More photos done with the APO-Summicron SL 1:2/50 ASPH. And, I actually bought another lens today...

While the APO Summicron 50 SL is big and heavy it's also a spectacular lens. Especially so when attached to the front of an SL2. But then photography isn't a sport for sissies. It's heavy but not as heavy as the Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.4 Milvus lens I had in the early part of 2024. A great lens in its own right but so front heavy it was uncomfortable to use for any extended length of time. If you want to use the 50 APO but can't handle the weight of a Leica SL there is always the option of using a Panasonic camera like the S5. The camera won't have the same color and performance characteristics but being part of the L mount alliance it will recognize the lens, transmit the correct profile and work flawlessly as regards AF and exposure. The S5 is half the weight of an SL2. 

I am currently planning a trip to West Texas. I haven't been for any length of time since 2010 when I thought of writing a book about road trips. A publisher signed up to do the book but we had a falling out over production specs, who was responsible for which part of marketing, etc. etc. and I ended up sending them back their advance and taking their number off my "Rolodex." 

The 2026 adventure would be very much just for fun. And since that's the case, and I'll have a car to serve as an extended camera bag, I'll take the SL2 camera and the 50mm and be stern with myself  so I don't bail on that selection this time around. A perfect "road trip combo."  More to come as soon as I know it. 

I've been playing with my Leica CL again this week. It's an inspiring, tiny, solid camera but what's been missing from my dedicated CL gear is a decent, normal focal length kit lens. A zoom for day-to-day use. I have any number of rangefinder lenses I can use with the camera as well as a little set of Sigma Contemporary prime lenses but I never really got along well with the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 lens I bought for the system. I sold that when I sold one of my redundant CLs last year. And I've missed the flexibility of a normal zoom lens. 

I've read so many good things about Leica's own little zoom, the 18-56mm, but I was hesitant to buy one because they seemed pricey back when the camera was still in production and, I was a little bit hesitant because of the slow maximum apertures at each end of the focal length range. Silly me. I have more than enough f1.4, fast primes to augment a zoom when the light goes dark, and I spend most of my time with cameras in full daylight. Why, all of a sudden was I thinking I'd be hobbled by a slow zoom for use at midday? No idea. 

Anyway, one came up for sale on Leica Store Miami's website this weekend and I liked the price so I thrashed a credit card once again. I guess the lens will arrive sometime in the middle of next week. The thing that pushed me over the edge was the realization (Thanks B!) that I could also use the lens on one of my SL2 cameras and the camera would automatically set itself to shoot in APS-C mode. And it would still provide 22 megapixels of great data. And the camera would also add IBIS to the mix. 

Adding a small and light zoom to the SL2 would certainly go a long way to cut down on both the size and weight of the complete package while delivering AF and full automation via all of the camera's features. Seems like a nice back-up to using the lens with just the CL. 

The Leica 18-56mm = 27-84mm in full frame speak. It has a 3.5 aperture at the 18mm end of the zoom ring and an f5.6 aperture at the long end of the zoom ring. Slow but not "deal-killer" slow. 

I'll give it a bit of a workout on arrival. Hope there are some mannequins around to strut their stuff, otherwise I'll have to resort to photographing real humans ---- and what's the challenge there?

The unexpected resurgence of the Leica CL. I blame it on a lens...

The Leica CL is a solid, little camera. Pretty much the ultimate expression of a compact but powerful camera for the format. It's an APS-C sensor-sized camera. Leica built a whole little system around this camera and its sibling, the TL series. This camera and the TL were responsible for the genesis of the L mount we enjoy today. 

The CL was introduced in 2017 and discontinued by Leica in 2024 (sadly). It features a 24 megapixel, CMOS sensor, 4K video (no inputs for microphones and no outputs for headphones) and a high res (for the time) EVF --- which still is quite good today. The camera is a perfect travel camera. Smaller and lighter than the M cameras it was sold alongside its own family of APS-C lenses, some of which were/are phenomenally good. And sized right for the system.

The only real downside of this camera for most users is the short battery life. But even there the remedy is straightforward. It's the only Leica battery I know of that is shared by Leica, Sigma and Panasonic and was widely used in the last two companies' smaller cameras. Even the Sigma fp and the fpL use the same battery. Unlike nearly every other Leica camera body there are available many different generic batteries that fit and are available at wildly cheap prices. Like, less than $25. Compare that with the $230 for an SL battery....

The obvious inspiration for the CL came from Leica's original, screw mount rangefinder cameras and from the pre-M series that was in the market right up until the introduction of the M# (and for a few years after that introduction as well...in the form of the IIIG). The camera is just about the same size, in the same dimensions, as my older Leica IIIf. The TL mount, or L mount, means the camera functions flawlessly with L mount lenses from Sigma, Panasonic and, of course, Leica. The autofocus works, the other parts of automation work and the camera is capable of making great images when used correctly and paired with the right lenses. 

I didn't start the day thinking about the CL. It's been floating around the studio without a strong purpose for quite a while now but it's too nice a camera to trade in or otherwise get rid of. I had unloaded the lenses I'd taken for my trip to Montreal from the camera bag I took and I'd placed the Thypoch 50mm f1.4 and the Thypoch 28mm f1.4 lenses on my desk. In that gap between my keyboard and the monitor, and I guess they just used some sort of photographic voodoo osmosis to sway my thinking toward a use situation that would benefit both the lenses and the camera. To wit: using the 28mm as a 42mm "normal" lens and the 50mm as a 75mm portrait lens. Those are the equivalent fields of view when used on a cropped frame (1.5X) camera like this one. 

The controls are great and seem to be the forerunners for the control designs/interfaces for the SL2 and above series cameras as well as the M series rangefinder cameras, starting with the M10 models and going forward. The camera is fast to operate, the menus are relatively simple and there is nothing at all ostentatious about the camera. Nothing to tweak the Veblen fearful. Nothing to scare your favorite subjects. Non-intimidating.

I certainly had fun working with the camera and the 28mm today. Most of the images were shot either wide open, or at f2.0, and occasionally at f2.8. Wonderful fun, and as a bonus, the focus peaking was highly accurate!!! Not always the case with all cameras. Here are some more pix (below). 

At Jo's. Setting up for a pop-up used clothing market. Shoes upfront. 

a non-inclusive approach to advertising and marketing.... to say the least. 

The camera and lens have been "Mannequin Approved." 

A strategy that a remarkably large portion of society doesn't currently seem to embrace. 

I notice that hotels and motels usually have swimming pools but no pool tables...

Interesting...

The raw sugar making its way though the decorative foam in a latté at Jo's Coffee. 

Quasi-obligatory pool shot. Real pool, not billiards pool...

A visual representation of "vast potential." 

The continuing drama of the hats...

I thought I remembered liking this camera! 

Now even more with the manual focus, fast lenses.

Interesting.

 

Montreal. Food. Markets. Veggies. Fruit. Stuff. Captured while on vacation from vacation. Food is neat, even in its raw form. (Montreal).

We could discuss argue about which camera or which format or which lens is the one blessed most by the holy saints of photography or we could just go out to various places and have fun making photographs that appeal, at least to use. I took a vacation and went to Montreal. Everyone told me it would be cold and bleak but of course it was sunny and temperate.  I went to the markets and had fun making images of all kinds of food. Some of which I ate. I had a time restricted diet since I was only in town for seven days.... That's enough of a restriction for me.

I took a camera with me to the markets. And, of course a lens. Usually either a short zoom or a rangefinder 50mm. All of them were perfect choices. Now I'm back home and still going through the images and finding new stuff every day that I like. Now back in Austin. Went out with B. to El Alma Restaurant last evening. Ate fun stuff. Capped off dinner sharing the best presented and best tasting trés leché cake I've ever had. And I've had a fair number of samples. 

Spring weather in central Texas. Hot, cold, wet, windy, humid and dry. All at once. Here is a selection of food images and related stuff that I really enjoyed looking at and tasting. That's all I can think of right now. Maybe I'll argue with you about obscure camera knowledge in the near future. Or not. You can never tell. Am I enjoying retirement? It's better than any other alternative. Off to dinner...

Court mandated donut break. Really.

They start shopping early in Canada...

pentax is best. No! wait, I think it's OM Systems... Oh no, I forgot about...