robb

Love that 50 apo Robb

I totally agree, I would def love less lag… Robb

I think prices have already tanked way down. But it’s a tool not an investment and def tax deductible for pros. I may double down and buy more sl2 and sl2-s soon at the way they are dropping and they are so capable. Robb

I’d go with the 18 or 21 and leave the wider lenses. Both are stellar. robb

https://leicarumors.com/2024/02/13/breaking-first-leaked-leica-sl3-camera-pictures-and-detailed-specifications.aspx/ Robb

The current Leica evf is what sold me on the system initially. I like the sl2 and sl2-s viewfinders so much. I’ve seen the 9k versions by other makes but I can’t see any difference above the Leica which to me still sets the bar. so more pixels in that dept is not a must have for me. looking forward to seeing all the other specs in March. Robb

That’s awesome. Great colors on your images for NYFW. Robb

I think the 21 will continue to be selected by video or documentary cine photographers who use a S35 size sensor for a 30mm equiv. my atomos raw recorder on the sl2-s works only with s35 crop. the DJI ronin 4D 6k in pro res raw works in s35 for 60 and much higher frame rates so i do think the 21 will be sought after for these uses as well as full frame all over. Robb

I seem to shoot all my apo summicrons at afs and always get good hit rates. Not always so with the 24-90 Robb

Based on mtf and my ownership, 90 apo all the way. Stunning lens on sl2. Prob also a cheaper price all-in. i would guess the 100 f2 S renders more like the SL 50 1.4 so pick your look you prefer. Robb

In studio only I’d go with sl2 with 75 or 90 apo and all other apo summicrons… used, the apo’s can be had around $3500. Nothing more fun to shoot portraits to me than sl2 with 75 apo. Amazing combo. outside location photography with flash, I’d go hassy x2d. But the viewfinder is not the easiest to use when you are overpowering the sun. I love the ibis in sl2 and x2d. To me dif tools for dif spots. Robb

Faster and solid af-c is badly needed in sl3. We’ll see… Robb

I use the phone app when I back the camera tight into a wall or corner for interior architecture. Works well where a flip down screen would not help. I just wish multishot was possible to trigger from the app. I’m not aware that it’s possible… the app is also great for looking like you are on your phone and getting a stealth shot that they don’t pay attention to whether the camera is sitting on a bag or tripod. So I hope with the sl3 the app gets a few upgrades. How about just trigger mode… and not worry about importing all the images to the phone? I have the flip up screen on my Hassy x2d and I’ve really only used it once. It’s not my thing. Never will be. Robb

Peter, Here is my take on my leica’s vs hassy. the resolution of 47 vs 100 or 61 vs 100 does not matter at all to me. I see both current cameras as almost equals but with different uses and high points. Leica does almost everything extremely well for me. I’ll generally take two sl2 or sl2-s bodies with me for every assignment along with either a 21,35,75 or 28,50,90 combo. I’ll add the 90-280 to one of those two sets if needed and primarily use that lens with E-shutter outside. These will never let you down. And I also use them on a tripod with multishot and sometimes multishot stitching. They are fun and easy to use with strobe at 1/250th. You can see very well with the viewfinder when set to PASM vs PAS mode when shooting flash in manual mode even in a darker room. It’s not perfect in these situations 100% of the time but almost always good to go. Extremely bright backlit scenes and dark foreground you wish to strobe in manual, like windows can mess up the viewfinder view of what you can clearly see. I’ve now blown up photos from the SL2 in multishot mode to 15’ wide. And in regular single shot mode to like 8’ or more. You can really count eyelashes and see amazing details on huge blowups. I’ll give all that credit to the apo primes with a tiny bit of credit to ibis. The clients are extremely happy. And I am quite impressed. I’m a bit disappointed that there’s not a lot more to buy for the sl2 cameras. I don’t want the wide zoom, or Panasonic rebrands (I’m not knocking them) but the apo’s are the most amazing lenses like… ever, so I really don’t want anything lower in the food chain. I love the 35mm full frame ratio of 2x3. I’d absolutely consider an sl3 if the continuous AF took a giant leap. I’m here to tell you that 47 vs 61 mp I could really care less about. Because I can do anything with 47mp and do almost everything with the 24mp with the sl2-s with those apo’s. another exciting new thing for me is starting to use my sl2-s cameras for cine. I did two documentary interviews today with two camera setups, audio, lighting. The stuff was just wonderful and I wasn’t even shooting raw yet… So I see video as more of my work and another service to offer. I really love movies and the added story telling capability. I ordered a DJI ronin 4d with Leica L mount so all my apo’s will work on that moving cine camera as well. A great combo using all these together for still and cine I think with the same apo’s. I’ll just say, I love Everything I am doing with my Leica sl2 and sl2-s cameras. So they are really hard to beat. I will grab the hassy x2d with several of the 4 new v lenses when I want or need to travel lighter, lower profile, and if I want to shoot strobed environmental portraits outside. It’s kind of like my slightly larger Leica Q. Neither the x2d or my q-p get used close to the sl2 cameras, even though I like them all. The x2d has great ergonomics. Better than the sl2. It has good UI but fewer items on the camera (fewer customization / features). But the viewfinder and its pasm vs pas settings do not make it easy to see your subject when shooting strobe in manual mode with overpowering the sun. You kind of have to trust it will focus correctly, and check the result after the fact to make sure. Focusing is normally good. The aspect ratio is not ideal for all subjects. If you cropped an x2d file to 2x3 I think it would equal…..a 60mp file… but the Leica can’t really do what the hassy does with those great leaf shutters and strobe. The x2d is also fairly quiet and a bit less noise than the sl2 in mech shutter mode. The hassy 90 v lens is a bit louder that the 28,38,and 55. The Leica sl2 in e-shutter is silent… the hassy colors are great with strobe. The Leica colors are also great with only minor tweaks. For some reason, I prefer the Leica colors for general outdoor shooting without strobes. Not sure why but that’s my preference. I wouldn’t pick one or the other just for the color. People notice the x2d less. So even though it is a similar dimension to the sl2, it’s just more of a stealth camera to me. I’ve shot indoor studio portraits with the x2d recently, and thought it focused single shot better than the Leica with a higher hit rate. the face focus mode does not work on the hassy with the back button focus. So you’ll have to go front shutter button focus to use that. I don’t really shoot that way but believe the update is very good in that regard. I like the masking for xpan crop factors. Not sure I care that it can’t shoot video. The x2d to me is an extra specialist camera for when you need certain features for that day or assignment. Could you interchange the sl2 with the hassy in most situations?yes if you don’t need really long lenses. I use adapted canon lenses on the sl2 up to 800 or longer, and yes they still autofocus and I can use e or mech shutters perfectly. I would not really ever use the e-shutter on the hassy. Are the hassy lenses great? Yes. Apo Leica great? No. Not wide open but sharp in the center and very good when stopped down slightly. I’d use the hassy lenses regardless of this with wonderful results. the hassy also has a big edge to me with dynamic range. And for landscape shooters would be a great add. The only reason I would ever pick to own the hassy over the Leica SL cameras is if you loved the aspect ratio, the amazing dynamic range, and the strobe use. just like we always owned multiple systems back in the film days, 35, 6x7, 4x5, I still think we still need some of that today depending on your specialty or what you want to achieve. As a commercial shooter, I still need different tools to grab for different assignments / clients. I will always see the Leica and hassy as complimentary, and both needed. I'm glad I don’t have to limit my tools… Robb

Current sl2 size is perfect for me. Losing weight without losing quality materials is always good in my book. I'm looking forward to the new release. Robb

I started out as a news photographer for UPI and Reuters and did a lot of professional sports. I think carrying a lot of heavy lenses with multiple cameras with drives and long fast glass got me started. then transitioned to commercial work during the film days where you had to carry a 35mm system and 6x7 system along with 6x17 or 4x5. And lights. So the amount of gear to carry went up. with digital backs and digital full frame, the gear a commercial shooter had to to bring went down in quantity but was still hefty. drone photography added another group of things to carry. i feel lucky with full frame mirrorless and Hassy x2d systems to be carrying all I need in one roller bag now with a large satchel. because I came with this background of lots of gear, two sl2 with 3 apo and a zoom feels like nothing. But I am more selective today of what I grab from the “armory” so I can shoot lighter and smarter… no Sherpa’s needed. Robb

Sorry for the late reply. Pm me an email and I’ll send you the raw file. Robb

That is awesome! Robb

I got my Q-P back. I had given it to my son but he does not really get it out for any real use. He’s more of an iPhone gen z… so I traded him one of my rifle scopes to get it back. I’m looking forward to pairing this up with my sl2-s and a lens or two when I want to travel light. Not sure if I might upgrade it to a Q2 or Q3 yet or not. I wish it had the same batteries as the Q2… anyway. It’s very small and lightweight compared to the other cameras I own and what’s out there. I love the viewfinder in monochrom mode. Just like my sl2 and sl2-s cameras. Fun camera for sure. Robb

I did some architectural correction on the verticals because of the walls and window that I wanted to appear straight vertical. Before I did that there wasn’t that much noticeable stretch. I think in general, it feels like a very normal view without distortion unless things are very close to the camera. I liked the look of the lens. It felt more natural than the canon super wides I had used previously. Robb

Love Stuart’s post. great summary. Apo summicron’s rock. Robb

There’s no real wrong answer. And there might not be a perfect answer either. So I’m sorry for the long write-up. you prefaced the thread title toward portraits. I’m generally trying to shoot portraits with longer lenses. The 24-90 in that dept has disappointed me with fine focusing on the eyes at 75-90 focal lengths. I always have to manually touch it up and it’s not as sharp at the long end as the apo’s I still own the 24-90 for different uses. It rocks for 24-50 and for general purpose images all the way to 90 in many cases. I rarely shoot it less than 5.6 or 8.0 these days. Would I still choose it over the 24-70. Yes. I think it’s built better and it’s one of the best zooms I’ve ever owned against canon and Nikon. if you generally have room (shooting distance) 75 apo wins over the 50 apo because of extra compression. It’s great for portraits and nice for travel and street for details and layered scenes. The focal length feels so natural to me. the 75 apo is my desert island one lens - only lens… over any single lens made by any manufacturer ever. So I’d steer you to the 75apo. I cannot possibly imagine you being disappointed by it… ever. It always nails focus, is fairly light, way sharper than the m apo 75 and will cause you to question the need for the 24-90……. so I warn you about all the apo’s having that effect. I shoot it 95% of the time between f2 and f4. It’s Stunning always. I would never carry a 50 and 75 together. They are too close in focal length to me. So I agree, buy one or the other if you can’t have more. in order for me to shoot smarter (and lighter) with my work and even on a vacation where I bring the cameras, I’ll opt for a 3 lens apo summicron set two bodies with a 21,35,75 or two bodies with the 28,50,90 but in some circumstances, the 75 and one body may be the only combo that comes out of the roller bag the whole day if I am photographing people in offices or lit portraits. I WANT to use that combo. For location work for projects in the field, I’ll travel lighter again with 28,50,90-280. That’s a stunning trio that can hit most everything. I don’t want to carry extra stuff anymore. We can all just work smarter and save our backs and have less distractions about what to use in the moment. Do I ever miss Nikon or canon with these combos. Not at all. owned the m 75 1.4 previously. Nice background. Not sharp wide open or even at f2. While I can appreciate the old school feel cause I’M old school… lol, I’m not willing to shoot with lenses to get some “character” that people refer to and lose sharpness. I love the apo SL character. I used to own the voigtlander 50 1.0 in m mount adapted to the sl2 cameras. It was a very nice lens. Sharp. Beautiful blown out background. Sometimes had trouble on portraits with both eyes in focus at the same time. But I decided that while I love great background blur, the apo lenses still gave that to me just fine and I had both eyes in focus (which I prefer)… sold the voigtlander and bought the apo SL 50. Could not be happier. Sometimes miss the voigt but not because the apo has any issues or lacks anything. They do different things and are different flavors. I had the zeiss zm 35 1,4. Compared it to the apo SL 35. Sold the zeiss. The apo 35 looked so similar to background blur and I didn’t need the extra stop and loved the autofocus, weathersealing, and just mating with the camera ready to go. I didn’t enjoy, pairing the zm lens with the body all the time for the ibis to work properly. Adapting lenses many times just slowed me down. so I’ve enjoyed trying many different lenses on the sl2 and sl2-s but decided I prefer the apo lens look, sharpness, clarity, etc. so I got rid of my extra gear and just enjoy making money at my work and using the Leica’s with the apo’s to do that. go get your mint 75 SL apo and go set some records this year. Robb

I feel like I will never use the 24-90 and apo lenses (other than the 90-280) ever “together” on the same shoot. I’ll either grab the zoom(s) or the apo primes but rarely ever have them with me together. I pick one type or the other and roll with what I bring based on my main needs. Robb

For portraits, The 90 apo will make you dislike using the 24-90 on the long end… the 90 apo is great. I still vote 75 apo. It needs less room inside when shooting portraits vs the 90 similar look to both 75 and 90. To me the main difference is working space. 90 is great for people noticing you just a little less. but to further drag you back into the fray… 50 apo is still an amazing lens to me. Could be a one and done lens to do most everything well including portraits where you have less room. You just need to find your backgrounds behind people that are further away to assist in the blur. Robb

Did Leica have a specific front and thumb grips for the Q-P in its matte finish or only those made for the original Q? thanks for any info Robb