does any use TL lenses on SL2?

[jaapv]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The focal length of a lens can never change, irrespective of the camera used. The thing that changes is the angle of view. 

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[yst]

7 hours ago, MJB said:

It’s the same on both because the TL lenses are designed to cover the smaller area of an APS-C sensor.  When mounted to an SL body the camera is forced into crop mode with the same 1.5x crop factor. 

Therefore, the TL 23mm lens used on a SL body, will have an effective focal length = 35mm on the SL body (with the same 1.5x crop factor?) ?  Or will be exactly to be 23mm focal length on the SL full-frame body?    

But smaller pixel file size than the 24 on a CL body?  I'm quite confused with this issue, I have the 23mm and the 55-105 TL lenses. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by yst

[MJB]

1 hour ago, yst said:

Therefore, the TL 23mm lens used on a SL body, will have an effective focal length = 35mm on the SL body (with the same 1.5x crop factor?) ?  Or will be exactly to be 23mm focal length on the SL full-frame body?    

But smaller pixel file size than the 24 on a CL body?  I'm quite confused with this issue, I have the 23mm and the 55-105 TL lenses. 

It doesn’t matter which body you use the TL lens on, there will always be a 1.5x crop factor. Even with the SL, because the TL lenses cannot create an image circle large enough to cover the full frame sensor and so the SL enters “crop mode” with the TL lenses mounted. 

In crop mode, I believe the SL and SL2-S create around 10 MP files and the SL2 around 20 MP files, so you can see that the lenses perform best on the APS-C bodies they were designed for, yielding 16 MP (T,TL) or 24 MP (TL2, CL) files - ie, the full sensor resolution.  

A lot of people on the Leica forum, more so than other camera forums I frequent, tend to think of full frame sensors as ideal and are used to only seeing disadvantages with smaller sensors. But remember that “full frame” is a rather arbitrary term and that there are pros AND cons to any sensor size. A primary advantage of an APS-C sensor is that you can have appreciably smaller camera bodies and lenses with very little penalty in terms of image quality. But you have to understand that those smaller lenses create smaller images that cannot physically cover the entire surface area of a larger sensor than originally intended. 

[swatch]

I enjoy CL very much for its compactness and picture quality, but TL lenses are relative big to aps-c sensor.  For example, TL 23mm lens with hood!
 

aps-c sensor with relative large L-mount which is already bigger than M-mount which cover 24mm x 36mm image area.

 

I mount Elmarit-M 28mm asph V1 on CL and it is the ideal size of compactness for aps-c camera with prime lens.

[thatkatmat]

Funny the responses on this thread. Someone asks if "anyone" uses TL lenses on the SL2 and 1/2 the people who respond are telling the OP they should use a TL lens on a crop sensor because that's what they are designed for. Hogwash...They have crop mode on the SL2 so you can choose from and enjoy both formats.

The 20 MP files are more than enough MP's for these lenses. I mean 20-24MP's...Not that big a deal. The TL has 16 right?

I wondered the same thing when looking at the cost and size of the SL lenses. I've owned them all except the 90 cron and the 16-35....They're awesome for sure, but they're HUGE. I have many M lenses as well and yes, those were designed for my m body but they're awesome on my SL2 too.

Case and point, my problem with the Summilux-50SL....I've owned it 3 times because I love the images it produces, problem is, it weighs more than a standard Japanese 70-200. So, I end up leaving it at home and using it for special occasions which means I miss too many shots with my favorite 50 and end up selling it.

I own 2-50 Noctilux's, the .95 and the 1.2 and the m APO but they don't have AF. The Cron SL APO 50 is still pretty big and f2 and I've owned it and wasn't blown away. That leaves a new off brand 50/1.4 coming and the new Cron that will hit the market someday soon, but soon could be next year.

So for me, the answer for my walk around 50 is the TL 35/1.4....Who cares if it only uses the middle part of my sensor, it's still smaller than the new Cron coming out. It's creamy bokeh, beautiful colors, high contrast sharpness across the frame and LOW LOW price on the used market. ($1250 US) for open box condition is an easy choice. It's a Leica lens that makes images that are known to be hard to distinguish from its big brother (the 50 SL Lux) and I can walk around with it all day. One last thing...It looks like it belongs on the SL body. It's sleek and beautifully simple.

I wouldn't feel the same way if we were talking about a 24mp SL2-S or SL, 10mp files are too big of a drop (for me)

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by thatkatmat

[Torpille]

The TL's are good lenses but the Apo SL's are way above.

From my point of view they remain very interesting to use with the SL
because they allow to benefit from a better weight with a truely leica rendering.

I share your point of view the tl 35 is magnificent considering its size.
It has its place in the bag in complement of the 24-90mm for example.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Torpille

[dpitt]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I just purchased a TL 35 Summilux, and I was wondering why it needs to be cropped to APS-C format. At least technically I think it should be possible to cover a 21x21 mm sensor area, so it would make 1:1 shots almost in the same format as a FF lens on the FF sensor of the SL series. (24x24)

The only issue is that apparantly it always switches to cropped mode on the SL. I would be happy to shoot FF and crop any vignetting away.

Does anyone know how to 'trick' the SL into thinking it has mounted a L lens, or to make it think it just has mounted a third party FF lens with AF?

Edited April 19, 2023 by dpitt

[swatch]

Agree the heavy weight of SL lenses is a discouraging factor.

The electronic viewfinder of SL camera is excellent and would size of image in the electronic viewfinder be cropped ( smaller or reduced in size ) after mounting TL lens to SL body?

[Louis]

I have been a long time CL user and loved this camera. But as Leica decided to discontinue this excellent camera, and I had several TL lenses, it was for me a logical decision to move to SL2. 

I can use my TL lenses as the camera goes automatically to APSC format. The MP drops to 20, vs 24tmp in CL. But as the sensor in SL2 is superior to the one in CL, I get much better pictures with SL2. Also, it has many more features and option that CL didn’t have.

Although I very much miss my CL, I do not regret this move; I get better result than with CL. And, the weight or size of SL2 don’t bother me at all; I got used to that after a few days.
 

[thatkatmat]

Man...Just bought an 11-23mm ...the 11-23 on my SL2 is REALLY sweet, perfectly centered and sharp all the way into the corners. Plus, it's "small" on my SL2 comparatively speaking. Has beautiful colors. I have to say, I didn't expect it, even the distortion at 11mm is minimal. Better than any 16-35 I remember shooting. Just checking in and adding my .02$

I always read that the non constant aperture is the only negative...Doesn't feel like a negative when you're shooting it and the corners are perfect wide open

So far just shooting off my deck in to the woods and in the house...I'll post a pic when I shoot something less boring

cheers

Edited July 16, 2023 by thatkatmat

[hb70]

Leica SL2 + Leica T 18-56mm 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[tombre]

I used mostly the 11-23mm and 55-135mm lenses on my SL2 and now the SL3.  The 55-135mm is superb on the SL2 vs the CL due to IBIS.  Much higher hit rate.  For sports events such as rugby the lens size does not provoke the “professional looking lens” response from security staff.  The 11-23 and SL2/3 make a great travel combo.  26MP images are more than enough and the image quality of the 11-23mm is great.  I plan to use the Q3 43 and SL3 11-23mm as my travel kit on an upcoming trip to Europe.  I expect that the Q3 43 will be my most used with the SL3 11-23mm used where I can’t retreat enough to get the whole subject in, and a panorama sequence won’t work easily.  

[An Nguyen]

 

I sold my TL2, and bought the SL, I can't afford the SL2. I already have 2 TL lenses, the 35f1.4 and the 11-23. When using them with the SL, I have no complaints. I bought the LUMIX S 24mm and the VOITGLANDER 40/f2.8 vm, but I still prefer the Leica's colors. I definitely won't buy the SL lens, partly because it's expensive, and partly because it's big or heavy.

SL&35f1.4
SL&11-23

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Chris W]

Just a FYI - the lighter, cheaper lens to use instead of SL lens is a Sigma Contemporary IMHO.

[dsalamena]

Leica TL lenses (35 and 60 primes and 11-23 / 55-135 zoom) are really light and offer impressive quality on the SL3. Not sure the Sigma contemporary equivalent lenses would be much better but I may be wrong.

[balzani_shots]

I use TL  11-23mm and 55-135mm lenses on my SL2 for travelling and to have IBIS, no complaints. Here`s one with the 55-135 in Copenhagen.

ISO 200, 1/640s, f4.5, 135mm

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Torpille]

The TL  35mm f1,4 is very good on the SL 601

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[An Nguyen]

Vào ngày 1/4/2020 lúc 14:19, dsalamena nói:

Ống kính Leica TL (35 và 60 số nguyên tố và zoom 11-23 / 55-135) thực sự nhẹ và mang lại chất lượng ấn tượng trên SL3. Không chắc ống kính tương đương đương đại của Sigma sẽ tốt hơn nhiều nhưng tôi có thể sai.

You won't regret it, especially if you like Leica colors.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[cnguyen]

I picked up a Leica SL this month and started to use the 18-56mm and 11-23mm. So far I'm very impressed with the performance of both lenses - very sharp with Leica color science.

If I need fast lenses I will use my M lenses. I was going to pick up a 24-70mm L but now I'll just get the 55-135mm tl lens instead. I also have bunch R lenses that I've using with Leica adapters R to M and M to L . Last pic was shot with the lowly 35-70mm Vario Elmarit R.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Torpille]

 

13 hours ago, cnguyen said:

I picked up a Leica SL this month and started to use the 18-56mm and 11-23mm. So far I'm very impressed with the performance of both lenses - very sharp with Leica color science.

If I need fast lenses I will use my M lenses. I was going to pick up a 24-70mm L but now I'll just get the 55-135mm tl lens instead. I also have bunch R lenses that I've using with Leica adapters R to M and M to L . Last pic was shot with the lowly 35-70mm Vario Elmarit R.

 

Is it the SL 1 you used for this pictures ?
I like the SOOC colors of SL1 over the SL2 and SL2-S

Edited July 21 by Torpille