Leica SL: Professional mirrorless camera comes with fast and sharp autofocus and premium price tag

Leica

Leica has announced the SL (Typ 601), its first full-frame mirrorless camera designed for professional photographers. The premium camera will be sold for $7,450.

In order to withstand a wide range of weather and shooting conditions, the Leica SL has been built using an extremely tough aluminum that has been anodized to repel dust, moisture and splashes of water.

Though the Leica SL is being seen as a competitor for the Sony Alpha 7 series cameras, the Leica SL has actually been in development for the past 3 and a half years. According to Leica representatives, the SL was developed " as a high speed and modern replacement for the Leica R series."

The Leica SL camera features a 24-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor that has maximum ISO at 50,000. The camera also comes with a contrast detection auto-focus that is described as the "fastest autofocus in the market." It can shoot 11 frames per second with continuous shooting mode with fixed autofocus and 7 frames per second with continuous autofocus active.

The Leica SL also comes with EyeRes, a huge electronic viewfinder (EVF) with 0.82 magnification and the "world's highest resolution of 4.4 million dots." The EVF has a high refresh rate so previews are always smooth and sharp.

Below the EVF is a 2.95-inch LCD touchscreen with 1.04 million dots and a viewing angle of 170 degrees. The display is scratch-resistant and has anti-glare coating.

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The Leica SL will be using the L mount. The first available lens, which will be released at the same time as the SL, is the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm f/2.8-4 ($4,950). The Leica APO-Vario-Elmarit-SL 90-280mm f/2.8-4 lens will be released early next year, while the Leica Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 lens comes late 2016.

The camera is also compatible with Leica T lenses without the need for an adapter. On the other hand, photographers will need an adapter to be able to use the S, M and R lenses.

The Leica SL can also shoot 4K videos at 24/30 frames per second and Full HD videos at 120 frames per second.

The mirrorless camera also has built-in Wi-Fi and GPS. It also features dual memory card slots.

The Leica SL (Typ 601) camera will be available for purchase starting Nov. 16.

 

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