Sure, I don't think we are talking about different things, I talk only about the way I want to do things and the kit I own. My preferences are built from my experiences which help me decide how I want to work, it's not the only way and may not even be the most efficient way but it's the way I like it!
As I don't do anything outside shooting commercially, I spend a huge amount of time just shooting anyway, I have good friends here who will sit for me for hours whilst I try different things, practice stuff and explore the reaches of my kit and imagination, I experiment a lot! Just on Saturday I had a friend bring her daughter around and I just photographed her with around 20 different lighting setups inside and outside, I spent an hour just focussing manually and more than that focussing with af, there's a very good chance I could just use evf, zoom in and nail focus every time, use ttl and take single shot, nothing wrong with that but it's not the way I want to do it so I don't! I remember when I first bought the Profoto TTL controller for the Nikon, I'd set up the lights and take a shot and the exposure was right, easy, efficient and so bloody boring! Went back to manual and just preferred the experimentation, it almost always opened up new things. I understand completely that you appreciate evf etc. as a means of experimenting in different conditions, I personally haven't found my creativity restricted by not having it, there's no right or wrong, just different. My opinion would probably change if I owned lenses like the Leica you mention and found it tricky to focus but as I don't, it's not something that factors.
Ultimately, whenever I see an image that really stands out to me, I have absolutely no thought for what was used to capture it, I just don't care, the "why" I find fascinating but not the "how", I never get anyone asking me what camera I use, I like that!
Technology is moving on at such a pace, it's a great time to be a photographer, no matter how you like to work, there is brilliant kit out there to help you produce the results you want, I'm not anti any technology, just not interested in buying it unless it does something for me that what I have doesn't.
Mat
Actually, just to add, the biggest development in my own images has not been from camera equipment but from software, C1 has made a huge difference over LR for me, plus investing more time in learning about post processing has done far more for me than new equipment has, that and taking the time to travel to places I don't often see. I think I would actually prefer spending the money I would use for a new camera on visiting some new places but I appreciate that's a very personal thing.