We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. Leica officially lifted the veil on its full-frame SL2 camera this morning, a few weeks after rumors of its existence started to circulate online. Developed under a fun codename—Project Vader—the SL2 is not only the follow-up to 2015's SL, it's also the first new L-mount product from Leica since it announced the L-Mount Alliance partnership with Panasonic and Sigma at Photokina 2018. PCMag sat down with Stefan Daniel, the global director of Leica's product division, and Peter Karbe, the man behind the design of many of the company's lauded lenses, at Leica's headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany. We talked about what went into the SL2's design, and touched a bit on the future of the iconic M-mount rangefinder system. Designing the SL2 We take a close look at how the SL2 performs and handles in the field in our hands-on preview. But, before a photographer can pick up a camera and use it to start making images, it must be built. Leica has more than a little experience designing cameras. The 24-by-36mm 135 film format, which set the template for the size and shape of digital full-frame sensors, was invented by Leica, after all. For the SL2, there was a template to be followed. The SL, which struck us with its milled aluminum body, had already set the template for what to expect—in a word, minimalism. The SL's lines are stark and modern, the epitome of the form-follows-function manifesto espoused by devotees of the Bauhaus. But while the SL2's silhouette isn't that much different from its predecessor, it's not the same body. The SL took a page from Jony Ive's playbook, with a body milled from a solid block of aluminum. The SL2 uses aluminum for its top plate, but the body is magnesium alloy wrapped in a leatherette—the same materials used for most professional cameras. "Magnesium alloy is much lighter," Daniel told us, "[But] you are limited to the choice of surface finish. Magnesium can only be painted. Aluminum can be anodized or painted." Leica went with a black anodized look for the SL2. Make no mistake, the SL2 is built to withstand the rigors of professional use. Outdoor photographers will appreciate the weather protection, rated to IP54 standards. "Little things had to be done to get the IP54 rating," Daniel explained. "For the top dial, there is no opening to the camera, the action is magnetic. The magnet goes through the aluminum and pulls a little thing on the other side." In addition to the material change, the design team, based in Leica's Munich offices, made a few minor aesthetic tweaks. There's now a slightly raised area around the lens mount, for one, that evokes the mount from the R3, a 35mm Leica SLR introduced in the 1970s. An electronic viewfinder has taken the place of a flapping mirror and optical pentaprism, but the SL2 is much more a spiritual successor to Leica's SLR system. Adapters are available to use vintage R lenses, and because Leica never added autofocus or electronic aperture control to the R, they operate just the same on the SL2 as they would your old R3 SLR. L-Mount Alliance You can certainly buy an SL2 and use it for vintage, manual lenses. There are plenty of third-party adapters out there, so you can pair it with pretty much any vintage optic for a 35mm system. The camera is backed by a growing family of native autofocus lenses, too. Leica has a trio of zooms, covering 16 through 280mm, along with f/1.4 Summilux-SL and f/2 Summicron-SL lenses. The latter have proven to especially popular, and Leica is expanding the family with a trio of wide-angle options (21mm, 24mm, and 28mm), all due to ship next year. But you're not limited to Leica lenses. A partnership with Panasonic and Sigma has bolstered options. According to Daniel, "We formed the L-Mount Alliance to offer to the customer a broader portfolio of lenses." We've already seen some unique L-mount lenses come from Sigma, including the tiny, but sharp, 45mm F2.8 Contemporary, and the huge, but optically fantastic 35mm F1.2 Art. Meanwhile, Panasonic's early efforts have included a consumer-friendly 24-105mm F4 and 70-200mm F4. The SL2 boasts a 47MP image sensor—not the most pixels you'll find in a full-frame camera, but not that far behind the 60MP offered by the Sony a7R IV. But Leica is designing its SL lenses to perform well on sensors that aren't yet designed. Peter Karbe, head of optical design, explained, "SL lenses have been designed for the 100MP sensor of the future. The APO-Summicron-SL lenses have almost the same performance as [our] Cine lenses." And it's not just about resolution, autofocus accuracy is just as important. "Lenses have been designed with stepping motors and dual focus groups. The most difficult design challenge was to maintain internal focus and keep performance from close focus to infinity consistent," Karbe continued. It's the dual focus groups that help the lenses maintain quality, regardless of the focal distance. "The behavior of one [group] compensates [for] the other." The Future of the M System While L-mount lenses are indicative of what Leica can do with a high-tech, autofocus system, it's the M rangefinder series that is near and dear to many photographers. M cameras don't support autofocus, relying on a complex mechanical rangefinder system to manually focus via a fixed optical viewfinder. The current flagship, the M10-P, is a 24MP model, with the same basic form factor Leica has used for the M series dating back to the 1960s. The M10 generation is the first digital body to achieve this feat. Previous digital bodies were a little thicker than analog models by about 4mm—a small, but important difference to system devotees. Daniel cites the 4mm as the reason we aren't likely to see in-body image stabilization (IBIS) built into an M camera. "We made a huge effort to make the M10 so flat. Technically [IBIS] is feasible with a body size similar to the M (Typ 240), but it would be contradictory to the concept of the M size wise." It makes sense. For customers who want to enjoy the benefits of IBIS, the SL2 is there. Its sensor is designed to work as well with M lenses as an M camera, and it includes one big feature not found in the M10—video recording. That's not to say the M family is at a technical dead end. We asked Daniel about the possibility of seeing a high-resolution sensor in an M camera, to which he quickly responded, "I am not so afraid of putting higher-resolution sensors in M cameras." As for concerns about how much focus precision you can get from the M rangefinder, Karbe interjected, "We need to define [precision] in a new way. Theoretically, it is impossible to focus a 75mm Noctilux-M f/1.25 with a rangefinder, but in practice you can. This is not a tripod camera, photographer movement is more of a worry." We also asked about the future of one of my favorite Leicas, the M Monochrom. Daniel was again quick to respond: "Yes, we will see an M10 Monochrom. The concept, now in the second generation, is one that fits well with the brand, and we have customers very loyal to it and we will continue it." In the interim between our conversation, which took place early last month, and publishing this piece, rumors have started to circulate about the next Monochrom, which is reported to sport a 41MP sensor. And while rumors are just that, this particular report reinforces what Daniel told us. As for lenses to take advantage of the next generation of image sensors? Vintage glass may be a little soft at wide apertures—we've certainly noticed that when shooting a 1970s Summicron-C 40mm f/2 along with the SL2 at f/2—but we have zero complaints on resolution at f/4. For optimum performance wide open, you have to think about more modern glass. Peter Karbe told us that the APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. was the first M lens designed with 100MP performance in mind. Of course, if others in the line don't measure up, we'd expect Leica to refresh them. Stefan Daniel reassures M owners that the company will "not stop developing new M lenses." So if you're an M owner, don't worry. Yes, there are some features found on the SL2 that you won't get in a rangefinder, but that's long been the case when comparing an M with any camera that offers through-the-lens-viewing. For more on Leica's new camera, you can read our in-depth preview of the SL2. And we'll have more coverage in the next few weeks, including a look at some of the historic items stored in Leica's archives.

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