S1R & SL2 Comparison

[Shawn30]

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Im considering going to the S1RII and would like feedback on the S1R. I have the SL2. Im curious to hear from those of you that have used the SL2 and SR1 cameras. In your opinion are the images of equal quality? Which in your opinion has more pleasing colors?

 

[da_eltsch]

Hey Shawn,

to make it short: 

1. Talking of dedicated L-Mount Glass: equal image quality (IMHO)
2. Personally decided to go the S1R route, for financial reasons, as a raw / DNG - shooter, both gave me input that I can handle to pleasure my esthetic wishes

Best,

Helge

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[helged]

16 hours ago, Shawn30 said:

Im considering going to the S1RII and would like feedback on the S1R. I have the SL2. Im curious to hear from those of you that have used the SL2 and SR1 cameras. In your opinion are the images of equal quality? Which in your opinion has more pleasing colors?

Having used both, and presently having SL2-S and S1R, it is fantastic what S1R delivers based on the current price. The body is now duscontinued, but that's not a problem, as far as I can understand.

S1R deliver colours that are close to SL2,and deliver image quality on par with SL2. When shooting in RAW, the difference can be reduced/practically. eliminated.

The EVF of SL2/SL2-S is better and clearer, but S1R is fully usable.

You have to be little careful to avoid highlight clipping; so underexpose a little more than usual when highlights are important.

Despite a pletora of buttons, you can assign key menu options to specific buttons on S1R, so after some trial, you are basically set and you can treat the body as a Leica. 

If you plan to use M-mount lenses on S1R; the SLx-bodies are better (due to thinner sensor glass and microlenses on the sensor). 

Based on the L-mount bodies I have experience with, SL2-S is my favorite. SL2 might be a little ahead of S1R, but I could easily use S1R in stead of SL2.

[georgecp]

I happen to own both the S1R and the SL2 and use them happily; I find them to be complimentary to each other.  There are some things that the S1R excels at and others that the SL2 excels at.

I acquired and S1R in 2019 after renting one with the 75mm SL APO Summicron, the combination of that camera and lens convinced me to switch from my nearly 20 year, built out, Canon DSLR outfit.   The image quality of those files was truly outstanding.  The close value separation, sharpness, tonality were above anything I had shot with up to that point.  I sold my Canon system (though kept and still use my T/S lenses with the Sigma Adapter) and built a system around the S1R at the time.  I added the SL2 in 2021 and have used both ever since.  To my eye, the files out of the S1R have slightly better highlight headroom though it is close enough in many circumstances that you may not see it that often.  Colors from both are outstanding, very slightly different that can be more closely matched in post if you care to.

After 4 years of firmware updates for both cameras, I'll list some nuances below.  It is also clear that Leica is putting more emphasis on keeping the SL2 up-to-date while the S1R firmware has been very tactical...out of fairness, the S1R came out of the gate with multi-shot, DOF and other functions that Leica added later to the SL2.

For the SL2, it has faster eye-detect focus, faster pinpoint focus (it doesn’t have the annoying magnified view that slows down pinpoint focusing with the S1R), a slightly better viewfinder (slightly, when zoomed in or under varying light levels, though both are great).  The Leica also has a vastly superior profile management system.  Once you learn how to fully configure and use it, it revolutionizes how you use the camera.  For example, you can create a profile for a non-electronic lens, specify focal length, I/S, even lens profile treatment, among other things and reference very quickly.  All settings and buttons change as much as you want.  The camera is very fluid when you learn how to leverage each of the control buttons plus the profile settings.  However, I do wish it had more more button!

The S1R is much friendlier to hold in the hand, has the angled rear viewfinder which is very helpful at times, and the control buttons give you easy to remember options. One of the nice shooting behaviors that I wish Leica would copy is that when the S1R acquires eye focus, the exposure system automatically adjusts exposure if the face is in shadow while balancing the highlight exposure level..with the SL2, I have to diol up a little positive exposure override on my own.  As many have already stated, M-lenses will definitely perform better on the SL2 than the S1R up to 75mm; after that it is a draw in my experience.  The focus peaking behavior is equivalent on both cameras.  Panasonic professional repair service runs circles around Leica support.  I had an episode where the S1R fell off of my roof shooting platform while I was doing 35mph (bad move on my part), they were able to fully repair it in 3 weeks at reasonable cost.  From the anecdotes I have read, I would have been without the SL2 for at least 5 months..Leica has to do better here at some point.  They are not giving their major market country teams enough capacity to succeed.

Hope this helps...we are on the verge of phase detect on both of these cameras this year.  the L-mount ecosystem is growing. I am pleased with my choice for the kinds of work that I do.

[o2mpx]

After selling the SL2, acquired a S1r while waiting for the SL3. Key reasons would be cost, as the used S1r was 1/3 or what the SL2 sold for. Hand-holdability much better with the S1r. The grip is far more comfortable for my medium sized hands than the more angular SL2. Fit and finish is better on the SL2, despite the S1r actually is a bit heavier(not sure why). Hands down, S1r menus are terrible and can’t beat the clean structure of Leica. One thing that bothered me most about the S1r is the hair trigger shutter. Despots trying different settings, still very sensitive and have fired many shots by accident. 

Net is, if price isn’t a factor, SL2. But since the L mount is used along with a HB x2D and Leica M systems, current thinking is it doesn’t make financial sense to acquire the SL3 or keep the SL2 (or Star). Just traded out the S1r and got the S5ii; not expecting the latter to be better than the 47mp S1r, but the L mount setup isn’t getting as much use lately. 

Edited February 27 by o2mpx

[jaapv]

I agree that the Panasonic menu system appears daunting at first sight, but once one grasps the system behind it is quite simple and practical in use. It seems that all S series cameras have this hair trigger - it took me quite a while to get used to. 

[Babylonia]

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Am 27.2.2024 um 00:47 schrieb o2mpx:

One thing that bothered me most about the S1r is the hair trigger shutter.

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Am 29.2.2024 um 10:49 schrieb jaapv:

It seems that all S series cameras have this hair trigger....

What is a hair trigger?
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[Boojay]

2 hours ago, Babylonia said:

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What is a hair trigger?
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When only the lightest pressure has the shutter firing... it is IMO a fault in Pan bodies, not a feature I enjoy... they really need to dial it back a bit.  

When my S5II shutter button failed and it went in for replacement I kind of hoped the new one would be better, but no.. just the same, breathe a little hard and off it goes, BBF a must 😃. 

 

 

[Babylonia]

OK.
Several other cameras from other brands I used in past did (do) have the same "phenom". But personally I like that characteristic.  😲
As holding a camera in your hand, this is the best condition to trigger a shutter of a camera "manually", without moving / shaking a camera,
as a balance between using "long" exposures times possible, without motion blur. (Long before cameras have image stabilisation).

I never liked camera's having characteristics for using more high back pressure, or "to long" distance for triggering, then necessary.
In past, using one of my camera's, even I bought a so called "soft release" button to get a more balanced feel for triggering the shutter.
Resting a finger on the button and surrounding area. All you have to do is a tiny tense of a muscle, "almost invisible" to release the shutter.

So an opposite experience 😄  🙃

And yes, sometimes when taking the camera in your hands a little bit awkward, it triggers the shutter.
Not differently than taking a camera awkward many years ago.

Edited March 6 by Babylonia

[o2mpx]

Decided to trade the S1r and got a S5ii. Actually the S5ii shutter release is much better without the sensitive firing. 

Clearly big difference in sensor resolution but the smaller body and the lighter weight are good offsets. 

Will be using the S5ii with the 16-35 and 24-90 Leica zooms and on an upcoming trip M lenses as an2nd body to the M10-r. 

Given the SL3 is slightly narrower and lighter than the SL2 by 100g, perhaps move to that for the sensor when they’re available in the used market in a year or 2. 

[jaapv]

I find that the sensor is exceedingly good at rendering detail, it is not just about pixel number but even more about pixel quality. If you are hungry for pixels there is the High-Res setting which produces true 96 MP images.