▼

Saturday, 11 August 2018

The only Interchangeable lens professional mirrorless 'full frame' camera - The Leica SL (Typ 601)


The Leica SL (Typ 601) was the first interchangeable lens professional mirrorless 'full frame' camera. In fact this is Leica's answer to the Nikon D5 and Canon 1DX MK II. Now if you imagine that either of those cameras had a mirrorless design, then you can see just how radical the SL is.




As you can see, Leica didn't bother with the idea that mirrorless = small and light. This is a brute of a camera and it has some pretty hefty lenses that go with it.


Lets be honest, this is not the most aesthetic camera out there, but 'in the flesh' it's an impressive beast. I certainly never suffer from a camera inferiority complex when I take it out. And when I raise it up to take a picture, people normally stop so as not to disturb me from what I'm doing, since I'm obviously a serious professional photographer carrying this around. I did once get a photographer with a Canon 1DX MK II and one of those  huge white zooms start drooling at the sight of it, which I'm loathe to admit (I'm not really!) gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. This is no 'shrinking violet' unobtrusive 'stealth camera'. You really can't miss it.

So Leica took a somewhat different approach to FFM (Full Frame Mirrorless) than Sony. The mount, originally seen on the Leica T, is as big as the Canon EOS mount and was always intended for 'full-frame' lenses. No soft corners here, no problem with wide-angle adapted lenses and of course no lens / body mismatch. Now I'm not going to discuss the merits of the SL here, regular readers will know that this was my camera of the year for 2016 and how much I rate it, but I'm well aware that many would disagree. (Though I doubt that many of that many have ever used one, or even seen one)

However, the Leica is a one off. Nikon and and Canon won't be rushing to copy it. And of course unlike both of those companies Leica don't have a FF DSLR. But the SL does show the advantage of thought out planning. When the APS-C Leica T was introduced with this TL mount, it was always intended that it would be used for 'pro' level mirrorless. And in terms of IQ the SL that resulted from this planning is a 'no compromise' camera. Certainly, with the 24-90mm  zoom the best image quality I've ever seen. But Leica have different priorities and a different customer base. Plus they don't manufacture anywhere near the same amount of cameras that Nikon, Canon and Sony do. I like their whole approach, always have and am prepared to pay for it. Many of course aren't. 


Stock photography by david martyn hughes at Alamy

© David Taylor-Hughes / Soundimageplus Blog
at