Leica Trying out the SL.

carlb

All-Pro
Had a chance to pickup the SL used. As I've been waiting since January for the M10 I thought I'd give it a try. No Leica store near here, so when I saw a used one from the Miami Leica store for a decent price I ordered it.

Have a TL 11-23mm to mount to it (from the T camera), also have the adapter to mount M lenses. The latter is how I'd intend to mostly shoot it. SL lenses are just too big for me.

It's not a very intuitive camera to pickup and shoot. Unlike the Q or the X-Vario or the 240, buttons aren't labeled, and you have to know about modes for the camera, what double pressing a button does and such. How am I supposed to get to ISO? I don't know.

I've somehow put it into movie recording mode, and it's remembering that. Turning the camera off doesn't turn that off: it doesn't take you back to a mode where the shutter button just takes stills.

It's heavy. Just trying to futz around with it to figure out operations is wearing out my arms, and is frankly frustrating.

I'll give it a few days, see if my initial reaction gets reversed. Initially, I'm not impressed. Sadly, it's not a camera that I just want to pick up and shoot. "Brunhilde" wants me to come around to her way of doing things. We'll see.
 
Josh from the Miami store sent me a "cheat sheet setup" that translated reasonably to version 3.0 firmware.

After that, it's much better. Still prefer the M/Q/X interface, but the SL's is now "OK." The files are exceptionally malleable. If you have something in shadows, chances are good you can pull what you want from them without excessive artifacts.

Shots are with the 50mm ASPH f1.4 and the 21mm f3.4 Super Elmarit (with the M-mount adapter). Marumi CPL filter on all.

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shore transition far transmission
by Carl B, on Flickr

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purple loostrife
by Carl B, on Flickr

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pathway to the woods
by Carl B, on Flickr

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noon on grass lake
by Carl B, on Flickr

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grass lake overlook
by Carl B, on Flickr

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golden rod to tower rod
by Carl B, on Flickr
 
Congrats on the new purchase Carl. I actually love the idea of the SL but when I had it back a few months ago, I couldn't stand the weight and the grip of that camera. Love the image and the EVF but not enough to keep the camera. I still think about getting one every now and then but for now, I am happy with my m4/3 and my M240. More m4/3 lately because of the weight and the AF. Getting lazy I guess.
 
Nothing wrong with m4/3, Vince!

The SL ... UI is too involved, the grip is form-before-function, the size too big, the weight too heavy. But somehow, it's kind of growing on me. Go figure.

I've been asked to do a few headshots for friends at work. Think I'll take the Pen-F with the P/L 42.5 f1.2. I could take the SL with the 50mm f1.4 asph ... Should be a no-brainer, right?
 
I think the UI of SL is an acquired taste. I think it is much easier than the Oly but again, many Oly users will probably disagree. I think they did it so that it is in sync with the S series camera so that pro users will have one similar interface. What I don't like most is the grip. It just doesn't fit me well. I wished they put a little more curve to that grip. I do miss that camera however. Especially the EVF, ooh, such a gorgeous EVF.

For headshot, I think I would definitely take a full frame camera, be it the M or SL. m4/3 can produce great image but something about the full frame Leica shot that makes it special. 50 lux is perfect lens for it.
 
Managed to get it in "movie hell" mode again. Had to stop, find a bench, sit and futz with the camera to get it out of that mode.

There's something about the button next to the movie record button up top that transitions it to "take movies when you press the shutter button, then require some weird combination among the top buttons to stop doing that, without presenting any clues about how to do so." All while chewing up SD card space with an MP4. Turn it off-then-on, it remembers it's still in "movie hell" mode. How nice.

If I keep the camera, I might superglue guards over those buttons ... i don't think you can disable them in the menus.

Deleting the erroneous MP4s - or anything you don't want - is a mystery. There's a screen I can get to for deleting pics, but then I can't figure out what button to press next to do the deletion. After any one of my guesses, the camera exits delete mode for me without deleting anything.

Did I mention that "Brunhilde" is big and heavy?

Here's a few more from this afternoon.

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swallowtail
by Carl B, on Flickr

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otter lake launch
by Carl B, on Flickr

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arrowhead
by Carl B, on Flickr
 
I've marked the post as Informative- and appreciate my M9 even more. Also appreciate the decision to have the M10 as Still images only. Most likely the latter was to deal with heat-dissipation, but certainly prevents the camera from going into a mode that was not intended.

I've not bought an Olympus Mirrorless since the EPL-2. The setup menus on that camera are horrible. Might as well press buttons at random until it does what you want.

The images from the SL are beautiful- but the setup firmware would drive me nuts.
 
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Took the Pen-F with the f1.2 Pana-Leica 42.5mm to do the head-shots.

Didn't want to chance the SL getting stuck in "movie hell" mode, wasting my workmates time.

Pen-F did great.
 
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