Photography

Echi
[Photo Forum Moderator]
6648

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Leica SL impressions

I found myself in an unusual situation a few weeks ago when I kidded Manila about arranging a demo unit with the Tokyo office for me to test. I had a short vacation lined up and it was going to be scheduled a week before the 1st year anniversary program of Leica Manila. Highlights of the program would include the SL and Leica Gallery launch. 

Anyway, Manila didn't promise me anything but left that request open. Day one in Tokyo with my eyes barely able to accept the first rays of the rising sun, I get a message telling me that a unit was made available for me to test and that I was to pick it up in their head office. It was a good thing that Casey was more than familiar with the office location. We went to their office not knowing what to expect really. The exchange was unceremonious yet curt with a lot of bowing and thanking. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with the thing yet. There were no instructions let alone a product brief. I did have some sort of a pdf file (product brochure cum manual) emailed to me which i just glazed over.

The demo unit courtesy of the Tokyo Leica office. Note how small the body is without the 24-90. It's not a whole lot bigger than an M.  

Just to be clear, expectations weren't set as to my involvement with the SL. The most quid pro quo that I thought would be requested from me was to write something about it which was ok. Having said that and with the anniversary being curiously near, I prepared a short speech on my flight home just in case. The anniversary program included face time with the media and I did prepare something for the gallery portion because they were going to debut it with work from me and a long-time shooting buddy. What we weren't expecting were last minute changes to the program. I got the impression that Singapore was going to do all the SL heavy lifting. But then there I was being asked if I could share my experiences with the SL. It was a good thing I had my laptop with me. I synced a set of pictures with Singapore's presentation slide and off we went.

Pardon the watermark. I just borrowed this photo of mine from a friend. That's yours truly explaining the SL's fast focus tracking capability.  

As I'm not exactly in a good position to give a review, I just want to share with you what I wrote down on the flight back home and what I also shared with the media. I only had a day with the camera so all I can share with a bit of confidence is my impressions about it. I'd love to give this camera a more thorough test to be honest. I want to see, for example, how it performs given that it boasts of being able to do 30 minute long exposures! 

Here is my take on the SL ...

"Leica SL.. It's usually not a good idea to have a rabid Leica M user do a quick test of anything that isn't a rangefinder. Apart from image quality.. Size, stealth, weight, and ergonomics will always get factored in in any equation.

So let's get those issues out of the way first. In thehand, the SL feels as good as it looks inspite of its size and weight. This will always be a trade off as far as current tech is concerned because excellent optics in a zoom will require good glass from the nearest to the furthest focal length. It will also mean that you need to have an AF motor in there to rotate said chunk of good glass. 

From this perspective, it is no different from any zoom lens of this calibre in the market. Size and weight will always be a challenge and it is good to know that Leica is up to the task. I had the SL on me for a whole day in Tokyo and it didn't really bother me. Mirror less tech means you don't need to make room for a single reflex lens so you can design the body to be thinner and lighter! Which it is! This coming from a guy who shoots with a rangefinder all year round, the weight was more than bearable.

I had fun panning with the SL up and down Ginza.  

Now to the matter at hand.. How well did Leica do in designing this camera to do action? I'd say pretty well. First thing that i noticed is how the menu was designed to default to have quick access to focus tracking speed and accuracy aka "drive mode". The left thumb easily rests on a button on the upper left side of the menu. Press said button and the first thing that it brings up is drive mode where you have quick access to 3 continuous shooting speeds in addition to other tracking options. I don't think there's any camera out there that has the action oriented shooter in mind more than the Leica SL. 

And This is where an M will concede this area of shooting to the SL. Highly reactive situations in close distances will almost always require fast AF. And having been a dslr user in my past life, I doubt if I could've pulled this off at this level of quality in what would amount to just milliseconds...

I saw this guy on a bike with my peripheral vision approaching fast behind me. I swung back with my camera preset for panning and was amazed at how the SL fired off 3 consecutive shots when I forgot to release my trigger finger from the shutter. I had the camera on shutter priority because the main draw of this cam was supposed to be its ability to nail action shots as reliably as a top-of-the-line DSLR. I had the shutter set at 1/20 to blur out the background.   

Given the competitive landscape of cameras in this particular area, who is this camera really for? It can't exactly go head to head in price although the gap isn't exactly that Unreasonable when you think about the value that it can give its potential owner.

Two segments easily come to mind. The first segment is undoubtedly the dslr user who wants to shed off that utilitarian look for something that can do the job and then some in terms of Leica level optics and of course make you look good doing it. I tell you, the SL is not about stealth. This camera can go head to head with a sexy girl in a red dress in terms of double takes. I felt sexy with this thing beside me, going up and down the streets of Ginza. It's as close to having a stunner of a date as one can get in a launch party  

Yours truly telling folks how the SL is giving my arm a workout.  Seriously, I was telling them about the SL's form factor, how nicely balanced it is in the hand.  

The second segment is the current Leica user who needs to complement their M system when out photographing big game in Africa or jumping in and out of Zodiacs in the Antarctic. Yes these guys do exist and there is a healthy bunch of them.

Two months ago I got a text message from an M user asking me what he should bring to a photo trip in the Antarctic. The 0-70 requirement was covered with a M/50 APO setup. Begrudgingly, we had to settle on a 70-200 zoom from another manufacturer. 

What does this tell us? People used to a certain level of quality don't want to compromise. The M/50 setup easily filled the need for a 70 and wider setup. My friend easily compromised focal lengths from 0-70 by just having the 50 APO. On the other end however, there was nothing that was commercially available for that level of quality. It can be a hassle to be shooting with two different systems at the same time.

Fendi display, Matsuya Ginza.    

The next time I need to dispense advice on cam set up for these types of shooting, I will not hesitate to recommend the SL as it can go all the way to 280. This time around, I might be tempted to say.. You don't have to bring the M. Just bring the SL. And your dslr? Sell it! The 50lux SL version will be a very good compromise to bringing an M and the 90-280 will be more than adequate to keep a comfy distance between you and some growling hungry lion.

Thank you."  

Best,  

Echi  

Site Info.