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Haptics and ergonomics of the SL


LD_50

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I rarely shoot these days where gloves are a requirement. I did so this evening and was reminded of just how well designed the SL is in terms of haptics and ergonomics with (and without) gloves.

 

For anyone considering the SL or a competing camera system I think this is a worthwhile consideration that you don’t see in spec sheets or read about in many reviews.

 

I can operate the SL very easily with gloves on. The four button interface is excellent because they are large and can activate multiple functions with the long press interface. The rear and top dials are usable without any issue while being stiff enough to not accidentally turn them. I have my camera set up in Manual Focus with joystick press activating AF and it works perfectly. I have the top dial set up for Exposure Compensation so I don’t have to press the small top button. Every button and dial offers a nice tactile response apparent through my gloves.

 

I have shot extensively with Nikon cameras (D200, D700, D4, etc) and they each had small buttons that have to be pressed while turning a dial. Some had small switches that were difficult to feel with gloves. They all worked very well in normal use but I felt it was a challenge with gloves. My Sony RX1 is far too small with gloves on and almost too small without. My trial with the A7 series left me feeling much the same.

 

The SL is simply a joy to shoot and consistently reminds me why price is not a top consideration for my camera system.

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I agree with all you say, but I'm going to expand the subject a bit.

 

I've had the SL since launch. I set up the button functions early on, and haven't changed them since - if I keep fiddling with customisation, I forget where everything is.

 

However, getting the CL has made me rethink my approach to the SL in the light of how Leica has evolved its interfaces in recent years. The CL has more of a M10 look about its three labelled buttons on the back, rather than the SL's four unlabelled ones, but its two dials, their integrated buttons and how they are programmed are a new departure. In comparison, the SL's front button, two top buttons and single upper rear button have a less, thought-out, more random look to them - a bit like a Sony/Olympus etc; after all this time, I still have to think through what I have assigned to them, and they are not as easy to find with the camera to the eye as the four at the back, whose functions I know by muscle memory.

 

I am going to revisit my SL customisation and try to get it closer to the CL, firstly by minimising use of these extra randomly placed buttons, and assigning the same or similar functions to just the four buttons around the rear screen, and secondly by assigning a similar set of commonly used functions to them. I suspect I may not need more than those four, plus the favourites menu, plus user profiles, to do all that I need. 

 

Edit. As a separate matter, I think it a pity the SL does not have an integrated Arca-Swiss QR moulding on its bottom plate, and a lower strap attachment. I keep a RRS universal QR plate permanently attached; it includes a strap attachment which I find vital for the wrist strap that I use. The QR plate is about the same dimension front-to-back as the SL body, so a moulding in the bottom plate would have been feasible. Perhaps in the SL2!

Edited by LocalHero1953
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Edit. As a separate matter, I think it a pity the SL does not have an integrated Arca-Swiss QR moulding on its bottom plate, and a lower strap attachment. I keep a RRS universal QR plate permanently attached; it includes a strap attachment which I find vital for the wrist strap that I use. The QR plate is about the dimension front-to-back as the SL body, so a moulding in the bottom plate would have been feasible. Perhaps in the SL2!

 

 

+1.

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Edit. As a separate matter, I think it a pity the SL does not have an integrated Arca-Swiss QR moulding on its bottom plate, and a lower strap attachment. I keep a RRS universal QR plate permanently attached; it includes a strap attachment which I find vital for the wrist strap that I use. The QR plate is about the same dimension front-to-back as the SL body, so a moulding in the bottom plate would have been feasible. Perhaps in the SL2!

 

I have the vertical handgrip permanently mounted on my SL with my gitzo quick release baseplate permantly mounted on my SL. My RRS base plate is collecting dust. 

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I had a similar experience. A couple weeks ago I was doing a maternity shoot with my new SL and thought to myself I can do this with no gloves like I usually do with my M body. NOPE waaay too cold. Put the gloves on and was able to easily use the SL. I am very happy I picked up the SL.

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I agree completely about the access with gloves on: the SL is one of the best cameras I've ever had for use with cold weather protection on my hands. 

 

I agree with all you say, but I'm going to expand the subject a bit.

 

I've had the SL since launch. I set up the button functions early on, and haven't changed them since - if I keep fiddling with customisation, I forget where everything is.

 

However, getting the CL has made me rethink my approach to the SL in the light of how Leica has evolved its interfaces in recent years. The CL has more of a M10 look about its three labelled buttons on the back, rather than the SL's four unlabelled ones, but its two dials, their integrated buttons and how they are programmed are a new departure. In comparison, the SL's front button, two top buttons and single upper rear button have a less, thought-out, more random look to them - a bit like a Sony/Olympus etc; after all this time, I still have to think through what I have assigned to them, and they are not as easy to find with the camera to the eye as the four at the back, whose functions I know by muscle memory.

 

I am going to revisit my SL customisation and try to get it closer to the CL, firstly by minimising use of these extra randomly placed buttons, and assigning the same or similar functions to just the four buttons around the rear screen, and secondly by assigning a similar set of commonly used functions to them. I suspect I may not need more than those four, plus the favourites menu, plus user profiles, to do all that I need. 

 

Edit. As a separate matter, I think it a pity the SL does not have an integrated Arca-Swiss QR moulding on its bottom plate, and a lower strap attachment. I keep a RRS universal QR plate permanently attached; it includes a strap attachment which I find vital for the wrist strap that I use. The QR plate is about the same dimension front-to-back as the SL body, so a moulding in the bottom plate would have been feasible. Perhaps in the SL2!

 

 

I use the SL's "extra, randomly placed" buttons for things I don't access so frequently: the FN button long-press is for choosing lens profiles with manual lenses or for turning stabilization on and off with the SL lenses; the video shutter trigger short-press is disabled, the long-press is for user configurations. The still/video mode button long-press is for bracketing capture options. The main four buttons long-press do TL: drive mode, BL: meter pattern, TR: exp compensation, BR: ISO.  I don't think this will change at all if/when I get the CL, I'm very comfortable with this setup as it's been how I set up the SL for almost the entirety of the past two years. 

 

The CL's controls operate sufficiently differently that it'll be no problem to add it as an independent control paradigm in my muscle memory. Its when things work "almost the same" that I get into trouble.. :)

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Not only are the SL's controls excellent the camera also has fabulous balance with the standard zoom and the 50. Sure, they're big but they don't feel as heavy after a long day as some others (I'm looking at you sony with your tiny body and huge lenses) because the SL is balanced and easy to hold. I often shoot long days and my hands are rarely cramped and tired when I use the SL.

 

In the days of film balance and handling was how we chose cameras because everything else was equal. I remember when the Nikon F4 came out. I thought it was beautiful. But it didn't fit my hand at all so I stayed with Canon. Now we just argue over a 3% difference in sensor DR and ignore the rest of the camera. The usability of a camera is what Leica get right so often (although I'd still like to see more consistency between models).

 

I like my RRS grip. The SL is one pinky to short, for me so with the RRS grip it's exactly the right size. Having an integrated plate would make adding grips etc, difficult. I think the grip should have had the plate built in. As should the M grips.

 

Gordon

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I haven't yet, but I'll probably do the RRS plate so I can make use of their bottom-mount wrist leash. I always have a tripod plate on the SL anyway.

 

There are times when a small, light camera is great ... thus the M-D now and possibly a CL in the future. More of those times now than once upon a time, since I retired. But the SL remains a superb piece of camera machinery that I'm not sure I'd want to do without, now that I have it. It's kinda like my Hasselblad V kit in that respect: when I want to use it, I know it will be there ready for me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

+1

In general I enjoy the overall ergonomics and haptics of the SL. Particularly when I’m switching between stills and video. It’s incredibly easy for me to document events in that manner (1080P only). It’s not cinematic nor commercial quality work but I like the output. Good enough for NGOs.

 

Switching between EVF and LCD Display during a fast moving events are also a cinch compared to a dslr. The Touch AF is great in this situation but it is offset by the focus point running to wherever I accidentally touched. Sadly I may have to disable this.

 

I was in Taiwan and the Philippines in relatively messy conditions. Extremely dusty, cold and dry, cold and wet, hot and humid, hot and wet environments. Having the camera drop on concrete. Coated with sea water and rinsed off with a bottle of distilled water. Both camera, native SL and M lenses performed great. Quite a camera in most situations.

 

With the RRS L plate, I could dispense with the vertical grip for most work. Glad I got it as it nicely designed for locking down the AA-SCL adapter.

 

It’s when I find myself in situations where flash is needed the camera slows down in operations particularly AF.

 

My usual practice with a canon is to adjust shutter speed, aperture dials and ISO manually almost simultaneously and switching on or off the flash.

At the moment the ISO is a BR long press and the flash is a long press switch on/off. Too long for me. It’s a inadequate haptics for flash conditions. I would prefer physical dials and switches for a flash. It’s just faster. As it is, it’s quite an agony to deal with the SF64 electronic buttons. That's the biggest miss on haptics for me.

 

Using flash, with DNG only, the previews are usually a stop underexposed while the RAW is slightly under. With DNG + JPG it’s too slow in returning to shooting and glitches sometimes requiring me to pop the battery.

 

I expect a faster EVF refresh and better Maestro chip and a bigger onboard RAM should deal with some of those problems as well a better flash. I really would like a dedicated ISO dial though or a short press access to ISO change (ala CL). Or if a long press button could allow me the ability to change exposure compensation and ISO at the same time rather than in sequence would be a nice thing.

 

So other than the flash, the current SL is very nearly there for me. I hope Leica can pull out a Profoto A1 rabbit out of their hat for me. I'd get 3 of them.

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I am not the most slick with on-camera flash, but as far as I am qualified to tell, I agree with you. The SL64 interface is not designed for fast use, at any level of its unintuitive menu system, and the interaction between flash and the SL's EVF is also poor. I prefer my less powerful Nikon SB28's in A mode - much faster. 

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:)

Unfortunately, I can't use A mode except for the more straight forward flash work.

 

Nonetheless I have hope. I added flash to this post because I consider it part and parcel of the haptics and ergonomics in a professional system. When I turn into a slug fiddling with the flash, it feels awful on the job. Everything sorts of crashes to the ground when it should be on the roll. In some situations that's okay but when your environment lighting is ugly you need your flash to make you look pro. So far I managed to get away with all of the bad situations but I'm afraid it will catch up with me.

 

The recycling is pretty bad too but that's not about haptics nor ergonomics. 

Edited by lx1713
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:)

Unfortunately, I can't use A mode except for the more straight forward flash work.

 

Nonetheless I have hope. I added flash to this post because I consider it part and parcel of the haptics and ergonomics in a professional system. When I turn into a slug fiddling with the flash, it feels awful on the job. Everything sorts of crashes to the ground when it should be on the roll. In some situations that's okay but when your environment lighting is ugly you need your flash to make you look pro. So far I managed to get away with all of the bad situations but I'm afraid it will catch up with me.

 

The recycling is pretty bad too but that's not about haptics nor ergonomics. 

Out of curiosity, what sort of work are you doing that requires better control of on camera flash? I ask because I have tended to see on camera flash as the aesthetically poor alternative to off camera flash, and so never tried anything more sophisticated than bounce flash in A mode (TTL irritates me with its preflash complications). But I accept I have a lot to learn about lighting!

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Out of curiosity, what sort of work are you doing that requires better control of on camera flash? I ask because I have tended to see on camera flash as the aesthetically poor alternative to off camera flash, and so never tried anything more sophisticated than bounce flash in A mode (TTL irritates me with its preflash complications). But I accept I have a lot to learn about lighting!

 

on camera flash doesn't always have to be ugly  :D . I shoot a great deal in ISO 3200, 6400 and recently 12500. So if your environment is dimmed, you can filter your flash with a warm filter or other colours and bounce the flash off the walls in a gentle fill. A touch of directional light or bounce at a spot on the ceiling to drop the light over or behind the subject. It will not look like on camera flash. I rarely use filter because wooden panels or colour walls are fine in the color context of a fill flash. Flash, more importantly allows me to have a fuller spectrum of colours when I post process to balance the look of the subject. Most ambient lighting lacks nice colours. Hope that helps.

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It also helps make ISO 6400 and 12500 look less awful. Canon is better at this than a Nikon under tungsten conditions  but Nikons are better at straight flash 5600K. Nikons and Canons have become closer in their rendering in recent models I think but my 5DIV is taking an extended vacation while I played with the SL.

Edited by lx1713
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The SL's DNGs is nice when it is well exposed but still needs as much work in post for flash work as a Canon. It's also not as capable of controlled gentle fill flash.

 

For non on camera-flash work, SL's RAWs are almost perfect for my taste.

Edited by lx1713
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The SL's DNGs is nice when it is well exposed but still needs as much work in post for flash work as a Canon. It's also not as capable of controlled gentle fill flash.

 

For non on camera-flash work, SL's RAWs are almost perfect for my taste.

Thanks - all very helpful and food for thought.

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Of the 17000 or so exposures I've made with the SL, I think 36 were made with flash ... and none of them 'on camera', none of them with auto-flash of any kind. When I use flash, I use a simple RF trigger and have the flash off camera, set to a manual power output. I never use any ambient auto exposure modes with flash either ... the results have always been too inconsistent, regardless of what camera system I was using, so I just set the camera up by the kind of traditional exposure evaluation that's listed in my 1968 Kodak Master Photo Guide. It always works perfectly, AND with the SL I can do a test pop or two to ensure that it's correct before I do my shoot. 

 

I like to keep it simple. :D

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