Leica M EV1 in-depth review

What is the Leica M EV1 and who is it for?

The M is not just a camera for Leica, it’s a philosophy: manual focus, minimal automation and a more considered shooting experience. The new Leica M EV1, however, is a bold pivot away from that story because it’s the first M with an integrated electronic viewfinder instead of a rangefinder. 

It’s designed to help make M photography easier to access, more precise at focusing and more flexible with lenses that have traditionally been somewhat awkward to use. 

This isn’t Leica going mirrorless in the conventional sense, as M models have never had a mirror. The M EV1 remains an M-Mount, manual-focus stills camera, but abandons the iconic, optical rangefinder experience which involves focusing manually by viewing two superimposed images in the viewfinder. A more modern, through-the-lens EVF workflow, complete with focus peaking and magnification, takes its place. 

It still carries the official ‘M’ branding, of course, which stands for messsucher, the German word for rangefinder. Even though it now doesn’t have one. 

The EV1 is best understood as a rangefinderless M that keeps the system’s core strengths – high-end stills files, legendary lenses and a compact build – while also addressing the biggest barrier to entry, which is reliable focusing at wide apertures and with tricky focal lengths. 

Leica positions the EV1 as the easiest way to enter the M-System and specifically calls out how the EVF is perfect for achieving a shallow depth-of-field with fast Summilux or Noctilux lenses. Its also improves usability with ultra wides, telephotos and when shooting macro-style work. 

If you love the unique look of M lenses but have found the rangefinder limiting, the EV1 is aimed squarely at you. Or perhaps, like me, your eyes aren’t as good as they once were and the EV1 can transform your experience. 

I have to admit that, while I own a Leica M (Typ 240) and a couple of very lovely lenses, I rarely use them as modern mirrorless make it so much easier to get sharp shots, with lenses of any focal length. So, more often than not, my old rangefinder M stays at home. I still love it, though.

The EV1 still offers the Leica experience but makes it easier and faster to get great shots. And as it costs £6840, which is cheaper than the £7900 M11, it’s the one I’d buy. As someone who has owned lots of Leica M models since the M6, right through to the M8 and M9 digital versions, I’m far from Leica’s target of newbies to the system. 

Leica M EV1 image quality and performance

The EV1 uses a 60.3-megapixel, full-frame BSI CMOS sensor, paired with Leica’s Maestro III processor and no optical low-pass filter. Files are 14-bit, lossless compressed DNG files or JPEG.
Or you can shoot both, maybe doing a mono JPEG for a traditional black & white reportage style but having a full-fat and full-colour DNG for hardcore post work. After all, it just feels right to shoot mono photos on a Leica.

The EV1 has 64GB internal memory and single SD card support for UHS-II SDXC media up to 2TB. That built-in storage is a surprisingly practical safety net: you can keep shooting if you forget a card or use it as a quick overflow option. The camera also offers three different resolution settings in around 60, 36 or 18 megapixels in either JPEG or DNG, so you can squeeze even more images onto a card.

In tempo, the EV1 is still very much an M. Continuous shooting tops out at 4.5fps, with a 3GB buffer good enough for 15 DNGs or more than 100 JPEGs. That’s fine for street, travel, portrait
and documentary moments but far less good for sport bursts or high-intensity action sequences. But that’s not why you go for a Leica M.

Shutter options are a mechanical focal plane shutter for speeds up to 1/4000sec, plus an electronic shutter mode that reaches 1/16,000sec. That’s useful on bright days when you want to use a fast lens wide open, like I did with my Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH.

The results are excellent, just as they are on the Leica M11 that has the same sensor. Lots of dynamic range, stunning colours and low noise, unless you push it really high in terms of ISO. And it’s helped with the legendary Leica lenses, which render in a unique way that can’t be faked in Photoshop. The look is still organic and sharp but not overly digital. 

Leica M EV1 EVF

While Leica has offered an add-on EVF for its later rangefinder M cameras, it adds bulk and hasn’t been so popular. The EV1’s EVF is 5.76-million dots, 0.76× magnification, 100% coverage and runs at 60fps with an eye sensor that automatically switches between EVF and LCD. The rear display is almost 3 inches, 2.33-million dots and is made of touch-enabled, tough glass. 

The big change is the focusing, composition and overall usability. The EV1’s focus aids – focus peaking and two levels of magnified view – turn M focusing into something far more approachable, especially for anyone moving across from mainstream mirrorless cameras. Leica leans hard into this, describing the EVF-led experience as ‘pure precision’. 

In real shooting terms, the EVF solves three classic M headaches. The first is for ultra wides: M users often needed external optical finders that were never very precise. For telephoto use, rangefinder accuracy is more demanding as focal length increases, but the added EVF magnification makes critical focus more dependable. Close focus is easier to use confidently, too. There is no comparison, the EV1 wins out. 

For super-shallow depth-of-field from very fast lenses, something many Leica owners thrive on, the camera is also a big leap forward. You get the M lens look with a workflow that resembles the speed and certainty of mirrorless focusing tools and without surrendering manual control. And where the EV1 feels modern is in the exposure confidence that it provides. The through-the-lens, live view gives you a real-time preview of exposure and depth-of-field. 

But it’s not perfect. A rangefinder can be a great tool, providing quick and accurate focus so you can leave the lens alone and take as many shots as you like. With the EVF, you can set it so that when you half push the shutter release, it punches in to give you a closer view to make sure your focus is nailed. But it’s better to use the small function lever on the front plate that rocks two ways. We found it best when one was set to give a zoomed-in view and the other was set for peaking to show what’s in focus. It’s a new way of working and an excellent solution for manual focus lenses. 

Leica M EV1 connectivity, credentials and battery life

Alongside the EVF, Leica’s other contemporary push is authenticity. Like the M11-P line, the EV1 supports Leica Content Credentials to help verify the provenance of images digitally. 

The EV1 also has wireless and app integration with the Leica Fotos app, and GPS geotagging, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi handled via the phone connection. 

Leica quotes around 237 shots with the EVF or 244 shots on the LCD until the battery dies. That’s not unusual for a high-res camera with constant live view, but it does mean you’ll want
spare batteries for travel days or event coverage. USB-C charging is supported when off or on standby as well as power supply and intermittent charging when the camera is in use.

Conclusion

The pricing is also modern and premium. That sets it in a very Leica place: it’s aspirational, specialist and not even remotely great value by normal standards. But there is no other camera that offers this combination of M-Mount experience, 60.3-megapixel files and a built-in EVF in a body that still looks and feels like an M series.

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