[Leica] SL2 arrived

[Ken Iisaka]

So, I had been on the fence about getting an SL2. I knew I didn't "need" 47
mp. I also thought the Q2 I acquired a few months ago produced unbelievably
fantastic results when I took it on a trip to Italy a while back, too.

Yet, I put myself on a waiting list for an SL2, thinking that it won't be
until some time next year until I receive it, and I thought I would have
some time to decide whether I really wanted it or not.

Well, it turned out that I got an e-mail last week that I would be
receiving one soon. Panicked, I debated whether to cancel the order, but
the lapse of judgment let it slip by, and a box arrived a few days later.

I have not shot many pictures with it yet but here are a few things:

The image stabilization works incredibly well, with a native SL lens, as
well as a coded M lens. It even worked well with a non-ROM R lens, after I
set the lens spec through its touch-screen UI which is extremely intuitive,
even better than SL. This means I'll take more hand-held pictures with my
collection of M- and R- mount lenses. Stabilization seems to work even
better than the Q2.

Mounted on a tripod, it captures far more details than I can see with my
very own eyes. I have recently printed a landscape taken with a Q2 to
16"x24", and immediately ordered the same with 24"x36". Because the Q2
picture had to be cropped a little bit from the original, I wasn't using
all the information that was captured. With the excellent 24-90, I can
really use every square millimeter of the sensor. The result is comparable
to, dare I say, 4x5. Over the weekend, I took some pictures around the
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in San Mateo County at dusk, and came home with
stunning images, taken with 30-second exposures.

With a compact prime lens, I can see it making the Q2 redundant, even if Q2
is lighter than the SL2 body alone. However, the Q2 is so invisible, where
the SL/SL2 seem so imposing. I will likely keep the Q2 to take snapshots,
but the SL2 will probably be used more often than the SL was.

With my previous Leica and non-Leica cameras, I was aware of their
limitations, be it an M3, M6, M8, or a Leicaflex SL2 or even the digital
SL. Now, it feels like there are no limits.

The only other time I felt the same astonishment was when I tried a Leica
M3 for the first time, after years of Japanese SLRs. Or, the time I tried a
Fazioli concert grand after decades of playing Steinways. It just felt like
the universe just got bigger beyond my ken.

Anyone wants to buy an SL, cheap?

-- 
Ken Iisaka
first name at last name dot org or com