leica sl2 Leica SL2 reviews

[caissa]

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3 hours ago, thighslapper said:

Petapixel ..... grudgingly complimentary ....

https://petapixel.com/2019/11/06/you-probably-dont-care-about-the-leica-sl2-and-youre-worse-off-for-it/

 

 

I am always wondering, why they show the camera with the 24-90. It is awfully big and looks in my eyes ugly. With a Summicron or with the Noctilux 75 or another M it would look much more attractive. (He had these lenses available as he writes in the text.)

[LocalHero1953]

37 minutes ago, caissa said:

I am always wondering, why they show the camera with the 24-90. It is awfully big and looks in my eyes ugly. With a Summicron or with the Noctilux 75 or another M it would look much more attractive. (He had these lenses available as he writes in the text.)

Because it is the best all round practical lens for the SL that exploits its capabilities fully, which M lenses do not. As a regular user, I also find it well-balanced and easy to use - so I can concentrate on taking photographs. It would be the same on the SL2. 

Edited November 10, 2019 by LocalHero1953

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[bags27]

Sean Reid has just posted his comparison of the SL, SL2, and S1R. Predictably very well-balanced and judicious. Finds things to like and prefer in all 3. Especially likes the SL2 for printing very large and for use with M glass. As to noise, it's pretty much what we saw with the Q2-Q comparison. 47 mps produces about 1 stop more noise, although when resized for uploading to media, it's much closer. And the denser sensor (I love writing that phrase) will reduce moire, which I do see lots of in my Q.

Still, it's understandable, I guess, why so many here were excited by the (false) rumor that the SL2 would have the 36 mps Sony sensor rather than what it got. And I like to think of the Ansel Adams early photography show I saw--with a Brownie at the age of 16, he was taking terrific photos. And Ming Thein is a fantastic photographer, who's gone through a great deal of equipment, including MF and most Leica products. He now seems to be using mainly the Z7 with its kit zoom and posting beautiful photos. Just sayin'....

[Mr.Q]

Thanks for posting that. Yeah that was rather predictable. Similar performance to the Q2 and S1R as they share the same sensor.

[Jeff S]

Karbe explains why the SL 35 produces the best technical results...

A separate thread is dedicated to this.

Jeff

[scott kirkpatrick]

Hugh Brownstone on his Three Blind Men channel has a Stefan Daniel interview up now.  Of course you will need to listen to 15 minutes of Brownstone to get a quite interesting 5 minutes of Daniel, but there is new material in the interview about SL2 product positioning and some of the choices made.  He almost mentions how they got the IBIS to fit in without changing the camera thickness, but not quite. 

Edited November 11, 2019 by scott kirkpatrick

[lx1713]

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16 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Because it is the best all round practical lens for the SL that exploits its capabilities fully, which M lenses do not. As a regular user, I also find it well-balanced and easy to use - so I can concentrate on taking photographs. It would be the same on the SL2. 

Totally true. I just expanded with an additional 4 SL lenses in the last 4 months but the 24-90 remains my most used lens. It's astonishingly complete. So Im getting another 24-90.

[LocalHero1953]

1 hour ago, lx1713 said:

Totally true. I just expanded with an additional 4 SL lenses in the last 4 months but the 24-90 remains my most used lens. It's astonishingly complete. So Im getting another 24-90.

It's a good test of your working practices (in neither a positive or negative way): 

Pros: no lens changing, stepless coverage of the traditional Leica focal range, excellent IQ, OIS.

Cons: bulk/weight on the camera (though individual primes covering the range could be as big/heavy), not fast aperture.

If you're working fast for events and with non-model people, then the 24-90 is your friend. If you're working slow (landscapes) or in controlled environments (studio), you may prefer primes. If you're travelling, it depends how you prioritise bulk/weight in the hand vs in the bag. It's the first category I mainly use my SL for, so it is difficult to justify any of the primes other than the Summicron-SL 90 I have for portraits.

[budjames]

I purchased a very lightly used SL, 24-90 and 90-280 lenses from the Leica Store in SoHo, NYC a few months ago. This was a good deal for me. I purchased the SL used with the intention to trade the body in for the SL2 when it became available. I'm on the wait list for a new SL2 at the SoHo store. 

I also purchased the SL M-adapter. Shooting my Noctilux 50mm f0.95 on the SL using the adapter is so more rewarding than shooting this lens on my M10. The SL's focus peaking is way better than that feature on my previous system, the Fuji XT3 and XPro2 with Fuji XF primes and zoom lenses. After acquiring the SL, I sold off the rest of my Fuji X gear to help finance my SL purchase.

The Leica SoHo store is hosting an all-day Leica SL2 "reveal" event on 12/19. I registered to attend and I am really looking forward to the event based on the agenda for the day which includes hands-on shooting with the SL2. Just in time for Christmas! Woohoo!

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

[PeterGA]

2 hours ago, scott kirkpatrick said:

Hugh Brownstone on his Three Blind Men channel has a Stefan Daniel interview up now.  Of course you will need to listen to 15 minutes of Brownstone to get a quite interesting 5 minutes of Daniel, but there is new material in the interview about SL2 product positioning and some of the choices made.  He almost mentions how they got the IBIS to fit in without changing the camera thickness, but not quite. 

Yes it was a tragically poor performance by Hugh...

[Chaemono]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb scott kirkpatrick:

Hugh Brownstone on his Three Blind Men channel has a Stefan Daniel interview up now.  Of course you will need to listen to 15 minutes of Brownstone to get a quite interesting 5 minutes of Daniel, but there is new material in the interview about SL2 product positioning and some of the choices made.  He almost mentions how they got the IBIS to fit in without changing the camera thickness, but not quite. 

Not a single question on the quality of the SL2 files and the reason is, Hugh Brownstone values PDAF over malleability of files.  The two are mutually exclusive in the MILC world.

[LocalHero1953]

I think the reason is that HB prefers the sound of his own voice. Stefan looked a bit pissed off at times.

Disclaimer: I couldn't be bothered to listen beyond the first minute, then dipped in a few other random moments. So whatever gems SD may have disclosed, I didn't hear them.

Edited November 11, 2019 by LocalHero1953

[Chaemono]

Good thing he didn’t draw the right conclusion why the hump was missing. 😁

[jaapv]

Come on, I think this a bit unreasonable. Granted, it is more like a conversation than an interview in places, but I rather like the laid-back style. It is more about the design decisions and philosophy behind the camera than an actual review. But what is wrong about that?

[Jeff S]

5 hours ago, budjames said:

The Leica SoHo store is hosting an all-day Leica SL2 "reveal" event on 12/19. I registered to attend and I am really looking forward to the event based on the agenda for the day which includes hands-on shooting with the SL2. Just in time for Christmas! 

Same event as other Leica stores, but I prefer to avoid the crowd and shoot with all the same gear on a slow day before my closest store’s event.  They have the camera and lenses I’m interested in trying, already available for demo, and will allow me, as usual, to bring an SD card and shoot to my heart’s content. Don’t need all the marketing babble.

Jeff

[Jeff S]

3 hours ago, Chaemono said:

Not a single question on the quality of the SL2 files and the reason is, Hugh Brownstone values PDAF over malleability of files.  The two are mutually exclusive in the MILC world.

You likely haven’t seen his video review of the SL2, where he gushes over the camera and file quality, just as he has over various other Leica models.  He even offers a disclaimer regarding his bias, as he’s been a fan since the 70’s, learning with his mom’s Leica (without PDAF).

Jeff

[Chaemono]

vor 6 Minuten schrieb Jeff S:

You likely haven’t seen his video review of the SL2, where he gushes over the camera and file quality, just as he has over various other Leica models.  He even offers a disclaimer regarding his bias, as he’s been a fan since the 70’s, learning with his mom’s Leica (without PDAF).

Jeff

It was a lecture.  One commentary on YouTube addressed him as Prof. Brownstone. 😁

[lx1713]

I do enjoy his (Hugh Brownstone) rambles 😊

[bags27]

3 minutes ago, lx1713 said:

I do enjoy his (Hugh Brownstone) rambles 😊

yes, but not as much as Hugh does himself! 🙂

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[lx1713]

5 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

It's a good test of your working practices (in neither a positive or negative way): 

Pros: no lens changing, stepless coverage of the traditional Leica focal range, excellent IQ, OIS.

Cons: bulk/weight on the camera (though individual primes covering the range could be as big/heavy), not fast aperture.

If you're working fast for events and with non-model people, then the 24-90 is your friend. If you're working slow (landscapes) or in controlled environments (studio), you may prefer primes. If you're travelling, it depends how you prioritise bulk/weight in the hand vs in the bag. It's the first category I mainly use my SL for, so it is difficult to justify any of the primes other than the Summicron-SL 90 I have for portraits.

That's how I do use the lenses. I bring along a different prime each time for events so that they aren't neglected but really the 24-90 shines even when I'm driving a commercial shoot. The primes are really lovely  but they take a backseat to the rhythm of a shoot.