Image thread for the Leica Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH

[frame-it]

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yeah, i just worked on a commercial shot with the Weapon...gorgeous footage....but needs the best focus puller in the world to maintain focus

 

 

 

The RED/WEAPON 8K 35   could be the weapon of choice - for weddings and events.

It offers much more than a measly A9, and almost a guarantee not to miss any shot.

It is 35.4 Mpixels at up to 75 fps. 16.5 stops of DR.   http://www.red.com/products/weapon-8k

It does not fit in here (SL 50) and maybe not even into the realm of photography. But it could be the future  (or a similar product) almost certainly.

I am sure I get more hits from this camera than from a SL or even A9. At (much) higher technical quality.

 

What would you rather choose, this or a medium format mirrrorless ? Price levels are different, but if it helps your business ...    O.K. price is very high, but this will come down.

I will definitely stay with the SL, but if it was my business ?   

 

I just wanted to show the current state of technology - which is not what Sony offers. But if this is too far off this thread, you can delete it, I don't mind.

 

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[YellowBelly]

Well with a heavy heart I'm actually going to sell my Leica SL, 50mm 1.4 and 90-280mm now..

with reference to your tragedy I have a spare 24-90 as bought two but only need one. If you wanted a basically unused lens from November/December 2016. I have one for sale I'll keep the used one that's on one of my bodies most of the time. I will be in London on Monday.

 

 

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[dancook]

Been using the leica sl today at a wedding it is such a lovely camera.

 

Such a difficult decision, but someone already interested in buying the lot off me.

[scott kirkpatrick]

This is a weird digression.  Sony A9-envy, trumped by hypothesizing carrying the RED Weapon as the nuclear superiority response. Although I shoot mostly for my own pleasure, I do events from time to time.  They are usually un-reshootable, but follow predictable patterns.  Getting nice sharp images and good expressions is always a challenge, but a bigger challenge is being in the right position for critical shots and getting every last relative or friend in a picture in combination with someone else.  I can't see that the A9, the RED, or even a flying fleet of GoPros are going to make any difference on these bigger challenges.

 

scott 

[FlashGordonPhotography]

If I would believe Sony ads, then I would probably spend the big pile of money and buy the A9 for weddings. It offers all to conquer the once-a-lifetime events, with no risc (maybe also no fun when selecting the usable pics).

I would buy many large SD cards and kill any problem with long bursts (up to 200 pics). And as Sony said the perfect AF will do anything for me. They guarantee that.

A little better even a 8k camera, with even faster AF, and me selecting at the end of the wedding the best and sharpest pics from the video. Without any sweat or feelings of guilt because of pics lost for eternity.

That would be great for my nerves, great for my "credibility"  (no need to explain to relatives why they were not found on any good pic), maybe even great for the business.

This is probably the future (near future) for all event reporters (sorry, weddings are events).

 

But will I have the time (and pleasure) to look at all these near perfect pics ?

So I clearly see the future - but will I go it ?

 

We have people who do this. They're called Videographers. They do video.....

 

And yes there are people pulling stills from 4 and 5K footage already and there will be some pulling from 8K soon enough. But it's not really photography, is it? People say it's the future and the way everyone will do it (and I'm all for disruptive technologies) but in this case I don't think so. Pulling stills and machine gun stills shooters don't get to build an image like a still shooter does. Posing and lighting are very differently done. And if you do build poses and lighting then you don't need to pull frames. One will do plus an extra for the blinkies. Shooting stills just looks different. Maybe the guys who pretend they only shoot *candidly* (they don't) will get displaced but every wedding and event shooter I know has much more go into a frame than a high speed burst.

 

Gordon

[FlashGordonPhotography]

with the 50SL I took 10 photos of bridesmaids walking towards me before proceeding down the aisle.

 

0 out of 10 were in focus,

 

 

I switched to me Leica Q for the bride and her father.

 

I don't need to process wedding photos, so only spent a second to pick a photo, straighten, crop and black and white it.

 

L1280269.jpg

 

Interesting? What lens were you using. I'm finding the 24-90 to be unerringly accurate. But I don't even know where the CAF button is. SAF is fast enough to grab and shoot a walking subject with the 24-90.

 

The 50SL is too slow to bother with for moving subjects. I use an M for those.

 

Gordon

[almoore]

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The 50SL is too slow to bother with for moving subjects

Have I got this right? A $5000 plus 50mm lens is too slow to photograph moving subjects?

 

Leica claim that the 'SL has the fastest autofocus of all professional cameras - including DSLRs'. What am I missing and why are people relaxed about the disparity between the claim and the reality?

[LD_50]

Like all camera systems, AF speed varies with different lenses.

[almoore]

Like all camera systems, AF speed varies with different lenses.

Yes, but this a new system with only three currently available lenses, and Leica is making very bold claims regarding their speed of operation: 'Leica SL-Lenses focus from infinity to the closest focusing distance with exceptional speed and set reference standards in the professional camera segment.'

 

There appears to be a major disparity between Leica's claims and the reality that people are experiencing. An SL and 50 costs around $13000, and for that extravagant price it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect the advertising blurb to be accurate.

[LocalHero1953]

What am I missing and why are people relaxed about the disparity between the claim and the reality?

What product has there ever been which has had no disparity between claim and reality.

Among expensive items items: cars, houses, hifi, IT stuff.......

If you buy on the basis of advertising, you're condemning yourself to a lifetime of disappointment.

If you buy on the basis of "try it yourself", at least you start out happy.

 

Edit. Perhaps the more interesting question is "why do we hold Leica to higher standards of advertising accuracy than any other brand?"

Edited May 7, 2017 by LocalHero1953

[almoore]

Edit. Perhaps the more interesting question is "why do we hold Leica to higher standards of advertising accuracy than any other brand?"

I really don't think that 'we' do. If anything, it's the reverse

 

If the buffer fills on an M9, we pretend that it's some kind of feature to slow us down and make us more thoughtful about our picture taking. We only acknowledge the infra-red contamination and consequent magenta bias in skin stones of M9s and 240s at the point the 10 offers more neutrality. Camera seizes up, then try a different SD card, even though all cards seem to work fine in most cameras. And on and on.

 

Do you really think that there's no obligation for a camera with a price tag similar to a modest family car to perform as advertised? If a high level Canon or Nikon falls short, their professional user base has the muscle to force them to put things right. Leica is in the very fortunate position of having a user base that endlessly makes excuses for them.

[LocalHero1953]

You're making an awful lot of assumptions about who "we" are. Avoiding the same trap, all I can say that "I don't pretend....." etc.

 

I mentioned cars on purpose; aside from emission scandals, I don't believe fuel consumption figures on high or low end cars.

 

Broadly, I expect quantitative and measurable claims to be true, though such claims are usually hedged round with conditions.

 

But I certainly would not take a statement such as "SL has the fastest autofocus of all professional cameras - including DSLRs" (your quote, though I'll take your word that it is genuine) as a statement of absolute truth in all cases. I would consider myself naive to base a purchase decision on this without checking if the speed as fast enough for my needs. It only takes a limited bit of deconstruction (fast vs accurate? fast motor movement vs achieving actual sharp focus? fast in all modes? fast with all lenses?), to realise some caution is needed.

[almoore]

I'm making assumptions on the basis of what I read on the forum. The quote, by the way, isn't mine, it really does come directly from Leica.

[tom0511]

Have I got this right? A $5000 plus 50mm lens is too slow to photograph moving subjects?

 

Leica claim that the 'SL has the fastest autofocus of all professional cameras - including DSLRs'. What am I missing and why are people relaxed about the disparity between the claim and the reality?

 

You are missing the difference between marketing and reality.

Its not that the 50 is unusable slow, but it is not really fast. However if I compare it to the Canon 50/1.2 I once had the Leica lens focuses more accurate, which is important for a fast lens.

I do however believe that contrast AF is just not there for C-AF, after moving from phase detection AF (DSLR) to mirrorless I have started to use S-AF more often instead of C-AF.

I believe there is a reason why some companies combine Contrast AF with phase detection.

[Ingo]

The AF of the SL-50 is very precise but slower than the AF of the 24-90 and 90-280. It's not my choice for moving objects. But IQ is outstanding.

 

Leica did some daring statements about the autofocus capabilities of the 24-90 and 90-280 when they launched the SL and the lenses. But this ad is not true for the later introduced SL-50. And unfortunately they don't distinguish on the website between the zooms and the SL-50. Maybe this is due to general rules of advertising and definitely not limited to Leica. 

 

I hope the statements becomes true again for the crons.

 

Everybody should also be aware that the AF-C is not comparable with a Canon/Nikon pro body (I don't have experience with other brands). 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Ingo

[panoreserve]

Been using the leica sl today at a wedding it is such a lovely camera.

 

Such a difficult decision, but someone already interested in buying the lot off me.

 

Selling the whole SL-gear (body, 90/280, 50)  would be quite strange to my mind. Your lenses have the highest optical performance money can buy. A decision that I never would come to. Keep cool-headed...

[dancook]

Selling the whole SL-gear (body, 90/280, 50)  would be quite strange to my mind. Your lenses have the highest optical performance money can buy. A decision that I never would come to. Keep cool-headed...

 

It is a difficult decision, and I am losing sleep over it.

 

Today is the day i've been processing it all, and I'll thank you now - because that has helped make the decision to keep it.. I love the SL and the image quality..

 

I'm going to remove the items from sale, and live with them longer, maybe in time to see the Leica SL 2 with improved AF

Edited May 7, 2017 by dancook

[thighslapper]

Have I got this right? A $5000 plus 50mm lens is too slow to photograph moving subjects?

 

Leica claim that the 'SL has the fastest autofocus of all professional cameras - including DSLRs'. What am I missing and why are people relaxed about the disparity between the claim and the reality?

 

Like all general statements this does not state 'under all conditions' ....... contrast AF is fine in good illumination and for 'most' subjects and both zooms are exceptionally quick and accurate for AF-C alone. 

 

Leica claim they chose contrast AF over phase detection for accuracy ...... which is certainly needed for an AF lens with an aperture of f 1.4 and a compressed DOF.

 

Other manufacturers that use phase detection in their high end cameras throw an enormous amount of processing power at it to achieve speed and accuracy ...... and again there is possibly a processing trade off going mirrorless with LV that Leica had to make.  

[dancook]

Maybe I will have to try the 24-90 and see how it fares, though at f4 in dim lit environments it might struggle like the 90-280 sometimes does.

 

Or just keep a DSLR over my shoulder for emergencies

Edited May 7, 2017 by dancook

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[dancook]

50mm photos.. colourful weddings

 

L1470097 by dancook1982, on Flickr

Edited May 7, 2017 by dancook