Fred Miranda wrote:
This new release is definitely stirring things up among M shooters... For so long the RF has been the thing that made an M an M, and everyone pretty much agreed on that. With the M EV1, it feels like that definition is shifting. Some folks, especially the ones who lived on the Visoflex, are totally on board. Others are unsure, and a lot of us are just trying to wrap our heads around Leica's change of heart and where they want to take the system.
It's not the end of the world, it's just the M lineup offering something that goes against what Leica has preached for decades, and people are reacting to that.. As for me, I shoot the M for the rangefinder experience, and that's not changing. I will keep enjoying my film and digital M bodies no matter what comes next but at the same time I'm glad to see plenty of photographers enjoying the new EV1....Show more →
About 10% of customers buying the M-EV1 - as shown here in this survey - might be what Leica has targeted as expectation in sales for this kind of price.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Now that the M EV1 is in stock in the USA, has anyone on FM taken the plunge yet? If you have, I would love to hear your impressions.
It is a very nice camera .
Focusing with large apertures works well, but less so with a closed aperture. The experience is similar to when focusing with the Visoflex or on another mirrorless camera. People use various techniques to get the best focusing experience. I disabled auto-zoom and use a function button to engage it instead, and use the front lever to engage peaking.
The camera is dependable (no crashes or issues), light, and good-looking. The results are the same as with M11, except that one does not need to have the Visoflex mounted or use the rear LCD to set exposure or precise framing, especially with LPC engaged or with close-focusing.
The disadvantages of EVF are known (lack of contrast and dynamic range), but can be somewhat remedied by using exposure simulation only with the shutter half-press.
The M-EV1 works exceptionally well when an EVF is needed, i.e., with R lenses, wide or very long lenses.
SrMi wrote:
It is a very nice camera .
Focusing with large apertures works well, but less so with a closed aperture. The experience is similar to when focusing with the Visoflex or on another mirrorless camera. People use various techniques to get the best focusing experience. I disabled auto-zoom and use a function button to engage it instead, and use the front lever to engage peaking.
The camera is dependable (no crashes or issues), light, and good-looking. The results are the same as with M11, except that one does not need to have the Visoflex mounted or use the rear LCD to set exposure or precise framing, especially with LPC engaged or with close-focusing.
The disadvantages of EVF are known (lack of contrast and dynamic range), but can be somewhat remedied by using exposure simulation only with the shutter half-press.
The M-EV1 works exceptionally well when an EVF is needed, i.e., with R lenses, wide or very long lenses.
The diopter adjustment is a nice-to-have.
Also, you will never shoot with the lens cap on . ...Show more →
Thanks! I'm really glad the M EV1 launched without any major firmware drama. Since it is built on the M11 platform, which is in a good place now, it looks like this one is off to a smooth start.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Now that the M EV1 is in stock in the USA, has anyone on FM taken the plunge yet? If you have, I would love to hear your impressions.
Mine arrives friday from Camera West, while others fight the black friday crowds I hope to be playing with it. I am not really expecting it to be any different compared to my Safari with the top box since the innards are the same- but I will be able to imagine the good times I can have with it- streamlining my outdoor carry. My key test will be to put a Noctilux on it and do some subject separation with cactus and see how well I can hit focus with 0.95 with the viewfinder. I also want to see how it does with the helium cage since that gives me arca to a light weight mountaineering gitzo for low light landscape with Noktons like the 21 and 28. Impressions to follow. Key use of 1-3 E39 tiny lens carry will likely not be first test. Biggest decision might be what the stock strap is to be exchanged for.... one I have, or go new.
SrMi wrote:
It is a very nice camera .
Focusing with large apertures works well, but less so with a closed aperture. The experience is similar to when focusing with the Visoflex or on another mirrorless camera. People use various techniques to get the best focusing experience. I disabled auto-zoom and use a function button to engage it instead, and use the front lever to engage peaking.
The camera is dependable (no crashes or issues), light, and good-looking. The results are the same as with M11, except that one does not need to have the Visoflex mounted or use the rear LCD to set exposure or precise framing, especially with LPC engaged or with close-focusing.
The disadvantages of EVF are known (lack of contrast and dynamic range), but can be somewhat remedied by using exposure simulation only with the shutter half-press.
The M-EV1 works exceptionally well when an EVF is needed, i.e., with R lenses, wide or very long lenses.
The diopter adjustment is a nice-to-have.
Also, you will never shoot with the lens cap on . ...Show more →
How is the EVF in low light/night conditions? Stays clear or becomes grainy?
Desmolicious wrote:
Even outdoor street scenes at night? w street lights etc?
I don't have a M-EV1 here to test. But I just tested the SL3 EVF in very low light. It was dark enough that at F2 1/80 sec, ISO had to be 25,000 to get proper exposure. Functionaly this is darker than I would probably ever shoot.
The SL3 EVF remained bright, smooth, and without grain that was bothering. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. So, I must reject the concept that all EVFs degrade to unusable levels in low light. If Leica has managed to repeat the SL3 EVF performance in the M-EV1 then you should be fine in the conditions you describe Huss.
I tried f/2, 1/80, and ISO 25000 in a dark room, and neither the SL3 nor the M-EV1 shows a smooth EVF. They are similar in the way they stutter as you swing the camera from left to right.
I just received my EV1. To start, I can’t figure out why the EVF doesn’t turn on when it’s set to Auto. It works when set to EVF but is blank when set to extended EVF. LCD works fine including Auto. Any thoughts?
EMH2025 wrote:
Mine arrives friday from Camera West, while others fight the black friday crowds I hope to be playing with it. I am not really expecting it to be any different compared to my Safari with the top box since the innards are the same- but I will be able to imagine the good times I can have with it- streamlining my outdoor carry. My key test will be to put a Noctilux on it and do some subject separation with cactus and see how well I can hit focus with 0.95 with the viewfinder. I also want to see how it does with the helium cage since that gives me arca to a light weight mountaineering gitzo for low light landscape with Noktons like the 21 and 28. Impressions to follow. Key use of 1-3 E39 tiny lens carry will likely not be first test. Biggest decision might be what the stock strap is to be exchanged for.... one I have, or go new.
SrMi wrote:
I tried f/2, 1/80, and ISO 25000 in a dark room, and neither the SL3 nor the M-EV1 shows a smooth EVF. They are similar in the way they stutter as you swing the camera from left to right.
Just setting the camera to those settings in a dark room will not recreate my test. If you actually take the picture is there enough light to acheive perfect exposure? If not you are testing in much darker conditions than I am. You cannot rely on the view finder to determine this.
I just tried again. Like I said those are very dark conditions. Darker than I would ever shoot in, darker than AF can handle reliably. Much darker than what Huss is asking about.
As I said there is grain, and some stutter if panning the camera quickly. But not enough to be a problem in normal shooting on the SL3.
What I, and I think Huss is curious about is whether the EV-1 is much worse than the SL3. What do you think since you have them side by side?
In my testing of the M-EV1 what I was most concerned about in very low light was that the lack of contrast made focus peaking less reliable a focusing method. Are you also finding that?
rji2goleez wrote:
I just received my EV1. To start, I can’t figure out why the EVF doesn’t turn on when it’s set to Auto. It works when set to EVF but is blank when set to extended EVF. LCD works fine including Auto. Any thoughts?
Ouch. Try cleaning the eye sensor and resetting the camera.
1bwana1 wrote:
I just tried again. Like I said those are very dark conditions. Darker than I would ever shoot in, darker than AF can handle reliably. Much darker than what Huss is asking about.
As I said there is grain, and some stutter if panning the camera quickly. But not enough to be a problem in normal shooting on the SL3.
Agreed.
What I, and I think Huss is curious about is whether the EV-1 is much worse than the SL3. What do you think since you have them side by side?
In my testing of the M-EV1 what I was most concerned about in very low light was that the lack of contrast made focus peaking less reliable a focusing method. Are you also finding that?
I have not compared them much, but I am happy with the EVF in M-EV1, especially when compared to EVFs in Q3 and SL3. I do not remember seeing any significant difference in EVF when switching between those cameras.
Also, I can’t seem to get the EVF to give me a sharp image. Playing with the diopter adjuster it goes from blurry to fuzzy to blurry. Not going to assume I have a dud just yet but this doesn’t seem right.
rji2goleez wrote:
Also, I can’t seem to get the EVF to give me a sharp image. Playing with the diopter adjuster it goes from blurry to fuzzy to blurry. Not going to assume I have a dud just yet but this doesn’t seem right.
rji2goleez wrote:
I just received my EV1. To start, I can’t figure out why the EVF doesn’t turn on when it’s set to Auto. It works when set to EVF but is blank when set to extended EVF. LCD works fine including Auto. Any thoughts?
If I remember correctly one of the programmable function buttons is set to toggle between the EVF and the rear screen. This will override the Auto Settings. Try setting this button to another function and see if that fixes things.
rji2goleez wrote:
Also, I can’t seem to get the EVF to give me a sharp image. Playing with the diopter adjuster it goes from blurry to fuzzy to blurry. Not going to assume I have a dud just yet but this doesn’t seem right.
When using the diopter just get the text being displayed in the EVF as sharp as possible. Then the diopter is properly set. Do not try to get the image sharp with the diopter. Use focus for that. Make sure lens and EVF are perfectly clean when doing these steps.
Well, I don't know what happened but all of a sudden, things are working the way they're supposed to. The diopter adjusted to a sharp image. The EVF/LCD is working in Auto as it should. Thank goodness. Now, on to discovering this camera.
I do like the lighter weight.
First image once the EVF stuff worked it's way out.
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