Leica APO-Summicron-SL 75mm f/2 ASPH or Leica CL Street Kit

[tuffystone]

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So, I have been looking at getting a Leica CL for sometime now. I was able to use one for a few days and really liked it. I was using the 23mm lens, which reminded me how much I like the 35mm view. I no longer have a 35mm lens for my Leica M, only 28mm and 50mm. Anyways, back to my question. So, I have been very close to buying the Leica CL Street kit and then I had another idea. I have been reading about the Leica APO-Summicron-SL 75mm f/2 ASPH lens and started to ponder another option. I love my Leica SL, but don't carry it that often, because I find the 24-90 and the 90-280 lens very bulky when attached. I was looking at the CL, because it was smaller, has AF, and interchangeable lens. I am now wondering if I would use my Leica SL more, if I picked up the 75mm lens for it. I would be shooting mostly people and food. I would also shoot a lot in low light. I still think that I will eventually get the CL system, but can only get one or the other right now. Does anyone have an opinion or experience with this? Would you recommend get the CL Street Kit or waiting, and getting the Leica APO-Summicron-SL 75mm f/2 ASPH first. Any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated! Tuffy

[Jeff S]

You can rent the SL 75 (or the CL) for 3 days or longer to test using your own workflow, which probably differs from others.

https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/lenses/mounts/leica-l

Jeff

[Lins-Barroso]

Buy the APO-Summicron 75mm!

Within the next 3 months, we will have the APO-Summicron 35mm to buy.

The Dream-Combo is very, very close...

Edited January 19, 2019 by Lins-Barroso

[Donzo98]

Completely different animals.

i have the CL and SL. I also have the 75 SL.

The CL plus 23 is WAY WAY smaller than the SL plus 75. 

I bought the CL as a lighter walk around camera. I added the 11-23 and 18-56 too. I also had the 35 1.4, but just recently sold it. 

The CL is a great little camera. I sold the Q before I bought it.

The SL is great too... but big, especially with the SL glass. I had the zooms, but sold due to size. I now use the SL for shallow DOF with the 50 SL and 75 SL. Also have the 10 Voigt and Noct Version 4. 

If I were you, I would get the CL and 23, with or without the zooms for now. 

The other great thing is... they share the same mount, so you can uses all the lenses on either camera.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by Donzo98

[howiebrou]

If you are thinking of the CL with 18 or 23 as a carry around when the SL is too bulky, I would seriously also consider just getting a Q. It is very light, pretty small and gets you almost that 35mm view but as a simple point and shoot, it is unbeatable imho. I also contemplated the CL but went for a Q instead to go with my M and SL.

[caissa]

I can recommend the SL plus SL 75 lens. It is well balanced and suits my topics very well. And IQ is impeccable. Sometimes I prefer the SL 90 instead, it is the same size (a tiny bit lighter, actually).

I find 16-35 and 90-280 the better combination of zooms (than yours).

I don’t like the CL regarding handling, but of course it is a lot smaller. But this is not too important for me.💪🤗

Edited January 19, 2019 by caissa

[darylgo]

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Buy the lens, rent the CL.  If you find the CL compelling you could buy it later at a reduced price, like so many digital bodies they depreciate rather quickly.  Regarding TL lenses, they will cycle on price with the body cycles, the SL lenses are extremely steady.  When carrying a camera, the lens size/balance are more important than body size.  The SL with a smallish 75mm should balance nicely.  Lastly, the controls on the SL are superb, the CL are fiddly.  

[helged]

1 hour ago, darylgo said:

Buy the lens, rent the CL.  If you find the CL compelling you could buy it later at a reduced price, like so many digital bodies they depreciate rather quickly.  Regarding TL lenses, they will cycle on price with the body cycles, the SL lenses are extremely steady.  When carrying a camera, the lens size/balance are more important than body size.  The SL with a smallish 75mm should balance nicely.  Lastly, the controls on the SL are superb, the CL are fiddly.  

+1. Actually, I sold my CL-gear because the SL-system fits my hand(s) much better than the CL (too small), plus that I could not remove the focus from the CLs shutter button, which is a no-go for me. Entierly subjective experience, obviously; the CL generates fine files and the lenses are fine to superb. But for me, the SL works better. 

[LocalHero1953]

I hope that Leica adds a button to the CL2, to allow for button pre-focusing. Adding a button instead of taking one away would be a first for Leica, so I guess it may never happen...........

[wda]

9 minutes ago, helged said:

+1. Actually, I sold my CL-gear because the SL-system fits my hand(s) much better than the CL (too small), plus that I could not remove the focus from the CLs shutter button, which is a no-go for me. Entierly subjective experience, obviously; the CL generates fine files and the lenses are fine to superb. But for me, the SL works better. 

I use AF plus manual focus with assistance perfect for many situations. A major USP.

[Chaemono]

vor 12 Stunden schrieb tuffystone:

I would also shoot a lot in low light.

If you would also shoot a lot in low light, I’ll do lots of low light today with the 75 Summicron-SL. I’ll shoot the 75 Noctilux next to it on the M10 and I’ll post a link to the pictures here so you can get an idea of how the SL lens does. 

[helged]

1 hour ago, Chaemono said:

If you would also shoot a lot in low light, I’ll do lots of low light today with the 75 Summicron-SL. I’ll shoot the 75 Noctilux next to it on the M10 and I’ll post a link to the pictures here so you can get an idea of how the SL lens does. 

Any  g e n e r a l  comment/view regarding your view of the two 75mm lenses? 

[Chaemono]

vor 14 Minuten schrieb helged:

Any  g e n e r a l  comment/view regarding your view of the two 75mm lenses? 

Jono should know. He shot both lenses and decided to keep the 75 Summicron-SL which he called the best lens he’s ever used. The 75 Summicron-SL is sharper wide open. At f/2 because the 75 Noctilux-M will be stopped down a bit the difference in sharpness is negligible. The drop-off is faster with the SL lens which creates a depth effect after the point of focus and gives the illusion that the subject jumps off the screen. The drop-off of the M lens is very gradual and it has a very smooth and harmonious bokeh in front and behind the focus point, as Jono wrote about. I’d say the two lenses have different applications. The 75 Noctilux will work better in certain situations but as a general purpose lens the 75 Summicron-SL is to be preferred. BTW, I don’t consider either of them strictly portrait lenses. I’ll stop down the M lens to f/2 to compare today. 

[darylgo]

7 hours ago, helged said:

+1. Actually, I sold my CL-gear because the SL-system fits my hand(s) much better than the CL (too small), plus that I could not remove the focus from the CLs shutter button, which is a no-go for me. Entierly subjective experience, obviously; the CL generates fine files and the lenses are fine to superb. But for me, the SL works better. 

The CL IQ went beyond my expectations, I returned it because of heat issues and it went a step too far with variable control wheels.  I wish Leica would settle on the menu system of the S/SL, once learned it's the most intuitive for my shooting.   

3 hours ago, Chaemono said:

Jono should know. He shot both lenses and decided to keep the 75 Summicron-SL which he called the best lens he’s ever used. The 75 Summicron-SL is sharper wide open. At f/2 because the 75 Noctilux-M will be stopped down a bit the difference in sharpness is negligible. The drop-off is faster with the SL lens which creates a depth effect after the point of focus and gives the illusion that the subject jumps off the screen. The drop-off of the M lens is very gradual and it has a very smooth and harmonious bokeh in front and behind the focus point, as Jono wrote about. I’d say the two lenses have different applications. The 75 Noctilux will work better in certain situations but as a general purpose lens the 75 Summicron-SL is to be preferred. BTW, I don’t consider either of them strictly portrait lenses. I’ll stop down the M lens to f/2 to compare today. 

Thanks for the synopsis, it's a tough decision with multiple great choices.   

[Chaemono]

Since the OP would shoot a lot in low light, I thought I'd show some test shots at night. In the link below samples with the 75 Summicron-SL just opened in Preview from DNGs, not touched, and exported as JPEGs. Put the SL at ISO 800 and this lens handles any low light situation effortlessly wide open. It's as if the camera has more DR all of a sudden. Amazing. These SL primes will be stunners on the SL2/S1/S1R. 

JPEGs here can be downloaded (DNGs can be provided): https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-rJBXFj/

[helged]

19 minutes ago, Chaemono said:

Amazing. These SL primes will be stunners on the SL2/S1/S1R. 

+1...

[scott kirkpatrick]

I had the use of a 75 Noctilux for about 3 microseconds (borrowed from Dave Farkas), long enough to snap a quick headshot at f/2.0 indoors:

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C1070578 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr CL with M 75/1.2

The rolloff is indeed very gentle.  I've been using a new SL 75 for the past week, and its characteristics are more a sharp rolloff at first, then a tendency to preserve a pretty coherent image in the OOF parts.  Here's an example:

C1120078 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr CL, SL 75 SC@f/8

The stones indicate that the family has paid a visit in the past day or two.

 

[Chaemono]

It’ll be interesting to see how the CL does in low light with the 75 Summicron-SL.

[tuffystone]

On 1/18/2019 at 8:26 PM, Jeff S said:

You can rent the SL 75 (or the CL) for 3 days or longer to test using your own workflow, which probably differs from others.

https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/lenses/mounts/leica-l

Jeff

Thanks Jeff! I was able to use a CL for a few days and should probably test drive the SL 75.

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Hallo,

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[tuffystone]

On 1/18/2019 at 9:21 PM, Lins-Barroso said:

Buy the APO-Summicron 75mm!

Within the next 3 months, we will have the APO-Summicron 35mm to buy.

The Dream-Combo is very, very close...

I am leaning toward this decision.