Adam,
Glad I had a chance to read the original post ... did not find it negative in any sense.
But I respect your decision to pass on commenting on something that is so obvious to you.
So much effort has been transferred from the S system to the SL ... assume that they are after
a bigger market and have let the S languish ... rather that have a recall on all bad AF mechanisms and
replace the S corrosion sensors as a batch ... improve their response times and work at firmware and
profiles that would match the S 006 better they have thrown a huge amount of effort into the SL.
M and S owners have seen modest firmware upgrades ... little in the way of lenses that were suggested
at the introduction of the S system.
While the company needs to tend to its bottom line .... owners also need to be aware of their desires needs and
expectations ... and assess if their money and energy is better spent elsewhere.
I agree that the S 006 had superb color DR and in concert with a few of their lenses led to stellar pictures.
Shame that they have not pursued it with the same passion that the owners of the cameras have done.
This is not a negative post ... just an assessment of how things change and how we need to look forward.
Regards,
Bob
Bob, I seem to share the same thoughts. It really seems to me that Leica has almost shafted the S-system in favour of the SL. Because they believe it's the way forward. Be it issues with the S construction, cost of manufacturing vs market demand or whatever the reason.
It's not Leica's fault, to be fair it was just bad timing. The S-system came out when DSLRs were on their way out. And no I don't mean the DSLR is dead, I just mean that no new system would be designed with a mirror at this stage in the game. Even Sony dragged their feet with the TMT camera update (A99II). And probably really only did it because they had the resources and know-how. And really just didn't want to shaft their customers. I liked the A99 for what it was, I had ALL the Zeiss-Sony lenses. But ultimately the system lasted less then a year in my kit, the urge to switch to the A7 series was to strong. And Sony made it so easy with that adapter. To be fair the A7 series didn't last to long in my bag either.. But I'm not really a fan of Sonys colours, that's not a surprise coming from me.
Really what Leica will need to do moving forward is make a mirrorless MFD camera with an adapter for S lenses and an updated line of compact S lenses. But to be honest, I don't think they even have the resources to tackle that kind of a project right now. So the best we can hope for is adapting lenses to the SL. And good native SL lenses with an updated SL body down the road.
To me, none of this adapting makes a lot of sense due to my issues with the sensor. And the fact that I'd rather my AF to be fast if I'm carrying something so big. So I think it's just easier for me to move back to my comfort zone and shoot on an M240-P + a select few M lenses. Anyway rangefinders make me the happiest. So that's probably what I'll do for my travel/fun photography.
In the meantime I won't need to bother lusting over the newest and best from Leica since I'll have another system to handle my work needs. Probably the new GFX from Fuji by the looks of it. And the X-T2 for anything fast moving, since that little camera can hustle.
BTW, something positive about the SL (I'm trying something new here)... I think the 35FLE really works well on that camera. It's one of the better lenses you can adapt IMHO. Something about the colour of the lens that really seems to jive with the sensor. And I guess another positive. The 75APO is defective by design. So having an EVF will allow you to learn/manage the flaws of the lens. Essentially being able to see the scene unfold, allows you to avoid catching the 75APO on bad angles. And believe me for anyone who's not used the 75APO, it can be one of the most amazing rendering lenses, and one of the worst pieces of metal and glass to ever come from Germany. You really just need to know how to handle it. That and if I ever get asked to do more corporate video work. I can just use the SL, since it supposedly has awesome video capabilities (I wouldn't be able to confirm or deny, as I've not really bothered with it to much yet).