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Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?

  
 
fjablo
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p.2 #1 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Surfnsun wrote:
None of this photography gear should be this pricey. The world is just bonkers expensive. That goes for all the manufacturers.



I don't have an issue with the price itself as long as the product itself is premium and in some ways unique - e.g. the Leica M-A and MP are expensive, but imo not unjustifiably so.

But if a product is basically a rebadge of a cheaper product, or just doesn't live up to its premium nature in terms of optics, build quality and aesthetics, that rubs me the wrong way. And Leica is a bit of a schizophrenic company because they offer both kinds of products..

We don't know yet into which category this 50mm will ultimately fall, so I guess I'll reserve my judgement. I just think it doesn't look very premium in terms of industrial design.



Jun 20, 2026 at 12:44 PM
FrozenInTime
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p.2 #2 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


fjablo wrote:
I don't have an issue with the price itself as long as the product itself is premium and in some ways unique - e.g. the Leica M-A and MP are expensive, but imo not unjustifiably so.

But if a product is basically a rebadge of a cheaper product, or just doesn't live up to its premium nature in terms of optics, build quality and aesthetics, that rubs me the wrong way. And Leica is a bit of a schizophrenic company because they offer both kinds of products..

We don't know yet into which category this 50mm will ultimately fall, so
...Show more

Leica's haptic designers / MEs often fail to heed lessons from historical products, and lack the hands on experience with the cameras to understand the user's viewpoint ; probably too expensive for a graduate to afford their own Leica setup ;-) .

The manual focus 35mm Noctilux M has a narrow focus ring butted up right against the narrow aperture ring, and no focus tab; breaking a mutually exclusive design rule for M ( not to mention that they arbitrarily redefined the depth of field scale compared to all prior lenses including the 35 APO ).

If this 50/1.4 SL has a wide manual focus band, it will likely suffer from the same flaw as the Lumix L lenses - far too easy to nudge from AF into manual focus.



Jun 20, 2026 at 01:35 PM
highdesertmesa
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p.2 #3 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


fjablo wrote:
Generally like the concept of making a smaller lens that is maybe not quite as perfect optically but with pleasing rendering.

But also gotta say that aesthetically this lens does not match its $5,000 price tag and „made in Germany“ claim.. it looks cheap. Like a Panasonic MFT lens actually.

And the 100mm macro will be „made in Japan“ so either a Tamron or Sigma design. Could very well be that the new 50mm is also designed by a third-party and is just (partially) assembled in Germany..


I think the photo from the rumor is not a final rendering. It looks too glossy, which makes it look like a cheap, plastic lens.



Jun 20, 2026 at 01:37 PM
freaklikeme
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p.2 #4 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


highdesertmesa wrote:
You might want to be sitting down for this one, then. That's the original 50 SL Lux on the far right, and this is why the smaller (rumored) size of the version 2 is a big deal.

The APOs are a bit long, but they're really not that wide. Leica designed all the APOs to fit in the same size lens barrel, so some focal lengths may have longer barrels than they would have otherwise.


The APO Cron should always be pictured next to the original Lux. It looks petite now.



Jun 20, 2026 at 01:39 PM
Surfnsun
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p.2 #5 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Agreed.

fjablo wrote:
I don't have an issue with the price itself as long as the product itself is premium and in some ways unique - e.g. the Leica M-A and MP are expensive, but imo not unjustifiably so.

But if a product is basically a rebadge of a cheaper product, or just doesn't live up to its premium nature in terms of optics, build quality and aesthetics, that rubs me the wrong way. And Leica is a bit of a schizophrenic company because they offer both kinds of products..

We don't know yet into which category this 50mm will ultimately fall, so
...Show more



Jun 20, 2026 at 03:04 PM
SlowDriver
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p.2 #6 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


highdesertmesa wrote:
Smaller than even the non-APO Summicron SL. Girth is the same as the other two pictured but that width goes further down. Also they must really be encouraging manual focus with this lens because look at the size of the focusing ring.


I guess we will have to wait and see...

Leica usually does not drastically change course, so it would be a bit of a surprise.

But then again, if SL sales is truly less than 10% of the revenue as a source on LUF claimed, then it is clear that something needs to be done.

About manual focus, there is no reason whatsoever for the Leica SL to not have focus confirmation, at the very least not for its native lenses.



Jun 21, 2026 at 09:08 AM
Fred Miranda
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p.2 #7 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


More info about the new SL 50 Lux







Jun 21, 2026 at 10:11 AM
SlowDriver
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p.2 #8 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Fred Miranda wrote:
More info about the new SL 50 Lux


Very impressive, more compact than the Sony, a bit heavier, hopefully soon also a lighter body.



Jun 21, 2026 at 10:53 AM
nehemiahphoto
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p.2 #9 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Looks great--I love the small size. Bummer to lose the aperture ring.


Jun 21, 2026 at 01:14 PM
Fred Miranda
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p.2 #10 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


SlowDriver wrote:
Very impressive, more compact than the Sony, a bit heavier, hopefully soon also a lighter body.


Yes, and not by a small margin. The Sony is over 20mm longer, which is a significant difference, even though both lenses use the same filter size (67mm). They also have the same number of aperture blades (11), but the Sony focuses slightly closer, with a MFD of 41cm versus 50cm.

All Leica needs to do is implement a manual focus confirmation system similar to Nikon's, and I would gladly return to the SL line. That one feature would make adapting manual-focus lenses a joy, just as it is on my Zf.



Jun 21, 2026 at 01:42 PM
 


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SlowDriver
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p.2 #11 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Fred Miranda wrote:
All Leica needs to do is implement a manual focus confirmation system similar to Nikon's, and I would gladly return to the SL line. That one feature would make adapting manual-focus lenses a joy, just as it is on my Zf.


Probably a few more years... I would be surprised if they introduce it in the SL3-P...

For a company that values manual focus so much I find it mind-boggling that Leica has not adopted focus confirmation yet.



Jun 21, 2026 at 01:57 PM
highdesertmesa
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p.2 #12 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


SlowDriver wrote:
Probably a few more years... I would be surprised if they introduce it in the SL3-P...

For a company that values manual focus so much I find it mind-boggling that Leica has not adopted focus confirmation yet.


Leica only can adopt what Panasonic creates in the first place, at least with regard to firmware advances on that level.



Jun 21, 2026 at 02:32 PM
highdesertmesa
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p.2 #13 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


SL3-P and the new 50 Lux







Jun 21, 2026 at 02:33 PM
zeitlos
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p.2 #14 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Source?


Jun 21, 2026 at 02:39 PM
highdesertmesa
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p.2 #15 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


zeitlos wrote:
Source?


LUF. Assume they pulled it from a page off Leica Rumors before it was taken down.

(You didn't quote anyone, so I assume you mean the photo above and not the original post I made.)



Jun 21, 2026 at 02:58 PM
SlowDriver
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p.2 #16 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


highdesertmesa wrote:
Leica only can adopt what Panasonic creates in the first place, at least with regard to firmware advances on that level.


Not sure whether you can blame that on Panasonic. There is no focus confirmation in the M EV-1 either...



Jun 21, 2026 at 03:16 PM
highdesertmesa
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p.2 #17 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


SlowDriver wrote:
Not sure whether you can blame that on Panasonic. There is no focus confirmation in the M EV-1 either...


The M EV1 doesn't have PDAF on the sensor like the SL3/SL3-S because it's not an AF camera. You need that to get the super accurate manual focus confirmation like Nikon and Canon offer. Perhaps the M EV2 will have PDAF one day if Leica ever adds focus confirmation for manual focus to the SL cameras.



Jun 21, 2026 at 03:21 PM
RustyBug
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p.2 #18 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Curious to know what "fast and silent" means in terms of AF mechanism.


Jun 21, 2026 at 03:28 PM
Fred Miranda
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p.2 #19 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


Looks to be the same overall size as the SL3


highdesertmesa wrote:
SL3-P and the new 50 Lux




Jun 21, 2026 at 03:32 PM
highdesertmesa
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p.2 #20 · Could the rumored Leica SL 50 Lux II be M-like in rendering?


RustyBug wrote:
Curious to know what "fast and silent" means in terms of AF mechanism.


I think they just mean it will have a modern linear AF motor(s) like the current non-APO SL Crons.



Jun 21, 2026 at 03:34 PM
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