Survey: Leica M EV1 – Future or mistake?

[IkarusJohn]

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2 hours ago, jonoslack said:

Added to which, making something which is a direct competitor to their signature product ……(which currently has no competition).. and spending lots of money doing it seems to me to be commercial suicide!

I've never understood this concept.  Is the point that providing too many variants dilutes the product?  Presumably not, as Leica already provides film, P, M & D variants of its M cameras.  Is providing a polished, and more technologically advanced EV1 really competing with the other M cameras, more than the existing variants compete with the base M?

Besides that, if the EV1 succeeds at the cost of the base M, Leica is still selling the camera.  For consideration, do the digital M cameras compete with the film M cameras?  I'm not sure there is any commercial suicide going one here, apart from ignoring, or failing to meet, the clear preferences of Leica customers, existing or new.

I hate to say this, but Leica's toe in the water approach may have caused more damage than developing and releasing an EV M camera with a properly developed focus confirmation.  That may prove to be the problem.

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[jaapv]

1 hour ago, lykaman said:

Let’s face it, if your paid or Leica offers you a pre production camera, I doubt you will offer to much negativity! If like many Leica owners you are ‘well healed’ buy it, try it, keep or sell it won’t really matter! Fanatics will either hate’ or love it.. At the end of the day, it’s a Leica camera with a variant of the RF… I might fly to Europe buy an M EV1 and play with it for awhile, thereafter it will be just another box with a red dot… boring’ 🍷

Leica’s beta testers are not paid nor get they to keep the camera making your post a miss by a mile. 

[lykaman]

3 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Leica’s beta testers are not paid nor get they to keep the camera making your post a miss by a mile. 

That’s okay, I’m sure without AF the camera itself will miss focus by a mile many times..🍻

[jaapv]

Yes, and? This camera is aimed at dedicated M users who for one reason or another prefer to have an EVF instead of an optical range/ viewfinder. It is not meant to be sold in huge numbers outside the Leica community   As such, it is w exactly what it should be. 

[lykaman]

5 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Yes, and? This camera is aimed at dedicated M users who for one reason or another prefer to have an EVF instead of an optical range/ viewfinder. It is not meant to be sold in huge numbers outside the Leica community   As such, it is w exactly what it should be. 

You mean non Leica followers can’t buy one? 

[jaapv]

Won’t.  Maybe a few, but a rarity.  Unless Leica gets exceedingly lucky and it turns into a cult object. 

[lykaman]

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52 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Won’t.  Maybe a few, but a rarity.  Unless Leica gets exceedingly lucky and it turns into a cult object. 

It’s a cult camera from day one, but here in the USA it’s not available- it’s a shame, all the rich guys live here..🍻

[Le Chef]

7 minutes ago, lykaman said:

It’s a cult camera from day one, but here in the USA it’s not available- it’s a shame, all the rich guys live here..🍻

I guess you caught a bad case of pi$$ and vinegar in SoCal. You need to get out more.

[Pixeleater]

1 hour ago, lykaman said:

You mean non Leica followers can’t buy one? 

False dilemma. Keep being silly.

[lykaman]

6 minutes ago, Pixeleater said:

False dilemma. Keep being silly.

😉 ok

[lykaman]

12 minutes ago, Le Chef said:

I guess you caught a bad case of pi$$ and vinegar in SoCal. You need to get out more.

That I do, now where’s my Lambo 🫣

[lencap]

I appreciate the poll and comments, but I think the poll may have been more useful with different replies.  EG: I appreciate the poll and comments, but I think the poll may have been more useful with different replies. I believe post #2 in this thread accurately states how the various replies are ambiguous.

[lct]

67% favorable opinions. I know politicians who would be thrilled with that.

[hillavoider]

it could be the future if it frees up enough space for IBIS in the M12 

As without IBIS the M series is stuck at M11 for ever

[bilbrown]

I shoot M because I can see everything. Streets, edges, shadows, chaos — not just what’s in the viewfinder.

 

I love rangefinders because they keep me in the street, the interior moments, not hiding behind a big viewfinder. I have found that anything else slows me down,. I want peripheral awareness. I want to see the chaos, the light, the gestures, and react — not set up a shot like a stage director. That’s why I love my M.

 

Having a dedicated native M mount mirrorless that feels like and M is rad, especially since you can do the close focus on the newest lenses without blocking the hotshoe with the Visoflex 2 (I never even bought one). Technically I bet this is perfectm and I have more than once had friends think one thing of me than see me with a Leica at all anbd think another. They have their big or even mid sized Japanese cameras and they are fine. THey don't want to know, and this is a Leica for them.

 

I do want to know. In that I am very curious about the EV1. Will it go aside my Ms. Maybe. IT is certainly a back up or companion. Do I trust 

[Ciamprob]

On 10/27/2025 at 12:12 PM, adan said:

I can't see a wording choice for Question 2 that reflects my thoughts on Leica's decision.

Options 1, 2, 4,and 5 definitely do not reflect my thinking - as far as I am concerned, it is none of the following: "the future, a good alternative, risky, or a wrong signal."

But Option 3 I cannot select because it incorporates two separate ideas in one response, and I cannot agree with both parts.

It also seems more in line with the first question - user interest in the EV1 itself. Just a rephrasing of "An interesting approach, but not for me."

it does not actually address Leica's decision-making.

If I could answer Question 2 without prompting, I would say something like:

"It is a worthwhile experiment, regardless of whether I would or would not get one myself."

As it is, the survey will not allow me to respond at all. Sorry!

I agree with you!

[jonoslack]

7 hours ago, IkarusJohn said:

I've never understood this concept.  Is the point that providing too many variants dilutes the product?  Presumably not, as Leica already provides film, P, M & D variants of its M cameras.  Is providing a polished, and more technologically advanced EV1 really competing with the other M cameras, more than the existing variants compete with the base M?

Besides that, if the EV1 succeeds at the cost of the base M, Leica is still selling the camera.  For consideration, do the digital M cameras compete with the film M cameras?  I'm not sure there is any commercial suicide going one here, apart from ignoring, or failing to meet, the clear preferences of Leica customers, existing or new.

I hate to say this, but Leica's toe in the water approach may have caused more damage than developing and releasing an EV M camera with a properly developed focus confirmation.  That may prove to be the problem.

You could be right about another variant being a good thing (keep it in the family!) - certainly my argument wasn’t Leica’s reason for not going further. 
But I don’t think there is any problem, in a few weeks these discussions (which have been going on for years) will probably die down, some people will buy the camera - probably enough to warrant a more convinced EV2. 
 

[LocalHero1953]

6 hours ago, jaapv said:

It is not meant to be sold in huge numbers outside the Leica community

Source? Or guesswork?

I have no info about Leica's market positioning of the EV1, but I can see how it would appeal to younger non-Leica owners wanting a piece of the iconic Leica action.

On a Leica forum full of old people, we've learned the value of a rangefinder ourselves or from parents with them. That leaves a very large potential market (including in Leica's non-English-speaking growth markets) who have barely heard of them. 'Rangefinder' to them means a simple slab-shaped camera without a pentaprism or EVF hump.

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[S Maclean]

7 hours ago, IkarusJohn said:

I hate to say this, but Leica's toe in the water approach may have caused more damage than developing and releasing an EV M camera with a properly developed focus confirmation.  That may prove to be the problem.

Agreed

[jaapv]

48 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Source? Or guesswork?

I have no info about Leica's market positioning of the EV1, but I can see how it would appeal to younger non-Leica owners wanting a piece of the iconic Leica action.

On a Leica forum full of old people, we've learned the value of a rangefinder ourselves or from parents with them. That leaves a very large potential market (including in Leica's non-English-speaking growth markets) who have barely heard of them. 'Rangefinder' to them means a simple slab-shaped camera without a pentaprism or EVF hump.

Just looking at the camera and common sense