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)
Detail / resolution is fine.
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.)
Flower Swirl 1 (using the f/1.9 aperture plate)
Now that's more like it!
Flower Swirl 2 (still at f1:1.9)
Mind, that Bokeh cried out for a square crop, so:
Blade 1 (still at f1:1.9)
It even works for selfies! Mind a touch more DoF would have been useful!
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)
Detail / resolution is fine.
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.)
Flower Swirl 1 (using the f/1.9 aperture plate)
Now that's more like it!
Flower Swirl 2 (still at f1:1.9)
Mind, that Bokeh cried out for a square crop, so:
Blade 1 (still at f1:1.9)
It even works for selfies! Mind a touch more DoF would have been useful!
I think this might be the option for me with this camera: to use it for more unusual lenses and I shall explore further!
