Leica SL2


buj

New member
Hi,
are there rumors according to an update of Leicas SL?

I`d like to switch from my loved M10 to the SL system, but I'm not sure if i should invest in an almost 4 year old system/camera...
The M10 is perfect but my eyes are getting weaker and weaker.....
 

Stevo

New member
Hi,
are there rumors according to an update of Leicas SL?

I`d like to switch from my loved M10 to the SL system, but I'm not sure if i should invest in an almost 4 year old system/camera...
The M10 is perfect but my eyes are getting weaker and weaker.....
I can tell you this, I shot canon for over 10 years. Had 2 1dx ii bodies and 11 L series lenses. I switched a year and a half ago and never looked back. You said you’re using the m10. I’m assuming you have M lenses also. Well, the SL has amazing focus peaking. Believe it or not, the SL and the M would have the same performance regarding ISO and processing power. You can adapt your lenses to the SL. But if you’re wondering about the SL 2, that will eventually happen, and when it does, it’ll be amazing. I can’t tell you how amazing the native SL lenses are. They even put medium format lenses to shame. If you want to switch, please do it without hesitation. You will not be disappointed. Good luck!!
 

soundimageplus

New member
I have an M10 and an SL. If you have an M10 I wouldn't worry about the age of the SL. It has a stellar sensor, great lenses and Leica's signature minimalist approach. Most of it is menu based, refreshingly so for my taste. The usual knobfest on a lot of mirrorless cameras annoys the hell out of me and you can work your way round the SL in a relatively short time. Great camera, with almost identical IQ to the M10. One thing you will have to get used to is the size and weight. I walk around with the camera, battery grip and 24-90mm zoom lens. Lens just say I'm building some serious arm muscles from this !!
 

Antonio-ZA

New member
As a bonus, you can mount various lenses on the SL. You can mount the M lenses, even the LSM lenses with a double-adapter, and the R lenses. All these options are generally smaller and lighter lenses without the autofocus. If you decide to stay with the M10, you can also mount the R lenses with an adapter and use the live view or the Visoflex EVF.
I have an M10 and an SL. If you have an M10 I wouldn't worry about the age of the SL. It has a stellar sensor, great lenses and Leica's signature minimalist approach. Most of it is menu based, refreshingly so for my taste. The usual knobfest on a lot of mirrorless cameras annoys the hell out of me and you can work your way round the SL in a relatively short time. Great camera, with almost identical IQ to the M10. One thing you will have to get used to is the size and weight. I walk around with the camera, battery grip and 24-90mm zoom lens. Lens just say I'm building some serious arm muscles from this !!
 

Antonio-ZA

New member
I've had multiple eye surgeries and this is the first year I'm able to focus the rangefinder again. I did test the CL with the M lenses and they work great together. The focus peaking is really good to make manual focus very usable. You can also opt to use the new TL lenses which are superb.

Hi,
are there rumors according to an update of Leicas SL?

I`d like to switch from my loved M10 to the SL system, but I'm not sure if i should invest in an almost 4 year old system/camera...
The M10 is perfect but my eyes are getting weaker and weaker.....
 

Clactonian

New member
I'm sure the SL2 will be a beauty, and I could well be tempted, but it will no doubt have a sensor in the region of 40Mp. Yes in theory that will give you finer detail and the ability to crop more but the larger files will demand more computer processing power and hard disk space. You will also need the very best lenses and technique to maximise on the investment.
I find 24 Mp more than enough for my needs and regularly print to A3+ size with stunning results from my current SL and M lenses.
But .........
 

ElMonty

New member
I use both the Q and C( stealth street camera and it will fit in a bike jersey pocket) as well as Sony gear. If glass were not so pricey/limited I'd get an S..will be more than interesting to see what Sigma & Panasonic come up with.
 

Antonio-ZA

New member
I actually considered a Sigma camera before and later became more interested in the M 246 Monochrom. I wasn't about to invest in a Sigma SA mount with a limited selection of lenses and not particularly impressive before the Art line came out. I'm now waiting to see and excited about what Sigma comes out with for a full frame Foveon in the L-Mount. I just don't like the Bayer array filter that most sensors have because of the chromatic fuzziness and digital noise, hence the two choices above. I like being able to use my vintage M lenses with an M Adapter L on these modern sensors.
 

Stevo

New member
I'm sure the SL2 will be a beauty, and I could well be tempted, but it will no doubt have a sensor in the region of 40Mp. Yes in theory that will give you finer detail and the ability to crop more but the larger files will demand more computer processing power and hard disk space. You will also need the very best lenses and technique to maximise on the investment.
I find 24 Mp more than enough for my needs and regularly print to A3+ size with stunning results from my current SL and M lenses.
But .........
I believe that the SL lenses are more than capable of handling a 40mp sensor, as a matter of fact, i think they'll shine at higher MPs because the glass is just unbelievable.
 

howiebrou

New member
Question is, can a M lens handle a 40MP sensor. A dealer once told me that Leica have not inched past 24MP in order to preserve their M lenses.
 

soundimageplus

New member
Of course it can. I had several of mine stuck on the front of a 42MP Sony A7r II. Results were ultra sharp. Some problems with super W/A's in the corners, but that has more to do with Sony than the M lens. Not quite sure what kind of dealer you are talking about that would say that. It would also be a pretty poor situation if a lens range that charges eye watering prices couldn't handle anything higher then 24MP.
 

howiebrou

New member
Well that’s good to know. I have not had the priviledge of trying M lenses on anything non-Leica but it bodes well for using them on the Panasonics, Sigmas and other brands as well as the new SL2 of course!
 

Clactonian

New member
I think their is little doubt that the current SL lenses are designed for higher resolution sensors and maybe some of the newer 'M' lenses but I wouldn't be so sure of any older glass. But then we get into the 'character' discussion regarding older glass on newer cameras.
I'm must confess that I'm not sure I see the correlation between 'eye watering' Leica prices and the ability of a lens to match high resolution sensors, but I hope you're right.
It is interesting to note that the latest lenses from CanNikon stables etc. for use on the high resolution sensor cameras are moving towards Leica price territory despite their higher volume, more mechanised manufacturing processes and arguably inferior build standards.
 

soundimageplus

New member
Well if Leica charge high prices for lenses then they should be sensational optically, otherwise what's the point? I have to say I have some Leica M lenses from the 1960's and they are absolutely superb. Every bit as sharp as current lenses. I use them on my SL and have used them on 42MP sensor cameras. I have to say I was very surprised that they were so good, but then making a decent manual focus lens isn't that difficult if you use decent materials and precise engineering. A lot of modern lenses are made using cheaper materials and have to be 'corrected' with software. Back in the day that wasn't possible so that the manufacturers had to be that more precise. At least that's my theory!!
 

Clactonian

New member
None of my M lenses are that old so I can't comment, other than that they all perform beautifully on my SL. Contrast that with some of my Nikon glass that I bought when we were in the 12Mp era that perform very disappointingly on a 24Mp sensor.
 

Antonio-ZA

New member
I have a 1968 M4 and vintage M lenses: 1956 Summaron 3,5cm/f2,8; 1958 Summicron V2 Rigid Dual-Range 5cm/f2; 1954 Elmar 9cm/f4 collapsible; 1961 Elmar 13,5cm/f4. They are all wonderful lenses with great character, receding very gracefully into a soft bokeh; whereas, the modern aspherical lenses have abrupt transitions from focus to bokeh. The vintage lenses are generally sharper on-axis and softer in the field (off-axis) than the modern lenses. The Summaron 3,5cm for example at moderate apertures of 5,6 is just as sharp, if not sharper than the modern Summicron 35mm. The bee approaching shot below shows the bokeh and the 3D look of the bee against the background. As they developed the designs through the decades, performance became more even from axis to field, but sometimes less sharp on-axis than the vintage lenses. The 1954 Elmar 9cm collapsible is much heavier and better built than the modern Macro-Elmar 90mm. The 1958 Summicron V2 Rigid DR is a magical lens that renders so beautifully on the M 246 Monochrom. The staircase shot below shows the bokeh transition. The 1961 Elmar 13,5 is a long-lens design, not telephoto, which is what I prefer coming from my large format experience, yet is quite small. This entire set with a leather vintage bag weighs only 4kg. The authority on Leica information is Erwin Puts, who wrote the Leica compendia books https://www.apotelyt.com/photo-download/leica-literature.
 

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Antonio-ZA

New member
I was quite disappointed with my Canon L lenses when flare and ghosting ruined a sunset shot. Coming from large format lenses that render so cleanly, I switched to the Leica M lenses. The more complex designs usually are more prone to flare and ghosting, so I seek simplicity. The mirror box in SLRs make lens design much more difficult because of the necessary offset from the rear element to the imaging plane. The M lenses were designed without this constraint.
None of my M lenses are that old so I can't comment, other than that they all perform beautifully on my SL. Contrast that with some of my Nikon glass that I bought when we were in the 12Mp era that perform very disappointingly on a 24Mp sensor.
 

ElMonty

New member
Beware megapixels...16-24 w/ great glass is more than enough. It's what's in the image that counts. Larger MP require more robust computer and storage systems. Terabytes will give way to petabytes. I just finished a job that was 80GB of raw data...

.IMG_4785.jpg
 

soundimageplus

New member
None of my M lenses are that old so I can't comment, other than that they all perform beautifully on my SL. Contrast that with some of my Nikon glass that I bought when we were in the 12Mp era that perform very disappointingly on a 24Mp sensor.
Like the M lenses, I have a set of Nikon F film lenses that I use on my SL. I think you are right about some of the early digital Nikon F lenses, but my older lenses are very sharp across the frame. I have a couple of Voigtlander SLR lenses - 20mm f/3.5 and 58mm f/1.4 which perform very well indeed.
 

Clactonian

New member
The Nikon 180/2.8D and 85/1.8D are stellar on the SL. I haven't tried the 50/1.8D as I have several 50mm M lenses.. The 24-85/2.8-4 zoom is not good at all and is poor on the D750 too, which is a pity as it is relatively compact. It's good fun trying them out though for the different rendering they produce.
 

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