1bwana1 wrote:
Sorry to be late posting my impressions after spending the afternoon shooting the EV-1 during a rainy day down in Bologna. But, my phone battery ran out and I couldn't post on the train ride home to Parma. In any case, here are my thoughts.
They had 3 cameras for sale and a loaner for testing at the Leica Store Bologna yesterday. They had invited a number of people who were good customers and a couple who had been waiting to by an M until they got to see this one. After the tests the only one I saw make a decision and buy chose a traditional M11 in Black Paint over the EV-1. From what I saw this seemed to sum up the group's reaction to the camera. No one was moved to swap this new camera out for their existing one or add the EV-1 to their kit. Surprisingly this included one gentleman who only shot his M11-P using the Visoflex, never the Range Finder. I would characterize the groups overall reaction as luke warm.
On to more detail:
The camera is an M11 body and all M11 accessories fit. There will be a specific grip but they didn't have one on site yet so no details about that.
The camera is much lighter than a regular black M11. 80 grams is what they said. 180 grams lighter than my silver M11. That makes a huge difference.
The EVF is basically exactly the same as the one on the Q3 as far as brightness, size, resolution, and experience. If you like the Q3 for manual focus you will like this one.. It is far superior in my view to what you get using the VisoFlex on an M11 in my opinion. Much, much smoother and I like the integrated position much better as well. I tested with matching 50mm Summilux lenses side by side with the SL3-S. The SL was a whole level up better in every respect. Brighter, easier to focus, more detail, smoother, and more stable when zooming in due to the SL3's excellent IBIS. If I am going to shoot my M lenses through an EVF, using focus peaking and magnification then I am definitely going to do it on my SL3 not an EV-1. The better experience is enough to overcome my form factor preference for an M body. Your preferences on this may vary so try it out.
The frame lines lever is of course no longer used for that. You are given three choices for functions using the lever. It can be set to toggle on/off focus peaking. Or, you can set to to magnify for focusing. Finally you can set it to to look like you are changing frame lines, but what it is actually showing you frame lines of crops overlayed on the full image. These crops will actually only be applied to in camera jpegs, not RAW files. Clearly not something most of use would ever find useful.
The only focus aids available are Focus Peaking and Zoom in to focus. Nothing we haven't had from other leicas for a long time now. In order to enable Auto Zoom on focus Leica has left the the focus coupler lever in the camera to detect focus changing. What I found is that Focus Peaking is not very good when shooting very wide apertures in low light. There is just not enough contrast in this situation for the peaking to be strong enough to help. So this camera is unlikely to help improve hit rates in exactly the situations where people have the most problems using the Range Finder. Disappointing in my opinion. When using the rear screen for framing and focusing the experience and accuracy is exactly the same with either the standard M cameras or the new EV-1.
Interestingly enough the camera does have the authentication features of the M11-P but only 64gb of internal memory like a standard M11. Sort of half way between the M11 variants.
Besides what is mentioned above the camera seems to be the same as any M11.
To sum up, my reaction is luke warm like the majority of others that were there and what I am reading in various posts on the internet. Certainly, I am not excited enough to buy one. For me personally I find this camera to be only a standard mirrorless manual focusing camera, that is behind a bit on features from some other options, and very much on the expensive side when comparing. I do love shooting my Leica cameras, and always want to wish Leica the best success with its products. Hopefully, it will find a solid user base, and help Leica achieve financial success.
If anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to provide straight forward answers....Show more →
Steve Spencer wrote:
I feel pretty much the same way, except this camera is exactly what I expected it to be. I wasn't optimistic that Leica would implement a new MF tool, or that there would be anything special about the EVF but its large size, and it is a large size EVF. That matters to me, and I really don't like the small 2.3M dot 65% mag small EVF in almost all small cameras. For me and my eyes this is the best EVF for a small camera by a pretty big margin.
Yes, Sony has the small A7Cr with essentially the same sensor and with a camera almost as small and you can modify that sensor so that it will effectively use M mount lenses but such a camera has for my eyes a terrible tiny EVF and no more focus aids than this camera.
Yes, Nikon has the Zf with an EVF that is almost as big has good focus aids and works pretty well with many M lens (but not close to all of them) but is a much bigger camera (495g for the Leica EV1 vs. 710g for the Nikon Zf) and has a much lower resolution sensor.
Yes, this camera is missing some things I would obviously like including IBIS and a tilting back screen, but I also recognize that it is smaller than either of these options from Sony or Nikon (and much smaller than the Nikon), it has a better EVF than either of these options (and IMO a much better EVF than the Sony), has IMO a much better sensor than the Nikon and as good of a sensor as the Sony and as many focus aids as the Sony. It isn't a perfect camera at all, but if I didn't consider price it would be my choice for this type of camera. In my view it occupies a unique space as the only camera with an excellent EVF, small size (and less than 500g is a really achievement), a great sensor that is tuned for Leica M mount lenses, and a native Leica M mount. For me personally, it is just too expensive for me to consider, but I am not surprised by the price in the least either....Show more →
I agree with this. If I completely disregard the price, then it's fine and I'm generally happy with it. As a used body for half the price I will be the target audience. It's just not exciting enough for me to pay $9000 for. I don't need the camera, and there's nothing that is truly making me lust after the camera.
Oct 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
CVickery wrote:
Agreed, but the Q3 is 743 grams and has AF as well. The Q lens is a bit bulkier though.
The big difference of course is the EV1 is an interchangeable lens camera and you can have not only a 28mm lens at the Q3 size and weight, but you can add a small 40mm and or whatever focal length you like all in a very small size, and some--presumably the target audience of the EV1--will prefer that it is manual focus instead of autofocus.
Fuji has had hybrid finders for 10+ years now. Not only couldn’t Leica match that - or come up with something better - they can’t even match what other mfgs are offering today including themselves in the latest SL series!
Steve Spencer wrote:
The big difference of course is the EV1 is an interchangeable lens camera and you can have not only a 28mm lens at the Q3 size and weight, but you can add a small 40mm and or whatever focal length you like all in a very small size, and some--presumably the target audience of the EV1--will prefer that it is manual focus instead of autofocus.
So the big question now is why is the EV1 so expensive? The complicated optical rangefinder system is gone.
It now can be considered an interchangeable lens Q3.
Except the Q3 (correct me if I’m wrong) has a better sensor. And it comes with a lens! For $6400.
So why is the EV1 $9000? It can be considered to be a manual focus Q3 with an inferior sensor and a lens is extra.
Oct 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
Desmolicious wrote:
So the big question now is why is the EV1 so expensive? The complicated optical rangefinder system is gone.
It now can be considered an interchangeable lens Q3.
Except the Q3 (correct me if I’m wrong) has a better sensor. And it comes with a lens! For $6400.
So why is the EV1 $9000? It can be considered to be a manual focus Q3 with an inferior sensor and a lens is extra.
I wouldn't say the Q3 sensor is better. The sensor in the Q3 and the EV1 are very similar. Both ~60 MP BSI sensors. The Q3 sensor has PDAF sites, which are useful for AF, but don't do anything for image quality, the EV1 doesn't have these PDAF sites, nor would they do anything for a MF camera that only has magnification and peaking for focus assist.
I am sure you know why the EV1 is so expensive--Leica can get that price for it and they aren't going to sell a variant of the M11 for less money than the plain M11. They never have. Take the back LCD off an M240 or M10--still the same price. For Leica, M variants can cost more, but they never cost less and this camera certainly confirms that.
I further suspect that this camera is marketed as a Leica M with an EVF, rather than an Leica Q camera with an interchangeable M mount because that lets them set the price higher. They want to avoid exactly that comparison you are making.
Desmolicious wrote:
So why is the EV1 $9000? It can be considered to be a manual focus Q3 with an inferior sensor and a lens is extra.
Simple possible answer: it is easier to reduce from a higher price than from a price which is already lower in the first place. This way Leica can sell it as success by lowering the price and still make good revenue/profit from it without loss.
Desmolicious wrote:
So the big question now is why is the EV1 so expensive? The complicated optical rangefinder system is gone.
It now can be considered an interchangeable lens Q3.
Except the Q3 (correct me if I’m wrong) has a better sensor. And it comes with a lens! For $6400.
So why is the EV1 $9000? It can be considered to be a manual focus Q3 with an inferior sensor and a lens is extra.
Perhaps:
Because it's an M camera so part of the M pricing strategy. If the EV1 was a "Q" EV1 then pricing would probably align with the Q system.
Desmolicious wrote:
So the big question now is why is the EV1 so expensive? The complicated optical rangefinder system is gone.
It now can be considered an interchangeable lens Q3.
Except the Q3 (correct me if I’m wrong) has a better sensor. And it comes with a lens! For $6400.
So why is the EV1 $9000? It can be considered to be a manual focus Q3 with an inferior sensor and a lens is extra.
Because Leica likely doesn't expect the EV1 to be a high-volume seller. They know there is a loyal group of Leica users who have been asking for this kind of camera and are willing to pay for it. From their perspective, there is little financial risk.
They didn't need to pour major resources into R&D since the EV1 is built on the M11, replacing the RF assembly with the Q3's EVF. That's a relatively straightforward engineering change.
So they can price it at $9K and see how the market reacts. If it sells through, great...it proves the concept. If not, they still recover costs and gain insight into whether a digital M-style camera without a rangefinder has a real future. It's not aimed at the mainstream. The Leica M will remain primarily a rangefinder system.
The M EV1 is more of a trial run for long-time M users who love the classic design but prefer, or now need (due to eyesight issues), to shoot with an EVF instead.
Considering the lack of innovation on focusing aids, and the lack of specs compared to the M11P, I would have been happy to have seen this camera come in around $7500 as the "entry level/gateway" camera to the M system for Leica outsiders who may balk at the rangefinder system. This would have been an exciting and solid step forward for Leica to lure new customers. As is, it really reinforces a lot of negative stereotypes about Leica for me. I still love the brand, the M11, Q3, SL3 and most of all the lenses, but this is more par for the course than being an exciting step forward.
EchoLocation wrote:
Considering the lack of innovation on focusing aids, and the lack of specs compared to the M11P, I would have been happy to have seen this camera come in around $7500 as the "entry level/gateway" camera to the M system for Leica outsiders who may balk at the rangefinder system. This would have been an exciting and solid step forward for Leica to lure new customers. As is, it really reinforces a lot of negative stereotypes about Leica for me. I still love the brand, the M11, Q3, SL3 and most of all the lenses, but this is more par for the course than being an exciting step forward. ...Show more →
Doesn’t something like this make you love the brand less? Part of me finds their marketing and pricing for/of this camera condescending.
johnvanr wrote:
Doesn’t something like this make you love the brand less? Part of me finds their marketing and pricing for/of this camera condescending.
I agree kind of with Fred's post regarding the pricing. I just phrase it a bit differently - Leica is spoiled from success with M- and Q-cameras. They successfully increased prices in the past few years for new cameras in both lines. And people still bought them, and often the cameras were sold out. Only the sky is the limit then! I have a hard time imagining a non collector putting even just $7K down for a camera. But I admit they are out there. This is the target group for Leica - I don't belong to this group, and Leica shows with the $9K price of the EV1 where the focus clearly is. It is what it is - others need to wait to buy used at some point or go with another brand.
I read posts on this very forum of people with M11 units that had locked up that RUSHED to go buy the M11-P Safari because it was GREEN.
People hunting all over the world for a $200+ battery.
People sending their brand new M6 reissue in for 6-12 months because it destroys the negatives.
It's literal Stockholm Syndrome with some of these customers. It's nice to see a bunch of people FINALLY wiping the red-dot kruft from their eyes, even if they are years late to see what everyone else has.
RoamingScott wrote:
I read posts on this very forum of people with M11 units that had locked up that RUSHED to go buy the M11-P Safari because it was GREEN.
People hunting all over the world for a $200+ battery.
People sending their brand new M6 reissue in for 6-12 months because it destroys the negatives.
I didn't get these things either when I saw/read/watched it, and yes, I agree. Add that many who bought the new release M6 likely never put a roll of film through it - but this is a different topic.
Leica has fully gone the luxury brand way which keeps them afloat admittedly. Not good for many consumers including me, but it is a niche which works for Leica so far.
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