I almost would bet that the Leica SL2 will be a Panasonic S1R in just a different housing - if at all - but od course with the Leica price tag. And yes it will support Leica DNG etc
I think that this was all planned and a smart move by Leica, so they spare resources by developing their own FF mirrorless flagship model from the scratch - actually it makes a lot of sense not only for Leica, but also for the final product.
I would also almost bet that we will se a second resolution model (24MP) from Leica based on the S1
Just my 5c
We will see how much 'overlap' there will be and I agree there is likely (perhaps) some - but maybe not as much as you might think at first glance...
I think the body design of a camera and its operating system is very important consideration - eg I wanted to like Sony - but the bodies are just too small for me. ( you could say in fact I'm disappointed with Sony for not making a body I can actually use comfortably) which btw is also the reason I have always avoided M4/3rds bodies and systems - purely ergonomics nothing to do with real world IQ.
I would love Leica to shove the electronics into an R9 type body ( PERFECTION ) or at the least an S style body with more natural to hand curvature and that alone would be important and useful enough for me to prefer the Leica.
Similarly there are other considerations which I think you might see that makes the SL2 'different' - the most important one for many Leica shooters is compatibility with M lenses - which would require microlens coverage of the chip as in SL now...
Also Leica has developed ( like Hasselblad with XID) a very minimalistic approach to buttons and menus - very different to typical Japanese GUI - again a major difference.
Then there is the actual engineering of colour/lens corrections and other technical considerations which produce different outcomes for different cameras - even if they share the same capture chip ( eg XID/Pentax/Fuji/Hasselblad and Phase One all share the same Sony 50MP chip and all produce different outcomes)...
I don't think Leica is as interested in video aspects of cameras as Panasonic - even though the SL has amazing capability from 4 years ago....I doubt Leica will bother with a flippy screen ( I hope not anyway as I hate them as a stills photographer) they always look silly and flimsy and like toys.
Finally - will be interesting to see if Leica bother with a 24MP version really - the SL is 24 megapixel and is still a fantastic camera - I wont be selling it or trading it for just another 24MP Leica camera - no point - the major drawcard is the 47MP so the SL Leica lenses can start to use their resolving capability - right now these lenses are not being used optimally or anywhere near it.
if Leica continued to 'dumb down' the SL in order to somehow protect the S system ( which in my opinion is a dead end) then I and many others would just exit Leica SL systems - I think the company understand this - I mean 20+K for an S3 @64megapixels - is not a value proposition for anyone except those with an extensive inventory of S lenses - cant see any 'new' customers for the S system tbh. Leica have goofed with this - big time.
Pete