Leica’s new M camera drops its popular EVF rangefinder

Leica announces a new type of M-mount camera, the first that doesn’t actually have a rangefinder. The new M EV1 is based on M11-P As of 2023, but it does away with the traditional rangefinder in favor of a 5.76 million-dot electronic viewfinder – hence the deleted viewfinder window on the front. The new camera will launch in Europe and other markets today for €7,950, and will come to the US later due to an FCC delay, where it is expected to be priced at $8,995.

Since M EV1 is based on M11-PIt has the same processor, 60MP full-frame sensor, 64GB of internal storage, and content credentials support. This also means that the M EV1, like other M11 cameras, doesn’t record video at all. Without rangefinder assembly, and with aluminum body like black M11the M EV1 weighs 484 grams (or 1.07 pounds) without a lens attached. This means it is 46 grams lighter, which is equivalent to the weight of one golf ball.

The M EV1 still relies on manual focus like a traditional rangefinder. However, instead of focusing by aligning images in a patch in the center of the optical viewfinder, you can see and focus through the lens on the half-inch electronic viewfinder (EVF) or the rear 2.95-inch LCD screen. As with any other mirrorless camera, you can get live exposure preview and use focus tools like focus peaking and zoom.

Direct view through the lens makes using the ultra-wide and telephoto lenses on the Leica M much easier. Any lens wider than 28mm (and Leica makes a variety of lenses in M-mount) usually requires some sort of external finder, and it can be difficult to focus accurately at focal lengths of 90mm or longer. Full-time live view also allows for easier close focusing of modern M lenses that are shorter than the traditional minimum focusing distance of 0.7m – or when adapting a macro lens from another manufacturer.

M cameras can be used with Live View since M (Type 240) For 2012, but they required focusing on the rear screen or adding an EVF accessory. The M EV1’s built-in electronic viewfinder is similar to that of a fixed lens Leica Q3but it runs at a slower speed of 60Hz instead of 120Hz. The M EV1 also borrows the diamond-pattern leather cloth from the Q cameras, though that’s where the Q’s similarities end. (Pour one out for Leica fans hoping for a Q-sized M EVF.)

One interesting feature of the classic rangefinder control is the M EV1’s new front lever. What used to be a preview lever on traditional M cameras, to change frame lines in the viewfinder before switching lenses, is now two new customizable function buttons. You can toggle the lever left or right to enable focus peaking and zooming, or you can long-press in either direction to call up the menu that changes those custom functions. It’s a very clever approach to what could otherwise be an outdated control. Another change to the M EV1’s control layout is that it drops the ISO dial that was first introduced in M10returning to the menu-based ISO control that you bring up with the function button.

I was recently able to hold and play around with a Leica M EV1 for a few minutes in a very short hands-on preview, and found it to be exactly what I’d expect from the long-rumoured “M EVF” camera – although little more than that. It’s a minimal rangefinder swap for an EVF on an M11-based camera, especially considering that Leica deleted the viewfinder window and left that area starkly empty, without even moving the red dot logo. Oddly enough, the rangefinder patch window is still there too, as it now has a timer LED. The whole thing seems a bit annoying and, frankly, ugly to me.

But I think this is a good thing, as changing an established design sometimes takes time to adapt to. While I was expecting Leica to do something more modern here, I (and I bet others) were also hoping that the introduction of the expensive mechanical rangefinder would also mean cutting a more significant amount off the price. The $845 delta between the M EV1 and M11-P is not insignificant, but this is still a $9,000 camera, the same price as the now-discontinued camera M11 It was first launched in 2022. Perhaps this is a bit of a price cushion for traditional M cameras, in case Leica learns that more of its fans than expected prefer an EVF over a rangefinder.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto/The Verge