Durability of SL2.. anybody like me?

[kchae]

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I love SL2 and it is one of my favorite cameras ever, in all of Leica, including M series, which is saying something.

However, while built to be like a tank, SL2 broke down on me twice in the past year, which disappointed me a bit. I was wondering if I'm the only one who had this happened.

First time it happened was last May, after using it for 2 years and half, in Armenia it suddenly displayed this error message when I turned the camera on. And it turned on but without ability to display anything, not able to click anything, or to take picture. One thing about Leica cameras is that when it breaks down while I'm out there deep into the world, as I'm a traveling photographer, there is usually no way to fix it or replace it.

Long story short, I had to fly back to my home country just to get a new (used) SL2 to continue my journey. I sent it to repair and it just recently came back. Took 6 plus months to fix it, with $2000 bill to pay.

And then just recently, this time when I was in Norway, this used SL2 I got in last May broke down. I was shooting auroras at night, -20 celsius, it worked all fine. Until it ran out of battery. I replaced the battery, and then when I turned it on, it won't turn on. It was basically dead. Nothing I did could give any signal to it. I still don't know what happened. So I had to finish this trip without SL2.

Now, I still love SL2 and what it does, and I probably will get SL3 too when it comes out, but it kind of gave me this anxiety about its durability. I feel like I will have to carry two bodies when I go out there to shoot for weeks and months. I usually carry back up cameras like Ms and Qs, but there is certain photography I depend on SLs to be taking. I was gonna sell SL2 when and if I buy SL3, but now I feel like I should keep one SL2 just in case.

 

Anyhow, not saying anything but just wondering if any SL2 users out there had similar experience. Or it's just that I've been very unlucky?

[LocalHero1953]

Not mine.

There have been a couple of other users posting here with similar problems (do a search), but I can only think of a couple. Oddly, one of them also had two similar electronic failures. It makes me wonder if there is some particular way in which you and they set up and use the cameras - no blame to you, just that everyone uses cameras in different ways, and yours may be a less common way that triggered a particular fault mode.

There has been nothing to suggest systematic problems with reliability and durability in the SL system.

The long delay for repairs is another matter: it's endemic with Leica.

Edited February 26, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[Geoff C. Bassett]

Had a SL2 for three years and never had an issue with it. Cold and hot temps.

[BernardC]

4 hours ago, kchae said:

Took 6 plus months to fix it, with $2000 bill to pay.

Did the invoice explain what the fault was?

[Photoworks]

$2000 is a steep repair bill. auch!

May I suggest using an Amex Platinum card, it will extend warranty repairs another year, it is like an insurance on the 3rd year.

I have been using two SL2 cameras side by side since they came out 4 years ago, I did not need repair on the bodies. 

I did have a few lenses that needed repair and an M11.  Long waiting times are always a challenge on SL system as they all go back to Germany. M system can be done in the US much quicker, usually in a 4-5 weeks turnaround.

In this forum, few people has issue with electronics and shutters, but the percentage is really low.

Edited February 26, 2024 by Photoworks

[Manicouagan1]

I suggest the two of you that have had seemingly similar electronic failures exchange camera serial numbers.  Two similar failures of high quality electronics suggests a part failure or a batch specific assembly defect.    I imagine that Leica issues serial numbers in batches.    

[jaapv]

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You are aware that the minimum operating temperature of most electronic cameras is 0 ºC? Beyond that they may work -often do-, but you are basically operating outside the reliability envelope.

[LocalHero1953]

I can understand a camera ceasing to work at -20C, but I'd expect it to work again after warming up again (assuming no damage from condensation). And a camera might stop working simply because the battery couldn't deliver the power at -20C.

Does <0C temperature actually cause permanent damage to electronics?

[Eclectic Man]

According to the manual, the operating range of the SL2 is -10C to +40C:

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[FlashGordonPhotography]

Not had a problem with my Sl2's (or SL's for that matter). I'd probably just pick up a couple of S1R's as backups. Much cheaper for a camera that's a backup anyway and they have a very nice tri flip screen. Same IQ, basically.

Gordon

[helged]

On 2/27/2024 at 2:10 AM, jaapv said:

You are aware that the minimum operating temperature of most electronic cameras is 0 ºC? Beyond that they may work -often do-, but you are basically operating outside the reliability envelope.

This is one of the constraints that I know about, but don't consider at all. Based on experience with the three versions of SL-bodies (plus S006, S3 and a few M-bodies), all being used in munus 20 deg C and lower for extended periods of time, I have never experienced any problems, beyond lifeless fingers and reduced battery capacity... When coming indoor, I keep the gear in the back pack (or whatever), letting the gear warm up without being totally condensed. That's it.

[AZach]

Confirm above, have been shooting (M9, M, M10, CL, SL, SL2-S) in Lapland above the Polar Circle in temperatures -25 to -30degC without problems. You need to carry spare batteries in an inside pocket close to your body and as @helged also says keep the gear well wrapped to warm up avoiding condensation when back inside.

[Stuart Richardson]

I live in Iceland and have not had a single point of failure since I got the SL2, which was shortly after it came out. Generally not much colder than -15 here though. Still, it has been my most reliable Leica…I have had issues at one time or the other with every M, R and S camera I have had. One or two were quite failure prone (DMR). Nothing at all from the SL2. 

Edited February 28, 2024 by Stuart Richardson

[davidmknoble]

Still works…

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[chrismuc]

Imagine today’s electric cars would suffer from the lack of electronics and software reliability like Leica S, M or SL cameras … a nightmare … .

I have no idea why Leica seems to be unable to get their homework done in that essential area. 
In the case of the SL I also recommend a 2nd hand S1R for about a thousand bucks as an IQ and system equivalent backup. 

[davidmknoble]

Electronics are much more sensitive to movement and have a shorter, finite life compared to mechanical items.  Think about cars, the old mechanical cars still run and the older ones with computer chips stop when they can no longer get new chips (or get aftermarket chips if available).   My Leica M3 still works perfectly.  I will not be able to use My S bodies in 80 years - they won't work.  It is a fact of life.

[MakinMemories]

Only have had my SL2 for about two years and never any hitch in her giddy-up! (I do live in the West and remember my dad using that expression when I was a little kid) Seriously though here in Arizona where summer temps sometimes exceed 120 degrees the SL2 has never had any operational quirks. As for cold weather, I have only had it in snow up in the mountains a couple of times and the only thing misfiring then was me!

Looking forward to the SL3...

[Ghiry6591]

I actually had some small problems with both the SL2-S and the Q3. I solved it by turning it off and then on again, or, in the most stubborn cases, removing the battery and then reinserting it after a few seconds.

Edited February 29, 2024 by Ghiry6591

[slimsnapped]

Hot shoe in my SL2 started having issues a few years into me owning. Currently is out getting fixed but delayed from parts not being available. M11 is having a freeze up about two to three times a month, sometimes more; along with the occasional unreadable dng file.

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[Eclectic Man]

On 2/28/2024 at 3:20 PM, davidmknoble said:

Electronics are much more sensitive to movement and have a shorter, finite life compared to mechanical items.  Think about cars, the old mechanical cars still run and the older ones with computer chips stop when they can no longer get new chips (or get aftermarket chips if available).   My Leica M3 still works perfectly.  I will not be able to use My S bodies in 80 years - they won't work.  It is a fact of life.

Well, cars in the past were built to last better. Remember that decades ago, Henry Ford sent engineers around the USA to find abandoned Model T's and examine them to find out why they had been ditched. Everything bar the crankshaft was found to have failed.  So Henry told the engineers to make the crankshafts out of thinner metal.  I recently scrapped my 1999 Ford Focus, and the scrapper said no new car would mechanically survive for 20 years of driving as the engines were not made as robustly now.

Having said that, Leicas were renowned for their robust construction.  My Leica R5 still works, as do the several R lenses I acquired.  Electronics can be made robust and reliable (the Voyager space probes are still working after decades in space), but that costs money, and the vast majority of consumer / professional  electronics will never need it.  So it is a balance between robustness, failure ratess and repairs.