Leica M EV1 Hands-on: Where the M without M makes sense

A Leica M without a rangefinder? Purists shudder. Isn’t that an attack on… “das Wesentliche” that Leica otherwise advocates so strongly? Is the M EV1, lacking the rangefinder, an M at all? M stands for Messsucher (rangefinder) after all. Or does this camera fill an important gap, and could it become crucial for the future of this traditional brand? Either way, it has recently arrived in Leica stores, so it’s time for a Leica M EV1 hands-on.

The fact that the M EV1 exists at all is a story in itself. Mike Evans from Macfilos, who attended the Leica Society International (LSI, formerly Leica Historical Society of America, LHSA) meeting in Dublin in 2022, reports on it in this detailed article. In short: participants (and this society brings together some very important customers) once again asked Stefan Daniel from Leica about an M with an electronic viewfinder.

The topic was not entirely new at the time, but the answer was new, and Stefan Daniel essentially said: If customers want it, we will build such a camera. In confirmation of his statement, the camera was launched in October 2025. It was announced, appropriately, in the context of the LSI annual conference in Montreal.

M EV1 hands-on: Thanks to Leica Store Konstanz

And so, the Leica M EV1 came into the world. Unusually for new Leica products, the camera was actually available from its market introduction.

No frustration with these waiting lists on which interested customers can sign up at multiple outlets, thus creating a completely exaggerated picture of the supposed demand. But also no mad rush and the associated feeling of looking forward to something extremely rare.

The camera is available, and I was able to borrow the demo camera from Leica Store Konstanz for the Leica M EV1 hands-on. This is a disclaimer, but above all a thank you to the dedicated team there.

My Leica M EV1 hands-on cannot offer an answer to the conundrum of whether this camera is “an M” or not. It matches exactly the M11 body in size, and thus follows the tradition and form factor established in 1954 with the M3.

It has the M bayonet mount, one of the most enduring standards in photography. This makes it possible to easily attach 70-year-old M lenses as if they were from 2025 and not the 1950s. But it does not have a rangefinder, only the electronic viewfinder. Everyone must decide for themselves whether the M designation is quite appropriate or rather presumptuous in this case.

Not instead of, but in addition to the rangefinder

Before you start using the new camera and get hands-on with the M EV1, it might be a good idea briefly to consider what this camera was actually built for and think about specific use cases. Because no one, absolutely no one at Leica, has ever claimed that the electronic viewfinder is intended to replace the rangefinder.

So, given that rangefinder photography is already a niche market, let’s take a look at the niche within the niche (or the niche on the fringe of the niche).

Use case 1: Not-so-good eyesight

The Leica M EV1 has the electronic viewfinder of the Q3 (more about this camera here, and here is Andrew Tobin’s excellent review). It has a beautifully fine resolution and built-in dioptric correction. Anyone who needs glasses, whether due to age or other reasons, will appreciate this. The viewfinder image is nice and bright and, as is typical of Leica, uncluttered. Focus peaking and a viewfinder magnifier are available as aids for manual focusing.

Speaking of it: What Leica did with the frame line selector is outstanding. Obviously, it is not needed in a camera with EVF. But they left this almost iconic part of the M desgin in its place, assigning new functions to if. For example, you can set it to turn on and off the focusing magnifier (if the auto function annoys you) or to activate focus peaking. I found that very smart and to good way to work with the M legagcy.

This is useful, but not nearly as good as the MF assistants on current Canon or Nikon cameras. However, their lenses are based on “fly-by-wire” focusing and require an electronic connection between the lens and the camera. Neither of these is possible with the M-Mount standard. Nevertheless, these focusing features of the new camera will certainly be viable options for some users who want the M feeling but are not or no longer comfortable with the rangefinder.

Use case 2: High-speed lenses

Even a Summilux 50 has a very narrow focus range at close range and at full aperture. With the Noctilux, this shrinks to millimetres (you can calculate it here), so either the eyelashes or the iris are in focus, and 60 megapixels are unforgiving.

Here, too, a high-resolution electronic viewfinder with magnifier and focus peaking can help. However, peaking always marks the area of greatest contrast, which can also be in the background of the image, for example in backlighting; just think of the notorious dark branches against a bright sky. 

These limitations became clear several times during my hands-on experience with the M EV1. But, to be fair, it is equally true of focus peaking in all other system cameras with electronic viewfinders. Nevertheless, some photographers will achieve a higher success rate with critical shots this way.

Incidentally, this also applies to other lenses, especially those with a pronounced drop in sharpness, such as the APO-Summicrons.

Use case 3: Long focal lengths

My expectations for the M EV1 hands-on were particularly high in this regard. With the almost forgotten, much underestimated Apo-Telyt 3.4/135, I was never particularly successful with the 0.72 standard rangefinder at open aperture and close range. A focus magnifier seems extremely useful here. 

In principle, it is, but due to the even stronger telephoto effect, which can quickly reach a 300mm or even 500mm equivalent, depending on the magnification factor, you need either a very steady hand or a reasonably static subject.

It doesn’t work so well for animals or people in motion. And there is no stabilisation. M lenses don’t offer this, of course, but neither does the M EV1 body, unlike other mirrorless cameras. 

Use case 4: Short focal lengths

The rangefinder of all previous M cameras just about covers the 28mm focal length (the 0.85 viewfinder only allows 35mm). For wider angles of view, such as the all-time M classic 21mm, you need to be daring or use an attachable viewfinder.

This is where the electronic version really is beneficial. However, the slower wide-angle lenses have so much depth of field that focusing is not quite so easy. But perhaps extreme precision is not necessary, especially when stopped down to 5.6. 

I wasn’t able to try a superfast super-wide-angle lens in my M EV1 hands-on, but a test with the excellent 2.8/24 (unfortunately long discontinued) turned out to be very enlightening. If you want objects outside the centre of the image to be in focus, the electronic viewfinder is fantastic, especially in combination with the freely movable focus magnifier.

This actually seems to me to be the best (and not so rare) use case for this particular camera. So if you own a Summilux 21 or 24, or even the Voigtländer Nokton 1.4/21 (reviewed here in the M-Files), the M EV1 is a magnificent choice!

Some initial thoughts on the Leica M EV1

To be honest, I have great respect for Leica in actually bringing this camera to market. The company has listened to customer requests and can, at the same time, test the market.

The folks in Wetzlar certainly knew that the M EV1 would not convince everyone. And they also knew that there was still room for improvement in terms of technology. Nevertheless, they decided to release this particular product at this particular time.

Personally, I enjoyed the Leica M EV1 hands-on more than I initially expected. I’ve always liked rangefinders, have (almost) always been able to get sharp images with them, and rely in other use cases on autofocus systems, which now work incredibly well. And yet, this new “M” has exerted a certain appeal, and that appeal has not diminished after my hands-on.

I find the best use for this camera is to work with fast wide-angle lenses. This is where the electronic viewfinder comes into its own, as it shows exactly what will be in the photo afterwards. And thanks to the magnifying function, even with, say, a 21mm Summilux (or a Voigtländer, TTArtisan…), the focus can be set very precisely and off-centre. This use case is also where the lack of stabilisation is least noticeable.

What are the alternatives?

So, for what I consider to be a limited usage scenario, the question remains if an M EV1 is really necessary. One alternative is the current M11 (with or without the -P; new or used; and, if desired and for some extra cash, without a display), with the Visoflex 2 for the M11 attached. 

However, the Visoflex has a lower resolution and detracts from the M’s elegant appearance. On the other hand, it can be folded up, which is not impractical at all. And for focal lengths from 28 to 75 or 90 millimeters, the classic rangefinder with all its virtues is available. This could be the best of both worlds, if only the Visoflex offered a little more performance.

The other option is a mirrorless system camera with an M adapter. However, especially with M wide-angle lenses, the Nikons, Canons and Sonys are not always convincing. The Leica SL, on the other hand, even reads an M lens’s 6-bit code with the original adapter. 

The current SL3 model (here on Macfilos is a long-term test by Jono Slack) has an excellent, large viewfinder and features sensor stabilisation (IBIS), a flip-up display and a very ergonomic grip. It costs significantly less than the M EV1. And it allows for autofocus and all the other support functions, thanks to a massive range of L-mount lenses at all price points. But yes, the SL is larger, heavier – and doesn’t look like an M.

Conclusion in a tiny nutshell

What remains of my Leica M EV1 hands-on in one sentence? It’s very cool that this camera exists, and I wish Leica every success with it — even if it hasn’t yet completely convinced me personally.

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More reading that goes far beyond my Leica M EV1 hands-on experience can be found here:

In this Macfilos article, Stefan Daniel answers questions from experts Bill Rosauer and Amitava Chatterjee about the new camera.

Mike Evans takes an in-depth look at Leica’s in-house “competition” to the new M EV1 and gives his assessment of its practical application. 

If you can read German: Claus Sassenberg has compiled the first reviews in an admirably detailed effort.

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More on M EV1
Jono Slack’s review of the M EV1	Other M-Mount cameras without rangefinder
Jon Cheffings joined the camera presentation	Petapixel on the M EV1

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