[JJ_SO]

Thank you Leica. At least now I know what Klaus finds "super-hot". Affordable fast wide-angle from Sigma - not so hot. Cameras you have to sell a kidney for: hot
. Lenses you have to sell the other kidney plus a liver: super-hot
.  :ph34r:

 

Don't forget the fire-extinguisher, when shooting and don't be astounded if there's banding of the super-hot camera sensor like it was in the M8 and Leica didn't exactly run for fixing those issues 

 

I must say, I like the design a lot, it's very unique and looks very well thought and made. What worries me are just the parts not coming from Leica and the tremendous amount of money you loose just when unpacking the jewels. After few years it will become outdated and Leica doesn't offer newer, better sensors to replace the "old ones".

[Klaus]

Thank you Leica. At least now I know what Klaus finds "super-hot". Affordable fast wide-angle from Sigma - not so hot. Cameras you have to sell a kidney for: hot
. Lenses you have to sell the other kidney plus a liver: super-hot
.  :ph34r:

 

Don't forget the fire-extinguisher, when shooting and don't be astounded if there's banding of the super-hot camera sensor like it was in the M8 and Leica didn't exactly run for fixing those issues 

 

I must say, I like the design a lot, it's very unique and looks very well thought and made. What worries me are just the parts not coming from Leica and the tremendous amount of money you loose just when unpacking the jewels. After few years it will become outdated and Leica doesn't offer newer, better sensors to replace the "old ones".

 

I will still stick to Fuji ;-)

 

This (the SL) is as "super hot" as a Lambo but there are realities in life.

[popo]

Leica has always attracted a certain portion of the market. They don't do mainstream - they never did and it'll never happen.
Honestly if money didn't matter I'd probably buy one. But unfortunately it does.

To expand on my original comment, what I meant was only Leica could possibly get away with something like this. Parts of the design really do interest me, other parts make me wonder what were they thinking. And that's even before you put the price into the equation but I wouldn't expect any less from Leica.

"fastest ever AF" claims are getting tiresome. We reached "fast enough" in most of mirrorless-land years ago. Making it faster is no longer directly significant. In the same way some phone manufacturers seem obsessed with claiming thinnest ever phones, it serves little purpose outside marketing. If they said "better than DSLR at AF tracking" that would be something else, and I have wondered if single AF were fast enough, would it essentially brute force that?

The EVF sounds nice. That they're offering a longer focal length zoom is interesting. For the long lens alone, if cost were no object, I might have been interested to try one out. Actually, that they're zooms is also somewhat surprising as I've always seen Leica as more of a prime focus. The body aesthetics, I'm not sold on the Leica thing. I know Leica never intend to go mainstream, and this certainly doesn't change that.

On the eternal MP count debate, I would have liked to seen 36 or more if I were to ever get one, but they probably stayed lower to help with the fps count/buffer.

[joachim]

Leica SL:

http://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-SL

 

3 Leica SL lenses to boot:
http://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-SL/Lenses


Impressive

 

Looking at the images at dpreview, it seems huge.  Considering that Leica started as a portable solution (compared to medium and large formats) in the early 20th century, this is quite far from their roots. 

 

Interestingly, a lot of the criticism directed at small formats such as ÂµFT these days, where back then directed at Leicas.  "Horses for courses."

 

Is that thing the end to the Leica S system?

[joachim]

I will still stick to Fuji ;-)

 

This is as "super hot" as a Lambo but there are realities in life.

 

I stick with µFT for the next years.  More economic when it comes to lenses than Fuji.  There is nothing to match that Olympus 45/1.8 in the Fuji world with decent AF performance south of 500$€£.

[JJ_SO]

I will still stick to Fuji ;-)

 

This is as "super hot" as a Lambo but there are realities in life.

 

After a bit more reading I have to agree. Hot. They thought of everything I'd like to have in a future mirrorless camera for me.

[davidmanze]

  That 90-280mm F2.8-4 must be megabucks "et encore", a true monster!  

 

  I think it looks fabulous but very angular, OK with small lenses but with the above on board I just can't see it being nice to use for long periods or even a couple of hours.

 

"Is that thing the end to the Leica S system?"

   

   I think not at all, first off 24 Mps just won't cut it at the very top level, secondly the new S2 is cheaper and faster than the first model with a CMOS sensor trying to compete with the P. D645Z. 

       Still scratching my head about not having 36 Mps, at this quality/price level with lenses to match I'd say it was a mistake! Probably brought about by the electronic viewfinder and burst rate, also an inordinate jump from their previous slow speed now to 11fps.  Leica owners are going to have to go through a process of "metamorphosis" to profit from it!  No doubt there will be amphetamines in the accessory pack.  :o

 

  "This is as "super hot" as a Lambo but there are realities in life".

 

   This is a misconception that Lamborghini's are hot!  I drive one regularly and I think they are totally over-rated! ( I will post a photo of it next week)  

 

  Finally let's have a little guess amongst us as to the price of the body and the three presented lenses!

 

  My guess is, $8500 for the body, $8,000 the 90-280mm, 24-90mm $6500 and $5,500 the 50mm F1.4;

 

 

  Total cost $28,500.... Dollars here, but could be pounds or euros!

[JJ_SO]

Prices at B&H or Adorama:

 

7450$ body,

4950$ 24-90

 

So probably much much much much cheaper than you thought, dave. You might even buy yourself a lunch snack for the money you would't have to spend. Oh, and  the 50mm will be available at the end of 2016. Shall we fund a startup?

[davidmanze]

Is that all!

 

     Having already budgeted for the complete Leica kit this now gives me the ability to go out and buy just about every AF-D lens ever made, excellent........................

 

                   ..................gone are the days of agonizing......................................

 

                     isn't life wonderful when you still have the price of a pint in your pocket after misjudging the price of a Leica launch!

[Ayoh]

I would be very surprised if the internals are not mostly Panasonic design and manufacturing. The V-log mode is certainly a give away since it is the same on the GH4 (Btw the 4k video is only in crop mode.). If not them somehow leica managed to suddenly make state of the art electronic designs after being far behind for years. 

 

Anyway aside from the higher resolution finder and 11fps I dont see how this is better to the Sony, especially considering it is more than double the price of the Sony. Aside from the nice build quality obviously. 

 

Also just to stir the pot, it is a bit tiring to keep having the term "german engineering" thrown around in the press about products such as this. It is probably Japanese anyway but regardless, when you have such a high selling price it is easier to design high performance. Such "German engineering" is impressive when it is better and cost competitive $