SL2 contrast ¿Is not a little too high?

[Paco Rosso]

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In my first sessions with SL2 I see the contrast is a little too high. I can see it in the visor but ¿Who can trust in what is there? But when go to the develop program, in lightroom is very prominent and in capture one, though high, it is not so high than in the adobe program. I have to reduce the contrast in lightroom. I have been shooting with my D850 side by side the same scene with the same exposure adjustments and is not a matter of the light, both images are different, softer in the nikon, crisper in the leica.

¿Some idea to share about it?

 

[dpitt]

I do not have the camera's you are using. Though I have been a Nikon user and compared Nikon's using Leica R lenses with Leica's using the same lens. The lenses make a difference too, but I wanted to compare results of the camera's only.

You are using RAW files to compare are you?

If this is your first experience with Leica sensors in general, it sounds about right. It is exactly what I experienced years ago when I compared files from the R8+DMR with files from the D810 (maybe it was the D800, it was from a friend). Sharpness/micro contrast is higher on the Leica. It has to do with using ultra thin filter glass and different technology in the sensor. Like different approach of Beyer filters... Downside is that on some pictures issues with moiré show up more on the Leica.

Capture One in general gets more natural effects from Leica DNGs out of the box to my eyes compared to Lightroom. I hear the newest LR is improved on that point. Not sure which versions you are comparing now.

I recently acquired a Leica SL, and all I noticed was that it saturates colors more than I am used to from my other Leica's (most of them CCD sensors like the M9 and DMR) If anything the files of the CCDs are even crispier than those from the SL.In lightroom you have to be very careful with the sliders from clarity and contrast. It is easily overcooked with the Leica files. When exposure and white balance is right I hardly have to touch up the files coming out of the Leica. I like it like that.

 

[trickness]

I’ve been using the SL2 since launch and I always bump the contrast to at least +4. Not sure what’s going on here other than individual taste, especially vs another system by another manufacturer 

[dpitt]

2 minutes ago, trickness said:

I’ve been using the SL2 since launch and I always bump the contrast to at least +4. Not sure what’s going on here other than individual taste, especially vs another system by another manufacturer 

Same here, I have no issues with contrast and sharpness being too high. Maybe some sample pictures will help us understanding the issue.

[Stuart Richardson]

Try another profile. For example adobe standard instead if Adobe Color. Adobe color is their newer look which has a contrast curve built in. Personally I hate it. Another option is to make your own custom profile, or probably better yet, get the Cobalt image profiles (just search it). 
Or, you know, lower the contrast slider. 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Stuart Richardson

[jaapv]

The contrast of a raw conversion is a setting of the postprocessing program, not an absolute value created by the camera.
Adjust one optimal shot to your taste and save the setting as a default. 

[giampo]

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Hello, also I've used both SL and SL2 since the launch.

Switching between the two, I had immediatly noticed how the SL2 is more contrasty and the shadows too darks, compared to the SL.
I'm talking the way Lightroom imports by defaults the images. Also with the SL I was used to use the Adobe Standard profile, while with the SL2 I'm now using the Adobe Color profile (which is more contrasty).

For many reasons I liked better the starting point of the SL, over the SL2.
So now I always import my SL2 photos with this automatic settings, that gives me (to my tastes) much less contrast and less dark tones:

in Lightroom

- in the basic: contrast -5; shadows +10
- in the tone curve: darks +5; shadows +10
- in the calibration: green primary saturation -5 (always though that default greens are too pumped in the Sl2, while in the SL that problem was on the reds)

Ciao!
 

[Luke_Miller]

I did a shoot last weekend with my SL2 and D850 and saw the same thing as you describe after importing them into Lightroom.  D850 shots were fine while the SL2 ones were too contrasty.  Editing brought the images up to standard, but it was more work (on the SL2 shots) than it should have been.  The Adobe Neutral profile eliminated the excessive contrast, but then I had images that were too flat.  I did not find any Adobe profile I like for the SL2.  I have a preset I use that is a reverse S curve that creates a more linear tonal range.  That helped a lot, but I think I will stay with C1 for my SL shots.

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Luke_Miller

[Donald M]

Another vote for Cobalt profiles. If you have different camera’s and use Cobalt profiles you get the best out of all of them. No oversaturated colours anymore and colours are better and more comparable.