase detection but the M sensor does not. Why not do the necessary R&D to incorporate the SL3 image sensor into the EV1? Phase detection is key to achieving a modern manual focus confirmation for the M line. The Leica M EV1 is a necessary camera for the M lineup. As much as I love my various Ms, there are definitely shortcomings with the rangefinder solution, limiting the popularity of the range of lenses available. More over, if purity of the photographic experience is central to the M experience, then you can see how there is a short runway for future camera development.  

[SrMi]

17 minutes ago, AdrianL said:

@Smudgerer I agree with your assessment but Leica has the tech in hand for a better EV1. Maestro 4 is available to be adapted for the M - why did they not do that? My feeling is that it would upend the current M lineup. The slow startup of our current M11s that we have come to accept would be terrible if the EV1 has Maestro 4 and a better startup time. The SL3 image sensor has on-sensor phase detection but the M sensor does not. Why not do the necessary R&D to incorporate the SL3 image sensor into the EV1? Phase detection is key to achieving a modern manual focus confirmation for the M line. The Leica M EV1 is a necessary camera for the M lineup. As much as I love my various Ms, there are definitely shortcomings with the rangefinder solution, limiting the popularity of the range of lenses available. More over, if purity of the photographic experience is central to the M experience, then you can see how there is a short runway for future camera development.  

Check Stefan Daniel's interview for the background on M-EV1. M11 was designed to work as an EVF-only camera, which explains its high hardware similarity with M11.

[jrichie]

4 hours ago, SrMi said:

Check Stefan Daniel's interview for the background on M-EV1. M11 was designed to work as an EVF-only camera, which explains its high hardware similarity with M11.

They took the easiest route possible to market and I look forward to seeing EV2 and something more compelling, for me to consider purchasing.

[SrMi]

3 minutes ago, jrichie said:

They took the easiest route possible to market and I look forward to seeing EV2 and something more compelling, for me to consider purchasing.

Yes, the easiest and least costly route.

[jankap]

I sometimes work with the Sony QX1. This camera can be operated using an iPhone app. This is handy for animal photography or for photographing church ceilings. The camera uses a built-in Wi-Fi connection for this.

A contribution to the egglayingwoolmilkpig in planning!