rji2goleez wrote:
Has anyone seen a review that focuses on the SL3 Eye AF capabilities for wildlife? With Sigma's new 500/5.6, I could shed a lot of weight with this combo in the field.
Not specifically, but I’ve seen references to it generally not being up to speed compared to the competition and that the high frame rate doesn’t allow for constant focusing.
As is by now par of the course, if any other brand had introduced this camera at this price point, it would be blasted for its lack of capabilities. Only Hasselblad and Leica can introduce cameras that are behind the competition and receive kudos.
"There is also a tendency for the continuous autofocus to pulse, much like you’d find on a contrast-only autofocus system. This all contributes to a somewhat poor experience when shooting in faster sports and action scenarios and I was disappointed to largely stick with a noncontinuous autofocusing mode for much of my time with the camera."
"I thought the new phase detect Auto Focus on SL3 would magically mean that I could track my puppy zooming around at high speed, especially with it's 'animal detect' mode. But action photography is not something I've done much of in the past, and the results were disappointing.
So I started reading about action cameras, and thought that maybe I'd splash out and get something renowned for its tracking and action photographs.
So after a couple of weeks I went back to WEX again and exchanged the Sony A7R V body for a secondhand Sony A1, a 50mp speed demon with a stacked sensor (like the OM-1). This worked much better, and the camera has a lovely 'snick' of shutter noise and the EVF remains 'live' so no blackout. - I could take 30 frames per second and they were nearly all properly focused . . . . . I was also starting to think how great it would be for event work and weddings."
rji2goleez wrote:
Has anyone seen a review that focuses on the SL3 Eye AF capabilities for wildlife? With Sigma's new 500/5.6, I could shed a lot of weight with this combo in the field.
rscheffler wrote:
Bob, have you divested from Sony? If not, wouldn't the FE mount version be a better solution for you? Based on what Gordon wrote earlier, sounds like a Canikony camera will likely still be a better 'action' AF solution. Particularly if you also want higher fps with AF.
I can understand and appreciate the reasoning for this with respect to devices with sealed internal batteries. However, a camera with removable battery, where some users will use it intensively from time to time (all-day events, jobs, outings, etc.) and multiple batteries will come into play, in-camera charging simply is not sufficient. While you can charge the battery while using the camera, having a cable sticking out of the camera is a suboptimal experience, and depending on the situation, risks damaging the USB port (and likely the underlying circuit board). I understand there will be an accessory dual-battery charger available for purchase, but...
That said, it's Leica and you know you're paying a premium for a minimalist experience, so spending a few hundred extra (guessing) for an accessory a possible minority of SL3 users will need, is par for the course. ...Show more →
Since I also shoot Leica M11, I was thinking I could consolidate to all Leica and adapt M lenses to the SL3 with better results than adapting to Sony. Trying to have my cake and eat it too . . .
I saw some of those quotes but it would nice to hear from someone who focuses on wildlife to compare to other systems. I'm skeptical and hopeful but in all likelihood, I'll keep my Sony gear.
For those interested, I reached out to Really Right Stuff asking if they would develop a base plate and L-bracket for the SL3 like they did for the SL2. Happy to hear it is being planned.
"We will be making a plate for the Leica SL3, but it's too early to provide a specific time frame for release. Once our product development team gets a plate design, we can get the plate started and know a more specific time frame for manufacturing and anodizing. For the time being, all the news is that a plate will be made soon!"
It usually takes a while for them to design, test and manufacture their products but having used so many of their products over the years, they are first rate and their customer service is exemplary. Happy to support American made products.
In the meantime I will use their MC-LS universal L-bracket on the SL3. I scoffed at "universal bracket" at first but picked up one after seeing a fellow photog use it and really loved the design. I have used it on the G9II, M11 and Q3. It is surprisingly adaptable to various camera shapes.
My SL3 was delivered today. I've been using the SL2-S for a while now and have loved the experience. The SL3 seems like a decent upgrade, but there's one problem I'm having with it. The new flip out screen's position relative to the EVF is different than in the Q3, which I also had. On the Q3 there was no issue, but with the SL3 the upper left corner of the flip out screen is poking me in the nose when I use the EVF. It's not exactly smooth and rounded at the corners. I can flip the bottom of the screen out slightly to alleviate it, but it's incredibly annoying.
"I thought the new phase detect Auto Focus on SL3 would magically mean that I could track my puppy zooming around at high speed, especially with it's 'animal detect' mode. But action photography is not something I've done much of in the past, and the results were disappointing.
So I started reading about action cameras, and thought that maybe I'd splash out and get something renowned for its tracking and action photographs.
So after a couple of weeks I went back to WEX again and exchanged the Sony A7R V body for a secondhand Sony A1, a 50mp speed demon with a stacked sensor (like the OM-1). This worked much better, and the camera has a lovely 'snick' of shutter noise and the EVF remains 'live' so no blackout. - I could take 30 frames per second and they were nearly all properly focused . . . . . I was also starting to think how great it would be for event work and weddings."
that's not the entire story, tho. if you read the entire post, Leica responded to his AF issues and it turns out that this is due to user error (shutter speed too slow). he later stated that SL3 will not be as good as the A1 (which is expected)... but he did end up selling the A1 to eventually get an SL3 of his own (the SL3 he had is a loaner)
saxguy wrote:
My SL3 was delivered today. I've been using the SL2-S for a while now and have loved the experience. The SL3 seems like a decent upgrade, but there's one problem I'm having with it. The new flip out screen's position relative to the EVF is different than in the Q3, which I also had. On the Q3 there was no issue, but with the SL3 the upper left corner of the flip out screen is poking me in the nose when I use the EVF. It's not exactly smooth and rounded at the corners. I can flip the bottom of the screen out slightly to alleviate it, but it's incredibly annoying. ...Show more →
Interesting.
Do you still have your SL2-S?
If yes, could you upload some pictures showing the difference in sizes between those two cameras?
And the obvious question: How do they compare in terms of autofocus?
dalegaspi wrote:
that's not the entire story, tho. if you read the entire post, Leica responded to his AF issues and it turns out that this is due to user error (shutter speed too slow). he later stated that SL3 will not be as good as the A1 (which is expected)... but he did end up selling the A1 to eventually get an SL3 of his own (the SL3 he had is a loaner)
This is why I want to hear from someone who shoots wildlife or sports to get a sense of this use case. I don't expect A1 like experience but how close is the SL3.
saxguy wrote:
My SL3 was delivered today. I've been using the SL2-S for a while now and have loved the experience. The SL3 seems like a decent upgrade, but there's one problem I'm having with it. The new flip out screen's position relative to the EVF is different than in the Q3, which I also had. On the Q3 there was no issue, but with the SL3 the upper left corner of the flip out screen is poking me in the nose when I use the EVF. It's not exactly smooth and rounded at the corners. I can flip the bottom of the screen out slightly to alleviate it, but it's incredibly annoying. ...Show more →
that's interesting...and me having a relatively big nose might find that an issue. I'm looking at my Z9 and its screen is also not fully flushed but it does have a rounded corner ..in the dpreview photo, that corner is indeed not rounded.
zeitlos wrote:
Interesting.
Do you still have your SL2-S?
If yes, could you upload some pictures showing the difference in sizes between those two cameras?
And the obvious question: How do they compare in terms of autofocus?
The size doesn’t look too different side by side but it definitely feels smaller in the hand. I have pretty big hands and with the SL2-S I can keep my three fingers fully on the grip but with the SL3 I end up with my pinky finger half on and half off the grip, so I need to curl it under the camera. I had the same issue with my A1 when I had it but when I got the RRS L bracket it added enough length to the grip that it wasn’t an issue. I’m on the fence about the Leica grip because I’ve been taking more portrait orientation photos lately.
It’s been raining all day today here so I can’t really test the AF performance to provide any kind of real information yet.
saxguy wrote:
The size doesn’t look too different side by side but it definitely feels smaller in the hand. I have pretty big hands and with the SL2-S I can keep my three fingers fully on the grip but with the SL3 I end up with my pinky finger half on and half off the grip, so I need to curl it under the camera. I had the same issue with my A1 when I had it but when I got the RRS L bracket it added enough length to the grip that it wasn’t an issue. I’m on the fence about the Leica grip because I’ve been taking more portrait orientation photos lately.
It’s been raining all day today here so I can’t really test the AF performance to provide any kind of real information yet. ...Show more →
Thank you for posting photos. Looks like my little finger would hang off the SL3 grip too. I use an extension grip with the Sony A1 for the same reason--A1 is an even shorter camera.
@saxguy: Thank you very much for posting those pictures, especially the ones where you hold those cameras! For the first time I can really see the difference in pictures! Very much appreciated.
Am excited to have already received my sl3 on Friday - never have had my hands on a camera so soon after its announcement. Feels good and familiar, the menus are different but overall similar, so it’ll take a little getting used to. The tilting screen is actually very useful too.
For anyone interested: SL3--100% crop noise JPEG/RAW sample/test shots here along with several full size JPEG/DNG downloadable images. Seems latest version of LRC already supports SL3 files as I was able to upload samples from this article in LRC and both pixel peep and edit.
I wanted to test the higher ISO performance and shot this at ISO10,000. The first image is straight out of camera, converted to jpg and resized to 1600 on the long edge. I cropped out the left side of the image only and didn't touch the top or bottom for the crop, so there should be no change in noise.
LEICA SL3APO-SUMMICRON-SL 1:2/75 ASPH. lens75mmf/4.51/250s10000 ISO0.0 EV
Here's the same image with the shadows lifted +100 in Lightroom. I was more interested in seeing the noise pattern here since the SL3 is the first SL sensor with PDAF. I found that on the SL2 (and Q2) any noise over 3200 was rendered in a very uneven way. The noise on the SL3 seems fairly uniform in its appearance.
LEICA SL3APO-SUMMICRON-SL 1:2/75 ASPH. lens75mmf/4.51/250s10000 ISO0.0 EV
