So I spent the late afternoon chatting with Stephan Daniel (nice guy) and playing with the S3 and 35SL lens.
Few takeaway points keep in mind my track record with Leica and the fact that I don't pull any punches so this is an honest assessment coming from someone who's used every system and almost every current lens on the market.
One, the S3 is KILLER!! Seriously this was a prototype so I couldn't use my own memory cards but I have to say images on the back screen looked great. Great colours, great auto white balance. Grain at 25,000 ISO looked pleasing and minimal and skin tones just on the back screen were accurate/nice. The AF was very fast, I don't get it, it was so fast I don't even know how the camera moved the lens elements that fast. Oh and I went into a dark area (think f/2.5 125th ISO 6400 and beyond) and the camera focused quick and accurately. This definitely makes me wanna get back into the S-system and for sure makes me regret selling my S lenses. The viewfinder felt better than I remember it to be (sold my S-006 and S-007 cameras a while ago) bright and big and made me confident that Leica was doing the right thing by not going mirrorless with the S-system.
The 35SL was also a prototype, they still needed to fix a few things optically. But from the testing I did, it's already better than any other autofocus 35mm lens I've used. Yes I can understand the need for improvements but at this point they were just nitpicking because it's a great lens. So after they fix the issues which I was told has already been worked out optically (mostly concerning bokeh smoothness) it'll be ready for prime time. Oh and it was fast and accurate, even more so than the already fast and accurate 75/90 SL lenses I own. So very exciting things coming.
Well.... I guess I know where my money is going come 2019 but SHOOOT I was really planning on NOT spending in 2019 because so far nothing has really swayed me (after testing both Canon and Nikons mirrorless offerings I decided to stick with my aging SL, M, CL, X1D bodies and possibly maybe buy the X1D 80/1.9 lens but now I'm not sure if I want to invest in the X1D anymore because S is back).
Oh and estimated delivery is probably spring/summer for these items but will DEFINITELY be worth the wait, trust me.
Don't really know if I can answer any questions about the items I played with since I was only using them for an hour or so, but just wanted to share for anyone considering either buying or ditching their SL or S systems.
Few takeaway points keep in mind my track record with Leica and the fact that I don't pull any punches so this is an honest assessment coming from someone who's used every system and almost every current lens on the market.
One, the S3 is KILLER!! Seriously this was a prototype so I couldn't use my own memory cards but I have to say images on the back screen looked great. Great colours, great auto white balance. Grain at 25,000 ISO looked pleasing and minimal and skin tones just on the back screen were accurate/nice. The AF was very fast, I don't get it, it was so fast I don't even know how the camera moved the lens elements that fast. Oh and I went into a dark area (think f/2.5 125th ISO 6400 and beyond) and the camera focused quick and accurately. This definitely makes me wanna get back into the S-system and for sure makes me regret selling my S lenses. The viewfinder felt better than I remember it to be (sold my S-006 and S-007 cameras a while ago) bright and big and made me confident that Leica was doing the right thing by not going mirrorless with the S-system.
The 35SL was also a prototype, they still needed to fix a few things optically. But from the testing I did, it's already better than any other autofocus 35mm lens I've used. Yes I can understand the need for improvements but at this point they were just nitpicking because it's a great lens. So after they fix the issues which I was told has already been worked out optically (mostly concerning bokeh smoothness) it'll be ready for prime time. Oh and it was fast and accurate, even more so than the already fast and accurate 75/90 SL lenses I own. So very exciting things coming.
Well.... I guess I know where my money is going come 2019 but SHOOOT I was really planning on NOT spending in 2019 because so far nothing has really swayed me (after testing both Canon and Nikons mirrorless offerings I decided to stick with my aging SL, M, CL, X1D bodies and possibly maybe buy the X1D 80/1.9 lens but now I'm not sure if I want to invest in the X1D anymore because S is back).
Oh and estimated delivery is probably spring/summer for these items but will DEFINITELY be worth the wait, trust me.
Don't really know if I can answer any questions about the items I played with since I was only using them for an hour or so, but just wanted to share for anyone considering either buying or ditching their SL or S systems.