Leica’s new M camera drops its iconic rangefinder for an EVF

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

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

The M EV1 is still manual focusing like a traditional rangefinder. However, instead of focusing by aligning images in a patch in the center of an optical viewfinder, you see and focus through the lens on the half-inch EVF or 2.95-inch rear LCD. And like any other mirrorless camera, you can preview the live exposure and use focusing aids like focus and magnification.

A live view through the lens made it much easier to use ultra-wide and telephoto lenses on a Leica M. Any lens wider than 28mm (of which Leica offers a variety in M-mount) normally required some sort of external viewfinder, and focal lengths of 90mm or more could be difficult to focus accurately. Full-time live view also allows easier close focusing for recent M lenses that are shorter than the traditional minimum focus limitation of 0.7 meters – or when adapting a macro lens from another manufacturer.

M cameras could be used with live view since 2012’s M (Typ 240), but they required focusing on the rear screen or adding an accessory EVF. The M EV1’s built-in EVF is similar to that of the fixed-lens Leica Q3, but it operates at a slower 60 Hz instead of 120 Hz. The M EV1 also borrows the diamond-pattern leatherette from the Q cameras, although that’s about where its Q similarities end. Q.)

An interesting twist on a classic rangefinder control is the M EV1’s new front lever. What was normally a preview lever on traditional M cameras, allowing you to change frame lines in the viewfinder before changing lenses, is now two new customizable function buttons. You can flip the lever left or right to activate focus and magnification, or you can press and hold in either direction to call up a menu that changes these custom functions. It’s a pretty clever approach to what would otherwise be anachronistic control. Another change to the M EV1’s control layout is that it removes the ISO dial first introduced in the M10, returning to menu-based ISO control that you bring up with a function button.

I recently had the opportunity to hold the Leica M EV1 and tinker with it for a few minutes in a very brief hands-on preview, and found it to be exactly what I expected from a long-rumored “M EVF” camera – but not a modicum more. This is the bare minimum for replacing the rangefinder with an EVF on an M11-based camera, especially since Leica removed the viewfinder window and left that area completely empty, without even moving the red dot logo. The rangefinder patch window is oddly still there too, now housing an LED light for the timer. This all seems a bit shocking to me and, frankly, ugly.

But that’s good, I suppose, because changing a long-established design sometimes takes time to adjust to. While I expected Leica to do something a little more novel here, I (and I would wager others) also hoped that subtracting the expensive mechanical rangefinder would also mean subtracting a larger amount from the price. The $845 delta between the M EV1 and M11-P isn’t an insignificant amount, but it’s still a $9,000 camera, the same price at which the now-discontinued M11 first launched in 2022. Perhaps it’s a little price protection for traditional M cameras, in case Leica learns more than expected from its fans in favor of EVFs over a rangefinder.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge