There are two reasons I like playing with the Leica SL more than the SL2. The first is that none of the buttons on the back of the camera, with the exception of the on-and-off switch, are labeled. It's an "art" thing and not a performance parameter. I like the way it looks and I've quickly figured out what the buttons do and where they take you when you do either a long or a short press. I re-programmed one dial to reverse the direction of the aperture control but everything else is just as it comes from the factory. The guys who programmed the camera actually gave a lot of rational thought as regards how some people operate their cameras. Their presumptions match mine pretty well. No button labels is fine because there are only four buttons to choose from. Not having more function buttons means not having to think about taking advantage of more buttons. Easier to remember the functionality of four buttons than seven or more buttons which have white type on them but can be changed to be something else. Now that's confusing.
My second reason to like the older camera better in actual use is that it cost me 1/3rd the price. If I accidentally destroy it I'll only cry one third as much and I'll replace it two thirds quicker.
After using the SL with all my different lenses the one I like best for just strolling and shooting at random is the 45mm f2.8 Sigma. It looks perfectly matched to the camera, creates very nice looking photographs and is small and light. It's a lens made for fun. Bigger, heavier lenses are made for business. Or super serious art.
As far as aesthetics go I prefer the bare metal front of the SL over the leather trim on the front of the SL2.
It's all silly I guess, since all the cameras I have at hand are really good photography instruments. Each has its own strengths. From the Fuji X100vs to the S1R.
But we're still winnowing down the overall inventory. Trying to decide if it makes sense to slim down the camera body selection a bit more.... We'll see.
Back to thinking about cars for the rest of the day.
4 comments:
And raccoons.
Kirk
You do realize that we are all patiently awaiting a raccoon update, right?
CDC
Hi Chris, I think it's the same here. I'd pay tax on the difference, tax on the $4,000. So, yeah. I'm ready to go.
An update to all on the raccoons. My service person, Kendal, and I went up to the roof at 6:30pm and prepared to drop a rag soaked with coyote urine down the chimney. I asked K what happens to the rag after raccoons depart. He said that eventually the smell would wear off. I pulled a spool of nylon string and a wire mesh out of my pocket and suggested we put the rag in the mesh, attach it to the string. Drop the mesh and rag down the chimney and tie off the string at the top. That way, when they evacuate, we can pull up the offensive cloth and dispose of it without having a lingering scent in the house. That's what we did.
I heard a lot of pissed off raccoon talk coming up the chimney for a while but it's been silent in there for the last couple hours. I'm hoping the neighborhood is ripe with newer and better raccoon housing and we can call Kendal back and have him send over the crew to re-cap and intensify the chimney cap to prevent a replay.
We'll have a good idea of success or failure by Friday. Latest. I hope we're on the right track.
I like the idea of raccoons....just not the cohabitation with them under the same roof.
But the car? That was an easy decision. I made up my mind when my sig-other gave me the thumbs up.
OOPs. That first sentence was supposed to be a reply to the car question. Ah well. My bad.
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