Will Sony A7xx terminate Leica SL, SL2, or SLx? Will Fujifilm GFX terminate Leica Sx?

[Einst_Stein]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

It seems 4/3 format is moving out of market interests, regardless how excellent Olympus is going to perform. I think Olympus should move up to FF ASAP.

Similarly, Leica abandoned ASP-C and Fujifilm is active in 44x33 format, not sure how long APS-C can hold its stand. Maybe Fujifilm will be the only major player in APS-C. FF will be the mainstream. 

FF's fast AF and super-tele is untouchable by larger format. APS-C and 4/3 supposed to have better chance to be shining in this area but just didn't catch up. 

 

[pegelli]

In my mind companies mostly go belly-up by bad management and hardly by stiff competition.

I shoot Leica (FF and film), Sony (FF and APS-C) and Olympus (M4/3 and film). All systems have their appeal, strong and weak points and are all "good enough", I think there will always be people attracted to the specific strength of Leica gear irrespective how good or different any other brand might be.

Edited February 25, 2023 by pegelli

[Advertisement]

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

[davidmknoble]

I think this is rather simple.  In the beginning we had to push a shutter (film) to get the right moment.  Everything else revolved around getting the best exposure for the light.  If we really wanted to manipulate the image, we needed either BnW contrast filters, color filters or graduated filter.  What we saw was what we got - barrel distortion and all.

We then went to digital.  I liken the newest ‘features’ as added software extras to make life easier.  All we need is a great meter, a very fast response time for any EVF and shutter (to emulate the instant film shutter) and a sensor that can capture all that light and the nuances of the lenses.

Everything else is nice, but not necessary for photography.  The best advances, for my style, are the weather-proofing.  I love to shoot the S and SL system on the coast and have sometimes in rather high winds with sand in the air.  It is nice to get back, let it sit so the static electricity discharges letting most of the sand just fall off and then rince it off lightly in the sink.

The S3 M11 and SL2S have some of the best sensors around, and if a Sony or other camera has 1/2 stop more dynamic range, I can fix that with a graduated filter with ease.  

Just my thoughts…

[Me Leica!]

Among the many "divisions" that photographers like to invent (Nikon / Canon, Digital / Film, MF / AF....ad nauseam), I think there's one that applies here: techno-fetishists / old-schoolers.

The former group love new announcements from camera makers, just because they can't wait to pick the spec-sheet apart. "What? It only shoots 12K video? Max ISO is still only five figures? The AF can't focus on the eye of a rapidly jumping flea which is ten miles away? Hahahahahaha the people who buy this camera are scum and I hate them because my masculinity / sense of self is threatened".  The latter group tend to find the former group rather sad.

Of course there's speculation over new Leica releases as well, but it doesn't seem to reach the same level of frenzied partisanship, possibly because Leica aren't really trying to compete with the big hitters on their own terms.

I recently managed to drop my X Vario, jamming the battery door. No matter how I tried to fix it, I couldn't, so reluctantly I bought a micro four thirds body and lens. Compared to the X Vario, this thing had the most ridiculous amount of tricks in it, a far better EVF, crazy levels of image stabilisation, and on and on. Then a week or so later, while absent-mindedly messing around with the X Vario, I somehow got the battery door working again. Once I was sure that I could repeat this, the micro four thirds got sold right back and I'm back with the X Vario having an absolute blast.

[Ko.Fe.]

Yes, GFX is kind of "cheap" with lesser MPs 50 II camera. It fails miserably under low light.  It feels like entire dMF in the dusty corner, even if it called Hasselblad. 

It is dusty or dustier

Sony A7xx series. I don't think they are any different on A7x for odd colors rendering. I blame on Sony for those movies where everything is green and blue.  

 

But despite pixels count, sensor sizes trends, nothing has changed.

If you need to meet your technical specification, here is entire bunch.

If you want pleasure, none from the bunch is close to Leica. 

 

[mgrayson3]

On 2/24/2023 at 9:29 PM, Pieter12 said:

That may be true, but anyone willing to lug around a Leica S is not concerned with size or weight.

Not quite. Size and weight are serious considerations, but not the only ones. I tried and abandoned the X1D and GFX 100 because the balance still went to the S. With the X2D, it's more difficult. The X2D in its current firmware state cannot replace the Leica S3 except at the wide end, where magnified focus checking is less mandatory. Once past 100mm, I get a much better hit rate with the S.

I expect that to change with firmware updates, but sometimes they never appear. And there are still some lenses in the S system that have no competition, but I don't know if they will be enough of an advantage to outweigh (pun intended) the S disadvantages.

Edited February 27, 2023 by mgrayson3

[pgk]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

On 2/24/2023 at 12:45 AM, Einst_Stein said:

Both Sony and Fujifilm GFX are shining in more advanced sensor and AF technology, to mention the least. More portable, more feature rich, etc. The price are much lower too.

Is Leica  in trouble?

Less can be more. Leica should learn from the M that excessive features aren't always a solution when trying to take photographs.

[davidmknoble]

In the S system most of the weight is glass.  Since glass moves the light through the system, I don’t care how heavy it is.  The glass is everything…