S Owners Who Own SL

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I have both the S 007 and the SL 601 cameras. They serve different purposes. The S camera system is for my commercial work on tripod and is better images quality. However, I've traveled a lot with the S System and it gets heavy. I also need to bring at least 2 lenses to take care of all I need. I was packing the 30-90mm and 120mm CS. I also have the 24mm but it's often too wide for travel work plus add more weight to my bag.

 

The SL System is wonderful. I like to compare it to a sports car since it responds fast and allows me more versatility with handheld photography. I can use very high ISO settings beyond what the S allows and handhold in very low light situations. The 4 stops of image stabilization in the 24-90mm lens helps a lot too. 

 

I was just as sold on the SL System because of the 24-90mm lens. I had Nikons for a 35mm dslr and always had the 24-70mm lens. It's just short of my favorite focal length around 85mm. I'd have to bring another lens and change often. The SL 24-90mm solved this issue by offering a lens optically superior and within my most usable range of focal lengths. One lens does all I need. The S System's 30-90mm is incredible but just a little short on the telephoto end. Plus, the SL 24-90mm has the image stabilizer and can focus closer than the S 30-90mm. Important for me since I photograph food a lot for editorial assignments.

 

The image quality of the SL is very impressive and holds dynamic range at the higher ISO settings. This is very important when you need to extract info from the DNG files. I've been photographing with the SL at night handheld and can extract a lot of highlight info, especially if I slightly underexpose. 

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[davidmknoble]

So, interestingly enough, I started first with the Leica SL (after 10 years with film and digital M’s). I had only the 24-90 and spent a week in Haiti producing a documentary. I did use the Summilux M 28 on the SL as well. In January I bought the S007 with the 35, 70 and 120. I decided to spend the extra on the SL-S adapter so I could take both bodies and use the lenses interchangeably. The SL is incredible for the EVF and hand holding at slow speeds. I use the grip with extra battery on both. To compare it, I can handhold the M cameras at very slow shutter speeds. I also enjoy shooting an old Nikon F3P, but the mirror slap means I cannot handhold at the slowest shutter speeds. The ISO performance of the SL is better and the EVF makes focusing in low light easy. But the S007 has better dynamic range and incredible images. So, for compactness of total kit, an S007 and SL (which function almost identically with buttons, knobs and software) and a few lenses should work well. I do say I prefer the 24-90 on the SL over the weight and size of the 30-90 for the S. In fairness, I shoot film and digital and I always bring an M body of some type and a Summicron 35 and another lens or two... Just my thoughts!