leica sl2 Jono Slack: Leica SL2 Review

[Exodies]

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The manual say you should pay Leica to clean your sensor

 

SENSOR
• Any dust or dirt particles stuck to the glass cover of the sensor may result in noticeable dark stains or specks on the pictures (in system cameras). Alternatively, send your camera to the Leica Customer Care department for sensor cleaning (see p. 220). This service is not part of the warranty offering and will therefore incur charges.

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[sillbeers15]

1 hour ago, Exodies said:

The manual say you should pay Leica to clean your sensor

 

SENSOR
• Any dust or dirt particles stuck to the glass cover of the sensor may result in noticeable dark stains or specks on the pictures (in system cameras). Alternatively, send your camera to the Leica Customer Care department for sensor cleaning (see p. 220). This service is not part of the warranty offering and will therefore incur charges.

I have never had to clean my sensor once since M8, M9, M 240, M10, SL& now SL2.

[wlaidlaw]

I would be very interested to hear if any SL2 owners (not folks who have just read about it), who have also owned an SL1, find the simplified 3 button  user interface on the back of the SL2, a limitation compared with the hugely flexible SL1 programmable 4 button interface. This is the biggest thing putting me off buying an SL2. I have been using my SL1 this morning and it just reminded me what a great interface it is, with 12 available functions immediately available via the back 4 buttons (single press, double press and long press x 4). I will either get an SL2 or wait for the M11. I cannot afford both. As my M240 is now getting a bit long in the tooth and my two most recent acquisitions have been autofocus L mount (SL and CL), maybe the time is approaching for a better manual focus rangefinder, hopefully with a 47MP sensor and maybe even at least 2 axis IBIS. I don't believe the argument about the lack of room for IBIS in an M body, given that Olympus managed to fit a MFT sensor and excellent 5 axis IBIS into the very slim and small EP-5. 

Wilson

[sillbeers15]

11 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

I would be very interested to hear if any SL2 owners (not folks who have just read about it), who have also owned an SL1, find the simplified 3 button  user interface on the back of the SL2, a limitation compared with the hugely flexible SL1 programmable 4 button interface. This is the biggest thing putting me off buying an SL2. I have been using my SL1 this morning and it just reminded me what a great interface it is, with 12 available functions immediately available via the back 4 buttons (single press, double press and long press x 4). I will either get an SL2 or wait for the M11. I cannot afford both. As my M240 is now getting a bit long in the tooth and my two most recent acquisitions have been autofocus L mount (SL and CL), maybe the time is approaching for a better manual focus rangefinder, hopefully with a 47MP sensor and maybe even at least 2 axis IBIS. I don't believe the argument about the lack of room for IBIS in an M body, given that Olympus managed to fit a MFT sensor and excellent 5 axis IBIS into the very slim and small EP-5. 

Wilson

It is inevitably a new learning experience for me over the 3 back buttons layout. It can at best be familiar later but not any better. I've yet program the customised buttons as there is no motivation to set it for the moment.

[Macberg]

vor 27 Minuten schrieb wlaidlaw:

I would be very interested to hear if any SL2 owners (not folks who have just read about it), who have also owned an SL1, find the simplified 3 button  user interface on the back of the SL2, a limitation compared with the hugely flexible SL1 programmable 4 button interface. [...]

I will either get an SL2 or wait for the M11. [...]

Those 4 buttons of the SL1 seem to have some nice possibilities, but it seems, that at the moment, Leica is trying to align their button layouts across several camera-models with those new 3 buttons (Q1 -> Q2 and SL1 -> SL2, both similar to the M10 whose successor M11 might also have those 3 buttons), so I think you might want to give it a try...

[jaapv]

49 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

I would be very interested to hear if any SL2 owners (not folks who have just read about it), who have also owned an SL1, find the simplified 3 button  user interface on the back of the SL2, a limitation compared with the hugely flexible SL1 programmable 4 button interface. This is the biggest thing putting me off buying an SL2. I have been using my SL1 this morning and it just reminded me what a great interface it is, with 12 available functions immediately available via the back 4 buttons (single press, double press and long press x 4). I will either get an SL2 or wait for the M11. I cannot afford both. As my M240 is now getting a bit long in the tooth and my two most recent acquisitions have been autofocus L mount (SL and CL), maybe the time is approaching for a better manual focus rangefinder, hopefully with a 47MP sensor and maybe even at least 2 axis IBIS. I don't believe the argument about the lack of room for IBIS in an M body, given that Olympus managed to fit a MFT sensor and excellent 5 axis IBIS into the very slim and small EP-5. 

Wilson

There is a size and bulk difference between an MFT and a FF IBIS system, Wilson. Not only physical sensor size, but less mass to move.

[wlaidlaw]

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40 minutes ago, Macberg said:

Those 4 buttons of the SL1 seem to have some nice possibilities, but it seems, that at the moment, Leica is trying to align their button layouts across several camera-models with those new 3 buttons (Q1 -> Q2 and SL1 -> SL2, both similar to the M10 whose successor M11 might also have those 3 buttons), so I think you might want to give it a try...

I don't particularly like the three button system on my CL, which is much more of a P&S camera than my SL. I always feel it is lacking one extra button, so that I could opt to lock just exposure, while AF is free. I  would not want to program the shutter release to do this as I quite often want to lock AF for reframing etc, but if I could set a button to lock exposure and the shutter half press to lock AF, that would be an ideal set up. I need and use all the other programmable buttons and rollers on the CL. On my SL, I have a short press of the front button for exposure lock (a long press is for drive mode) and the shutter half press to AF lock. Three buttons would be just fine for an M11, where you are doing far fewer actions electronically. 

Wilson

 

[wlaidlaw]

31 minutes ago, jaapv said:

There is a size and bulk difference between an MFT and a FF IBIS system, Wilson. Not only physical sensor size, but less mass to move.

The EP-5 came out 5 or 6 years ago, which at the speed the IBIS world has been developing, is a long time. If there was the will at Leica, I am sure there would now be a way to implement IBIS on an M11. I am disregarding the argument that the sensor is too near the back of the camera. The sensor and shutter could easily be moved forward 2mm and the circular lens mount made 2mm thicker to maintain flange focal distance, which would be barely noticeable and would still allow the same body depth as the M10. 

Wilson

[Chaemono]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb wlaidlaw:

I would be very interested to hear if any SL2 owners (not folks who have just read about it), who have also owned an SL1, find the simplified 3 button  user interface on the back of the SL2, a limitation compared with the hugely flexible SL1 programmable 4 button interface. This is the biggest thing putting me off buying an SL2. I have been using my SL1 this morning and it just reminded me what a great interface it is, with 12 available functions immediately available via the back 4 buttons (single press, double press and long press x 4). I will either get an SL2 or wait for the M11. I cannot afford both. As my M240 is now getting a bit long in the tooth and my two most recent acquisitions have been autofocus L mount (SL and CL), maybe the time is approaching for a better manual focus rangefinder, hopefully with a 47MP sensor and maybe even at least 2 axis IBIS. I don't believe the argument about the lack of room for IBIS in an M body, given that Olympus managed to fit a MFT sensor and excellent 5 axis IBIS into the very slim and small EP-5. 

Wilson

Four buttons preferred but not a deal-breaker.  ISO assigned to lower front button, Focus Mode to the top right button, AF Mode to the button next to the EVF, and FN button is easy to reach for the display profiles.  For M lenses, back wheel used for magnification.  Done. 

[scott kirkpatrick]

2 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

I would be very interested to hear if any SL2 owners (not folks who have just read about it), who have also owned an SL1, find the simplified 3 button  user interface on the back of the SL2, a limitation compared with the hugely flexible SL1 programmable 4 button interface. This is the biggest thing putting me off buying an SL2. I have been using my SL1 this morning and it just reminded me what a great interface it is, with 12 available functions immediately available via the back 4 buttons (single press, double press and long press x 4). I will either get an SL2 or wait for the M11. I cannot afford both. As my M240 is now getting a bit long in the tooth and my two most recent acquisitions have been autofocus L mount (SL and CL), maybe the time is approaching for a better manual focus rangefinder, hopefully with a 47MP sensor and maybe even at least 2 axis IBIS. I don't believe the argument about the lack of room for IBIS in an M body, given that Olympus managed to fit a MFT sensor and excellent 5 axis IBIS into the very slim and small EP-5. 

Wilson

I'm not a fan of the SL four buttons.  First of all they combine menu navigation with special functions, and it takes some work to set them up.   And when I haven't used them for a bit, remembering that the special functions take the long press is not automatic.  And I have two SLs which I can never seem to get set up the same.  I've been shooting recently with an S1R using only defaults.  The buttons are labelled so that works well.  And a CL, which gets programming the buttons right -- long press to call up the possible things that a button can do, choose one then short press to confirm, then short press to do the thing you selected.  (Well, almost, but the CL is pretty natural.)  And an M10-D -- NO BUTTONS!!!  I will have an SL2, but have only read the manual so far, so no comment.

[MarkinVan]

Curious if the magnification can be assigned to any button or just the joystick in manual focus. 

[Chaemono]

vor 43 Minuten schrieb MarkinVan:

Curious if the magnification can be assigned to any button or just the joystick in manual focus. 

Can be assigned to any button.

[MarkinVan]

22 minutes ago, Chaemono said:

Can be assigned to any button.

Looks like I found the reason to upgrade. My number one complaint with my SL was that I couldn’t assign the magnification to the upper right button. I’ll adapt to the new button layout. To be able to back button auto focus with the joystick and then fine tune with magnification all the while keeping my left hand supporting the front of the 90-280 is perfect. Going to be great. Thanks!

[wlaidlaw]

I think the other serious error with the SL2 is assigning GPS to a phone and Fotos2. In a very British expression - "totally arse about face". When I am on holiday, i often don't carry a phone with me and I would not want to have to. The GPS on my SL worked very well and was a huge improvement from the accessory grip GPS on my M240. In fact nearly as good as the GPS on the ancient VLUX 20 my wife used to use, until it died during a trip to India earlier this year. Why change something that works well to something clunky and error prone? The only possible upside is that I might be able to add GPS to images from my CL, as I really miss not having GPS with it but of course, I then have to pay the annual fee. 

I also fear you may have to have data active on a phone before the GPS will link and given high data roaming charges, at the very time you would want GPS data from your images, when away from your home country, you could find yourself paying through the nose for the data. Just to give an example, my wife and I took a wrong turning going into Washington DC to our hotel a few years ago. No problem I thought, just get my iPhone to navigate us to our hotel in downtown DC, about 10 miles/25 minutes away. That exercise cost me nearly £100 for the data I used on that short trip for the street mapping and directions. It would have been cheaper to hail a taxi and ask him to guide us to our hotel. 

Wilson

Edited November 24, 2019 by wlaidlaw

[MarkinVan]

Re: The British expression and no GPS, yes totally sad. On our trip to Northern British Columbia and Yukon pretty much no coverage the whole time except in a few of the bigger towns which was not where I was taking pictures. SL’s GPS was flawless and great for memorizing location back home. 

[scott kirkpatrick]

I run Fotos on a phone which has no phone or data service locally, so costs nothing.  It gets its location more quickly and more accurately than either of the SL or the VF20 that I use on M10s.  Not having phone connection in the outback may or may not mean that your phone has no location information.  This will depend on how much your phone relies on the phone network to accelerate GPS convergence.  And for the Q2 and SL2 (also the S!s with Panasonic's Lumix Synch) supplying the location to the camera uses only BlueTooth Low Energy, not WiFi.  I use ForeFlight, an aviation mapping product, on an iPad with cellphone support but no SIM chip installed.  In a few weeks I will be flying TLV - SFO direct.  I'll keep the program on and close to the window to see if it can track location over the ice cap in Greenland.

[PeterGA]

12 hours ago, sillbeers15 said:

It is inevitably a new learning experience for me over the 3 back buttons layout. It can at best be familiar later but not any better. I've yet program the customised buttons as there is no motivation to set it for the moment.

I'd be interested to read how you set up the camera for your shooting when you get around to it. I must admit I am very 'lazy' with reading manuals  - they scare me!😉

[sillbeers15]

49 minutes ago, PeterGA said:

I'd be interested to read how you set up the camera for your shooting when you get around to it. I must admit I am very 'lazy' with reading manuals  - they scare me!😉

I can understand how you feel. 

There are more options in AF Profiles which was not available in SL. However the pictorial main menu is easier for the user in SL2 compared to having to scroll through the detail menu helps and I see it as a welcome feature.

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[Tailwagger]

56 minutes ago, PeterGA said:

I must admit I am very 'lazy' with reading manuals  - they scare me!😉

This is the single advantage of it being a miserable cold rainy weekend coupled with the reality I wont see my SL2 until later in the week.  When you have nothing better to do, you face your fears. So I've been  RTFMing. Can't say I've learned anything incredibly interesting or unexpected yet, but its good for killing time while I wait. 😉

[PeterGA]

It might be a good seperate thread topic - "how do you set up your SL2 "..

I've only had it for a couple of days and yes the GUI makes it a lot easier to access basic functions that are used regularly - fantastic initiative. I have to fill in a registration thingy and then Leica will send me a printed copy of the manual - which will be good as I like to make notes on the margins and underline stuff etc....

So far so good - will be even better when CaptureOne bring out a dedicated SL2 raw processing instead of their generic DNG -  any bets on wether Adobe or C1 get theirs out first and how long it will take? -:)