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Fun with the Leica SL (digital)

ddanois

Member
So far, I'm liking the SL! I find the 24-90 to be an excellent lens. From 24-85, it's S lens quality however, the quality definitely dips at 90. The DR appears to be close to the D810. I live in South Florida so the cloud formation detail test is always available. This camera performs admirably.

Also, using the 50 Summilux and the Zeiss 35ZM yesterday I found the SL to be a great "M" camera. The shutter was very surprising...almost silent and very solid. You have to experience it to appreciate it.

I agree with others that focusing is pretty easy to nail even without the magnification. BTW, the position of the magnify button is ridiculous. This needs to be addressed quickly.

Otherwise, I am already feeling the emotional connection with the SL.L1000007.jpg
 

jrp

Member
I got a chance to hold the SL tonight, but the battery was dead so I didn't get to use it. Here are some initial impressions:

- very solid - like Nikon D4 solid, like it was carved out of a block of metal
- a bit larger than I had envisioned from pictures
- I have broad palms, so even though the camera was large, it didn't come down far enough to make it comfortable to hold and the bottom edge is sharp so I would need to add the vertical grip that makes the package even bigger
- the 24-90 lens is HUGE - like Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 huge if you have the Leica hood on it, at least that's the way it felt to me. This makes the SL with the zoom really big. This is not a camera/lens for street portraits, it would scare people the same way a big DSLR does.
- I mounted a 50 APO M to the SL with the adapter - this makes the APO seem toy-like in size, but the weight balance is nice
- I put it next to my Sony A7R2 and the SL (without the vertical grip) is bigger than the A7R2 with the vertical grip mounted
- I am not sure what camera bag I own that would fit the SL - it would never fit where an M240 would fit even with just an M lens on it
- I can't comment on the operation or the viewfinder - that will have to wait for another day, but it's going to be hard to replace my A7R2 since that has 42 megapixels and in-body image stabilization and the SL is 24 and has no stabilization
- Aside from autofocus lenses, I am even more puzzled now what the whole point of the SL is. Perhaps the SL2 or SL3 will have 50 mpx and stabilization and more lenses by that time (especially primes).
I tried an SL body today, looking at it as a possible replacement for my M240, since I typically use either wide angle lenses, or longer lenses close to wide open (i.e. with live view). The 24-90 is just too heavy / bulky, as is the camera itself, compared either to the M240 or, an alternative compromise, the Sony A7rII that you mention.

I thought that the focus peaking was much better than the Sony (and the EVF slightly better), as was the ability of the buttons, etc. Although the M240 is an attractive camera, being able to focus without having to recompose, is a big advantage since particularly the faster Leica lenses have idiosyncratic focus fields.

While I agree that it is good to get back to basics, for me the basics include being prepared to carry the beast. This starts with the M lenses, which are the lightest available for full frame, high quality, but not AF (or weather sealed). I am not wedded to the rangefinder experience, nor do I mind too much whether the viewfinder is optical or digital.

I remember when the D3x emerged with an amazing 24Mpx and finding that I needed to step up shooting my discipline, not to say retouching patience, to get rid or all the dust and blemishes that were invisible at 12Mpx. So while having extra Mpx, such as 42, is welcome, it is not really what makes the biggest difference to me.

Nevertheless, for the time being, I am skipping the SL (which has only limited native lenses for the next year anyway) and hedging my bets with a combination of the (i) the M240, when I am land/cityscaping with wide angles (although I have not, in practice, found the corner performance of the A7rII with wide angle lenses to be an insurmountable problem, and (ii) the Sony A7rII when AF is beneficial (notably people shots): the Zeiss or even Sony/Zeiss lenses are very good indeed.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Since the folks at the local dealer were so good about getting me a camera very quickly, I felt I owed a little back to them.

So today I pumped out a set of 10 13x19 inch prints from my first couple of days shooting with the SL and three lenses: Elmarit-R 19mm, Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm, and Summicron-R 90mm. Some were from the set that I posted here the other day, others are new that I haven't posted yet. After that, I tossed the SL fitted with Summilux-R 50 and the Elmar-R 180 into my bag, chucked the prints into an empty paper box, and drove up to the store to say hallo.

I told my friend Jeff behind the counter that I had some samples to show, and he look through them on the counter. Lots of smiles from those who looked, both staff and customers. It was fun. As we were collecting the prints back together, I told Jeff, "You know, if you'd like a couple-three of them as samples for the SL, feel free to pick what you'd like. It's cheap paper, they cost me little more than the ink, but you're welcome to have them." His eyes lit up, and he selected two color prints and one B&W print, and put them on display in the Leica showcase.

It always pays to give back when someone's done you right.

I bid them goodbye, went across the street for a cuppa and an afternoon snack. A nice drive home, and I have some more photos to process from yesterday and today.

A great way to have "Fun with the Leica SL" ...

onwards,
G
 

bradhusick

Active member
Way to go Godfrey! I did the same thing with the M Edition 60 since the people at the store had never even mounted a lens on their sole camera, always handling it with white gloves on. I know it's the same as the M240, but they appreciated the prints nonetheless.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Ah, coming up time for the Saturday morning walk. Foggy day out, swapped out the 180, fitted the 24mm onto the SL, stuck the 50mm next to it in the bag. Time to get ready and go.

I hope the fog holds for another hour...

G
 

uhoh7

New member
Since the folks at the local dealer were so good about getting me a camera very quickly, I felt I owed a little back to them.

So today I pumped out a set of 10 13x19 inch prints from my first couple of days shooting with the SL and three lenses: Elmarit-R 19mm, Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm, and Summicron-R 90mm. Some were from the set that I posted here the other day, others are new that I haven't posted yet. After that, I tossed the SL fitted with Summilux-R 50 and the Elmar-R 180 into my bag, chucked the prints into an empty paper box, and drove up to the store to say hallo.

I told my friend Jeff behind the counter that I had some samples to show, and he look through them on the counter. Lots of smiles from those who looked, both staff and customers. It was fun. As we were collecting the prints back together, I told Jeff, "You know, if you'd like a couple-three of them as samples for the SL, feel free to pick what you'd like. It's cheap paper, they cost me little more than the ink, but you're welcome to have them." His eyes lit up, and he selected two color prints and one B&W print, and put them on display in the Leica showcase.

It always pays to give back when someone's done you right.

I bid them goodbye, went across the street for a cuppa and an afternoon snack. A nice drive home, and I have some more photos to process from yesterday and today.

A great way to have "Fun with the Leica SL" ...

onwards,
G
Good for you, Godfrey. I gave you hard time about ordering from multiple dealers, but you have an SL, which is very impressive :) And you show the dealer a lot of love there, which is really cool.

Looking forward to more shots :)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Making photographs is much more than just celebrating glorious detail, incredible color, and wonderful equipment. I now feel comfortable that I know enough about the SL that I can get on with the "making photographs" part of the game, where I really begin to have fun.
:)


Leica SL + Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4
ISO 50 @ f/1.4 @ 1/3200

On this morning's walk, I was experimenting with AutoISO in Manual mode and spot metering pattern.

The SL does AutoISO in Manual mode the best of any camera I've had to date, with easy access to EV compensation and a wonderful range from ISO 50 to 3200 to slide the sensitivity through. That's seven stops of adjustment it allows for a given exposure setting, with clean rendering throughout.

The spot metering pattern with the joystick is another joy to work with. Very facile and easy to get just the right thing you want your exposure quickly, easily, and cleanly.

I had just a moment or two to set up this shot as the woman and her dogs were moving at a good clip. I flipped to A priority, racked the lens wide open, and set peaking on. I had the 50mm lens on the camera so I could frame loosely (this photo is about 35% of the frame). I set the sharpest zone just in front of them and made two exposures as the peaking indicated they were entering the sharp zone. Really like the feel of it: walking into sharpness out of the soft distance, semi-silhouetted. Captured exactly what I wanted.

She stopped as she approached me, the dogs coming over to say hello and get a pet too. "How did it come out?"
"Here, take a look," I showed her the original on the camera's LCD.
"Oh wow, I want one of those! Would you send it to me?"
"Of course. What's your address or email?"
We talked a few moments more. She sees me on the walk most Saturdays just like I see her. It's always a joy to meet the people your photos are about.​

enjoy!
G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Some more sample shots with the SL and various lenses.

Summilux-R 50mm



Summmicron-R 90mm











Elmarit-R 19mm v1







Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm


enjoy!
 

johneaton

Member
Picked up my SL from my local dealer on Friday -- spent this morning configuring menus etc. then stepped outside to check that it really would work with my M and R lenses :). Really enjoying the first experience -- fits my (big) hands very well, controls are where I expect them (though would prefer direct dial for exposure compensation) and it all seems very natural and intuitive -- and the first images are acceptable! (DNGs processed in LR 6.3, no sharpening or other adjustments, straight exports to jpeg). Hopefully get on to some more serious subjects tomorrow!

One question for Jono and/or Godfrey -- have you found a way to set the initial file numbering to a user-specified folder/image number? (i.e.: not starting at L1000001) -- I've already got 000s of L images starting at L1000001 and I want to avoid conflict/confusion :) -- I suppose I could always renumber as I import to LR, but one day I'll forget and chaos will result :)

Summicron-M 1.2/35mm

Summicron-M 1.2:35mm ASPH.jpg

Summicron-R 1.2/35mm

Summicron-R 1.2:35mm.jpg

Summicron-M 1.2/50mm

Summicron-M 1.2:50mm.jpg

Summicron-R 1.2/50mm

Summicron-R 1.2:50mm.jpg

Summicron-R 1.4/35-70mm @35

Summicron-R 1.4:35-70mm @35mm.jpg

Summicron-R 1.4/35-70mm @50

Summicron-R 1.4:35-70mm @50mm.jpg
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...
One question for Jono and/or Godfrey -- have you found a way to set the initial file numbering to a user-specified folder/image number? (i.e.: not starting at L1000001) -- I've already got 000s of L images starting at L1000001 and I want to avoid conflict/confusion :) -- I suppose I could always renumber as I import to LR, but one day I'll forget and chaos will result :)
Nice Morgan! :)

I don't believe there's any way to change the numbering sequence using the control menus. You can try to put in a card that has a file with the number set to the starting point of what you want, but that's always going to cycle back to an "Lnnn0001" at some point.

I've never bothered changing numbering in camera or adding prefixes even when my camera has allowed it. I normally use import presets with Lightroom that set file names of incoming files to either YYDDMM-fnum or YYDDMM-{tag}-seq3 where "fnum" is the numeric portion of whatever the camera named something, and "{tag}" is some custom text I add at import time for specific things.

Enjoy learning*and using your SL! It is simply a wonderful camera to work with and gets better and better the more you use it.

G
 

Erik

Member
While all of the sample pictures are lovely, with respect, they all look like they could have been taken with an M. None demonstrate the particular benefits unique to the SL over either the S or the M: namely, its extremely fast (and accurate) focusing. The shot below is of my son, taken this afternoon at the Presidio Golf Course in San Francisco, could never have been captured with an M (at least by me).

Erik
 

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scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Nice Morgan! :)

I don't believe there's any way to change the numbering sequence using the control menus. ...
G
There must be some way. I have three different camera types active at the moment, so I don't use a standard input program. But I do set up each Leica with a different leading digit. The SL wants to have its files labelled L80000x. This was easy to arrange in the M.

scott
 
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ddanois

Member
Ok, it's been a few days now and I'm noticing some odd behavior from my 24-90. Some images are rock solid SHARP, while others (mostly at longer focal lengths) look slightly soft. I know there aren't many out in the wild at this point but I'd love to know if anyone else has become comfortable enough with the behavior of the 24-90 to offer an opinion. I'm going to try turning the OIS off to see if it makes a difference.

Thanks,
Derek
 

erlingmm

Active member
There must be some way. I have three different camera types active at the moment, so I don't use a standard input program. But I do set up each Leica with a different leading digit. The SL wants to have its files labelled L80000x. This was easy to arrange in the M.

scott
I tried the old trick of re-naming a file on my Mac, and putting the card back, hoping it would start counting from there. Did not work.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
There must be some way. I have three different camera types active at the moment, so I don't use a standard input program. But I do set up each Leica with a different leading digit. The SL wants to have its files labelled L80000x. This was easy to arrange in the M.
I tried the old trick of re-naming a file on my Mac, and putting the card back, hoping it would start counting from there. Did not work.
I went through all the menus. The only thing you can do is reset the number portion to 0001 with the menu commands. You reset the enclosing folder to 100 by formatting the card. I see no other possibilities for affecting the file numbering if the "rename a file and carry on from there" strategy doesn't work.

G
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
While all of the sample pictures are lovely, with respect, they all look like they could have been taken with an M. None demonstrate the particular benefits unique to the SL over either the S or the M: namely, its extremely fast (and accurate) focusing. The shot below is of my son, taken this afternoon at the Presidio Golf Course in San Francisco, could never have been captured with an M (at least by me).

Erik
Erik

Your boy looks darn good with that swing!

I shot plenty of different sports with all sorts of equipment ..so I know this challenge well . In tennis its called the “fried egg” which translated is getting the ball compressed on the strings . With manual focus ..you can learn to time the point of contact and routinely get the ball near the racquet but rarely compressed on the strings . Its not AF as much as frames per second that is tested here . (the point of contact is fixed in golf as it is often in baseball). 11 FPS is a big deal in tennis verse say 5-7FPS ....you can lead into the “hit” by starting the series before the point of contact . Practice until you can get at least 30% before and 70% after . Even here you need to time it so you know when to start the series .

The real test of AF will be on “Continuous Focus” with a subject coming straight at you . Lock on the subject and fire a burst ...how many are in focus ? With a Q I can get maybe the first 3 in good focus but the next 2 will be lost . With a D4s I can get a dozen . Try having your boy come straight at you on his skate board and test the focus tracking .

This is the feature that will tell us how competitive the new SL is to the D4S or the 1DX . I will be amazed if its even close . Most sports photographers are constantly looking for an edge in AF accuracy and ability to follow the focus point .

With the Q ...I fire a shirt burst then tap the shutter release to reaquire the point of focus .

The other obvious requirement for a good sports camera is minimum lag time ...an M with an EVF is extremely hard to time due to shutter lag . Whereas a M with the RF has minimal lag time ( I could photograph your example with an M using the RF) . I frequently shoot tennis with the M and wide angles to show the stadium crowd etc and the players are moving (point of contact not fixed). The Q is even faster or feels that way so it would be a better choice .

Roger
 

Knorp

Well-known member
I went through all the menus. The only thing you can do is reset the number portion to 0001 with the menu commands. You reset the enclosing folder to 100 by formatting the card. I see no other possibilities for affecting the file numbering if the "rename a file and carry on from there" strategy doesn't work.

G
In my M8/M9 days I had different folder names.
I think for the M8 it was set to the default L100 (files start with L1) and for the M9 I had it set to L900 (files start with L9).

From the SL manual:
 
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