Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 25 January 2020 45

workingconsistentlyusing
eitherAppleorAndroid
devices,withtheappoften
displayingnophotosfromthe
camera.ButLeicasaysanupdate
is onthewaytofixthis.
Unusually,a paid-for‘Pro’
versionof LeicaFotosis available
foranannualsubscription
(currently£18.49).It addsthe
optiontocopyDNGrawfiles
acrosstoyourphone,remote
controlforvideoshooting,andfor
iOSusers,Lightroomintegration
and an iPad-optimised version.

Buildandhandling

ThemomentyoupickuptheSL2,

it’sclearthatthisis norun-of-the-

millcamera.It’sa big,bulkybeast

that’sconsiderablylargerthan

mostof itsfull-framemirrorless

peers,andsimilarin sizeand

weighttoa high-endDSLR.Thisis

compoundedwhenyouconsider

thelenses:forexampleat 720g,

theAPO-Summicron-SL35mm

f/2ASPHweighsmorethan

Sony’sFE35mmf/1.4lens,while

theSummilux-SL50mmF1.4

contrives to weigh over a kilogram.

Soif youwanta mirrorlesssystem

toreducetheloadonyour

shoulders,thisreallyisn’tit.

There’sa reasonwhytheSL2is

soheavy,of course;itsbodyshell

is machinedfromtwosolidblocks

of aluminium,andasa resultfeels

likeit wouldstopa bullet.The

camerais certifiedtoIP54

standards,meaningthatit’s

protectedagainstdustand

splashingwater.It certainlyproved

itselfduringthecourseof my

testing,withstandinga coupleof

hours’ shooting in heavy rain

withoutskippinga beat.

WhiletheoriginalSLwas

somewhatuncomfortabletohold,

theSL2’shandgripis notably

improvedbytheadditionof a

smallindentationintowhichyour

fingertipsnaturallysettle.The

diamond-texturedrubbercoating

providesa securehold,andthere’s

a largeclearspaceonthebackfor

yourthumb.

OveralltheSL2followsmuch

thesametemplateasits

predecessor,witha central

electronicviewfinderandfixed

reartouchscreen.Itspared-back

designreducesexternalcontrols

totheessentials,withtwin

electronicdialstochange

exposuresettings,anAF-point

joystick,andjusta smatteringof

buttons.Butin a verywelcome

move,therearcontrollayout

adoptsa simplifiedandmore

intuitiveapproachthat’ssimilarto

Leica’sotherrecentcameras.A

monochrometop-plateOLED

screenis onhandtohelptheuser

keeptrackof theessential

photographicsettings.

Whilethereardialis embedded

conventionallyintothebodywithin

easyreachof yourthumb,the

largewheelonthetop-plateis

moreunusual,althoughit works

wellenoughonceyougetusedto

it. There’snoexposuremodedial

• instead,youclickthereardial
  inwardsandrotateit tocycle
  throughtheP, A,S andM
  modes. One of the dials can

Testbench

Imagequalityis very

respectableathigh

ISOsettings

LeicaSL35mmf/2,

1/40sec at f/7.1, ISO 6400

TheimpressiveIBISsystem

allowscreativemotion blur

effectshandheld

LeicaSL50mmf/1.4,

0.6sec at f/8, ISO 100