Leica M EV1
p.91 #1Leica M EV1
RomanMF wrote:
Just spent another week with the M EV1. Still a nope for me, but I do hope they keep the line going. I can see a future where this is the most popular M camera.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55592898017_12b7f859aa_b.jpg
I think everybody can, but Leica have the balls?
Just spent another week with the M EV1. Still a nope for me, but I do hope they keep the line going. I can see a future where this is the most popular M camera.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55592898017_12b7f859aa_b.jpg
I think everybody can, but Leica have the balls?
Nov 10, 2026 at 09:09 AM
p.91 #2Leica M EV1
philip_pj wrote:
They want you looking at the cameras, more than using them.
Not sure that makes much sense (imo) ... conceptually, if folks only looked at their cameras, they'd produce no images. If they produced no images, then they'd have no reason to suggest their products are meritable as image making tools.
They NEED people to USE them, to produce images so they can market how great their products are. I get the fact that they DO get into the collector territory with things. But, that can't be the primary ... it is driven by the history of the images over decades of time, coupled with scarcity of production (i.e. controlled). But, they still need folks USING their products to sustain the business model.
I get that folks find the plethora of other choices viable, but that assertion that their preference is greater toward collection than use ... ummm, imo that's just a bit of emotion, overriding logic. I get that Leica marches to the tune of their own drum. That's part of what makes Leica, Leica ... but, nah, they still want folks knocking it out of the park with their products.
They want you looking at the cameras, more than using them.
Not sure that makes much sense (imo) ... conceptually, if folks only looked at their cameras, they'd produce no images. If they produced no images, then they'd have no reason to suggest their products are meritable as image making tools.
They NEED people to USE them, to produce images so they can market how great their products are. I get the fact that they DO get into the collector territory with things. But, that can't be the primary ... it is driven by the history of the images over decades of time, coupled with scarcity of production (i.e. controlled). But, they still need folks USING their products to sustain the business model.
I get that folks find the plethora of other choices viable, but that assertion that their preference is greater toward collection than use ... ummm, imo that's just a bit of emotion, overriding logic. I get that Leica marches to the tune of their own drum. That's part of what makes Leica, Leica ... but, nah, they still want folks knocking it out of the park with their products.
Nov 12, 2026 at 08:22 AM
p.91 #3Leica M EV1
like i said before, love the concept not fond of the execution or pricing. At this point after deep thought about the EV1, the only thing keeping me from buying one is the technology. Once they can give subject tracking on a sensor and provide a green or other color focus confirmation mark on the eye like Nikon does with third party adapter, I am in. I love the form factor of M's but to be competitive today and sell more than just a few, it needs those features. So for now, ZF will suffice. Not an M but lets me use my M glass with confidence.
Nov 12, 2026 at 09:36 AM
p.91 #4Leica M EV1
[Social approbation has seemingly forever been a max factor in the Leica appeal. In the absence of respectable royals, people idolize and seek to mimic their celebs. The cameras they ponce around with simply must be the best, that seems to be the way it works. Fame and ostentation work.]
Leica feels the company must move into a digital M future with great care, but have little doubt they certainly want to do so. M cameras are 40% of their camera business but the kind of thing Jorge wants lies most comfortably in the SL section of the business. And, despite massive development and promotional activity over a considerable time now (over a decade), the SL line has gained a share of Leica of just 12%, with the very M-derived Q series accounting for another 40%.
The Q3 43 weighs the same as the bare SL camera bodies. So Q and M account for 80% of Leitz Camera stills photography. And pushing the figure even higher, very large numbers of SL cameras are partly or primarily used with the small and light and charismatic M lenses. The Q3 43 is around 1,000 USD below the EV1 in RRP. We don't know the percentage of M sales that are EV1 cameras.
These data are the foundation for analysis. Leica calls selling the SL line 'a challenge'. AI gets to the point more smartly:
'Tougher Mainstream Competition: Unlike the niche, heritage-driven dominance of the M and Q lines, the SL series (such as the SL3) competes directly in the crowded, high-performance full-frame mirrorless market against heavyweights like Sony, Canon, and Nikon.'
It seems the SL line did not, and will not, inherit the mystique and aura of the M series. It is just an imaging tool, struggling uphill against the Japanese, despite being released nearly three years ahead of full-frame mirrorless cameras from major Japanese brands like Nikon, Canon, and Panasonic. Clearly, it cannot be seen as central Leica or elite Leica, or crucial Leica.
Will people revere a mini-SL M en masse? What traditional eminence and cache will transfer to an EV-M line?
They must be very, very careful with moving the faithful forward into the much more profitable EV camera series. Baby steps.
'Traditional Leica M rangefinders rely on a complex, precision-machined mechanical assembly consisting of roughly 130 individual pieces that demand extensive manual alignment, calibration, and hand-assembly by skilled technicians (German labor costs). The M EV1 eliminates this mechanical rangefinder mechanism.' 'While assembling and sealing an electronic viewfinder module involves QA and display calibration, it shifts the labor away from fine mechanical optical adjustment toward a more manageable modular electronic sub-assembly.'
Ironically, in the EV1, they are moving from a focus system only they do, to a system everyone else does, one that is well-understood, automated, easily procured and refined to the nth degree, after two decades of R&D.
Leica feels the company must move into a digital M future with great care, but have little doubt they certainly want to do so. M cameras are 40% of their camera business but the kind of thing Jorge wants lies most comfortably in the SL section of the business. And, despite massive development and promotional activity over a considerable time now (over a decade), the SL line has gained a share of Leica of just 12%, with the very M-derived Q series accounting for another 40%.
The Q3 43 weighs the same as the bare SL camera bodies. So Q and M account for 80% of Leitz Camera stills photography. And pushing the figure even higher, very large numbers of SL cameras are partly or primarily used with the small and light and charismatic M lenses. The Q3 43 is around 1,000 USD below the EV1 in RRP. We don't know the percentage of M sales that are EV1 cameras.
These data are the foundation for analysis. Leica calls selling the SL line 'a challenge'. AI gets to the point more smartly:
'Tougher Mainstream Competition: Unlike the niche, heritage-driven dominance of the M and Q lines, the SL series (such as the SL3) competes directly in the crowded, high-performance full-frame mirrorless market against heavyweights like Sony, Canon, and Nikon.'
It seems the SL line did not, and will not, inherit the mystique and aura of the M series. It is just an imaging tool, struggling uphill against the Japanese, despite being released nearly three years ahead of full-frame mirrorless cameras from major Japanese brands like Nikon, Canon, and Panasonic. Clearly, it cannot be seen as central Leica or elite Leica, or crucial Leica.
Will people revere a mini-SL M en masse? What traditional eminence and cache will transfer to an EV-M line?
They must be very, very careful with moving the faithful forward into the much more profitable EV camera series. Baby steps.
'Traditional Leica M rangefinders rely on a complex, precision-machined mechanical assembly consisting of roughly 130 individual pieces that demand extensive manual alignment, calibration, and hand-assembly by skilled technicians (German labor costs). The M EV1 eliminates this mechanical rangefinder mechanism.' 'While assembling and sealing an electronic viewfinder module involves QA and display calibration, it shifts the labor away from fine mechanical optical adjustment toward a more manageable modular electronic sub-assembly.'
Ironically, in the EV1, they are moving from a focus system only they do, to a system everyone else does, one that is well-understood, automated, easily procured and refined to the nth degree, after two decades of R&D.
Nov 12, 2026 at 02:41 PM
p.91 #5Leica M EV1
I feel any brand that would make a full frame camera with a real focus on photography would have a shot of making a revered and maybe to come mythic camera.
Oddly enough, still photgraphy doesn’t seem to be that important in all these heavy featured new camera releases.
The Fuji x-pro and x100 lines, the Zf and a few others came close to become as iconic as a Leica m but fell short because the dedication was not all there.
Execution is key, apple and Leica understand that. I mean they did.
Fuji might be close, they could come up with something with their gfx, the gfx50r, gfx100 and the Rf have something, there is a cult camera waiting, I mean they could just go full frame but it would be too simple.
Oddly enough, still photgraphy doesn’t seem to be that important in all these heavy featured new camera releases.
The Fuji x-pro and x100 lines, the Zf and a few others came close to become as iconic as a Leica m but fell short because the dedication was not all there.
Execution is key, apple and Leica understand that. I mean they did.
Fuji might be close, they could come up with something with their gfx, the gfx50r, gfx100 and the Rf have something, there is a cult camera waiting, I mean they could just go full frame but it would be too simple.
Nov 12, 2026 at 03:23 PM