The Leica SL3 - A Review by Jonathan Slack

[Eclectic Man]

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Why am I reading this?  It is not as if I am likely to buy one.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Just now, steveBK said:

How would you compare SL3 vs X2D for high resolution mirrorless landscape/portrait and a bit of street/travel kit?  (ie - no birding/sports)

Impossible to say after 24 hours with the SL3. I'm still shooting hedges and comparing it to my SL2.

My guess is a small improvement in IQ and a big difference in speed and versatility. I'm heading to Vietnam tomorrow with the X2D and SL3 for a couple of weeks. I'll let you know when I get back.

Gordon

[SrMi]

10 minutes ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Impossible to say after 24 hours with the SL3. I'm still shooting hedges and comparing it to my SL2.

My guess is a small improvement in IQ and a big difference in speed and versatility. I'm heading to Vietnam tomorrow with the X2D and SL3 for a couple of weeks. I'll let you know when I get back.

Gordon

Looking forward to your report. 

[trickness]

2 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I guess you didn't notice - I did at the time. I see no need to repeat my opinion - until someone implies that I and others have not used the camera in the real world, intending no disrespect..........

I don't doubt there are others who prefer the original way. Those who are happy about it, or learning the technique for the first time, are less likely to post.

Sorry - did you test the firmware before it was released? If not, then, my comments were not directed at you. My comments were directed at the people at Leica, who made this change without asking anybody whether or not they actually wanted it, didn’t do an appropriate job alerting people of the change in the firmware notes, or responding to the complaints by quickly, releasing an updated firmware or enabling people to downgrade to the previous version.

My comments were absolutely not directed at anybody who enjoys this update. They are directed at the process (at Leica and with whatever beta testers they use for firmware updates ) in which these decisions are made, how the user base is informed of these decisions, and how the company reacts when changes are made that the user base reacts strongly to.

 

[Big John]

Has the M11/M6 paint finish been applied to the SL3?

[jrp]

Well I'm looking forward to testing mine out tomorrow.

I have the SL2, and it focuses perfectly adequately for still subjects.  But I also have a Sony A1 for anything that moves.  It is not infallible.  I also tend to take the A1 if I need to take a range of lenses, as they tend to be be a bit lighter (much lighter in the case of the 50mm f1.4, eg) if not quite saturated and aberration-free as the SL Summicrons, or beautifully-rendering as the SL Summilux.

The SL2's AF for moving subjects is not quite on a par with the A7RII.  I am hoping that the SL3 will be slightly better.  (I can leave the A1 on AF-C all the time, for even still subjects, without thinking about it.)

I am hoping that the new sensor will be slightly better than even the A1s (my SL2 sensor is great at low ISO, provided nothing clips; the A1 roll-off / dynamic range seems more natural).

Anyway, I'll report back against my expectations ...

[Jipster]

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On 3/7/2024 at 4:20 PM, SrMi said:

SL3 with firmware 1.0.0 (time estimate):

- Turn on (quick press of the power button): about 5-6 seconds

- Turn off (hold power button): less than 3 seconds.

- Wake up from sleep: instant.

- Put to sleep by a quick press of the power button: 3 seconds.

I am happy that Leica implemented a method to put the camera to sleep (like X2D) quickly.

 

"Turn on (quick press of the power button): about 5-6 seconds"

False.

[adrianh]

3 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

 

I'm tired though. Tired of camera companies releasing gear with beta software. Tired of (and I'll make it very clear that Jono isn't one of these) a dozen fluff YouTube reviews that scoot over these issues because they're scared Leica won't send them any more cameras. Tired of cameras getting into the hands of fluff *influencers* who basically just re-read the press release, without using the damn thing. Experts who actually know sweet F.A. about gear in the real world.

 

Gordon

Funny thing, I was thinking exactly the same about the X2D “testers” on YT. I found out about a lot of its quirks only after paying my own money for it. Luckily, the camera and the IQ coming out of it is spectacular, and manual focusing with the new lenses is great. Nevertheless…

Btw. In terms of AF speed of the SL3, I feel it is OK. Nothing more. The A7RV in another league. Hopefully , the AF  will get better with firmware updates. 

 

 

[jrp]

Problem is that the technology seems to improve faster than Leica can iterate.  Look at the difference between the Apple M1 chips and the M3 generation (in terms of power requirements v performance)?  Most camera cpu chips seem to be ARM chips made by Fuji, with a bit of image processing hardware added in.

Cameras are in a bit of a niche in that they need to be very power efficient (and so can't rely on GPUs or equivalent for performance).  A company as small as Leica seems to have to use the same cpu chip for several years; even Sony / Nikon can't forge a new chip every year.

On top of that, there are, presumably, not that many people that can program these chips to AF or companies that have access to image databases deep enough to train the subject recognition algorithms adequately.

 

 

[eab]

3 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Impossible to say after 24 hours with the SL3. I'm still shooting hedges and comparing it to my SL2.

My guess is a small improvement in IQ and a big difference in speed and versatility. I'm heading to Vietnam tomorrow with the X2D and SL3 for a couple of weeks. I'll let you know when I get back.

Gordon

Have fun, both cameras are in capable hands and will without a doubt produce some lovely images.  I took home an SL3 yesterday and trying to see if it is going to work for me as well.

May the force be with you…..

 

[SrMi]

3 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

I own more of it than (I'd bet a fiver) than anyone else in this forum.

I'm pretty sure that you would lose that bet with me ;-).

[jonoslack]

4 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Hi Jono,

Please note my comment wasn't directed at the testers. It was at Leica. *Leica need to get the camera into the hands of a more diverse group of testers* was the comment. I should have added *and listen to them*.

I like the new quick menu. But only 11 options??

Gordon

Hi Gordon

What you said was: 

19 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

 

They can fix 90% of this with fw. And that annoys me because they already should have. This thing has been in test for 6 months and I worked this out in an hour. Leica! You need some more impartial and diversly experienced photographers to test these things. It's almost like you want to make it easy for your haters to lay into you.

 

It sounded like it was directed at the choice of testers and their competence to me, and it's pretty daming -  but I can tell you that (apart from me - I think I was the only person who wasn't a full time professional) they were extremely diverse and professional, and they certainly weren't Leica fan boys. 

As for the quick Menu options I have to say I haven't found anything I want that isn't there - but if it was that important it could be put on a function key (where there are 40 something options and 6 function keys). 

. . . and it's wonderful to be able to save this stuff to User profiles for different types of shooting. 

I return to my point - in one hour you got to some of the criticisms we all got to in one hour (and missed others and got some wrong) - some turned out to be a bit off point, some turned out to be rather inspired, some couldn't be addressed, lots LOTS were addressed. 

I do actually understand that you didn't mean to be offensive, and I'm never offended personally, but in this instance I am offended for the (quite large) number of people who put in a lot of work (including the people from Leica), and who had inspired insights into what could or should have been.

Perhaps Leica made the wrong decisions about the processor . . . or the sensor . . . there are certainly arguments for both of those, given the hardware they had available it's possible they shouldn't have pushed the video so much. 

All the best

Jono

 

[jonoslack]

3 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

 

Let me be clear. I like the SL3. I already PAID my money. I'll have my say. You'll note I had more positives than negatives. And the SL3 will be a great camera. I think it really will. But it 'aint there yet. And Leica could have released it with MANY of it's issues sorted. But they didn't. And it's not good enough. We, the customers who front up the cash and support the brand, deserve better.

Gordon

Hi There Gordon

You're one step ahead of me, I haven't paid my money yet! (I still have a test camera captive) - but I completely agree with this - although maybe I can better see the complications. What I would say is I think that they should involve the testers earlier - many things are already written in stone by the time it gets to testing.

All the very best

Jono

ps - thank you for the excluder!

 

[jonoslack]

15 minutes ago, SrMi said:

I'm pretty sure that you would lose that bet with me ;-).

I'm sure you'd both lose it with lots of people . . . but not me, I'm definitely a lightweight!🤣

[SrMi]

2 minutes ago, jonoslack said:

I'm sure you'd both lose it with lots of people . . . but not me, I'm definitely a lightweight!🤣

I am too wise to bet on that, though my wife probably thinks that I would win :).

[jonoslack]

2 minutes ago, SrMi said:

I am too wise to bet on that, though my wife probably thinks that I would win :).

Well, but we could all afford to lose the bet at least! I'm in trouble because the horses have gone!

[hdmesa]

@jonoslack, thank you for this review. The SL3 is growing on me as a viable alternative for M lenses to the somewhat stability-challenged M11/M11-P platform. I do have one question, was it ever discussed as to why they used ISO 100 as the base ISO for the SL3 instead of ISO 64 like we have on the M11?

[erudolph]

3 hours ago, hdmesa said:

@jonoslack, thank you for this review. The SL3 is growing on me as a viable alternative for M lenses to the somewhat stability-challenged M11/M11-P platform. I do have one question, was it ever discussed as to why they used ISO 100 as the base ISO for the SL3 instead of ISO 64 like we have on the M11?

It was discussed on the Red Dot Forum Camera Talk Live episode the night of the SL3 launch. 

[jonoslack]

5 hours ago, hdmesa said:

@jonoslack, thank you for this review. The SL3 is growing on me as a viable alternative for M lenses to the somewhat stability-challenged M11/M11-P platform. I do have one question, was it ever discussed as to why they used ISO 100 as the base ISO for the SL3 instead of ISO 64 like we have on the M11?

Hi there

I don’t think it was discussed. It’s an interesting point, I’ll check it out

Best

Jon

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[elmars]

I think in a video of the London Leica Store this was explained with a slightly different cover glass in front of the sensor.