Leica SL3-S + APO SL 35 - AF-C performance?

[dimpfelmoser]

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What is your AF-C experience of the Leica SL3-S together with one of the APO SLs like the 35? I used to have the SL3 together with the APOs, but was quite disappointed regarding AF-C performance. On the one hand the SL3 was not really tracking anything moving towards the camera (a kid or the like), and this felt even more pronounced with the APO lenses. It felt as if the focus motors were not really suited for continous auto focus. I have seen some reviews showing a significant AF-C improvement of the SL3-S over the SL3. But does this also carry over to the AF-C performance with a 35 APO?

Thanks for your insights!

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[Ken Abrahams]

It does indeed! Wherever you point that Apo, the focus peaking colour moves with the lens, well almost instantly. The 50 Summicron Asph lens is faster, probably as would the 35 SL Asph be. They are much lighter lenses than the Apos 

[Photoworks]

1. you can go into the menu and just AF responses and speed.

2. Leica APOs and zoom lenses are built to maximize optical performance. They are all slower to focus.

The latest generation Sigma lenses have new motors that are much quicker, and quite good image quality.

Panasonic S lenses are small, light, and fast, optimized for video. They are lighter and faster because there is much less glass to move, optical performance suffers a bit, but they are still good all around lenses. Been better for video; it is a positive that they can be a bit softer, have minimal focus breathing, and work with Panasonic camera better for crop less IBIS in video.

[dimpfelmoser]

I really like Sigma‘s lense lineup. The latest DG DNs are sublime. Also I really like their smallish 35 F2. But the APOs are the reason for going down the SL route for me at last. Maybe I should check the SL3S APO 35 combo in the nearest Leica store. 

[Elliot Harper]

1 hour ago, dimpfelmoser said:

I really like Sigma‘s lense lineup. The latest DG DNs are sublime. Also I really like their smallish 35 F2. But the APOs are the reason for going down the SL route for me at last. Maybe I should check the SL3S APO 35 combo in the nearest Leica store. 

I agree. Regular summicron SL is not worth the price comparing to Sigma DG DN line. APO however is totally another story 

[LD_50]

I recently moved from SL2-S to SL3-S. I also added the 35SL APO at the same time. 

I’ve been traveling since the purchase so I’ve only shot the 35 and the 24-90 on the SL3-S. I did shoot briefly in and around the store with: 50SL ASPH, 100-400, and 90SL APO. On the SL2-S and SL I’ve shot my 16-35, 24-90, 90-280, Sigma 105 Macro, 50SL Summilux and M lenses.  

The 35 is slower when focusing than the 24-90. It seems decent for AFc with the SL3-S for people moving around. I’ve shot my 2 and 4 year old boys and it works for the limited shots I’ve done. I would not use it for sports or action. 

The 24-90 is faster but I don’t have enough experience yet on the SL3-S to determine how it will handle sports and action type shots. I was dissatisfied with the little of this I shot but lighting was poor and I didn’t use high enough shutter speeds and didn’t try various AF fine tuning. It was an impromptu opportunity and I didn’t have time to set up the camera for it so I’m to blame. 

Both lenses show improvement on SL3-S compared to SL2-S. The Eye AF is very good on the SL3-S, and I’m particularly impressed with the 35SL APO with this setting. The shots at f2 are perfect, with tack sharp irises. I’ve never seen this consistency and quality of results with the SL2-S. 

[dimpfelmoser]

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Thanks for your insights @LD_50! As I have three little kids (3-8) and a 4th about to show up , I mainly shoot my kids in their everyday life. And kids can be seriously quick and erratic in their movements, so thats quite a challenge, which to me it seems a lot folks underestimate. I have my a9/a1 for this, but I would love to have a Leica for the tactile feel, colors and APO goodness for that. The SL3 was clearly not upt to the task unfortunately. Of course I could get in focus shots, but as soon as the kids start moving towards the camera it was a mess. So if the SL3-S is a significant step up here, I would give it a try.

[DrM]

1 hour ago, dimpfelmoser said:

Thanks for your insights @LD_50! As I have three little kids (3-8) and a 4th about to show up , I mainly shoot my kids in their everyday life. And kids can be seriously quick and erratic in their movements, so thats quite a challenge, which to me it seems a lot folks underestimate. I have my a9/a1 for this, but I would love to have a Leica for the tactile feel, colors and APO goodness for that. The SL3 was clearly not upt to the task unfortunately. Of course I could get in focus shots, but as soon as the kids start moving towards the camera it was a mess. So if the SL3-S is a significant step up here, I would give it a try.

The APO is slow, for kids.. go for the other (fast) options. BTW the 24-90 is faster than the APO35, as is the ASPH/nonAPO 35 version.