Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

42 25 January 2020 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

Testbench CAMERA TEST

Forandagainst

Superbimagequalityin raw

Stripped-back,logicalcontrol

set-up

Fantasticbuildquality

Extremelyeffectivein-body

stabilisation

Excellentviewfinder

Largeandveryheavy

Non-articulatedLCD

UnremarkableJPEGoutput

(andnoin-cameraraw

processing)

Somecontrolsareslightly

awkwardlypositioned

Very,veryexpensive
ALL

PR
CES

ARE

APPROX

MATE

STREET

PR
CES

Leica SL2

Datafile

Sensor 47.3MP CMOS, 36x24mm

Output size 8368 x 5584

Focal length mag 1x

Lens mount / LensLeica L mount

Shutter speeds 30min - 1/8000sec (mechanical),

1sec - 1/40,000sec (electronic)

Sensitivity ISO 50-50,000

Exposure modes PASM

Metering Spot, centre-weighted, multi

Exposure comp ±3 EV in 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps

Continuous

shooting

10fps, 6fps with AF

Screen 3.2in, 2.1m-dot touchscreen LCD

Viewfinder 5.76m-dot, 0.78x magnification

AF points 225

Video 5K, 30fps; C4K, 60fps

External mic 3.5mm stereo

Memory card 2x SD, SDHC, SDXC; UHS-II

Power BP-SCL4 rechargeable Li-ion

Battery life 370 frames

Dimensions 146 x 107 x 83mm

Weight 915g inc battery

Leica’s high-end full-frame mirrorless model

has a lot in common with the Panasonic S1R,

but costs £2,000 more. Andy Westlake asks

whether this is a premium worth paying

L

eica was the second

company after Sony to

make a full-frame

mirrorless camera, in

the shape of the 24MP SL (Typ

601) in 2015. But a lot has

changed since then: Sony has

released a couple of increasingly

refi ned generations of its Alpha 7R

series, and both Canon and Nikon

have jumped into this market, too.

In response, Leica has joined forces

with Sigma and Panasonic to form

the L-Mount Alliance, with its fi rst

new camera as part of this venture

being the updated SL2.

Leica has a long and deep-

running cooperation with

Panasonic, and as a result, the

SL2 has a great deal in common

with the Lumix S1R. Both are

large, heavy SLR-style cameras

that sport a 47.3MP full-frame

sensor, 5-axis in-body

stabilisation, a 5.76m-dot

electronic viewfi nder with 0.78x

magnifi cation, and a large, sharp

3.2in, 2.1m-dot touchscreen LCD.

Yet at £5,300 body-only, the SL2

costs almost £2,000 more than

its L-mount cousin. We’re used to

seeing a premium for the Leica

red dot and ‘Made in Germany’

engraved on the baseplate, but

what, if anything, do you gain in

terms of photographic capability?

Features

For most photographers, Leica is

indelibly associated with its

M-series rangefi nders, which took

the transition from fi lm to digital in

their stride while barely changing a

design that originated in the

1950s. So it’s perhaps tempting

to assume that the fi rm’s

mirrorless models might be

similarly conservative in their

approach. But nothing could be

further from the truth.

Ataglance

£5,300 body only

● 47.3MP full-frame sensor

● ISO 50-50,000

● Up to 20fps shooting

● 5.76m-dot electronic viewfinder

● 3.2in 2.1m-dot touchscreen

● 5K video recording

Thanks to Leica’s

stunning lenses, the

47.3MP sensor records

vast amounts of detail

from corner to corner

Leica SL 35mm f/2,

1/4000sec at f/8, ISO 100