Leica Sl3 - Commercial Studio Test Notes

[PBart]

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Hello everyone, I just thought to post some notes regarding my experiences with the Sl3 in a studio setting using strobe lighting. I'm a food photographer and have been using Sl2s for the past 4 years and the Leica S system for 6 years before that. The Sl2 needed improvement from a commercial photography standpoint and I'm very pleased to report that Leica has been listening to requests when developing the SL3.

The most welcome improvement in a studio setting is the compatibility of Live View in CaptureOne. I work with food stylists who have been having a difficult time with the Sl2 Live View being rather poor in quality. Live View for the SL2 is technically not compatible with CaptureOne but it does work but with a very blurry view. The SL3 is now supported for Live View and my stylists are very happy being able to see their adjustments live on the studio monitors all much clearer. This is a HUGE deal! Thank you Leica for addressing this.

The resolution upgrade is obvious. However, the dynamic range is even more important for my work and I see an improvement with highlights and shadows.

I saw a comment about someone seeing colors shifted (red looking pink) but they were using Lightroom I think. I highly, highly suggest testing out Capture One. I switched over to Capture One 3 years ago and it was like having a quality upgrade. I just did color checker tests using my Profoto lights and everything looks very accurate. 

The usb-c cord while tethering is flawless so far. The Sl2 sometimes freezes up and then I need to pop the battery out to reset things. I have yet to heavily use the Sl3 but will find out soon if a freezing issue is there.

The usb-c cable is also powering up the SL3 while tethering and this is awesome without needing to swap batteries. The Sl2 always did a slow battery drain while tethered so it always needed to be monitored.

The menu setting will take time to get used to and this is normal for new cameras. I'll just fine tune my user profile as things arise. I usually change the right dial and thumb wheel assignments to make more sense. I like the right dial to control aperture and and rear thumb dial to control shutter speed.

Video formats and setup are yet to be determined. I have my preferred settings already setup in the video profiles. I'll have to wait and see what my video editor say as far as the processing speed with my new settings and also how well the Log files color grade.

The flip screen is really nice. I don't use it so much for viewing other than focusing and changing my settings but the tilt screen is great when the camera is way overhead for flatlays.

I don't use autofocus and use my Leicas in manual mode. I did test the autofocus and it is notably better but I'm not a good judge for that.

Overall, I'd say that Leica now has a viable camera for commercial studio work. So far I'm happy with the improvements.

[Dr. G]

Thank you for your insights.  I can't tell by your first paragraph, but do you only shoot the SL2, or do you also use the SL2-S?  I do a fair amount of food photography for my friends who own restaurants and who are suppliers, but some of it is on location and with available light instead of strobes and I rely on post processing to lift shadows, etc.  The SL2-S has worked well for this since, as you know, when getting closer up (and not overhead) I'm almost never shooting wide open in order to get the depth of field I need.  I still haven't had the chance to take the SL3 out in that capacity, but I'm curious to see how it will work.

[PBart]

22 hours ago, Dr. G said:

Thank you for your insights.  I can't tell by your first paragraph, but do you only shoot the SL2, or do you also use the SL2-S?  I do a fair amount of food photography for my friends who own restaurants and who are suppliers, but some of it is on location and with available light instead of strobes and I rely on post processing to lift shadows, etc.  The SL2-S has worked well for this since, as you know, when getting closer up (and not overhead) I'm almost never shooting wide open in order to get the depth of field I need.  I still haven't had the chance to take the SL3 out in that capacity, but I'm curious to see how it will work.

I have a couple of SL2 bodies but haven't used the SL2-S. I think the SL2-S is better than the SL2 with higher iso and is great for handheld. I have another busy week in the studio but plan on getting outside and testing the SL3 with all my lenses. I hope it's better than the SL2 at high iso. 

I think the SL3 has great IBIS from my quick test. I'm looking forward to handheld low light photography. Handheld video will be good too.

Just waiting for Really Right Stuff to come out with their L bracket for the SL3. I have them for my SL2 cameras and love their products. 

[ProPhoto24]

Please let me know which tether cable you are using to connect to Capture One.  I can only get it to link using the short supplied cable.  Haven't found a longer one that will connect to capture one yet.  I would be forever thankful.

Also have you noticed your batteries draining super fast? Like in a matter of an hour or two? My fuji can go a long time, several hours.  And the Leica seems to drain batteries even when off and left in the camera.

Thanks for any insight, will be greatly appreciated.

[PeterGunnar]

Hi 

I recently switched from SL2-S to SL3; I do studio portrait work with the camera tethered (tether tools cable) to a MacBookPro running Capture one (C1). Every item is up to date, meaning latest version of software on MacBookPro, C1 and SL3.

When it works the whole setup is great; however, the connection between the SL3 and C1 often drops; often = several times during a session. Need to disconnect and restart SL3 and C1. Unreliable to say the least... Makes a bad impression on the client, too.

Settings are : USB mode PTP, USB charging ON and Powersaving OFF.

I have tried removing the memory cards (CFe and SD) but then I get a message on the SL3 screen  asking me to insert a card. I do not heed it and it seems to work...  If I do not remove the memory cards, no message and it seems to work (meaning images are seen in C1) , until it doesn't (SL3 frozen).

I will soon test the DC-coupler DC-SCL6, which on paper seems an interesting piece of kit for studio work, to address the battery drainage issue.

Out of curiosity I tested my M11M in tethering mode -I use other for street work, not studio-. Very interesting : there is a USB mode called Tethering (as well as PTP??? what's it for?) which, when selected, inhibits the SD card and internal memory (there's a message too), overrides any power-saving settings to have the camera always on. My limited test showed flawless operation. Now that's good. CAN WE HAVE THE SAME ON THE SL3, LEICA, PLEASE. PLEASE. After all, the M11M is for street work and the SL3 is supposed to be good for studio work. 

[Photoworks]

On 10/10/2024 at 5:34 AM, PeterGunnar said:

When it works the whole setup is great; however, the connection between the SL3 and C1 often drops; often = several times during a session. Need to disconnect and restart SL3 and C1. Unreliable to say the least... Makes a bad impression on the client, too.

 

I had a full week of tethered with SL3, sometimes on the MacBookPro and some time on iPad Pro. I have not had any dropouts unless the camera battery was empty.

Usualy connection issues are related to poor connection or USB-C on the camera or computer. 
I suggest using an L bracket to protect the cable at the camera and make sure it doesn't move around.

this 33 feet cable has been working very well, https://nine-volt.com/products/iqwire-cxrbon-blxck-tether-cables?variant=43342019788969

the older red one was disconnecting when bumping on the cable.

the CF-E cards are much faster and I use them in the camera for backup. take out any 2nd card, it will only cause problems, plus SD is too slow to make a connection to the Mac and timeout.

[ClaudeB]

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Did a whole day of studio portrait work yesterday with the SL3 : MacBook Pro with no power saving options, i.e. always on / Tethertools cable firmly held in place with clamp / SL3 configured as follows : NO CFe card, NO SD card, PTP mode, power saving option off on SL3. I needed to turn the SL3 on first, then launch C1.

Upon start, the SL3 astutely informs me there is no memory card ; I ignore the message. If I launch C1 immediately (say 2-3 secs after SL3 is started) C1 informs me the SL3 cannot connect. If I just click OK, the SL3 is not « seen » by C1. But if I then exit C1 and re-start it : no message, everything works fine. This tells me there is a serial port protocol issue. Either the SL3 or C1, or OSX for that matter, does not comply with the USB-C specifications regarding signaling to the other party that it is awake and ready. Reminds me of the old times when it was tons of fun to connect a printer to a Win 95 PC…RS232 anybody?  Having to ignore or override error/warning messages to get the job done is not acceptable. What’s the point of the message in the first place then.

To summarize : I believe I have a found a way to shoot tethered without losing any files, but this requires by ignoring C1 and SL3 messages and turning off any power-saving features. Not really a professional workflow!

As said, I have not had any battery issues (using a grip so I have 2 batteries) but I will test the DC-coupler soon.

[PBart]

On 9/19/2024 at 5:41 AM, ProPhoto24 said:

Please let me know which tether cable you are using to connect to Capture One.  I can only get it to link using the short supplied cable.  Haven't found a longer one that will connect to capture one yet.  I would be forever thankful.

Also have you noticed your batteries draining super fast? Like in a matter of an hour or two? My fuji can go a long time, several hours.  And the Leica seems to drain batteries even when off and left in the camera.

Thanks for any insight, will be greatly appreciated.

I use the cable by TetherTools. However, I use an L-Bracket with a clamp to stabilize the connection. These usb-c connectors lose connection easily if not stable. I even use gaffers tape to help if I connect to other cables.