Reader Question: Aggressive Monochrome Processing using Panasonic S1R vs Leica SL2
Related: apochromatic, black and white, digital sensor, Leica, Leica 35mm f/2 APO-Summicron-SL ASPH, Leica APO-Summicron, Leica APO-Summicron-SL, Leica Lenses, Leica M, Leica SL lenses, Leica SL2, Leica Summicron, Leica Summicron-SL, Panasonic, Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R, Panasonic mirrorless, reader comment
Anon subscriber writes:
Hello, thank you for the precious work and information you provide us, there is really no one else that does it this way.
At the price of those equipment, details matters. Following the deception of the GFX-100s ( B&W with “hard processing”) I have been really impressed with this 35/2 APO-Summicron-SL. I have two questions:
1. Instead of the Leica SL2 camera, can we use instead the Panasonic S1R without any losses (sensor glass thickness thingy) as it financially makes more sense to me. I will shoot f2-f4 90% of the time.
2. How does such combo reacts to B&W conversion with “hard processing” in your opinion.
DIGLLOYD: if the sensor cover glass is the same effective thickness, then the Panasonic S1R and Leica SL2 should have identical capture quality for L-mount lenses. With a $2900 price difference and much more when batteries and accessories are considered, the money question is whether the SL2 adds anything worthwhile.
No luck so far, but I hope to get ahold of a Panasonic S1R so I can directly compare the Leica SL2 to it, both for Leica M lenses and for native lens performance. See Panasonic S1R vs Leica SL2: Sensor Cover Glass Thickness vs Performance for Leica M Lenses, L-Mount Lenses.
M-Mount lenses
Native-mount lenses aside, the capture-quality implications of micro lenses arise when M-mount lenses are used (the SL2 reportedly has micro lenses). As well (and this is a big one), the Leica SL2 supports lens corrections for Leica M-mount lenses, and AFAIK the S1R does not.
MTF on Mirrorless Cameras, Sensor Cover Glass
Ray angle
Monochrome potential
PDAF pixels are the presumed source of Fujifilm GFX100S style white stripes. Since the Panasonic S1R and Leica SL2 both lack on-sensor PDAF pixels for focusing, either/both should be excellent platforms for monochrome imagery versus most other mirrorless cameras. I hope to explore that question directly if/when the national forests reopen since I’ve found that mountain lighting is most provoking of striping problems.
My other concern about “hard”/aggressive monochrome processing is sensor bifurcation, which the S1R has, and the Leica SL2 surely also has since AFAIK no camera on the market today can be made in a single pas (full-frame 35mm sensors are etched in two halves). The Leica M10M shows sensor bifurcation and it affected a large number of my landscape images, to my great disappointment.
