48 25 January 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
itsbehaviourthatwasonce
thepreserveof high-end
DSLRs,includinguse-case
settingsforspecifictypesof
subjects.Unfortunately,withjust
35mmand50mmprimesto
hand,I wasn’tabletogiveitsC-AF
systema reallyseriousworkout.
Evenso,it’sclearthattheSL2
can’tkeepupwiththebestof its
rivalswhenfacedwithfast-moving
subjects,deliveringfewerin-focus
frames,meaningit’snotthebest
choiceforsportsoractionwork.
But with static or slow-moving
subjects,it’squick,silentand
impressivelyaccurate,andonly
startstostrugglein verylowlight.
Formanualfocusyougeta
familiararrayof aids.Liveview
magnificationcanbeengaged
automaticallywhenyouturnthe
focusringonnativeL–mount
lenses,ormanuallyusinga
functionbutton.Alternativelya
peakingdisplayis availableby
pressingtheFnbutton.It allworks
verywell,whichis goodnewsfor
thosewhowishtouseM-mount
lenses using a mount converter.Performance
InpracticalusetheSL2delivers
phenomenalimagequality,andif
youcanputupwithitssizeand
weight,it’salsoprettypleasantto
shootwith.It takesa momentto
startupafteryouflickthepower
switch,butfromthenonit’squick
andresponsivetoallof the
controls.I foundthatwhen
shootingin raw,thecamerawas
capableof rattlingoff 27 framesin
a burstbeforeslowingdown.If
you’rehappywithJPEGsonly,it’ll
keep on going almost indefinitely.Leica’smeteringis pretty
reliable,andit’seasytoseein the
viewfinderif youneedtoapplyany
exposurecompensation.However,
theratherneutralStandardcolour
renditionisn’tasattractiveasthe
punchierJPEGoutputyouget
fromsomerivalbrands.There’s
alsonodynamic-rangeexpansion
optiontobalanceshadowand
highlightdetail,andtheautowhite
balancecanbea littlehit-and-
missundermixedlighting.Asa
result,processingrawwill
generallygivemuchmore
attractiveimages.Black& white
shooters,ontheotherhand,may
wellfindLeica’sMonochrome
HighContrastoptionpleasing.
Mentionmustbemadeof the
5-axisin-bodystabilisation,which
worksimpressivelywell.Usingthe
LeicaSL35mmf/2lensI wasable
togetconsistentlysharpimages
handheldat shutterspeedsof
1/2sec,whichI’dconsiderto
representaboutfivestopsof
stabilisation.Thisallowsyouto
makecreativeuseof motionblur,
ortokeeptheISOlowin fading
lighttominimisenoiseand
maximisedynamicrange.
Oneunfortunatecharacteristicis
thatthesensorseemsunusually
pronetoattractingdust,andI took
tocarryinga smallairblowerto
giveit a periodicclean.Batterylife
is reasonableenough,andcanbe
usefullyboostedbysettingthe
displaystoturnoffafterten
seconds of inactivity.Leica’sSLlensescombine
phenomenalsharpnesswith
lovelybackgroundblur
LeicaSL35mmf/2,
1/60sec at f/4, ISO 1250Herethesensor’svastdynamic
rangeallowedmetobalance
theforegroundagainsta sky
thatwasreallymuchbrighter
Leica SL 35mm f/2, 0.8sec at f/2, ISO 100