Jump to content

A Year with the Leica SL


jonoslack

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi there 

It's now over a year since the first prototype of the SL arrived at my door - I've had one pretty much constantly by my side since then.

 

Here is a report on a year with the camera:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-news/2016/07/year-leica-sl/

 

Thanks to Andreas and Judith for doing such a grand job with the article and for translating my rubbish prose into German!

 

I hope you enjoy reading it (that's the intention after all). 

 

Best wishes to everyone

Jono Slack

 

  • Like 17
Link to post
Share on other sites

Indeed...I didn't know Peter, but did recall the recent post on his passing, in case you wanted to refine your article reference.

 

On a lighter note, regarding the camera itself, I was frankly surprised how well I bonded with the menu design/interface of the S when I tested it.  I had preferred well marked, single function, dials on prior cameras.  The S interface, now pretty much replicated on the SL, however, turned out to be quite user friendly for me. 

 

My understanding is that Leica borrowed heavily from its Phase One relationship for the elegant four button interface.  I don't see many references to this basis in S, or SL, reviews.  Regardless, I think Leica chose a good path.

 

Jeff

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent article as always, Jono! And some lovely photographs too. Thanks for posting them!

 

The SL control interface has been a natural for me. A tremendous lot of features all simply presented, easily configured, easily learned and remembered. I am delighted with how quickly it all came together. 

 

Elsewise, the camera has been an excellent and satisfying performer, per your review. I tend to use R lenses most of the time but I'm glad I bought the SL24-90 zoom as well, even if I do underutilize it. An amusing thought is that if I did buy the SL90-280 zoom, I'd probably use long lenses more of the time because of the IS ... I tend to use them mostly when I take the time to carry a tripod nowadays. Oh well, we'll see as time goes on. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I enjoyed the article and the photos. Well done! I definitely agree the SL can be used as a do-it-all camera. I replaced a Nikon D4s which had served a similar purpose before. The interface and build quality of the SL make it a pleasure to use. The RRS L-bracket fits the camera perfectly and has actually improved the handling for me by extending the grip a bit.

 

A couple notes:

- High resolution is definitely useful for more than just large prints. Down sampling (normalizing) for a given print or viewing size shows improved results with a higher resolution camera. The benefits far outweigh the file size concerns for me for a given use case. I would prefer a high resolution S upgrade (75-100 MP) to go with the SL (or potentially a high res SL variant instead). I could use the SL and M240 for most shooting and the S for certain applications. I believe this would be an important option that would go over well for Leica. They could market aggressively the cross-compatibility between the M, L, and S systems.

 

- The cover photo on your site for this article "Triumvirate" has what looks like a nasty sensor spot (or some sort of artifact) on the left hand side in the clouds, approximately at the 50% vertical area. It's a large dark circle. I have seen more dust on the sensor with this camera than any other I've owned, despite it's supposed self cleaning feature. I have to deal with a huge number of spots and I don't change lenses often from the 24-90.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

My understanding is that Leica borrowed heavily from its Phase One relationship for the elegant four button interface.  I don't see many references to this basis in S, or SL, reviews.  Regardless, I think Leica chose a good path.

 

 

I would probably disagree with that... Phase One backs do indeed have 4 buttons but that is pretty much where the similarities stop IMHO...

Link to post
Share on other sites

I would probably disagree with that... Phase One backs do indeed have 4 buttons but that is pretty much where the similarities stop IMHO...

 

I was only referencing the LCD surrounding 4 button soft key interface, not anything else.

 

David Farkas noted the obvious similarity when he reviewed the S2 in 2008, adding comments from Leica regarding focus group support...  http://www.reddotforum.com/content/2008/09/photokina-2008-leica-vip-launch-event-for-s2/   More recent reviews, not so much.

 

Jeff

Link to post
Share on other sites

Jono,

 

wonderful review, I thoroughly enjoyed it - as you know, I love your approach to reviewing cameras in general and this review was no exception. It is great to see how the SL can be a very flexible and "universal" tool in your hands, and how the SL is great for the job. For my needs, I'd like to see a high-resolution SL coming up next, a-la Sony A7 system; that would be great. In the meantime, I snagged a used S2-P with 3 lenses, kept the lenses and upgraded the S2-P to a S 007 (arriving today!), which together with the SL should cover all my needs for the moment being. But I digress - sorry! Back to your review, I very much enjoyed your thoughts about the role / position of the SL in the market and on the industry's direction & development, and of course your lovely photographs. Great job!

 

Best,

 

Vieri

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I enjoyed the article and the photos. Well done! I definitely agree the SL can be used as a do-it-all camera. I replaced a Nikon D4s which had served a similar purpose before. The interface and build quality of the SL make it a pleasure to use. The RRS L-bracket fits the camera perfectly and has actually improved the handling for me by extending the grip a bit.

- The cover photo on your site for this article "Triumvirate" has what looks like a nasty sensor spot (or some sort of artifact) on the left hand side in the clouds, approximately at the 50% vertical area. It's a large dark circle. I have seen more dust on the sensor with this camera than any other I've owned, despite it's supposed self cleaning feature. I have to deal with a huge number of spots and I don't change lenses often from the 24-90.

 

HI There 

Thanks for the kind words . . . . I feel rather guilty about the Triumvirate shot - it was taken out of the window of the car after work, and I did a quick and dirty job on it (lots of contrast and clarity) and posted it on facebook where it was really popular. . . (and yes, there was some dust on the sensor) . . .When I tried to improve on it when writing the article I just didn't seem to be able to make it feel any better - sometimes quick and dirty is hard to beat! Things are made worse in that the compression has made the over-processing more obvious . . . but I still couldn't seem to make it better. 

Anyway, you're the first person to complain about it, so I thought you deserved a mea culpa!

 

All the best

Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent review. I'm very happy with my SL's and in fact one of the reason I bought them was to use my M glass, and actually having used the zooms for a while, they are so good, I'm not using the primes as much as I thought. In fact I'm thinking of selling the M and buying a Q ! Some negatives 1) No tethering, but hopefully that would be fixed this week. 2) Not many 3rd parties treating this as a Pro camera. I would love TTL support for my ProFoto strobes, but that's not about to happen soon and I need capture one support, also something that is slow to come. Not Leica's fault., but if they want to push the SL as a Pro platform, they need to push to integrate it into the Pro eco system, software, and hardware.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...