Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 25 January 2020 49

Noise

Resolution

Thecropsshownbelowaretaken
fromthearea outlined above in red

Recommended

CAMERA TEST Testbench

ExaminationofDNGfilesconvertedusingAdobeCameraRawreveals

impressivelevelsofdetailandbarelyanyvisiblenoiseatthelowestISO

settings.However,it’simportanttounderstandthathighlightdetailclips

topurewhitemorequicklyatISO 50 thanatISO100.Initiallythere’s

minimaldropin qualityastheISOis raised,withjusta littleluminance

noiseappearingatISO 1600 whenexaminingimagesclose-uponscreen.By

ISO 6400 noisehasoverwhelmedreallyfinedetail,butI’dstilluseISO

12,500withouthesitationforsmalleroutputsizes.HoweverI’davoid the

toptwosettings altogether as theygivemuchpoorerresults.

AtISO50,theSL2recordsabout5,400linesperpicture
height,whichis exactlyasmuchaswewouldexpect.
Howeverthelackofa low-passfilterresultsin some
falsecolourandaliasing.Initially,resolutionbarely
decreases as the sensitivity is raised, andit’sonlyat

ISO 3200 thatweseeanysignificantdrop-off,to

around5,000l/ph.Abovethis,noisehasanincreasing

impact,butevenatISO12,500westillregister4,400

l/ph.AtthetopISO50,000setting,4,000l/phmatches

thebestthat24MPcamerascan offer evenatlowISO.

TheSL2incorporatesoneof thebestsensorsaround,andat lowISOsitsrawfilesincludestacks
of detailandvastdynamicrange,withlotsof additionalinformationrecoverablein theshadow
regionsduringrawprocessing.AthighISOs,noiseis keptreasonablylowconsideringthepixel
count,andI’dshootat uptoISO12,500withnoqualms.It’snotjustthesensorthatmatters
here;closeexaminationof imagefilesrevealsthatLeica’sSLlenses are almost fl awless. This
ultimately is the pay-off for the system’s price and weight.

IT’SALWAYSdifficulttoassessLeica

cameras,asthefirmoperatestodifferent

rulesthanthebigJapanesemanufacturers.

It’snottryingtobea mainstreamplayer,but

insteadattracta niche,high-endaudience.

What,then,tomakeof theSL2?If weput

asidethequestionof price,it’sclearlya very

accomplishedcamerathatin mostrespects

holdsitsownagainstotherhigh-resolution

full-framemirrorlessmodels.It records

stunningdetailanddynamicrange,hasa

fabulousviewfinder,andbenefits from

effective5-axisstabilisationtomakethe

mostof itshigh-resolutionsensor.Itsdesign

mayveermoretowardsthequirkythanthe

conventional,butonceyou’vespentsome

timegettingacclimatised,it actuallyworks

verywell.Objectively,thisis a veryimpressive

photographictool.

However,noneof thisaffordsa rational

reasonforthevastmajorityof eitherserious

enthusiastorprofessionalphotographersto

chooseit aheadof thelikesof theNikonZ 7,

PanasonicLumixS1R,orSonyAlpha7RIV.

Allboastmuchthesamesetof positive

attributes,butforat least£2,000less,

body-only;theSonyandNikonarealsoboth

considerablylighterin weight.Allcanbe

teamedupwitha setof high-quality,

thoroughlymodernlenses– indeed

theS1Rusesexactlythesame

L-mountopticsastheSL2.

Asa result,theattractionof theSL2

comesdowntointangiblesthatcan’tbe

foundona specsheet.Insteadit’sallabout

thestripped-backdesignaesthetic,the

bomb-proofbuildquality,Leica’sreputation

forpeerlessoptics,anddoubtlessforsome

users,simplytheprestigeof thereddot.It’s

reallynota cameraformostphotographers,

butforthosewhocanconvincethemselves it

makessense,it should certainly deliver

fantasticresults.

Belowweshowdetailsfrom
ourresolutioncharttest
pattern(right).Multiplythe
numberbeneaththelinesby
200 togivetheresolutionin
lines per picture height.

RAW ISO 50 RAW ISO 1600 RAW ISO 6400

RAW ISO 12,500 RAW ISO 25,000 RAW ISO 50,000

RAW

ISO 50,000

RAW

ISO 12,500

RAW

ISO 3200

RAW

ISO 50

Lab results

AndrewSydenham’slabtestsrevealjusthowthe camera performs

Ourcamerasandlensesaretestedusingtheindustry-

standardImageEngineeringIQ-Analysersoftware.

Visit http://www.image-engineering.de for more details

Verdict

FEATURES 7/10

BUILD& HANDLING 9/10

METERING 9/10

AUTOFOCUS 7/10

AWB& COLOUR 7/10

DYNAMICRANGE 9/10

IMAGEQUALITY 9/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 9/10