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I went and tried the SL today...

jonnyboy

By jonnyboy
in Leica SL System

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caissa

caissa

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The R to L is only better than others, if your R lenses are equipped with ROM. (And If the ROM is working properly, on some R zooms it does not.) So I never spent that big amount of money. You have to know that this adapter came about 2 years after the SL was available (while the M to L was there from the beginning). So at the beginning there was no such adapter and almost all early users had to find another way, very often a combination of adapters. And after the two years I saw no reason to change my methods. You can just as well use a cheap R to L adapter. A combination of M to L and R to M is actually what I find best. (Very easy to adapt almost any lens to M).

Short: The Leica M to L is worth using (the functionality is good), the R to L is not worth the terrible price (the functionality is still poor). For that high price I would have expected the adapter to include an aperture mechanism.

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trickness
trickness

Look through the SL, SL2 and the M10M image post threads. You will realize pretty quickly that 46 mega pixels, image stabilization etc have absolutely nothing to do with taking a good photograph.

jplomley
jplomley

Absolutely. I just added a second one. The used prices are too good to pass up and 24 MP is enough for me

scott kirkpatrick
scott kirkpatrick

The VF20 is to me basically a framing viewfinder.  I use it on an M10-D with wide angles.  Focus with the rangefinder, see what's in the frame with the viewfinder.  I wouldn't use it with focus magnif

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jonnyboy

jonnyboy

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Quick question about the video capabilities of the SL (as this could nicely be a second camera on my jobs) - I saw online people saying at ISO800 in video mode there is a very bad 'noise reduction' that kicks in automatically, is this something it's been fixed with firmwares or not?
Also, does it have any limitations in recording limits? Majority of mirrorless do 30min max....

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AZN

AZN

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On 2/26/2020 at 11:43 PM, caissa said:

You can just as well use a cheap R to L adapter.

If you have floating element R lenses, then you will be penalised if you go down the cheapo adapter road.  

This is because the Lens-to-chip distance has to be exact for the floating elements to focus properly.  Found this out the hard way with the 35mm Lux and 28mm Elmarit v2.

> A combination of M to L and R to M is actually what I find best

On this point, I agree.  Of course you have to keep telling the camera which lens you are using when you change them, but the stacked combo works well.  I used it for a while when my R-to-L adapter was sent back to Leica Australia because the electronics in it went beserk.  The replacement adapter has luckily functioned flawlessly for 18 months (so far…)

 

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jaapv

jaapv

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That cannot be true.
The SL reads the focus off the sensor. The exact lens-sensor distance is thus irrelevant, unless the adapter is too long, and the lens won't reach infinity. However, all adapters are slightly short to avoid this problem.

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BernardC

BernardC

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15 hours ago, jonnyboy said:

Quick question about the video capabilities of the SL (as this could nicely be a second camera on my jobs) - I saw online people saying at ISO800 in video mode there is a very bad 'noise reduction' that kicks in automatically, is this something it's been fixed with firmwares or not?
Also, does it have any limitations in recording limits? Majority of mirrorless do 30min max....

The 30 minute limit is there when recording internally to an SD card. You can go much longer with an external HDMI recorder.

I read about the 800 ISO noise thing as well, but I never saw it. It must have been fixed in a very early firmware update. Most of the SL reviews were done with pre-production cameras, so you'll read about a lot of things that have since been fixed/improved. AF performance is much better now than it was four years ago, as are battery life and video output. The latest firmware is supposed to bring the SL in line with the SL2 in terms of video colour response.

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jonnyboy

jonnyboy

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30 minutes ago, BernardC said:

The 30 minute limit is there when recording internally to an SD card. You can go much longer with an external HDMI recorder.

I read about the 800 ISO noise thing as well, but I never saw it. It must have been fixed in a very early firmware update. Most of the SL reviews were done with pre-production cameras, so you'll read about a lot of things that have since been fixed/improved. AF performance is much better now than it was four years ago, as are battery life and video output. The latest firmware is supposed to bring the SL in line with the SL2 in terms of video colour response.

Amazing, I'm glad to hear this. I think 30min limit is great, I was just wondering if the camera maybe over-heat. I completely forgot to shoot some video when I went and tried the camera, I just wanted to try that Log format made by Leica.
Also, am I right thinking the SL records 10bit video internally?!

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BernardC

BernardC

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18 minutes ago, jonnyboy said:

Also, am I right thinking the SL records 10bit video internally?!

No. The SL records 8-bit internally, and 10-bit through HDMI. The SL2 can record 10-bit internal.

I personally haven't found L-Log to be worthwhile in 8-bit. It gave me some banding in blue skies. L-log works very well in 10-bit.

As I mentioned earlier, the SL's L-Log has been improved in the latest firmware update. I haven't tested it yet.

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jonnyboy

jonnyboy

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16 minutes ago, BernardC said:

No. The SL records 8-bit internally, and 10-bit through HDMI. The SL2 can record 10-bit internal.

I personally haven't found L-Log to be worthwhile in 8-bit. It gave me some banding in blue skies. L-log works very well in 10-bit.

As I mentioned earlier, the SL's L-Log has been improved in the latest firmware update. I haven't tested it yet.

oh fair enough. wow it's so nice they incorporated 10bit internally in the SL2....unfortunately though, it's still quite expensive for me...

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caissa

caissa

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On the SL2 you can magnify in steps (turning the wheel makes it bigger in (4?) steps). I did not try to customize it, so I don’t know if possible. It was good enough as it was.

On the SL I cant remember, I changed a few settings at the beginning (4 years!) then I never changed it anymore.

I am sure you find the details in the manual. Both manuals (pdf) can be downloaded, even without owning a camera.

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AZN

AZN

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12 hours ago, jaapv said:

However, all adapters are slightly short to avoid this problem.

Not all of them.  I have two Rayqual adapters for the Sony E system (Leica R and Nikon F), both have the exact flange-to-sensor distance required for the lens type.  OTOH the Novoflex and Fotodiox adapters I also have were both a little short, for the reasons you mentioned.

So as a fun exercise I shimmed both the Novo and Foto mounts to also give them exact distances.  Corner problems cleared up immediately.

Most of the time it doesn't matter.  But it does in the corners if you are using floating-element design lenses.  Found this out the hard way =/

See this link about shimming adapters and why you might need to:

https://phillipreeve.net/blog/tuning-adapters-infinity-focus-reflections/

It fixed the corner-problems I was having on the Sony A7R2 with my Leica R 35mm Lux and 28mm Elmarit V2.  One can safely assume you would also run into this problem using cheapo adapters on the Leica SL.

YMMV of course.

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BernardC

BernardC

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23 hours ago, jonnyboy said:

Sorry just another thing...

with the Magnification (to help manual focusing) is there any chance to customise how much to magnify? (eg. 2x, 4x, 10x etc etc)?? 

From the manual (p. 209):

By pressing the BL button, you can call up enlargements of an (initially) central section of the image field.
The first press results in a 4x view, the second press in a 6x view, the third press brings back the unenlarged view.
You can choose which part of the image section that you want to look at more closely by moving the image using the joystick.

 

BL means "bottom left," referring to the four buttons surrounding the rear screen.

Funny thing is, I didn't remember that. I always press the joystick, which toggles between magnified and full image. I just tried it with the bottom left button and, sure enough, there is an extra (in-between) magnification option that adds almost nothing to the camera's functionality.

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Pilipala

Pilipala

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I swapped my M240 E  and Nikon 7100 body for a second hand SL 601 body as my eyes were no longer up to using a range finder anymore.   I use a Leica adapter with my M mount lenses; Leica 35mm, Zeiss 85mm.  In addition, I bought the new Sigma 45mm L mount which is great for full auto focus and manual use and nicely priced £550.  I updated the firmware on the SL to 3.7 and on the Sigma lens to 1.1 without any problems.  I am now on the lookout for a second hand TL zoom lens to take advantage of the crop factor whilst keeping the overall weight down.

Great camera with endless variations of use.

 

Have not used the video on the SL  as I have little interest in that mode.  In fact it would be nice to be able to  reassign the video shutter button to another function.

 

Hope this helps

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jonnyboy

jonnyboy

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oh wow I wasn't even aware Sigma has a whole bunch of lenses for Leica SL. Do they have any alternative to the 24-90mm? 

I think I will snap my Canon 24-70mm MKII on it although Im aware auto focus isn't going to work. The Leica 24-90mm is way out of my budget for a lens....

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Mick H

Mick H

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On 3/5/2020 at 4:36 AM, jonnyboy said:

Fantastic!!

Do you guys agree the SL is still relevant in 2020?

Yes, it is my go to cam for stills.  I added an S1H for backup and handheld video with IBIS.  Both cams pair well as they use SD cards and are 24 MP.  The SL is simple, elegant and built to last.  The joystick is great to use on the SL.  I just wish Leica would add more user profiles to the SL in a firmware update.

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