Looking to go all in with Leica M, but need a AF system for gigs....

[petereprice]

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Hi all - I've been seriously shooting photography, for about 13 years now. Although I have a full-time non-photography job, I shoot a lot in my off times and even shoot portraits as a side gig, as well as documentary, street, and event photography all of which will be growing in the upcoming year.

Over the years, I've come to "collect" a lot of different cameras as it's been fun to play around with different systems, but have now gotten in a situation where I have multiple and current camera systems (Sony, Leica, Fujifilm), and have been paralyzed by choices when going out shooting, so I'm looking to consolidate, and also hone my craft.  I'm interested in going all in with Leica M, as I've been shooting M for a couple of years, but I potentially want to focus on shooting all my personal work with just M camera/s in the upcoming 2024 year to help me get out of this creative rut, but most importantly improve my skills, while also being creatively challenged.  I feel like dedicating just shooting M (for my personal works) will help with that.

I just picked up an M11-P, and will be selling my M11 to fund the upgrade.  I shoot with the 35 Summilux and 50 Summilux and that takes care of most of my shooting needs on the rangefinder.  Additionally, I have a Q3 I use as my walk-around 28mm focal range camera, that I shoot manually, as well as being my EDC.  

I also own a Fujifilm kit, a Sony full-frame kit and an SL2-S.  I'm thinking about keeping my Sony kit, to be for any professional work I have in the pipeline for times when I need AF, for paid gigs, while continuing to improve my craft with manual-only cameras outside of the paid gigs, but I have also got an SL2-S that I REALLY like and wondering if that should be my AF system with L Mount glass and then I can stay in the Leica Eco-system and get rid of everything else.  So here are a few concerns going that approach though:

• I like the image quality and build of the SL2-S, as well as being a second body to my Leica M11-P for M glass, but I'm concerned if it breaks at all, the service turnaround time seems extremely long?  I hear the wait time for repair of an SL system is currently around 6 months!  While my other systems when in need of repair are typically 1-2 week turn around times with loaner stock available to me.
   
• I have been really digging the Leica SL2-S L glass, and there are a ton of compact options, that don't weigh the camera down too much.  However, I still feel like there are missing lens choices.  For instance, I am shooting the New York City Marathon next week, and need a good tele lens with a good amount of reach.  I typically will shoot with a 135mm prime or a 70-200 f2.8 Zoom.  The options on the L mount system for telephoto zooms or primes are really big and heavy and having shot with Sony, Fuji and Leica M;  as you can imagine, I'm not a big camera big lens guy, so that does put me off on the L mount options.  Even Nikon has the Tamron-made 70-180 compact zooms, available, despite their larger lenses and bodies in their lineup.  So size and lens options is another concern.
   
• Something else that has bothered me about the SL2-S system is the EVF Blackout.  Don't get me wrong, I think one of the selling points of the SL2 and SL2-S is the gorgeous EVF.  Quite possibly the best one I've ever used.  I can typically focus manually without any focus assistance tools.  That's amazing!  This is why I am considering keeping the SL2-S as a second body for my M.  However when you start speeding up your shutter actuation, the EVF begins to lag with blackout and if you pop off a few shots back to back the EVF stays black until you finish effectively obscuring your view of the shot or shots.  I know there is a slight workaround where the blackout gets reduced slightly by going into burst mode, which gives you more of a real-time view of what's around you.  If find this very hard to navigate sometimes when shooting fast-moving subjects.  And I'm not talking about birds, animals, or race cards.  I'm talking about models moving around during a shoot.

So I'm at a bit of a crossroads.  I need to sell a lot of kit, to consolidate and put focus and purpose into my gear.  The SL2-S is a beautiful machine that produces some extremely high-quality images for a 24mp sensor, and so I like the idea of having it as my main AF camera to compliment my M system and to use for paid gigs, but the concerns stated above and my experience does have me pause and think about selling it and revisiting SL's when the SL3 comes out.

• I also enjoy by Fujifilm kit and although it's an APS-C camera system, my X-H2S with their new LM lenses produces stunning pictures with amazing color in camera and could be a great compliment to my Leica M and Q kit.  Rounding out an enjoyable well-rounded camera kit.  While selling and recouping money from some of my other full-frame kits that I won't be using.
• Or I could as mentioned earlier, get rid of the Fuji and SL2-S kit, and keep my two Sony bodies (A1 and A7rV) and make them my professional kit, to compliment the M and Q kit.  I wouldn't have a backup body to mount my M lenses and I don't think I would rely on mounting my M lenses on the Sony body.
• And the third and final option is to sell everything but the maybe one of my Sony bodies and a couple of lenses, and maybe add another M body as a backup like the M11 Monochrom.  So I have a small Sony kit to handle my paid gigs, and then for my personal work use the M11-P, M11 Monochrom and maybe even keep the Q3 around.

As you can see, I have a lot of choices and it's hard to commit to one path.  Would love to get some input here.  I know a lot of folks on the SL system come from other systems or have other systems currently so would love to get your input.  Thoughts?

 

Cheers! 

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[FrozenInTime]

Don't force it when there is not an obvious solution; wait and see what the SL3 brings.

[frame-it]

1 hour ago, petereprice said:

As you can see, I have a lot of choices and it's hard to commit to one path.  Would love to get some input here.  I know a lot of folks on the SL system come from other systems or have other systems currently so would love to get your input.  Thoughts?

 

if you're ok with manual focus, then there are LOADS of lighter longer focal length options [some dirt cheap] for the SL via an adapter.

OR

i would sell the full SL and fuji kit [while you can still get a decent price for it], keep the Sony stuff

AND

 

Later, if the SL3 ticks all the boxes, then sell the Sony gear and get the SL3 [IF you're okay with manual focus via adapted lenses for long focal lengths]

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by frame-it