One of photography’s oldest camera makers is getting with the times, and updating its classic camera with something truly modern: an electronic viewfinder.
You might think that all cameras are made the same way, but that’s not really true. Even in an era where smartphones have made a different to the type of cameras we carry, the physical devices that are just cameras can vary between who makes them.
If you are sporting a dedicated camera still to this day, it probably includes a camera sensor, a touchscreen, and an electronic viewfinder, the latter of which is like a tiny version of your touchscreen made just for your eyes. You can’t touch it, but the moment you peer into it, the scene lights up and your eyes don’t need to struggle to see the whole picture.
It’s an approach we’ve seen in cameras for years, but one not every camera maker has delivered on for every model, relying more on the manual viewfinder for some styles of camera.
Take Leica, one of the first camera makers that’s still building them. The company offers electronic viewfinders in an assortment of cameras, but its “M-System” cameras have long been more focused on manual operations.
They’re the sort of cameras that kicked off photography for Leica, and indeed much of the world, and to end this year, they’re getting an electronic viewfinder, as well.
Also known as an “EVF”, the Leica M EV1 is the first variation of the M-models to get that electronic viewfinder, but it won’t replace the traditional analogue peep hole view for the camera.
Rather, it’s an addition to the range, showing what the sensor sees with a small 5.76 megapixel screen, and the camera able to switch between showing your view through the viewfinder or the touchscreen on the back.
It’s not dramatically different from how EVF-equipped mirrorless cameras have worked for ages, but now applies to this model from Leica, using the M11 as a template and basically adding the new viewfinder to the mix.
Like that model, the camera will sport a 60 megapixel full-frame sensor and supports an ISO range of 64 to 50,000, but also lacks video capture. This is largely a stills camera, as most Leica models tend to be.
As usual with most Leica gear, the price is one of those question where if you have to ask, you probably know the rest. But just in case you did want to ask, the Leica M EV1 is heading to Australia priced at $13,990 without the lens, with an addition leatherette hand grip set to cost $720.
