Pete Askew
Admin
Well it's about time I gave some impressions on this camera. One thing that is clear is that it reinforces my general dislike of electronic viewfinders. Somehow they detach me from the subject. That is a bit odd as I have no problem with them on a video camera, but I suppose that might be because the end result will be a video!
When I bought the camera I ordered a M-Mount adapter. I did look at the native lenses, but was not inspired by any except, maybe, the 90 mm. Anyway, I tried the camera initially with a 35 Summulux f1:1.4, but that just illustrated how great the Leica M cameras are and how clumsy the SL2 was! I do have a very large number and a wide range of Nikon F-mount lenses and so although a bit disappointed by how uninspiring I was finding the SL2 I thought I better try those and so ordered a Novaflex adapter from SpeedGraphic.
Having got the adapter I thought quite a bit about what to try and decided it would be better to aim for 'different' rather than a standard Nikon lens. A while back I bought a range of Meyer Optik lenses in Nikon fit (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/forum/threads/meyer-optik-görlitz.24275/), Various event (eg a pandemic!) prevented me from using them and so they have been lingering around. The Trioplan 100 was out of its box and so I tried that first. What can I say, a perfectly competent lens, but not especially inspiring (I suspect some of the others would have been a better choice) - see below.
Meyer Optik 100 f.2.8 (at f1:2.8)
![Milling Machine-1.jpg Milling Machine-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14035-bfcf4afd6bb43816cd294261ed5a7a79.jpg)
![Flower Spike-1.jpg Flower Spike-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14038-3a07e6b52b931db657b28b3ef74967ee.jpg)
Detail / resolution is fine.
![Plant Zoom-1.jpg Plant Zoom-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14039-814ae9e6415e96c3abc27ae399a399ab.jpg)
Still uninspired I stuck the camera back in the bag. Today though I was moving the box of the 100/2.8 when I spotted a brochure under it. This reminded me that some time back I had bought a Lomography Petzval 58 in Nikon F mount. I fished that out and decided to see how that worked on the SL2-S.
The first observation was that it was much easier to handle the focus than when mounted on a D3-style camera as the control was easier to reach and so I took it for a spin. And spin it does! But first, here it is mounted on the Leica along with the aperture plates (the f1:1.9 plate is mounted in the lens.)
![SL2-S-1.jpg SL2-S-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14036-35a5b6c8125c362ac6321401af4650da.jpg)
Flower Swirl 1 (using the f/1.9 aperture plate)
![Flower Swirk-1.jpg Flower Swirk-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14037-132fa22490fa7e4c128159a2cdea11c7.jpg)
Now that's more like it!
Flower Swirl 2 (still at f1:1.9)
![Flower Swirk 2-1.jpg Flower Swirk 2-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14040-ecdf6f2d6a1a82e788242ef85b26a0dc.jpg)
Mind, that Bokeh cried out for a square crop, so:
Blade 1 (still at f1:1.9)
![Blade-1.jpg Blade-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14041-de10e200d810de380e49fe6260a6ac1e.jpg)
It even works for selfies! Mind a touch more DoF would have been useful!
![Elf-1.jpg Elf-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14042-b197f77781026f92c6f6f0cc78e73381.jpg)
I think this might be the option for me with this camera: to use it for more unusual lenses and I shall explore further!
When I bought the camera I ordered a M-Mount adapter. I did look at the native lenses, but was not inspired by any except, maybe, the 90 mm. Anyway, I tried the camera initially with a 35 Summulux f1:1.4, but that just illustrated how great the Leica M cameras are and how clumsy the SL2 was! I do have a very large number and a wide range of Nikon F-mount lenses and so although a bit disappointed by how uninspiring I was finding the SL2 I thought I better try those and so ordered a Novaflex adapter from SpeedGraphic.
Having got the adapter I thought quite a bit about what to try and decided it would be better to aim for 'different' rather than a standard Nikon lens. A while back I bought a range of Meyer Optik lenses in Nikon fit (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/forum/threads/meyer-optik-görlitz.24275/), Various event (eg a pandemic!) prevented me from using them and so they have been lingering around. The Trioplan 100 was out of its box and so I tried that first. What can I say, a perfectly competent lens, but not especially inspiring (I suspect some of the others would have been a better choice) - see below.
Meyer Optik 100 f.2.8 (at f1:2.8)
![Milling Machine-1.jpg Milling Machine-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14035-bfcf4afd6bb43816cd294261ed5a7a79.jpg)
![Flower Spike-1.jpg Flower Spike-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14038-3a07e6b52b931db657b28b3ef74967ee.jpg)
Detail / resolution is fine.
![Plant Zoom-1.jpg Plant Zoom-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14039-814ae9e6415e96c3abc27ae399a399ab.jpg)
Still uninspired I stuck the camera back in the bag. Today though I was moving the box of the 100/2.8 when I spotted a brochure under it. This reminded me that some time back I had bought a Lomography Petzval 58 in Nikon F mount. I fished that out and decided to see how that worked on the SL2-S.
The first observation was that it was much easier to handle the focus than when mounted on a D3-style camera as the control was easier to reach and so I took it for a spin. And spin it does! But first, here it is mounted on the Leica along with the aperture plates (the f1:1.9 plate is mounted in the lens.)
![SL2-S-1.jpg SL2-S-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14036-35a5b6c8125c362ac6321401af4650da.jpg)
Flower Swirl 1 (using the f/1.9 aperture plate)
![Flower Swirk-1.jpg Flower Swirk-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14037-132fa22490fa7e4c128159a2cdea11c7.jpg)
Now that's more like it!
Flower Swirl 2 (still at f1:1.9)
![Flower Swirk 2-1.jpg Flower Swirk 2-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14040-ecdf6f2d6a1a82e788242ef85b26a0dc.jpg)
Mind, that Bokeh cried out for a square crop, so:
Blade 1 (still at f1:1.9)
![Blade-1.jpg Blade-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14041-de10e200d810de380e49fe6260a6ac1e.jpg)
It even works for selfies! Mind a touch more DoF would have been useful!
![Elf-1.jpg Elf-1.jpg](https://realphotographersforum.com/data/attachments/14/14042-b197f77781026f92c6f6f0cc78e73381.jpg)
I think this might be the option for me with this camera: to use it for more unusual lenses and I shall explore further!