So.... I went in for the root canal today with all the trepidation you may have sensed in yesterday's post. My endodontist was amazing. She delivered Lidocaine injections so gently that I almost burst into tears at my emotional relief. The optical instrument she used to magnify her view and carefully check her work had a big logo on the side. I took it as a sign from the photo gods. It said, "Leica."
The procedure lasted about 40 minutes and I was sent on my way with a few advisos. The most important thing being not to chew food while numbed so I don't merrily bite into my own cheek! Or drink hot coffee and risk drooling down my nice, clean, white shirt.
On the way home I thought about the omen of the logo on her optical device and assured myself that any residual pain would be minimized if only I had something fun to play with, and a new menu and interface with which to challenge my aging brain.
I already had an item selected and in a shopping cart at the LeicaStore in Miami so I went ahead and did the Apple Pay magic and committed. In a few days I should be the happy owner of a mint condition Leica SL, the predecessor of my current SL2.
I've been interested in that camera for nearly six years now. I know the technology has mostly been superseded by the march of time but I'm also interested in it because of the industrial design and the historic position it occupies as Leica's first interchangeable, full frame, mirrorless camera.
I have seen raw files from the camera that I like very much. For portraits it has a look that's different and more convincing than what I get from other cameras. I think the lower pixel count will make it a nice adjunct to the SL2 --- for all those times when I want to shoot raw but don't want to deal with the storage of more huge files.
The SL is not a sports camera or a wildlife camera since it depends entirely on contrast detect AF but for the way I use cameras, using the center focusing square and sticking to S-AF the focusing, it is reported to be both fast and accurate except in really low light settings.
SL cameras were originally sold at $7450 when they first arrived. The price dropped to $5995 near the end of their run. A very clean, hardly used body can be had, with a 30 day store warranty, for about $2,000. It's not cheap but neither is the expense ruinous.
24 megapixels, a body carved out of one piece of aluminum, an insanely big and high resolution EVF and the ability to use all my L mount lenses. What's not to like?
If I thought I could get away with buying myself a new camera every time I visited the dentist I'd be darned sure to go in for a cleaning and check-up every three months....
A full report is promised as soon as I take possession. "Now, bite down...."
Good thing the contraption wasn't built by Rolls-Royce.
ReplyDeleteFollowing up on a previous post:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.menshealth.com/health/a35841363/return-of-anxiety-fomo/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
We're happy and relieved that your dental procedure went so well, and look forward to reports on the SL.
ReplyDeleteDick
Robert, that was further down the list; next to the small jet...
ReplyDeleteKudos on your restraint- I had put you down for a backup SL2. With all the money you saved... :)
ReplyDeleteRick
I hear tell you get a price break if you buy 6? :) Just got back from a 3 day photographic road trip. I'm not as young as I use to be, but it was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteA road trip!! Now that is something I want to do. Maybe from Calgary down to Austin once the border is open. Go via the Oregon coast and the Redwoods in California. Maybe take in New Mexico on the way back. Dreaming ......
ReplyDeleteEric
sounds like a winner (4u) Kirk! Have always appreciated your gear reviews, and your (@times) contrarian views
ReplyDeleteGreat idea (the SL at rock-bottom price)! Same fantastic viewfinder. Nuthin' wrong with 24 MPx. I'll be interested in how you find the older four buttons-on-the-back interface. It's borrowed from Phase One by way of the Leica S series, uses short and long presses to get to all the menu functions and offer various quick options. Just a little more flexible but a bit head-spinning, compared to the SL2, which has one extra button in front, but a simpler back panel. Joystick works the same on both models.
ReplyDeleteThere may be some things that the S1R and SL2 can do that the SL might not offer, like linear manual focusing. at a rate that you set in firmware, but you'll have to check that out.
Lucky that logo wasn’t “Olympus”, like so much medical imaging gear.
ReplyDeleteMy most recent dentist has an assistant who pats me on my left shoulder while I'm supposed to be twirling the toes of my shoes in opposite directions. Half the time I start laughing at the foolishness of it, but she says the distraction is necessary for some of her most skittish patients.
ReplyDeleteGood choice. I haven't had the need to upgrade from the SL to the SL2/SL2-S, and the SL has a couple of features that didn't carry over to the newer models. Two quick squeezes of the Funk button gives you a preview of the picture to be taken (p. 214 of the manual), three quick squeezes and you get George Clinton playing on the audio. And it's built like a tank.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I've had my eyes on the SL since 2015. I love the concept. I like the interface. I'm thinking the SL2 will become the back-up for the SL. Can't wait for a road trip. I have a client who wants me to be in Sante Fe at the end of April. If the gig gets the green light I have half a mind to drive there and back.... just to play with the Leicas. Can I press four times and get Bob Dylan?
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought it was only dentists that bought Leicas ;)
ReplyDeleteJohn, That seems to be the cultural take here in the US about Leica. Doctors, Lawyers and Dentists. I started using Leicas with an old, used M3 which led to the Leicaflex series which led back to various M cameras and then on to the R8, etc. I sold off most of the stuff when digital became inevitable. Leica went dormant for years vis-a-vis digital. But I always looked back at the work I'd done with them and was ... nostalgic. Now I can buy anything I want and that led me right back to LEICA.
ReplyDeleteI love my SL so much, I stopped considering the SL2 once i knew it had a different interface. Long and short press doubles the buttons available. As a landscape camera, it handles multi minute exposures. Only the M10 monochrom made me buy a new camera.
ReplyDelete