Member Mark Gowin

David,
Wow, I think you nailed it. I'm glad you took your time.

These kind of reviews are what makes this site so good.
I bought a CL two months ago, with the 18 thanks to your Leica deal. I already had the 11-23 for the first T.
Then I just bought the 55-135 last month. All from Josh of course at Miami.

I was eager to see what lenses you used in Santa Fe. You explained why you stayed with primes for the most part. I suspect my next lens will be the 60mm, seeing what you did with it. I admit I remain curious as to what you may have loaded into your “User Profiles”?
I enjoyed the T, as love the design, but in choosing which camera I wanted for an update, I went with the deal on the CL plus 18mm as I had a friend who showed me his CL and I wanted the built-in EVF. That's even though the articulating EVF on the T was very handy. The CL with the 18 fits in my pockets: the TL with the external EVF is more difficult. But both are light weight. Regardless, the real happy news is the lenses extremely good, regardless of the camera body, oh yes they are. And as you said, the camera is fun to use.

I agree the SL is an amazing camera and look forward to seeing what Leica does with the SL2, but I have already been in the S system for years. If I am going to bring a bigger heavier camera, it will remain the S. The CL to me is the equivalent of the M with relatively smaller AF lenses, with twice the resolution and a lot more DR than I had with the M8.

Thanks for the effort you put into this review, and all your reviews.

Jack

This has to be one of the most, if not the most, comprehensive review I've read of any camera (not just a Leica camera). To say well done is an understatement. Thanks!

Yes. I used single field AF for all my shots.

Your comprehensive review was the final trigger to buy the CL. Thanks for this great work.

Thanks Ken.

I shoot exclusively in DNG (RAW) format, then process in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC. I created a default CL preset and apply it to all CL images upon import. So, I generally never see OOC rendering. With the preset applied, I usually don't need to do much further editing – just tweaks to exposure, WB, highlights and shadows. The CL DNG files handle extremely similarly to those from the SL. Very malleable.

ive used Nikon Pro SLR's and DSLR's my entire life, starting with the F2

After a recent trip to Italy with my D5 and a few lenses, i was ready for a change.

I spent a bunch of time at the Leica showroom in Los Angeles over the weekend, and yesterday purchased the CL kit, i was a little frustrated at first, but Ive already gotten a little comfortable with it and have taken a few reference pictures I am really happy with.

Im seriously looking forward to exploring what this CL can do. I agree with the users above, this review is spot on, in depth and super helpful

Barry,

You wouldn't have any issues printing 24×36 inches from the CL. I have prints at 20×30 inches that look as good as ones from the SL. In fact, it's near impossible to tell them apart at this size.

Well this was very helpful and your photos inspiring. My CL arrives tomorrow. I ordered also the Leica Hand Grip and M adapter as I intend to shoot my M lenses on it. I think it will be a nice compliment to my M bodies. I travel to Italy about 3 times a year and sometimes my carry on weight is restricted, so this will lighten my load and my worries about the issue. Great review overall, and quite substantive.

I really like the smaller size and faster aperture of the 18mm, so that's the way I would go personally. The zoom is a very flexible option if you only want to carry one lens though.

The APO-Vario-Elmar-TL 55-135mm is equivalent to an 80-200mm in full-frame, yet only weighs 500g or around one pound. Really, that would be your best option.

Leica APO-Vario-Elmar-TL 55-135mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH

Thank you so much!

Thanks a lot for your review. But is the 35mm Summilux an APO ? Considering the CA issues I believe it isn`t, right ?

Glad you found it helpful. I still continue to use my CL for more casual endeavors and am always pleased by the ease of use, compact size and resulting image quality.

So, I posed the question of an APO tele extender to the lens designers when I was at the factory last summer. The answer was that they already have a 1.5x extender that doesn't result in light loss or reduction in quality. “It's called a Leica CL.” Actually makes sense. You still get 24MP and the equivalent of a 135-420mm while retaining the f/2.8-4 max aperture. Also, AF and OIS work perfectly on the CL. If Leica sold an L tele extender it would probably cost the same as an entire CL camera. So, you get an extender and a backup body that can take all the SL lenses. Not so crazy, right?

I am still interested in this camera even after the Q2 announcement. Is this a wise move? I am primarily a fair weather photographer (no video).

Josh shared very informative words. They would help us choose the best option.

You sold me David and Josh.
Got the kit in time for the new year.
Thanks,
Jack

Robinson said that the game's name, waffle game, was chosen because of its resemblance to a waffle when it was first unveiled in February.

Adobe's move to monthly license fees for Creative Cloud was the reason why Lightroom licenses are no longer included in any Leica camera. Previously, Adobe was supporting both CC subscriptions as well as paid-in-full standalone licenses. Leica was able to purchase these in bulk to provide with cameras. But, Adobe ceased supporting standalone editions, resulting in older versions like LR6 not supporting RAW files from the latest cameras. Unfortunately, Leica had no say in this move.

The strap pictured is the Arte di Mano Comodo Neck Strap in Barenia Tan. Here's a link:

Arte di Mano Comodo Neck Strap – Barenia Tan

If you want to learn more about Arte di Mano, Kirsten did an awesome job going over all the options in her recent video:

Thanks for this reporting. I know it takes money and time to make this sort of trip, conduct interviews, and write this info up.

I had an SL at one time. This excites me to maybe get an SL again… or wait for SL 2.0. I liked using my TL lenses on the SL despite the crop down to 10MP.

Thanks David for this insightful report. Rarely is it reported that lens IQ is primary, camera resolution secondary, but here we are in 2018 with Leica lenses on the cutting edge like no others. I would be interested in similar interviews from Panasonic and Sigma. Would that be possible?

Is it a vulgarity to point to the difference of price between the Leica X2 (1750 euros) and the CL 18mm kit (3500 euros)? That's exactly double.

People will not buy some “system flexibility” if they are simply looking for an expert compact.

Thanks for this. I like my CL. My only complaint (are you reading Leica) is the inability to turn off Long Exposure Noise Reduction. I've looked and not found a way. Otherwise the compact TL lenses are a pleasure to carry around (relatively light weight) and have pretty good image quality (not M-good but to me as good as the Q when I owned that). I also like the menu system and ability to configure the various buttons and dials. /very easy and handy.

I've used the CL on four separate trips in the past several months and never once did I miss having image stabilization in the body. From a marketing perspective, IBIS might seem like a must-have feature, but from practical use, I personally don't need it. I've found the CL to be like a baby SL, especially in the look of the images.

Really, any of the TL lenses are good choices with regards to optical performance. The 18-56 definitely isn't what I'd call heavy, but the 18mm and the 23mm are both more compact and lighter. Personally, I tend to favor the fixed focal length lenses. The 18 will give you the equivalent FOV of a 28mm, the 23 will act like a 35mm. So, I think it really depends what you are looking for.

The CL is in a different league from the X2 with regards to AF speed. Not even close.

Interesting. Definitely missed that one. Looking at the history, seems the DP1 was released in 2008 and had a sensor a bit smaller than APS-C. So…. technically, the X1 was still the first APS-C all-in-one camera.

Nicely done,
Thanks
Jack

very enlightening!
Albert

Paul,

I agree that buffer memory should have been increased to 4GB on this generation. But…. Most fashion photographers don't shoot at full burst. Quick, yes, but not at burst speed. I think at a fast single shot rate, the S3 could keep up. A Phase One only shoots about 1 FPS max, and these are used in fashion work all the time.

For me, I see the S3 mainly as a landscape and travel camera, which is how I personally use the S007. The more compact body, full weather sealing, long battery life, excellent high ISO, and class-leading dynamic range make it the perfect tool. As a landscape photographer, do I personally care about burst depth, or even maximum FPS? Nope. The S was never intended as a sports or PJ camera, two areas where fast frame rate is paramount. Rather, the speed of the S that matters is the shot-to-shot responsiveness, playback speed and ease of operation. This is what I tested during my handling of the new camera, and it feels just as responsive as the S007.

Based on my own desires as a long-time S shooter, feedback I've received on articles, and direct conversations I've had with other S users, yes, I do think the S3 will be a success. Would I have liked to see other updates? Sure. But for me, I already love the body, lenses, viewfinder and overall shooting experience of the S. I already know how solid a workhorse it's been for me in the field. What I, and others, really wanted was a bump in resolution without sacrificing DR or low light ability. What we got was additional resolution and a marked improvement in DR, high ISO and color fidelity.

I don't know when Leica started development, but if the final result is the best sensor on the market, then I'd say it's worth the wait. 🙂

Phillip,

I understand your concerns.

I suppose I'm not bothered by a single focus point. Even when given the option of multi-point focus on the SL or CL, I usually prefer to use a central point and recompose. I often find moving a focus point around to be distracting and slower than simply focusing and reframing. For landscape shooting, I use the top display DOF readout and dial in the focus manually, which is one of the S007's killer features (also on the SL).

Having also shot the S2 a lot, then the S006 and S007, I can safely say that even before the resolution jump of the S3, the S007 is a completely different shooting experience from the S2. The ergonomics and speed are already quite good. The added DR, ISO range and resolution of the S3 are really what most users wanted, myself included. I also use the S for shooting other than static landscape. It handles walkaround shooting just fine. Even at night.

Would I have liked a better LCD? Of course. More capable video? Maybe, although I use the SL for this, so it's not my top use for the S. I can think of a handful of nice-to-haves, but Leica's focus was clearly centered around maximum image quality and I do think they have delivered on that goal. Some may not feel the resolution is adequate, but I'll take a camera that is pushing 16 stops of DR, can shoot cleanly at ISO 6400, handles like a champ, offers all day battery life, is virtually impervious to the elements, has a phenomenal range of lenses and one of the clearest and brightest viewfinders ever made, along with *only* 64MP of resolution.

From your shots it appears that this show is well attended. Is it or are there some vendor areas that are substantially more crowded than others?

Were you able to get any sense in the L Mount meeting whether or not a new SL is around the corner or the current model has some more years left? The current trade-in discount could be interpreted as clearing out inventory.