I am in the same boat, now trying out a new Arca 3Mdi system in medium format. I am trying to do everything with live view, which is some work, but can be done. I had thought that getting exposures right would be difficult with a manual camera, and got out my Pentax spot meter from my large format days.
You are right, it was surprising how easy it seems to estimate the right exposure with one or two shots. Once you have established your exposure, it remains relatively constant.
I remember reading how Brett Weston took photos without a meter, and thought; 'wow, how can anyone do that', but it seems that it is not that difficult perhaps, particularly with digital cameras.
For me currently, just learning a new system, focusing is the biggest challenge.