Is the SL3 faster autofocus than SL2-s ?

[giganova]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

When I was in the dimly-lite Leica store last week and compared the SL3 against my own SL2-S, I noticed that the SL3 autofocus was noticeably faster in this low-light situation.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[RBB]

Compared to my SL2, I notice that my SL3 is definitely better, but in twilight it's still far from great. I've been hoping (for a while, to be honest) that Leica will soon release a firmware update that will bring the SL3 close to the Panasonic's.

[jaapv]

Don't hold your breath for improvements in firmware. It is not unlikely that the problem is in the hardware department ( less powerful CPU?) 

[RBB]

That would be a shame but it might be the reason why the firmware update is not coming.

[RBB]

I've been doing some searching on the Leica website; the SL2 and SL2s appear to have the same autofocus system. The SL3 has a hybrid autofocus system, contrast measurement, and phase comparison measurement. The SL3s is described as having the same autofocus system. With the difference that in addition to the 315 measuring areas, the SL3s also has 779 phase detection areas. The SL3 technical description says nothing about phase detection areas. Wonder why, Is it not described or is the hardware different between the SL3 and SL3s?

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[SrMi]

1 hour ago, RBB said:

I've been doing some searching on the Leica website; the SL2 and SL2s appear to have the same autofocus system. The SL3 has a hybrid autofocus system, contrast measurement, and phase comparison measurement. The SL3s is described as having the same autofocus system. With the difference that in addition to the 315 measuring areas, the SL3s also has 779 phase detection areas. The SL3 technical description says nothing about phase detection areas. Wonder why, Is it not described or is the hardware different between the SL3 and SL3s?

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

From the Technical Data documents (downloadable):

SL3: Autofocus metering fields: 315

SL3-S: Autofocus metering fields: Contrast-AF: 315/Phase detection-AF: 779

[RBB]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Yes, I read that too, but does that mean the SL3 doesn't have any phase detection AF? Quite strange.

[SrMi]

1 minute ago, RBB said:

Yes, I read that too, but does that mean the SL3 doesn't have any phase detection AF? Quite strange.

I think it means that SL3 has the same number of contracts and phase detection points, and therefore, it does not need to differentiate in spec. SL3's spec does not state that the 315 fields are CDAF-only, and we know that SL3 uses PDAF.