A Prediction - The Leica SL-2 is Coming Soon

Bill Blackwell

Bill Blackwell

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Re-posted from PN -

Not that I have a particularly great track record predicting Leica's 'top secret' new products, but I have one anyway.

Within the next 4-months (by the end of January 2019) Leica will introduce the 'next gen' successor to the SL - the SL-2.

Specs will (minimally) include:
* > 40mp FF sensor;
* 4k 60p video;
* A sleeker, less edgy, mirrorless body;
* ISO topping out at ~50,000.
* Release price will be set at ~$7,495 USD.

So there you go. ...
 

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BillBlackwell said:
Re-posted from PN -

Not that I have a particularly great track record predicting Leica's 'top secret' new products, but I have one anyway.

Within the next 4-months (by the end of January 2019) Leica will introduce the 'next gen' successor to the SL - the SL-2.

Specs will (minimally) include:
* > 40mp FF sensor;
* 4k 60p video;
* A sleeker, less edgy, mirrorless body;
* ISO topping out at ~50,000.
* Release price will be set at ~$7,495 USD.

So there you go. ...
Click to expand...

Great!

Will be looking forward to it. Maye Roger will get one at Lens Rentals that I can rent.

EDIT -
BTW, I just read on TOP that Panasonic, Leica and Sigma are joining to produce a new mirrorless camera with the SL lens mount. Maybe there would be a Foveon sensor to go along with that.
 
Ronald M said:
Looks better than a box with a hole, but not by much.

They should rehire Porsche as design consultants.
Click to expand...

Porsche did design something with which the current SL shares aesthetics

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elefant

Elefant_USAOM-01.jpg
 
BillBlackwell said:
Re-posted from PN -

Not that I have a particularly great track record predicting Leica's 'top secret' new products, but I have one anyway.

Within the next 4-months (by the end of January 2019) Leica will introduce the 'next gen' successor to the SL - the SL-2.

Specs will (minimally) include:
* > 40mp FF sensor;
* 4k 60p video;
* A sleeker, less edgy, mirrorless body;
* ISO topping out at ~50,000.
* Release price will be set at ~$7,495 USD.

So there you go. ...
Click to expand...

Bill,

Your thumbnail comes to me as a surprise.

Thanks for posting this.

This will be an interesting thread.

Cal
 
BillBlackwell said:
Re-posted from PN -

Not that I have a particularly great track record predicting Leica's 'top secret' new products, but I have one anyway.

Within the next 4-months (by the end of January 2019) Leica will introduce the 'next gen' successor to the SL - the SL-2.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. I'm suddenly seeing a lot of youtube reviews by 'pro' photographers (and those with a large following) extolling the virtues of the current Leica SL.

Maybe to generate interest - or for those more cynically minded, to clear the old stock!



John
 
Given the recently announced Panasonic FF camera, a comparable SL2 wtih dumbed down features and menus would certainly make sense. I wouldn't expect to see it hit the shelves before the Panasonic FF though. Of course, it could be announced before then. The Leica S has a sculpted body, so there is precedent for something less boxy.
 
While we're all speculating on the eve of Photokina announcements, it will be interesting to see how much of Panasonic's full frame camera is in a new SL, and vice versa. Very unlikely to be a direct rebrand like the lower end PanaLeicas, but it may share some internal circuitry or mechanisms like autofocus.

Interestingly, a metadata dump from an X Vario image revealed the word, 'Panasonic', and the X Vario is supposed to be a 'pure' Leica camera. So Leica has already been using some form of Panasonic technology in its own cameras, apart from the rebrands.

We shall see!
 
Archiver said:
While we're all speculating on the eve of Photokina announcements, it will be interesting to see how much of Panasonic's full frame camera is in a new SL, and vice versa. Very unlikely to be a direct rebrand like the lower end PanaLeicas, but it may share some internal circuitry or mechanisms like autofocus.

Interestingly, a metadata dump from an X Vario image revealed the word, 'Panasonic', and the X Vario is supposed to be a 'pure' Leica camera. So Leica has already been using some form of Panasonic technology in its own cameras, apart from the rebrands.

We shall see!
Click to expand...

Add onto this how much of the new 64MP Leica S3 trickles into the new SL.

All the Crons that have been released or will be released in the future are all APO, even the wides. Very-very highly corrected glass. My 50 Lux-SL seems to be the only fast prime that is not APO.

The Panasonic "S" and S1 are pretty crazy.

Cal

POSTSCRIPT: Leica Rumors sent me an updated Leica SL lens roadmap. In 2020 they expect to release an APO 21 Cron, an APO 24 Cron, and an APO 28 Cron. The size looks to be the same E67 filter size and the same size as the released APO 75 Cron.
 
Last edited:
Archiver said:
... it will be interesting to see how much of Panasonic's full frame camera is in a new SL, and vice versa. Very unlikely to be a direct rebrand like the lower end PanaLeicas, but it may share some internal circuitry or mechanisms like autofocus. ...
Click to expand...
A re-branded "PanaLeica" with some firmware alterations for the Leica SL-2 is what I'd be expecting, but you could be right. It might be a "real" Leica built in Germany with its own unique shell as the original R cameras were (although their guts were pure Minolta by design). By doing this Leica could more convincingly demand the Leica branded price they want, then leave the "little people" to opt for the L mount (likely made-in-China) FF Panasonic.

Regardless, I'm standing by my prediction.
 
Bump. ...

A little later than originally predicted (could be announced as early as this month [June 2019]), but all of my other predictions regarding the SL-2 still stand.
 
BillBlackwell said:
Bump. ...

A little later than originally predicted (could be announced as early as this month [June 2019]), but all of my other predictions regarding the SL-2 still stand.
Click to expand...

Bill,

Release is expected in the fall.

The smut on the Q2 sensor is that it is a very good sensor and is rated in the top ten in a Leica Rumors blast. This is likely the same sensor to be used in the SL2.

My dream is that Leica makes a SLM (SL2 Monochrom).

Cal
 
raid said:
What happened to an SL2 release in 2019?
Click to expand...

Raid,

Leica Rumors says expected release is in September. This goes along with fall 2019 that I have heard.

In doing more research it seems many landscape photographers await the SL2 for the more MP sensor. Their thinking is that the higher MP count will more fully exploit the APO glass.

The APO SL glass is said to be "future proof" because it is so advanced.

Cal
 
raid said:
Would a SL2 do anything special with M lenses, Cal, or is the SL sufficient?
Click to expand...

Raid,

I'm interested in eventually getting a SL2, but not as an upgrade because I intend to keep my SL. It remains a very capable camera.

The rumors are that Leica will be coming out with an APO 50 Lux-M, so a trend of APO lenses will extend from the SL to the M.

It is said by the landscape photographers who already shoot APO-SL Crons that these lenses offer a rendering that has increased contrast and perceived contrast in the in focus areas, and that the infocus to OOF is smooth in a magical way.

Look up a Jono Slack review of any APO SL Cron lens and included will be the Peter Karbe explaination of this APO enhancement in these lenses.
Also Jono has compared the APO 50 Cron-SL against the APO 50 Cron-M, and the winner is the APO 50 Cron-SL on a SL.

That said it seems to be an advantage to shoot a SL with "native" APO SL glass for best performance.

Now understand that landscape photographers tend to print big, and compound that with others photographers who don't print or only print small. What I'm trying to convey is that for most photographers the enhanced IQ, higher performance, higher resolution likely would not be utilized and would go wasted.

The above is why I will keep my SL. It is still a great camera and relivent even though it is only 24 MP.

BTW I know because I'm a printer how enhanced contrast boosts perceived sharpness. These APO lenses have this in the infocus rendering. Also my 50 Lux-SL is not marketed as an APO lens, but my observations suggest that it likely is an APO design.

Cal
 
New from "Leica Rumors:" 47 MP and some leaked photo's. One less button on the back (only three instead of four) so the SL2 resembles the CL (a good thing). The grip is smaller and the rubberized covering wraps around the front. A less hard edge on the grip also, more rounded off and less angular.

They say perhaps a September announcement.

Cal
 
raid said:
Would a SL2 do anything special with M lenses, Cal, or is the SL sufficient?
Click to expand...

Nothing that more pixels wouldn't do, in my opinion. What else could the SL2 possibly do that the SL doesn't when the carefully made Leica lens profiles offered for M and R lenses allow them to image with just about the exact same beauty that they did on the cameras they were originally designed for?

Operationally, the SL2 couldn't do anything that the SL doesn't already unless they included a rangefinder cam linkage in the mount adapter that fed the focus distance display and maybe the automatic focus aids, but that would be a matter of the adapter rather than the lenses themselves. 🙂

I loved my SL, one of the very finest cameras I've ever owned. But I moved to the CL body a year and some ago as it suits what I do now, post-retirement, better than the SL body. Simpler, smaller, lighter, and the smaller format has some advantages for what I do with the camera. Regardless, I look forward to seeing what Leica provides with the SL2 body.

G
 
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