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Fun with the Leica SL (digital)

V

Vivek

Guest
The SL colors pop.
The D810 images look a little more subtile and smoother though.
I am not sure what I prefer. The colors of the SL with the transitions of the D810 would be nice.
But maybe its also a question of shallow DOF.
So we need some fast primes for the SL asap.
Agree.

Happy to see some pics rolling in. :)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Great to see some pictures flowing in! And lively, vivid photos they are.

My battery is on the charger now.
Unfortunately, I'm trying to shake a nasty headcold picked up over the weekend so photo shoots will be limited for a day or so. :-\

G
 
I don't know about the camera or the lens or the colors, but that 1930s 'muscle car' is to-die-for. :bugeyes:
Get well soon, Godfrey, and show us some images!

Kirk
 
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Paratom

Well-known member
I also enjoy to see more images and hear more feedback.
For some reason the SL seems a camera which touchs our emotion and leads to people to a "want have feeling" even though there are also many reasons not to get one (specially price and lens availability, and products like Nikon D750/810 or Canon 5dIII)
I admit that I am also becoming weaker.:wtf:
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I also enjoy to see more images and hear more feedback.
For some reason the SL seems a camera which touchs our emotion and leads to people to a "want have feeling" even though there are also many reasons not to get one (specially price and lens availability, and products like Nikon D750/810 or Canon 5dIII)
I admit that I am also becoming weaker.:wtf:
Tom,

I maybe should not have tested one, as now I want one. The feeling even (or especially) with the M glass I shot it was just extraordinary. Back to photography as I grew up and evolved with and giving you the total Leica feeling. Plus the results are just stunning.

Just need to find some funds, but then I will get one - instead of the M240 or whatever might come in the M line, then I instantly have a system with 12 M lenses to shoot, including a WATE etc. And later add SL native lenses as they get available.

I am already weak :wtf:
 

anGy

Member
A last one from the same serie:



Colors certainly are not very correct (reds are completely off, under artificial lights at least), there's some noise at iso 800, DR is less than the D800 (a bit) an the Otus lens will certainly smash the 24-90mm in a side by side test.
Anyway for artistic photography (leaving the tests charts at home) I clearly, without any doubt, prefer this new Leica to a D810+Otus/Milvus/Sigma Art or whatever.
The clarity, pop, drawing is exactly what I was looking for. 1st time I see that in a CMOS camera.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Felt well enough today to do some lens testing this morning and then take a walk to get lunch.

I tested some of my most used R and M lenses against the SL 24-90. By and large, my feeling is "just pick the lens I want to shoot with and don't worry about it." The SL seems very compatible with all of them. They're all different too so I have my pick of what kind of rendering I might want to see.

I fitted the macro for my walk. Will process exposures a little later after the latest LR is installed.

G
 
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erudolph

Member
Off topic but please let us know what you think of the latest LR update. In particular regarding the LR profile for the SL.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Off topic but please let us know what you think of the latest LR update. In particular regarding the LR profile for the SL.
I found some problems with Lr 6.3 running on OS X "El Capitan" with respect to the Slide Show module. The Library and Develop modules seem to work fine.

This afternoon I fitted the Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm to the SL and went for a walk ...
























all: Leica SL + Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8
album:
Leica SL - First Pix 2015

All of these were rendered in Lr 6.3 from the DNG files with very few adjustments.

I like how the SL works with Leica R lenses: it feels balanced and comfortable in the hand.

enjoy! G
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member

All of these were rendered in Lr 6.3 from the DNG files with very few adjustments.

I like how the SL works with Leica R lenses: it feels balanced and comfortable in the hand.

enjoy! G
Wonderful!

I have a question WRT LR6.3 - what profile do you choose - Embedded or Adobe Standard?

Embedded was already available in LR6.2, so I assume that the right SL profile should now be Adobe Standard - right?

Thanks

Peter
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Wonderful!

I have a question WRT LR6.3 - what profile do you choose - Embedded or Adobe Standard?

Embedded was already available in LR6.2, so I assume that the right SL profile should now be Adobe Standard - right?
Thank you for the compliment, Peter. :)

I let Lightroom 6.3 operate on its defaults. It defaulted to the Adobe Standard profile, and all of these were processed that way. When I flip them to the embedded profile, the colors all shift to somewhat extreme saturations, particularly reds.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll shoot a couple of frames of the Xrite Color Checker and generate an SL profile with the Passport software, see how that differs.

BTW: I did some lens testing today too.

- I've verified to my satisfaction that the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm is almost perfectly parfocal.
- I tested a modest batch of my M and R lenses casually to see how they performed against the 24-90 as reference:

24-90 zoom @ 24, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90 settings
Elmarit-R 19/2.8 v1
Elmarit-R 24/2.8
Elmar-M 24 ASPH
Summicron-R 35/2 v2
Summilux-R 50/1.4
Summicron-R 90/2
Summarit-M 75/2.4
Summilux 35/1.4 v2 (M)​

They all work very well, with no corner smearing or edge weirdness, and the SL zoom keeps up with the primes in almost all cases. The zoom at 90mm is at its most challenged, particularly against the Summicron-R 90/2, at the corners and edges. But even there, by f/8, I'd be splitting hairs to say something bad about it. All the M and R lenses work at least acceptably, even wide open; the Elmarit-R 19 and Elmar-M 24 really should be stopped down to f/5.6 for improved corner results however. Edit: Note that this was certainly true of the Elmarit-R 19mm on film, and seems to be the same for the Elmar-M 24. :)

G
 
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helged

New member
Great!

Looking forward learning from your Xrite Color Checker exercise!

And yes, the Adobe profile is the colour profile being tuned for SL in the latest version of Lightroom (I use LR2015.3 which, I guess, corresponds to LR6.3). This profile gives pleasant, relatively naturally looking, colours. The embedded profile gives poppy, somewhat plastic appearing, reds, greens and yellows.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Thank you for the compliment, Peter. :)

I let Lightroom 6.3 operate on its defaults. It defaulted to the Adobe Standard profile, and all of these were processed that way. When I flip them to the embedded profile, the colors all shift to somewhat extreme saturations, particularly reds.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll shoot a couple of frames of the Xrite Color Checker and generate an SL profile with the Passport software, see how that differs.

BTW: I did some lens testing today too.

- I've verified to my satisfaction that the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm is almost perfectly parfocal.
- I tested a modest batch of my M and R lenses casually to see how they performed against the 24-90 as reference:
24-90 zoom @ 24, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90 settings
Elmarit-R 19/2.8 v1
Elmarit-R 24/2.8
Elmar-M 24 ASPH
Summicron-R 35/2 v2
Summilux-R 50/1.4
Summicron-R 90/2
Summarit-M 75/2.4
Summilux 35/1.4 v2 (M)​

They all work very well, with no corner smearing or edge weirdness, and the SL zoom keeps up with the primes in almost all cases. The zoom at 90mm is at its most challenged, particularly against the Summicron-R 90/2, at the corners and edges. But even there, by f/8, I'd be splitting hairs to say something bad about it. All the M and R lenses work at least acceptably, even wide open; the Elmarit-R 19 and Elmar-M 24 really should be stopped down to f/5.6 for improved corner results however.

G
Godfrey,

I reprocessed all my SL shots from last Saturday with LR6.3 and Adobe Standard and the colors are MUCH MORE to what I remember they should be - actually spot on! So good that I only needed to adjust exposure on some shots (my fault during taking the picture as I could not properly handle exposure control by then) but otherwise just perfect as the DNGs are coming out of the camera!

Looking forward to more of your results/shots :)

Peter
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Question to the lucky owners: is there AF confirmation when using MF lenses ?
No, not directly. CDAF systems cannot do that very easily or accurately; I'm of the belief that it's better not to even try.

However, focus peaking provides a similar kind of in-focus signaling. The Leica implementation is subtle and unobtrusive, works well and very accurately.

G
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
No, not directly. CDAF systems cannot do that very easily or accurately; I'm of the belief that it's better not to even try.

However, focus peaking provides a similar kind of in-focus signaling. The Leica implementation is subtle and unobtrusive, works well and very accurately.

G
I think I must be completely oblivious an hour into owning the camera, but I can't seem to activate focus peaking with my M-adapter T and Noct f/0.95. I can zoom, no problem, but don't see any signs of peaking with focus....Any suggestions here?
 

Knorp

Well-known member
No, not directly. CDAF systems cannot do that very easily or accurately; I'm of the belief that it's better not to even try.

However, focus peaking provides a similar kind of in-focus signaling. The Leica implementation is subtle and unobtrusive, works well and very accurately.

G
Thank you, Godfrey.
It is that I just liked the way my Pentax worked.
Frankly, I find AF signaling less obtrusive then FP as the latter can be rather messy at times.
But I guess I should better check for myself :)

Kind regards.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Thank you, Godfrey.
It is that I just liked the way my Pentax worked.
Frankly, I find AF signaling less obtrusive then FP as the latter can be rather messy at times.
But I guess I should better check for myself :)

Kind regards.
HI There Bart
The focus peaking is fine (if rather subtle), but I'm a firm believer that good EVFs are better without FP - it tends to pick the high contrast area rather than those in focus. The EVF on the SL is so huge that I found it really easy to achieve focus - confirmation seems rather beside the point.

But whether you want it or not - it's not there!

- - - Updated - - -

I think I must be completely oblivious an hour into owning the camera, but I can't seem to activate focus peaking with my M-adapter T and Noct f/0.95. I can zoom, no problem, but don't see any signs of peaking with focus....Any suggestions here?
Hi Ashwin
. . . press the info button (bottom right) to cycle through the view options?

Then realise you don't need it and switch it off ;)
 

bradhusick

Active member
Guys who actually got an SL...

I still don't understand the point of this camera if you already own an M. Can you help me? Thanks.
 
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