[Leica] Leica SL

[Aram Langhans]

Tina.  I am glad the camera works well for you.  I wish it were one I would 
be interested in.  I have awaited a long time for the R successor.  I have 
almost all my lenses, many changed to Nikon mount.  No camera I have used 
since, Canon or Nikon, has felt good to use.  Don't get me wrong. They take 
wonderful photos, but they lack the feel, simplicity, and the joy of using 
that the R8 gave me.  I was really hoping for a Q with interchangeable 
lenses.

On the plus side, the SL seems to be simple and uncluttered, easy to use. 
It appears to have good performance, at least if you keep the ISO within 
reason.  It looks OK.  Many complained about the R8.  I thought it was ugly 
when I bought it, but fell in love with the unique style and the way it 
worked in the hand.  The biggest plus is the viewfinder.  I have not handled 
one yet, but from all reports, it is simply amazing and works well on manual 
focus lenses.

On the minus side, it is too big for me.  When I move to mirrorless one 
reason will be to eliminate some of the weight of my D750/lens system. 
Getting too old for that.  It does not have in body stabilization.  This one 
I am not sure what Leica was thinking.  Adding stabilization to their R 
lenses, and the M lenses, would have been an almost irresistible feature. 
And by putting the stabilization in the body it would have made the lenses 
smaller, less complex, and from what I understand, perform better.  I 
believe Doug has mentioned numerous times in the past how using a 
decentering element in the lens is not a good thing.   The high ISO is not 
as good as the Nikons I use.  And the dynamic range is also not as good. 
Both these I rely on at times.  Dynamic range is important to me in the 
contrasty landscape photos I tend to take in difficult lighting situations.

So, I will hang in there for a while.  I do not trust Sony, (I don have the 
RX100 M3 and enjoy it for a carry around all day), and even their newer 
model with improved viewfinder is not as good as the Q, and therefore quite 
a bit worse than the SL.  I want to stick with full frame if possible, but 
friends who have the Fuji are very happy with their X-T1.  And it's 
viewfinder is better than Sony.  Things keep changing every few months. 
Well, maybe not with Leica.  Maybe Nikon will come out with something?  But 
it probably will have lens stabilization.  I am still able to drag around my 
kit, and  maybe when I am truly ready, there will be a Lecia Q-SL waiting 
there for me.

In the mean time, keep enjoying the SL and posting those Tina-ish photos 
that I love.  Can't wait for your next trip.

Aram



-----Original Message----- 
From: Tina Manley
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2016 6:31 AM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica SL

He has some nit-picky criticisms which I have not run into, but he also
says, At its core, it is one of the best cameras I have used. It feels
good, works quickly and intuitively, and inspires me to keep shooting.

True!

Tina

On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 2:46 AM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com>
wrote:

> For those interested:
>
>
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/hands-review/mirrorless-unleashed-hands-leica-sl-typ-601
>
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>



-- 
Tina Manley
http:// <http://tina-manley.artistwebsites.com/>www.tinamanley.com
http://tina-manley.artistwebsites.com/