As soon as the Leica SL
was introduced, it was criticized for being a mirrorless camera, not a
DSLR. The thoughts were that mirrorless
cameras were for advanced amateur photographers at best, that professionals
demanded a DSLR. Along with that came
“opinions” that the camera was way too big.
That was dispelled rather quickly when size comparisons showed that the
Leica SL was effectively noticeably smaller than the top model DSLRs from Canon
and Nikon, especially the camera body but also when equipped with similar
lenses.
Since then the Leica SL
has proven itself many times over. Leica
has definitely shown with this camera that a professional caliber mirrorless
camera can be made, and criticism of Canon and Nikon has come up frequently for
not offering anything similar.
The fact that professional
caliber mirrorless cameras likely present the future of interchangeable lens
cameras was further underlined when Hasselblad introduced a medium format
mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses, the Hasselblad X1D. This camera had been rumored about for a
while now, and many thought that it might be a derivative of a Sony or Fuji
camera. But this camera was entirely
designed by Hasselblad and it is handmade in Sweden like its famous
predecessors.
Hasselblad X1D
Similar to the Leica S
line of medium format cameras with their sensor size of 30 x 45mm, the
Hasselblad X1D uses a sensor of 33 x44mm in size which allows both cameras to
be the size of a conventional full format sensor camera rather than the common
medium format digital cameras which are substantially larger. The success of
this approach has been clearly shown by the Leica S cameras and the new
Hasselblad might very well be on the way of being a formidable competitor.
After the fiasco with the
rebadged Sony cameras, Hasselblad has now rejoined the camera market with an
interesting new product, one that does not rely on their previous film
cameras. The advantages are obvious.
Another new entry into the
mirrorless professional camera market followed from Fuji with the Fujifilm GFX 50S. Similar to the Hasselblad, it features a 43.8
x 32.9mm CMOS sensor. The design of the
camera simulates a DSLR which makes it a bit larger and heavier than the
Hasselblad, but all three of these miorrorless cameras are similar in size and
weight. However, the electronic
viewfinder of the Leica SL has still by far the highest resolution of any on
the market.
Fujifilm GFX 50S
It has also been announced
that Canon and Nikon are working on professional caliber mirrorless
cameras. So it seems that the initial
criticism of the Leica SL was indeed premature.
Sales figures in general have shown that the only market that has shown
definite growth is that of mirrorless cameras.
While not considered a typical mirrorless camera as such, the Leica M
line of cameras must be included in those figures as well.
Even though Leica is
considered by many as being stuck in their history of rangefinder cameras, it
should be obvious to anyone by now that Leica is still capable of developing
products that are clearly at the forefront of what is possible today and even
their M camera line has proven to be able to compete with virtually anything on
the market.
But any camera can only
perform as well as its lenses allow it to do.
When it comes to the lenses of any of their cameras, Leica has proven to
still be the market leader. It is still
the case that nobody is able to beat the manufacturing process and the
extremely tight tolerances as applied by Leica.
Anyone looking for the best that photography has to offer cannot ignore
Leica.
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That makes Leica and now Hasselblad and Fuji the real innovators in photography
ReplyDeleteThe palette of Leica cameras, including the innovative Leica SL are the very reason that Leica is bucking the industry wide trend of business going down. Leica has had a 12 percent overall increase of business during their last fiscal year. If the new camera from Hasselblad will have the same effect needs to be seen.
DeleteInteresting, but disappointing EVF in the Hasselblad and the Fuji compared to the Leica SL. I think the EVF in the SL was a game changer, I can't see myself holding up an MF camera like it was an iPhone because of no/suboptimal finder.
ReplyDeleteHorrid thing. Far to heavy and cumbersome and it dilutes the Leica brand.
ReplyDeleteThat's why Leica has other cameras to choose from. However, the success of the Leica SL shows that a lot of people do not share your opinion.
DeleteIt is conservative people like you who are unable to see beyond their own shadow. By insisting that everything Leica had to be part of the M-system, Leica almost became part of history. Fortunately, more farsighted minds prevailed and put Leica on a new pass of success, by diving full tilt into digital photography and by offering innovative, new products like the Leica S line and the Leica SL.
DeleteSir, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. If you were to allow yourself to overcome your prejudice and educate yourself further, go to: http://cameradecision.com/sizecomparison/Leica-M-Typ-240-vs-Leica-SL-size-comparison.jpg. There you can clearly see that the Leica M and the Leica SL are of similar size, especially if you were to add the electronic Visoflex to the Leica M.
DeleteAnonymous: What a rude little mind you have. Don't you understand respectful dialogue? It seems apparently not.
ReplyDelete