SL2-S lens recommendations?

[JohnSantaF4]

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I just purchased a mint SL2-S body and now I need lenses. I shoot mostly landscape, architecture, and some street,  and portability is important to me. I love my Q2M but have no experience with L-mount lenses on the SL line. Can you share your recommendations please? Much appreciated.

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[Dr. G]

If you love your Q2M and are familiar with that focal length, the 28mm APO Summicron-SL would be the logical choice.  Or, if you want something different for your use cases, I could see how a 21 APO/35 APO pairing would be great, as well.  

[Almizilero]

I switched over to the SL2-S from Sony about 18 month ago and played the lens game for a while. Portability and SL don't go to well together, as the camera is quite a brick
For best quality, go for the Leica SL APO lenses. I tested 35mm, 50mm and 90mm against the otions from Sigma/Panasonic. The APO SL lenses are stellar in every regard, but pricey. I kept the 90mm because I do lots of portraits. The Panasonic 50/1.4 did match the Leica APO and had the benefit of F/1.4. At 35, I'm still eying the APO, but for monetary reasons kept the Sigma 35/1.2 that I love from my Sony days. So, all of these are not to good in the portabilty department...
There, you could go manual and get some M lenses that work just great with the SL2-S! You can't get smaller/lighter. Otherwise, the Sigma i-lenses (F/2) are all pretty small and lightweight and so is the complete line of Panasonic F/1.8 lenses, which are all the same size. I tested the Sigma 35/2 and Panasonic 50/1.8. Both are good value for money, but they lack the wow-factor that the APO lenses give you. In the end, I wanted some faster lenses as well. But yeah, for street and landscape, the wider aperture should not be to important, so I'd happily recommend those lines of lenses.

[keeping_a_balance]

https://l-mount.com/en/lenses

There are a lot of lenses.

Hard to give recommendations without budget ideas.  

But I think iSeries Sigma primes would be the way to go for what you say about portability.

or a light Sigma Contemporary zoom lens.  

Good luck

[tomasis7]

24-90 and a prime 35 or 50 APO

[Steven Lane]

The 35mm APO Prime would be my recommendation. Expensive but simply fantastic.

[Tjazz]

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Agree on the 35 APO SL and 24-90. I didn't think I would like the 24-90 due to the total weight, but I spent three weeks in New Zealand with it and the images I got made me forget the weight. Also added the 100-400 SL recently but not really using it much yet. Plus have the 20mm Sigma Art 1.4 for Astro. As a side note, I had been standing in line for the SL3 but the SL2-S does everything I need from an SL camera with stunning color, ease of use, and well-developed firmware. Nothing in my pictures tells me I need the super-high resolution at this point.

[Chris Nebard]

I would love to try the Apo 35mm Summicron on my own SL2-S, but, I do sometimes wonder if the benefit is fully realised on a 24mp camera when the Apo is said to out-resolve the sensor. As a result, Moiré is, possibly, more likely than it would be on, say, the SL2 and SL3. I think it’s recognised that SL Apo resolution capabilities suit high mp sensors. I am no optics expert and my questions may be well wide of the mark - so please feel free to correct me.

In any case, for my use, the SL2-S is definitely my preference - certainly over the new SL3. I absolutely love the thing. Like JohnSantaF4, portability is important to me and so, other than my 50 & 75 M lenses (which perform beautifully on the SL2-S), I use Sigma’s DG DN I Contemporaries. They are, obviously, not in the SL Apo class but, again for my own use, if I’m getting great optical performance from a small lens which balances very well on the SL2-s, has plenty of sharpness - if that’s important - with lovely out of focus rendering and colours, then I’m more than happy. This Sigma range is brilliant for me. Of course, I do fully reserve the right to blow £4 grand on an Apo at some stage 😂

Whatever you choose, enjoy your SL2-S. Amazing camera.

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Edited March 21, 2024 by Chris Nebard

[Simone_DF]

For portability the Sigmas are hard to beat. 

I have a mix of Sigmas and APOs, if I know I'm out all day, the APOs stay at home.

[Dr. G]

40 minutes ago, Chris Nebard said:

I would love to try the Apo 35mm Summicron on my own SL2-S, but, I do sometimes wonder if the benefit is fully realised on a 24mp camera when the Apo is said to out-resolve the sensor. As a result, Moiré is, possibly, more likely than it would be on, say, the SL2 and SL3. I think it’s recognised that SL Apo resolution capabilities suit high mp sensors. I am no optics expert and my questions may be well wide of the mark - so please feel free to correct me.

In any case, for my use, the SL2-S is definitely my preference - certainly over the new SL3. I absolutely love the thing. Like JohnSantaF4, portability is important to me and so, other than my 50 & 75 M lenses (which perform beautifully on the SL2-S), I use Sigma’s DG DN I Contemporaries. They are, obviously, not in the SL Apo class but, again for my own use, if I’m getting great optical performance from a small lens which balances very well on the SL2-s, has plenty of sharpness - if that’s important - with lovely out of focus rendering and colours, then I’m more than happy. This Sigma range is brilliant for me. Of course, I do fully reserve the right to blow £4 grand on an Apo at some stage 😂

Whatever you choose, enjoy your SL2-S. Amazing camera.

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Even though you would think that the APO lenses wouldn't make a difference on the SL2-S, they do.  I had the SL2, the SL2-S and now the SL3.  When using the APO SL lenses on the SL2-S the resulting images give the appearance that they were made with a much higher resolution camera.  Are they better performing on the SL2 and SL3?  Yes.  in one case - high contrast, highly detailed black and white photography they shine on the SL2 and SL3 - but you can still get very good results on the SL2-S.  

Right now I'm trying out the Sigma 20mm ART on the SL3.  It's very, very good.  Do I think the 21 APO will be better?  Judging from my 35, 50 and 75 APO SL images, I do.  Do I think it's worth an extra $4600?  Not sure yet

Edited March 21, 2024 by Dr. G

[MakinMemories]

For a bit more portability along with affordability, don't overlook the SL24-70mm F2.8. Yes, the SL 24-90mm is a better lens but the SL24-70 is no slouch and is lighter, a bit more compact and cost much less...There was a reason Leica bundled this lens with the SL2 / SL2-S, food for thought!

Edited March 22, 2024 by MakinMemories
left out '2'

[mipo]

I vote for the SL24-70mm F2.8. Killer lens..

[2M6TTLs]

The SL24-70 gives you versatility from wide to portrait to close focus, has weather sealing, AF and Leica build quality all in one lens. It's worth it and doesn't have the APO price tag while still giving excellent performance. Then add other lenses later only if you have a need for them. I use this with a set of M lenses but honestly speaking, nine times out of ten, the zoom covers most things.

[hansvons]

13 hours ago, Chris Nebard said:

I would love to try the Apo 35mm Summicron on my own SL2-S, but, I do sometimes wonder if the benefit is fully realised on a 24mp camera when the Apo is said to out-resolve the sensor

There is no such thing as a lens out-resolving a sensor. Think of it as a multiplication of two factors (lens and sensor) of which none reaches 1 as the optimum. 

The APO 35mm SL is a singular occurrence in the stills photography market. It not only shows great performance regarding CA and sharpness (others do that too) but also has a unique way of rendering at full aperture which makes it a character lens and truly Leica. Faces are rendered more like a fifty and the background blur looks more like an f1.4 lens. I saw a similar rendering with a 27mm Zeiss Masterprime at f1.4 on an S-35mm Alexa. That lens cost four times more, though. 

Besides their virtues in UX and colour, the Leica SL2-S shines most with a genuine Leica lens. The 24-90 is terrific, and so are the APO primes. Personally, I never warmed up with the re-badged lenses, nor Sigma’s or Panasonic’s f1.4 offerings, let alone their standard f2.8 24-70 zooms. But Sigma’s all-metal Contemporary series is interesting. They are affordable and have character. 

[LocalHero1953]

4 minutes ago, hansvons said:

There is no such thing as a lens out-resolving a sensor. Think of it as a multiplication of two factors (lens and sensor) of which none reaches 1 as the optimum. 

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[rouge_homme]

I think it really depends on your definition of ‘portability’ and the focal lengths you want to cover (as well as your budget).

Coming from a Q2, an SL2 paired with any of the Leica zooms is going to feel pretty hefty but they do offer the most versatile solution in a single package.

For me, portable means being able to comfortably carry the camera on my shoulder while wandering about so I prefer M lenses and small primes but everyone’s tolerance for size and weight is different.

As others have said, there are a wide variety of options you should narrow down based on your own needs. Do you prefer zooms or primes? Do you want autofocus? Weather sealing? A fast aperture?

Of course, many will settle for nothing less than Leica’s stellar apo lenses, but I feel these are only necessary if you need (or simply want) the pinnacle of optical performance.

[JohnathanLovm]

Some might convince you go for APO but for practical purposes I would recommend 24-70 zoom lens. Or you can become Lumix S collector with around price of single Leica lens. 

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[BernardC]

19 hours ago, Chris Nebard said:

As a result, Moiré is, possibly, more likely than it would be on, say, the SL2 and SL3.

Moiré is just as likely, but it will happen at a different frequency. Because they have smaller pixel pitch, the SL2 and SL3 will be prone to moiré in finer detail, compared to the same image taken with an SL or SL2-S.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[algrove]

OP

Test a few first before spending funds by renting. If you want light weight, then there those for that. If you want optimal quality then IMHO there are different ones for that.

The zooms versus primes. SL lenses are large when comparing to the Q. So be prepared.

[mokona]

which focal lengths are your interested in ?

Edited March 28, 2024 by mokona