SL2 and 90mm f2

[RonnieW]

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After playing with my son's Canon 85mm f1.8 on the SL2 and obtaining outstanding results with autofocus and image quality, I decided to make the jump to the Leica apo 90. I already have the M version, but am convinced that autofocus will be the way to go with this focal length, especially for spontaneous pictures of people and dogs.

I truly love this camera with my current-generation 21mm f1.4 and 35mm 1.4 M lenses, and see no reason to spend a LOT of money on L versions. I don't get slowed down much at all with those focal lengths, and their sizes make them outstanding for travel.

The 90 is coming in today! Any experiences or advice you folks can share?

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[RonnieW]

As an aside, I have a collection of Canon lenses. No problem with the Canon 14mm 2.8, amazing 11-24mm, 70-200 vII. The 100-400 II has been good for birding, except that autofocus is limited to AFS and too slow to lock to be practical. Cannot get it to lock on focus ever when using the 1.4X extender. That brings it down to f8, and may be insufficient light for the contrast detection even in broad daylight. Manual focus sucks big time with birds. Looks like the 90-280 may be in my future if I can (gulp) bite off $7K. Maybe a Christmas present to myself. Gotta save up for that one.

[Boojay]

Well this if you haven't seen it might be interesting for you...

 

[Boojay]

1 hour ago, RonnieW said:

As an aside, I have a collection of Canon lenses. No problem with the Canon 14mm 2.8, amazing 11-24mm, 70-200 vII. The 100-400 II has been good for birding, except that autofocus is limited to AFS and too slow to lock to be practical. Cannot get it to lock on focus ever when using the 1.4X extender. That brings it down to f8, and may be insufficient light for the contrast detection even in broad daylight. Manual focus sucks big time with birds. Looks like the 90-280 may be in my future if I can (gulp) bite off $7K. Maybe a Christmas present to myself. Gotta save up for that one.

Maybe worth looking at the Panasonic S Pro Lumix L Mount 70-200's (f/4 or 2.8) with 1.4 and x 2 extenders available and having full compatibility with SL2 AFC included.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Boojay

[RonnieW]

My Canon 70-200 is a 2.8, so f4 w extender. No problem on the SL2 there, aside from the Leica refusing AFc as an option. It's another story altogether w the 100-400 + extender. Thanks.

Edited May 13, 2020 by RonnieW

[hofo100]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb RonnieW:

Any experiences or advice you folks can share?

You will not regret the buy😉 here are some examples: click

[Jeff S]

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I set my SL2 with SL lenses (2 longer zooms and 75) to back button (joystick) AF, decoupling focus from shutter release, and set focus ring to auto magnify.  No need for focus peaking, which I find distracting.  More spontaneous work might dictate zone or hyperfocal settings, if ‘good enough’ accuracy suffices, but even then I stick with single shot. I haven’t yet had the need to use eye detect or other specialty AF features. Each person will have his/her own needs and preferences.

 As far as IQ, all the SL lenses are superb; simple as that.

Jeff

[FlashGordonPhotography]

I love my SL90. More than the M90 Summicron APO. So much so I've basically stopped carrying the 24-90 and now prefer a 16-35, 50/2 and 90/2 combo. I think the 90SL has a fabulous balance between sharpness and rendering and practically zero aberrations.

The 90-280 is spectacular. At 90mm it's hard to choose between the zoom and the prime except for aperture. Perfect for my needs. However I think it might be too short for a regular birding lens and there are no TC options for it. Hopefully Sigma will get around to making some of their long zooms available in L mount. I think I'd be all over a native 60-600.

Gordon

[Jeff S]

14 minutes ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

I love my SL90. More than the M90 Summicron APO. So much so I've basically stopped carrying the 24-90 and now prefer a 16-35, 50/2 and 90/2 combo. I think the 90SL has a fabulous balance between sharpness and rendering and practically zero aberrations.

The 90-280 is spectacular. At 90mm it's hard to choose between the zoom and the prime except for aperture. Perfect for my needs. However I think it might be too short for a regular birding lens and there are no TC options for it. Hopefully Sigma will get around to making some of their long zooms available in L mount. I think I'd be all over a native 60-600.

Gordon

I have similar reaction to the SL 75, with  the 24-90 and 90-280 as current companions.  I’m fighting thoughts of eventually adding the SL 24 and 35, and ditching the 24-90, which I wish had non-telescoping operation like the 16-35. The wide zoom would be somewhat wasted on me, as my shooting style would rarely go wider than 24.  The trade-offs (beyond speed/IQ) are the convenience and range of the middle zoom, especially in bad weather, and the added bulk of more primes.  In a perfect world, I’d prefer smaller SL zooms in the general range of 24-35, 35-90 and 90-180 -ish. Not meant to be.

Jeff

[RonnieW]

On 5/13/2020 at 1:31 PM, Jeff S said:

I set my SL2 with SL lenses (2 longer zooms and 75) to back button (joystick) AF, decoupling focus from shutter release, and set focus ring to auto magnify.  No need for focus peaking, which I find distracting.  More spontaneous work might dictate zone or hyperfocal settings, if ‘good enough’ accuracy suffices, but even then I stick with single shot. I haven’t yet had the need to use eye detect or other specialty AF features. Each person will have his/her own needs and preferences.

 As far as IQ, all the SL lenses are superb; simple as that.

Jeff

Excellent, Jeff! Thanks.

[RonnieW]

On 5/13/2020 at 5:10 PM, FlashGordonPhotography said:

I love my SL90. More than the M90 Summicron APO. So much so I've basically stopped carrying the 24-90 and now prefer a 16-35, 50/2 and 90/2 combo. I think the 90SL has a fabulous balance between sharpness and rendering and practically zero aberrations.

The 90-280 is spectacular. At 90mm it's hard to choose between the zoom and the prime except for aperture. Perfect for my needs. However I think it might be too short for a regular birding lens and there are no TC options for it. Hopefully Sigma will get around to making some of their long zooms available in L mount. I think I'd be all over a native 60-600.

Gordon

Yes, the FL max at 280 is hard to swallow w birding. I'm shooting at twice that now. Even in APSC mode, most birds are still very small.

On 5/13/2020 at 12:18 PM, hofo100 said:

You will not regret the buy😉 here are some examples: click

Nice pictures!

And you're right! After uploading the software to the lens, I walked straight up to one of my dogs. Pulled the camera straight off and fired. The window reflection on the cornea of her nearest eye was tack sharp at 400%. This is going to be the best thing I have done in years. And it handles very well on the SL2. Great feel, look, and amazing pictures. What Leica is all about.

[Jim B]

Mine moans and groans. The imagery is fine but the performance is subpar to the price point.

Here’s  an audio file of the noise it makes. Leica seems to think this is normal, and high quality.... What a joke. They also have stiff focus rings. 
 

‘Good luck to you, I hope you get a good copy.  I for one would not buy another unless I could test it first for these known issues with the SL lenses.

90 Apo lens noise.m4a

[John Smith]

39 minutes ago, Jim B said:

Mine moans and groans. The imagery is fine but the performance is subpar to the price point.

Here’s  an audio file of the noise it makes. Leica seems to think this is normal, and high quality.... What a joke. They also have stiff focus rings. 
 

‘Good luck to you, I hope you get a good copy.  I for one would not buy another unless I could test it first for these known issues with the SL lenses.

90 Apo lens noise.m4a 178.55 kB · 8 downloads

Mine is virtually silent.

[Jim B]

4 minutes ago, John Smith said:

Mine is virtually silent.

Lucky you!

Not exactly the quality control you would expect for a 5K lens....... 

[FlashGordonPhotography]

I've had my 90 since the day it was released. It extremely quiet. As are my other SL lenses (both the 50's and all the zooms). It's been to 4 continents and used, not wrapped in cotton wool. Never missed a beat.

Gordon

[jplomley]

I have the 75 and 35 APO SL lenses, and both are whisper quiet and the focussing rings smooth. As is my 16-35 SVE. Sounds like you got a bit of a lemon Jim.

[AZach]

On 5/14/2020 at 1:10 AM, FlashGordonPhotography said:

I love my SL90. More than the M90 Summicron APO. So much so I've basically stopped carrying the 24-90 and now prefer a 16-35, 50/2 and 90/2 combo. I think the 90SL has a fabulous balance between sharpness and rendering and practically zero aberrations.

The 90-280 is spectacular. At 90mm it's hard to choose between the zoom and the prime except for aperture. Perfect for my needs. However I think it might be too short for a regular birding lens and there are no TC options for it. Hopefully Sigma will get around to making some of their long zooms available in L mount. I think I'd be all over a native 60-600.

Gordon

+1, came to same conclusions - 16-35 still on shopping list..

[Chuck Albertson]

It's a cracker of a lens. I swapped a 90 AA towards one, and it's better all around than the M. But be careful who you point it at - some people don't like its brutal honesty.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[LocalHero1953]

I have this lens - no noise at all - I always use AFs - I wonder if @Jim B is using AFc or tracking.

After lockdown I intend to sell the Apo-Summicron-M 75 for its SL equivalent. No point at the moment - portrait photography is just not on the horizon.

[Boojay]

2 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I have this lens - no noise at all - I always use AFs - I wonder if @Jim B is using AFc or tracking.

After lockdown I intend to sell the Apo-Summicron-M 75 for its SL equivalent. No point at the moment - portrait photography is just not on the horizon.

Sounds like AFC to me - lens seems to be hunting anyway.   I have some sympathy.

I bought a new SL50 a couple of months ago and was quite surprised to hear a noise when focussing, a web search showed this to a pretty common experience with these SL Summicrons.  This article was an interesting and informative read

http://gmpphoto.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-new-summicron-sl-lenses.html

In particular this

The key to the solution of this problem is a complex control loop. This guarantees not only synchronicity and speed, but also ensures the smooth movement of the focusing elements with a minimum of vibration. In turn, this also enables us to reduce noise emission levels to a minimum

My 50 has a slight scraping sound in AFS, manual focus operation is smooth and quiet.  

However, I recently bought a 90SL and it will be going back to Wetzler at some point, manual focus is pretty much impossible, very stiff and noisy experience.  In autofocus the sound is similar to the 50SL, not a problem just you do hear the movement, in contrast to the cheap and cheerful 45mm Sigma which is whisper quiet!   

I forgive both the 50 and 90 their noise emissions when I look at the images they produce.