Leica has unveiled its latest full-frame mirrorless camera, the 24-megapixel SL3-S with improved performance and video compared to its predecessor, the SL2-S. It largely resembles the photo-centric 60-megapixel SL3 unveiled in March last year, but is geared toward hybrid users who shoot both stills and video. Spec-wise, it resembles Panasonic’s $2,200 S5 IIX mirrorless camera and may use a similar sensor.
The L-mount SL3-S has a much chunkier body than the Leica rangefinder cameras you may be used to. It does offer front and rear dials to control key functions, along with a pair of mode dials, a joystick and several more buttons. However, it lacks some controls found on models like the S5 IIX — so you may need to wade into the menus to change some settings.
Luckily, the rear touchscreen is large and very high in resolution (5.7-million dots), though it only tilts and doesn’t fully articulate which is unfortunate for a hybrid camera. The electronic viewfinder (EVF) offers 5.76-million dots of resolution, which is solid but a bit low compared to similarly priced rivals.
A key improvement is faster autofocus, thanks to the updated 24-megapixel full-frame BSI CMOS sensor. That allows burst shooting at up to 30fps with continuous phase-detect AF, with fairly long capture times thanks to support for fast CFexpress Type B memory cards. The company is also promising 15 stops of dynamic range that should allow for fine adjustments when shooting RAW files.
Another key new feature is on the video side, with 6K 3:2 “open-gate” capture (5,952 x 3,968 to be exact) recording, or 5,888 x 3,312 RAW 10-bit (to an external recorder), along with 4K 60p. The SL3-S also supports ProRes recording to a USB-C device or CFexpress B cards. (It’s not clear if internal RAW video recording is supported, though a spec sheet from B&H Photo Video shows that to be the case.) Those video specs line up closely with Panasonic’s S5 IIX, though the latter lacks a CFexpress card slot.
The main benefit of a Leica camera is Leica’s sharp (and expensive) lenses, though the SL3-S can also use glass from L-Mount partners, Panasonic and Sigma. The only big advantage over the S5 IIx is the addition of a CFexpress card slot, but otherwise the two models have similar specs — so whether that red Leica dot is worth an extra $3,100 is up to buyers to decide. Leica’s SL3-S is now on sale for $5,295 at B&H Photo Video and elsewhere.
