Sigma fpL or Leica SL2-S as accompanying camera to the CL?

[Nick De Marco]

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9 hours ago, Daedalus2000 said:

Thank you very much for your input. I will try the fp soon with my M lenses and I will try to post some images.

I highly recommend the GR III. I use it when I want to have minimal weight with me and I have to say it has positively impressed me in terms of image quality. I am not a 28mm guy, but it has enough megapixels if I feel the need to crop. A little negative is that I find the AF a bit slow in low light. But overall great camera.

 

And thank you for your advice on the GR III. Being quite a 28 guy (on some days, at least) I am looking forward to it.

[Driften]

On 9/6/2021 at 4:01 PM, Daedalus2000 said:

Thank you very much for your input. I will try the fp soon with my M lenses and I will try to post some images.

I highly recommend the GR III. I use it when I want to have minimal weight with me and I have to say it has positively impressed me in terms of image quality. I am not a 28mm guy, but it has enough megapixels if I feel the need to crop. A little negative is that I find the AF a bit slow in low light. But overall great camera.

 

The GR IIIx was announced today that is 40mm equivalent....

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[Daedalus2000]

4 hours ago, Driften said:

The GR IIIx was announced today that is 40mm equivalent....

Yes I am very interested in it. But I feel the fp has a bit of the full frame magic especially with wide aperture lenses.

[ratatatataaa]

Hi, I am interested in buying a video/still camera and I have some M mount lenses that I wanna use. I do not want to buy autofocus lenses at this point so for me it is important that the camera accepts my 21mm super angulon m mount (construction goes inside the camera so is this even possible?) and a 50mm f2 summicron.

I guess the sigma fp and leica sl2-s are good options. IBIS vor video is interesting but does it work with old m glass and is it still delivering the same good image quality as without IBIS?

The panasonics (s1 and s5) are not that great with leica lenses and I would probably be better off with either the sigma or leica.

the leica is so expensive though. I am mostly interested in having great color, low light and very good, cinematic video image quality.

any thoughts?

[BernardC]

3 hours ago, ratatatataaa said:

for me it is important that the camera accepts my 21mm super angulon m mount (construction goes inside the camera so is this even possible?)

The Super Angulon(s) are not on the list of supported lenses for the M-Adapter-L.

I know that the original fp doesn't work well with wide M lenses (the original Elmarit - M 21/2.8 in my case). You can try cropping to APS-C for video, but the corners will still be soft and have strange colours. The Super Angulon will be even worse.

I'm not even sure that the Super Angulon will fit inside the lens chamber of L-Mount cameras. It probably depends on which version you own (3.4 or 4.0).

Your Summicron won't have any issues with either camera.

[Chris W]

The original FP is superb for video.

My widest M lens is the 28mm f2.8, which I don't use much. 35mm and 50mm M lenses, no problem.

I regularly shoot at ISO 1250. The sharpness and colour is fantastic. For really wide I use the Sigma 24mm.

[tonyr100]

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On 9/24/2021 at 1:49 AM, ratatatataaa said:

Hi, I am interested in buying a video/still camera and I have some M mount lenses that I wanna use. I do not want to buy autofocus lenses at this point so for me it is important that the camera accepts my 21mm super angulon m mount (construction goes inside the camera so is this even possible?) and a 50mm f2 summicron.

I guess the sigma fp and leica sl2-s are good options. IBIS vor video is interesting but does it work with old m glass and is it still delivering the same good image quality as without IBIS?

The panasonics (s1 and s5) are not that great with leica lenses and I would probably be better off with either the sigma or leica.

the leica is so expensive though. I am mostly interested in having great color, low light and very good, cinematic video image quality.

any thoughts?

I just bought the SL2-S and I've been using it with old Voigtlander manual 20mm Canon-EF mount lenses with the Sigma MC-21 adapter and it works great.  I've also used it with other Voigtlander M-mount lenses with an L-mount adapter, and those too work great.  IBIS will also work, but if the camera doesn't know what lens you're using you have to select one of the available lenses in the menu in order to then enable IBIS.  For example, for the Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 I told the SL2-S I was using the Leica M 50mm f1.2 and then I was able to turn on IBIS - there is no issue in telling it you're using a different lens, except that in Lightroom it thinks you used the lens you told the SL2S you were using.   

I ended up choosing the SL2-S over the Sigma FPL because 1) I have the Leica CL which uses the same menu system - so easier, 2) once you add the Sigma EVF you sort of lose a lot of the weight/size benefit, and the form factor overall is then not as good as with the SL2-S, and 3) it is a better made/designed camera overall.   I do lose the extra resolution, but like a lot of people said on here, unless you're doing pro stuff and need to blow up pics, you're probably not going to notice (and I haven't...).

Hope that helps... good luck

[tonehmaster]

Thanks for sharing your experience Nick.

I haven’t made the jump to the L-mount yet, but I like the prospect of being able to invest in a set of lenses and change camera bodies.

I am hesitant between the Leica SL (601), the Lumix S5 and the Sigma fp.

I got back into digital photography two years ago with APS-C, but the fact that we can adapt most SLR lenses to mirrorless cameras makes me think that I should get a full frame sensor to take fully advantage of those lenses. 

Currently I have been using two form factors for both photo and video: one for semi-professional use and one for family use. I have a Fujifilm X-T20 and X-Pro3 for the former and X-M1 for the latter, but I am seriously tempted to flip my Fujifilm bodies and my Fujinon lenses.

I am considering getting either the SL or the S5 for semi-professional use and the fp for family use.

Can the fp easily be used by a casual photographer or by my kids?

Are there specs that I should factor in before choosing between the SL and the S5?

[Alan Friedman]

On 10/6/2021 at 4:20 PM, tonehmaster said:

Thanks for sharing your experience Nick.

I haven’t made the jump to the L-mount yet, but I like the prospect of being able to invest in a set of lenses and change camera bodies.

I am hesitant between the Leica SL (601), the Lumix S5 and the Sigma fp.

I got back into digital photography two years ago with APS-C, but the fact that we can adapt most SLR lenses to mirrorless cameras makes me think that I should get a full frame sensor to take fully advantage of those lenses. 

Currently I have been using two form factors for both photo and video: one for semi-professional use and one for family use. I have a Fujifilm X-T20 and X-Pro3 for the former and X-M1 for the latter, but I am seriously tempted to flip my Fujifilm bodies and my Fujinon lenses.

I am considering getting either the SL or the S5 for semi-professional use and the fp for family use.

Can the fp easily be used by a casual photographer or by my kids?

Are there specs that I should factor in before choosing between the SL and the S5?

I own the Leica SL and both the Sigma fp and fp-L. I enjoy having both cameras that can use the same lenses. The fp has weight and size advantages over the Leica SL that make it a good choice for traveling. Not sure your needs for a family camera - the fp series has limitations that require the photographer to pay attention to the settings (electronic shutter banding, difficulty using outside in sunlight without separate EVF, etc.) - and there are a lot of settings. I'm not sure that it is suitable for kids, depending on their ages and interest of course. 

Is there a reason you would opt for the SL over the SLS-2? It has significant improvements over the earlier model.

The iPhone 13pro is another camera to consider for family use. 

 

[tonehmaster]

Thanks for your feedback Alan.

Coming from the Fujifilm ecosystem I probably need to find my bearings with the L mount.
But yeah, the perspective of having a growing list of native lenses from three manufacturers, let alone third party manual lenses, is quite appealing.

My main constraint is budget-wise. As every married man knows, I must submit to my wife a B21, B22 and B43 form for approval, together with a PowerPoint presentation of budget plan, return on investment and cash flow forecast... 🤣.

If the Sigma fp has an auto mode, that's probably good enough for letting my wife walk around and take a few shots. She also has a good eye for composition.
I am not yet at the purchase decision, but your experience surely adds in the balance.

Would I miss out a lot of improvements, for getting the Sigma fp instead of the fp L?

Edited October 17, 2021 by tonehmaster

[BernardC]

1 hour ago, tonehmaster said:

Would I miss out a lot of improvements, for getting the Sigma fp instead of the fp L?

The L offers two improvements for stills: more megapixels and phase-detect AF.

I don't think that AF speed is bad on the fp. It's not a sports camera. As for megapixels, they aren't an issue unless you need to crop a lot. 24 megapixels is enough for quite large prints.

[Alan Friedman]

5 hours ago, tonehmaster said:

...Would I miss out a lot of improvements, for getting the Sigma fp instead of the fp L?

As BernardC summarizes, resolution of the sensor and updated auto-focus are the major changes. I do not often use auto-focus and haven't determined how much improved the fp-L is over the fp. The new sensor produces beautiful results - in resolution if that is meaningful to your images and in tonality. The fp offers better low light performance compared to the fp-L due to its large pixel size. The fp's low light noise handling is also better than the SL type 601. 

I've recently been working on a series of 24 x 36 prints from the fp-L + VM apo-lanthar 50. I am very happy with the results. I have yet to see how the files from the fp compare. 

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[Cowz]

I have a good amount of Leica gear and love it dearly.  M9M, M10P and SL601.  I have some Leica glass and some fast Chinese M Mount glass as well.

On the SL, I primarily use the Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG HSM L Mount, which is amazing.  This is my go to boudoir combo, as most bedrooms are quite small.

I do miss the bigger sensor size (for cropping) and had considered a SL2.  Now I am more likely to head to a FPL (without EVF - even for photography) and a Sigma 65mm f2 I lens.  I have the L to M adapter and can use all my lenses on the SL (and potentially the FPL).  I miss shooting landscapes and will use the FPL for large vista scenes.  I get the SL2 and SL2S have multi shot, but much prefer single shot captures.  Certainly a lot cheaper option with the camera and lens being about half that of a SL2!!!

I am not jumping ship, just looking at augmenting my amazing kit, with a tiny capable rig. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by Cowz