3 Months With The Leica SL3

What more can I say about the Leica SL3 that hasn’t already been said online or on YouTube? Today marks 90 days since the camera's release, and I’ve been enjoying everything about it for my use case. This year, I decided to return to working in the studio. I picked up the SL2 late last year in preparation for this decision.

There were some issues with the SL2 in the studio. The camera would freeze up while tethering and trying to use autofocus. Right before I bought the SL2, I purchased the Lumix S5II because I wanted to be part of the L Mount Alliance. At this point, I’ve been using Leica M cameras for at least two years. A review is coming soon.

When I purchased the S5II, it gave me hope that the SL3 would be released soon, so I purchased a few lenses in preparation. When the camera was officially announced, I got on the phone with Sire (Projectroman) from the Leica New York City Store and purchased the camera. The next day, the camera was in my hands, and I took it to lunch. This was on March 8th.

I enjoyed what was coming out of the camera. The photo to the right had more than enough details in the shadow areas to edit the image easily. That Sunday, I had my first in-studio test with the SL3. I brought the SL2 just in case because the camera was new to me. I connected the SL3 to the computer, and everything worked amazingly. As many reviewers have noted, the autofocus eye/face detection improved significantly. For my needs, the SL3’s new autofocusing system is fantastic. It is still a bit behind the S5II, which I’m not sure why, considering both companies work closely together. I assume it has to do with the fact that the SL3 has 60 megapixels, while the S5II only has 24.

Here are some photos from the shoot. It was a photo shoot for a local thrift store called Noni. There were four models, and the goal was to capture product shots and styling shots.

When I got back home and saw that I only missed focus a handful of times, I was sold.

Here are some of my favorite frames from the first week of owning the camera:

Within the first week of the launch, the New York City Leica store also opened, and Jason (Stockezy) had a photo walk, which I made sure to attend. I got to meet some amazing photographers I’ve connected with on social media.

Here are a few of my favorite frames using the SL3 in the studio:

In short, the camera is great for my style of shooting. I know many like to bring up Leica heritage and history as reasons why they love shooting with Leica cameras. For me, it’s simple: I enjoy using equipment that brings me joy. I enjoy the conversations I have with other Leica shooters. Their passion motivates me to continue shooting as well. Leica is a brand that brings people together to create together. The camera is an amazing tool. There are some things I miss from the SL2, for example, the height and the shutter sound. I wish there was a way to lower the shutter sound outside of just turning on the electronic shutter. I can’t wait to see what additions they add to the SL3. For example, if you keep autofocus on when using a manual lens and the camera can still pick up a subject, it would be nice if the camera then zooms in to ensure we are hitting critical focus. That would be amazing.

If you have the opportunity to hold and test this camera, you should take the chance.

P.S - These are my own thoughts and no one from Leica asked me to create this blog post.