[Leica] the SL, first impressions

[Tina Manley]

Have you brought up the viewfinder brightness on the Leica Forum?  Maybe
Leica can come up with a firmware or software fix.  I know exactly what you
are talking about but did not realize the cause of my viewfinder
difficulties in bright sun.

Tina

On Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 8:39 AM, Doug Herr <wildlightphoto at earthlink.net>
wrote:

> The last two days I've only had a couple of hours to play with the SL.
> I'd say 99.5% of it is very impressive and extremely capable;  I'll get to
> the other 0.5% shortly.
>
> It's a very solid tool with clear, purposeful controls.  The viewfinder is
> quite good, the joystick is delightful (user-programmability of its
> acceleration function would improve it) and the other buttons, dials and
> such are readily at hand when needed and they stay out of the way when not
> needed  Very impressive.
>
> My test photos are not intended to demonstrate the camera's artistic
> sensibilities.  I'm just testing technical performance.
>
> One of the DMR's strengths is the robustness of the raw files, their
> ability to be manipulated, stomped on and tortured and not whimper.
> Pulling detail out of shadows is one of my tests and to this end I enlisted
> the hummingbirds in my yard & made some backlit photos exposed for
> highlights, then used ACR's 'fill light' function to bring up the color and
> detail of the bird's gorget (the red feathers).  This robustness of the DMR
> files saved my butt on more than one occasion, for example:
>
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/mammals/leporidae/lepus/bthare06.html
>
> so here's how the SL did (cropped, about 1/3 of the original file):
>
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/SL/L1050752.jpg
>
> I'm impressed.
>
>
> Responsiveness is another test.  My Sony a7II is quite responsive when I
> enable the electronic first curtain feature, but this feature's practical
> utility is limited to shutter speeds no faster than 1/1000 sec.  To test
> the SL I used the Ruby-crowned Kinglet that has taken a liking to my
> hummingbird feeder.  Kinglets are hyperactive bits of fluff and this
> particular kinglet was jumping from a twig, fluttering up to the feeder for
> a sip then back to the twig.  The entire process takes less than a second.
> I wanted to see how much total lag there was between the viewfinder, my
> reaction timing, and the shutter lag.  I pre-focussed on the feeder tube
> and watched the viewfinder, pressing the shutter release when the bird
> entered the picture.  The camera is in single-shot drive mode, no crop:
>
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/SL/L1050888.jpg
>
> I'm impressed.
>
>
> I also learned that my FD adapter is a cheap POS and I'll need to use tape
> or jam some shims into the adapter's aperture stop-down ring in order to
> use my 500 L at any aperture other than f/4.5.
>
> So now I get to the 0.5% I'm not thrilled with.  The camera's viewfinder
> defaults to automatic brightness mode with 'exposure simulation' mode
> enabled with a half-press of the shutter release or by pressing the
> exposure simulation mode button on the front of the camera.  The viewfinder
> reverts to the default automatic brightness mode after each exposure.
>
> WTF were they thinking?  One of the really huge advantages of the EVF is
> the real-time exposure feedback.  Automatic viewfinder brightness in these
> scenarios makes the bird go so dark I can't see any detail for focussing or
> for catching the desired posture:
>
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/tyrannidae/pyrocephalus/veflyc00.html
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/accipitridae/buteo/rshawk04.html
>
> and makes the bird go alternately too bright or too dark when I shift the
> camera's field of view left or right:
>
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/picidae/sphyrapicus/rbsaps02.html
>
> Very distracting, breaks my concentration, makes focussing and seeing what
> the bird is doing very difficult.  In polite company I'd call the automatic
> viewfinder brightness feature an 'epic fail', and it's can't be turned
> off.  It can be turned off in the M240, why not the SL?  Re-enabling the
> exposure preview mode after every exposure reminds me of the days before
> SLRs had instant-return mirrors.  This one feature is a deal-breaker for me.
>
> Needless to say I've e-mailed Leica about this stupid f***ed-up feature,
> and I've filtered my language for this post.  More SL playtime this weekend.
>
>
> Doug Herr
> Birdman of Sacramento
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com
> http://doug-herr.fineartamerica.com
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



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Tina Manley
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