Just wondering if you feel that this is still the nicest L mount "normal zoom" around with the other options available on the market these days. I am not sure if the used market here is just that bad or if they aren't all that desirable but I just snagged one in top condition for around $2200 after the seller's dropped the price several times. I used to drool over it a couple of years ago but at that point the used prices here were sky high so I never got my hands on one. I'm aware it's a heavy beast (especially paired with an S1 or S1R) but I'll be going on a driving tour of Europe this summer with a lot of time spent in the Dolomites so felt I wanted a flexible option that didn't compromise on image quality.
The other one I looked at was the Sigma 28-105/2,8 which looks stellar but I think having 24mm on the wide end weighs pretty heavily in favor of the Leica for me.
I like mine. It was my first SL lens. I quickly added the 90-280. Primarily an event shooter so zooms are my bread and butter lenses. Previously I shot Nikon bodies and the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 were my zooms. I took almost 49K images with them. I am happier with my two Leica zooms.
Luke_Miller wrote:
I like mine. It was my first SL lens. I quickly added the 90-280. Primarily an event shooter so zooms are my bread and butter lenses. Previously I shot Nikon bodies and the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 were my zooms. I took almost 49K images with them. I am happier with my two Leica zooms.
On my last trip to the Dolomites I had a Z8 + 24-105 and was very pleased with the outcome. Hoping the 24-90 will perform at least as well! The only downside I see is a bit higher weight; the Z8 + 24-105 was 910+ 630g vs S1R + 24-90 at 1016 + 1140g.
But I've found the S1/S1R bodies to produce such lovely output that I'll gladly take that penalty!
Best zoom I have ever owned. I have considered going the 24-70 route, but I don't mind the weight or size. Waiting to finally add the 90-280 to the bag after the nice copy shows up on MPB.
I haven’t used the newer Sigma but the 24-90 is still the best of my L mount standard zooms. It’s a beast for sure but that’s about its only downside. Mine has been trouble free since 2016 and its near APO performance still impresses.
There are other lenses from other brands that have caught up. But generally it still holds up amongst the best available.
I would like to try the Sigma 28-105 though. It’s a range I like. 28 is usually wide enough for me.
flash wrote:
I haven’t used the newer Sigma but the 24-90 is still the best of my L mount standard zooms. It’s a beast for sure but that’s about its only downside. Mine has been trouble free since 2016 and its near APO performance still impresses.
There are other lenses from other brands that have caught up. But generally it still holds up amongst the best available.
I would like to try the Sigma 28-105 though. It’s a range I like. 28 is usually wide enough for me.
Gordon
I looked at the Lensrentals teardown of it and it seems to be a very solidly engineered and built thing, so would expect it to hold up well over time. The Sigma looked interesting but I couldn't see any used ones and the new ones for sale here cost about what I paid for the used 24-90. But I'd trust Sigma to produce some great glass so I expect it's a very good performer.
Now I just gotta get my S1R back before I leave. Found what looked like an eyelash in the middle of the EVF one day. Thought it was on the sensor but nothing showed on the back LCD. Ended up sending it in and it'll cost around 250EUR for disassembly and cleaning. Can't imagine how anything got in there so wondering if it was debris from the factory that just got dislodged at some point.
I absolutely love mine. It is heavy but produces images with a rendering quality that I have not seen in other zooms, with the exception of the 90-280, which is also heavy but exceptional.
Abuttolph wrote:
I absolutely love mine. It is heavy but produces images with a rendering quality that I have not seen in other zooms, with the exception of the 90-280, which is also heavy but exceptional.
Thankfully for the sake of my wallet the 90-280 is a focal length I am not particularly interested in because that lens looks really darn good! I'm mainly a 35-50 range shooter but will happily go up to 75-90mm for certain landscape settings. Then it's a big jump to 600-1000mm for birding. I think I've made less than a dozen images with a focal length wider than 24mm in my entire life too, so this lens should be a near-ideal fit. I'll have the S1 + Panasonic 28-200 as a backup for dedicated photo trips as well.
A good friend of mine has a battery of SL APO lenses. At full opening they are without exception better. With a bit smaller diaphragm, the differences are not so big anymore. I compared them all, except the 21mm, he didn't have that one. The 24-90 is heavy, but what about two or three APO lenses😌. It is the only zoom lens I have, so cannot compare to Sigma or LUMIX zooms, but I am quite happy with the results compared to the APO’s.
Yes, still loving it. Actually since getting it now I seldom use any SL APO lens of which I own 4. Why? It is so versatile and the quality is about like having an APO zoom IMHO.
I still think, all things considered, it's the best zoom I've ever used (90-280 is up there too). It's not optically perfect, but the images have great contrast and color. Images with my SL2 or SL3 are just rich and pleasing. My only complaint is it's clownishly large and heavy (like all SL lenses). If I had to stick to one SL lens, though, it's the one.
