flash wrote:
Copy and paste from LuF plus a few extras:
Camera in hand. Picked mine up a couple of hour ago. Just set up thoughts for now.
Things I like:
* Camera *feels* lighter and smaller even though the numbers suggest I should feel little. Improved balance. That's what happens when the support is moved closer to the centre of gravity.
* I like the weight of the camera. Sure not Sony weight. But not Sony build either. It's a bit goldilocks(ish) so far. Ask me again in a month.
* Build quality. Everything on the market feels like a toy next to the SL3. Yup. Even you Z8 and R3. Sorry.
* Joystick is the best in the industry. Just is.
* Startup is virtually instant with fw 1.1.
* Play button is where it should be.
* Flip screen
* Familiar to SL2 although there's a few annoyances (see below)
* Extra dial (but not ready yet... see below).
* Long tough of the quick menu icons to set. (again. see below).
* IQ is STELLAR. Absolutely fantastic. LR already has SL3 profiles....
* Quick dirty test says IBIS is about the same. I still think it's better than my A7R5 (regardless of the *specs*). Not as good as my X2D...
Neutral:
* Shutter. Louder but still reasonably quiet. I imagine wedding shooters will not like it because it's a sharper sound. My mostly retired arse doesn't care. But I get it if you hate it because the SL2 was beautiful.
* AFC. It's the same as the S5II and Q3. So, fine but really a small upgrade from the mature SL2 firmware and a big step behind my Sony's (A1 and A7R5). Fine for what I need but I'm keeping my A1.
* No internal memory. Cfe works fine and I already have them but it's a cost for most.
* Shut down is 2 seconds. I might grow to hate this. Or not.
* The new *font* and menus. They're fine. So was the ones before I don't see why so much press time was spent building them up.
* Video: Not my strong point but I'd probably use an S5II.......
Dislike:
* They don't allow customisation of the rear dial click. So it's only a mode dial for now. HATE this as I use it for ISO on my SL2 and other systems. Mode in this position is a huge waste of space since you can have the same function on the new quick menu.
* New left dial has only three options and they all suck. ISO, aperture (manual mode) and ev comp. And you can't reach the dial comfortably with the camera at the eye. Stupid and pointless. I have it set to ISo because of the other daft decision. Hope they fix the above and add things like drive mode or focusing options etc.
* Auto ISO and ISO are separated on the new dial. Hate this. To switch you need to twist the left dial and then the front dial and then back to the left dial to change the actual ISO. No. it's just as bad as it sounds. ISO works OK here on the M because it's a considered camera. It's crap on the SL3 because it's a dynamic camera.
* Not enough options in the quick menu options. 8 icons and only 11 choices? Really?
* 4FPS in 14bit is lame. Is the L2 processor from a Commodore 64 or something?
* No high res shot. But hey, Leica! If you're going to do it like Fuji and Sony, don't bother. Either in camera like the SL2 or nothing.
* No EFCS!. Jaaaeeeessssuuuussss! How frigging hard is it?
They can fix 90% of this with fw. And that annoys me because they already should have. This thing has been in test for 6 months and I worked this out in an hour. Leica! You need some more impartial and diversly experienced photographers to test these things. It's almost like you want to make it easy for your haters to lay into you.
In a few updates this will be a smashing camera. For now, it's a C+ at best.
Gordon
p.s. This is not a cousin of the X2D. Same cost is about all they have in common. The X2D still beats the SL3 in absolute system IQ (with any lens), menus, EVF and handling. The SL3 thumps it in speed, versatility and functionality..
The Sony A7R5 evf is better on paper but basically the same in use. Panel is better on the Sony and optics are better on the Leica.
Gordon, the lack of EFCS on the SL3 is unbelievable and really concerns me also. Especially when we have reports of the SL3's shutter being louder than the SL2's, that could also indicate increased shutter shock.
Some would say say just use ES more often below 1/250 to eliminate shutter shock. Unfortunately the SL3's (Sony) 60MP sensor has a very slow scan speed of 1/10th second and we know what that often will bring on. At least the SL2's ES scan speed is up around 1/40th second so it is somewhat of a workable option (for me).
Unfortunately unless Leica stops being stubborn and offers EFCS, the SL3 is a no-go for my pixel peeping standards. A possible future SL3S with Sony's 33MP sensor could get my interest for its other attributes in low light and higher ISO.
