Freakscene
Obscure member
Yes; it’s all in the execution, and, in general, it is not done well.
Leica M EV1 First Review - It's Bad
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Godfrey
somewhat colored
If that was where the M-D name came from, it should be M-G since the German for "deleted" is gelöscht ... thus
Messucher Gelöscht. The Leica folks would never mix English and German that way in their naming...
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Egal wohin du gehst, da bist du.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
You know, rather than just making up opinions based on my impression of the marketing fuff, and distaste for the naming choice, I think I'll rent an M EV1 body and see how it performs. I wonder who might have some to rent. 🙂
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bjorke
Designated Driver
Or in my case, buy one. The gripes of others are thus far not affecting my shooting. Instead I like it, so far. The weight is good, the feel natural. I like picking up a new camera and knowing how to use it (99%) without the need to be hunting through screens of menus or reading the manual.
sojournerphoto
Veteran
Anyone considered Fuji GFX 100RF as an alternative to the M EV1? Probably not as good at dealing with M lenses, but not that different in size - slightly narrower, taller and mostly thicker - but much cheaper. Has the same 5.76m dot evf.
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Freakscene
Obscure member
I have contemplated the GFX100 II, for the 9.6mp evf. It also is responsive in a way that the M EV1 is not.
shawn
Veteran
Definitely not as good with M lenses, the 100RF is a fixed lens camera. Basically a medium format x100 with a 28mm FOV lens instead of 35mm FOV.
sojournerphoto
Veteran
Ah - a big and high res gr iv, with no IBIS then!! Hadn’t picked that up🙂
sojournerphoto
Veteran
Yep - that viewfinder is interesting.
Archiver
Veteran
It depends on how one would typically use a M EV1. The 100RF appeals to me because, among other things, I'm very happy with the 28mm equivalent of the Sigma DP1 and need little else for general everyday shooting in terms of focal length. I wouldn't consider the 100RF a substitute/alternative to a M body unless my primary/only lens was a slow 24-28mm. Cropping aside, that's where it's at.
bjorke
Designated Driver
I have the 85 Milvus and on my anason the sigma adapter starts pulling hard on the mount, sometimes it appears to lose electrical connection.
Haven't had that happen with an SL camera yet though. Yet.
Has to be the heaviest stills lens I've ever used that doesn't have its own tripod collar.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
A fixed 28mm equivalent lens ... I could/can live with a fixed 40 or 50 mm equivalent, but 28mm is a bit too wide and not quite wide enough for a specialty camera (like the Hasselblad SWC/M). Of course, with 100 Mpixels to work with, one could crop for 40mm or 60mm and still have plenty of resolution, but it's not the same feel when shooting.
I'm warming to the Leica (M) EV1 concept. I see a couple of places beginning to offer them for rental ... I need to try one.
(Actually, I need to pull out my Hassy SWC, fit the CFVII 50c back, and do some shooting with that setup. First. 😉 )
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bjorke
Designated Driver
Apparently you didn't see that you can turn auto-zoom-on-focus-shift off, and just use the FN button next to the shutter. Instant on, instant-off.
That questionable feature's in other cameras too. Just turn it off.
So far, I think it's a fine partner to my M10-R. Wish they had the same battery, but the new camera has USB, so there's that. And no more red LED's in the finder. I so, so preferred the old match-needles in my M5's.
I know there are some who wring their hands nightly, worrying that someone, somewhere, is having a good time.
Coldkennels
Barnack-toting Brit.
I'm aware of this. I still think it's an utterly terrible implementation of what can be a useful feature, if done right.
On the Fuji X bodies, electrical contacts between an X-mount lens and the X-mount body give you the same punch-in when focusing. However, there, it's instant. I understand that in the M's RF linkage there's going to be some "slop" to take up, but I still don't think there's a justification for the amount of delay in the system.
bjorke
Designated Driver
Definitely go over there and tell them how you would do it better. Be very specific on how it will work. Or, just turn it off. I never used that feature on Fuji's either. It's dumb.
olakiril
Well-known
You probably mean that you found it impractical. For others it might be different.
In all honesty, I have never met such a person, nor has anyone here ever given me that impression.
Enjoy your camera...
Freakscene
Obscure member
I told them at the launch that it was a substantial problem. I also provided some approaches to make it faster that they could implement quite simply.
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davidkilpatrick
Newbie
I'v just used Leica's excellent UK trial hire for EV1 with 35mm/1.4 Summilux ASPH. I have read many comments, not all. I have previously used the GFX 100 II and in November Fujifilm sent me the XE-5 (a rangefinder body shape with EVF only) for a couple of weeks. I am not a current Leica RF user, but have been in the past since around 1970 onwards and I test many cameras in the course of magazine production. I'm not won over. I know why I value Leica RF over, say, my Sony A7RV and last year found I used Fuji's X100VI just as much as the larger sensor system camera. Basically I lost shots too often with the M EV1 - by the time it's woken up and clonked the shutter curtain away to light up the EVF, and I've twisted the focus a touch to activate the magnified view then re-touch the shutter to return to composition, the subject's gone. I also did comparative tests with adapted M lenses on a helical (Fotodiox) M to E-mount adaptor, basic outcome of that was 'get an adaptor which keeps the lens parallel to the sensor'.
I have to admit to liking the close focus on new Leica lenses, 40cm beats any optical finder RF lens, so was disappointed that the magnified focus activation does not work for the close range (it works if you activate it with the lens focused further away then move to the close range, but turns off after the first shot). Colours lovely, noise levels lower than A7RV sensor despite same pedigree, white balance wildcard, auto exposure accurate, and ergonomics poor especially if trying to frame vertical shots.
And then there's the issue of LED and similar lighting with the EVF/screen. I've never seen anything like it. Needs a health warning for strobe lights! It does stabilised but on first framing a shot with many low energy lights the EVF flickering and strobing was awful. I took a (poor) shot of my daughter's cat in their home which has many LED lights in the room and when the cat moved she said 'the flash spooked her' - only there was no flash, it was the light from a wildly pulsing rear screen! Despite this, no shots showed banding in the capture. Since my Sony (shows banding readily) has never had this with the EVF/screen, I guess it's down to the architecture or perhaps firmware in the EV1.
Photo example during testing. Shot by prefocusing just as I would with an optical finder - timing not too bad as caught this group walking towards me much where intended. Sunburst was much less visible in the EVF, welcome bonus. Could have used a smaller aperture with higher ISO and faster shutter speed, given the very low noise level of the DNG files. About the closest thing to a grab shot I managed with the M EV1. I only had three hours of decent light during the hire period, the first day was torrential rain and near-dark after 3pm.
I have to admit to liking the close focus on new Leica lenses, 40cm beats any optical finder RF lens, so was disappointed that the magnified focus activation does not work for the close range (it works if you activate it with the lens focused further away then move to the close range, but turns off after the first shot). Colours lovely, noise levels lower than A7RV sensor despite same pedigree, white balance wildcard, auto exposure accurate, and ergonomics poor especially if trying to frame vertical shots.
And then there's the issue of LED and similar lighting with the EVF/screen. I've never seen anything like it. Needs a health warning for strobe lights! It does stabilised but on first framing a shot with many low energy lights the EVF flickering and strobing was awful. I took a (poor) shot of my daughter's cat in their home which has many LED lights in the room and when the cat moved she said 'the flash spooked her' - only there was no flash, it was the light from a wildly pulsing rear screen! Despite this, no shots showed banding in the capture. Since my Sony (shows banding readily) has never had this with the EVF/screen, I guess it's down to the architecture or perhaps firmware in the EV1.
Photo example during testing. Shot by prefocusing just as I would with an optical finder - timing not too bad as caught this group walking towards me much where intended. Sunburst was much less visible in the EVF, welcome bonus. Could have used a smaller aperture with higher ISO and faster shutter speed, given the very low noise level of the DNG files. About the closest thing to a grab shot I managed with the M EV1. I only had three hours of decent light during the hire period, the first day was torrential rain and near-dark after 3pm.
bjorke
Designated Driver
Interesting note about the flickering, was the ISO set to auto? That might have explained the finder behavior. Mine did something similar in high-contrast situations. My SL2 does the same thing. Manual ISO: smooth as a quiet lake, even in proximity to LEDs.
M11 owners might clue me in here: the EV1 seems really savvy at auto-detecting NON-6bit lenses, like my old 21 or 90. M10 doesn't do this. Does the M11? Pretty cool.
bjorke
Designated Driver
Reply to myself: that is, if you have auto-ISO on with the EVF set to "permanent exposure preview" which I did find myself in for a sec once, but it's a self-contradictory and self-defeating combo for any camera. If you're already shooting AE, may as well set the EVF to auto, too. Usual half-press-AE-lock rules apply.
So far I'm finding it a very comfortable camera, using it the same way I'd use any other M (e.g., no back screen shooting, rarely in auto-anything).
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