OK, we’re not going to kid you that Leica has suddenly started building cheap cameras, but the SL2-S is closer to the ball-park in terms of its immediate Japanese-made rivals than has sometimes been the case in the past. And, given that $5,000 to $6,000 isn’t unusual for a top-end full-frame mirrorless camera, at $7,500 the SL2-S doesn’t look such a long stretch at all. The difference is essentially all the things that make it a Leica – a supreme build quality that’s derived from it being largely screwed together by hand, no skimping on materials and a comparatively low production run that guarantees a certain level of exclusivity. Plus, there’s that all-important ‘Made In Germany’ marking on the baseplate.
Of course, there is the little matter of the lenses – and the SL optics are actually Leica’s finest – which don’t come cheap – but since the SL2-S is an L-mount camera, there are more affordable alternatives, particularly from alliance partner Sigma. In fact, in what has to be a big tick of approval for the Japanese independent lens maker, Leica itself actually offers the SL2-S packaged with the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art series standard zoom, yours for $8,990.
The SL2-S shares the same all-metal body as the SL2, but has a new 24.6MP (effective) backside-illuminated CMOS sensor – not the same non-BSI imager as was used in the original SL – and significantly upgraded video capabilities with even more to come via a firmware upgrade due any time now. This makes the SL2-S the most hybrid of Leica mirrorless cameras to date, and it’s clearly with the aim of having more of a presence in the video sector where Panasonic’s Lumix S cameras have been the main L-mount offerings so far (see the Making Movies panel for the rest of the SL2-S’s video story). There’s also a growing range of Leica cinematography lenses and clearly Leica would like to see one of its own camera bodies on the back of them.
With a total of a million pixels on a full-frame sensor, the pixel size is 5.94 microns, which means a healthy signal-to-noise ratio, translating into a wider dynamic range and enhanced high-ISO performance. The sensitivity range is ISO 50 to 100,000. To optimise the resolution, there’s no optical low-pass filter and Leica has designed a unique microlens array primarily to ensure better performance when M-mount lenses are fitted via an adapter (there are adapters for R and S system lenses too). Like the SL2, the SL2-S even has a dedicated external metering sensor for when M lenses are fitted (this generates the exposure metadata for the EXIF info). That’s the little window on the front panel to the right of the EVF housing (or on the left if you’re behind the camera).
UP TO SPEED
The sensor is mated with
