Looking Back …. Leica SL (typ601) Test drive

     It was June 21, 2016. I was at Samy's Camera (LA) picking up the recently released Leica SL. The evaluation copy had been organized by Tibor(RIP old friend) through Ebi our regional Leica rep. The SL came with an f/2.8-4.0 24-90 Vario-Elmarit lens, a good range, however quite heavy. I had the use of the camera for a week. At the time was looking to move away from Canon, they were late in the mirrorless move. One major consideration besides cost itself, since I was shooting pro boxing, was service … more on this later. The body and lens total with sales tax was around $15k … I had to sign a voucher for full value. At the time I was not only shooting Canon, but also Leica M (typ 240) and Leica MM (typ 246).
Putting the camera through its paces. I shot a range of situations as well as some boxing training in the gym. Although the output is color, I convert to b&w, my preference as to how I show my work. Here are 16 shots from that test drive. I left 2 shots in the native color.

My very first shot....since I spend a great deal of time at the beach, 

it seemed like a good starting point.

As mentioned color shots are a rarity.

Next up, boxing. A young Oscar Valdez was traing while 2 other fighters were sparing at The Rock.

Oscar on the heavy bag.

Then down to Little Saigon. Iced vietnamese coffee, with iced tea chaser.

A Buddhist nun at Chua Hue Quang. One of the many Buddhist temples in the area.

Sunken City in San Pedro, Fermin Point, perfect for landscape & seascape.

Walker's Cafe, unfortunately did not survive the Covid Lockdown.

A final shot, San Pedro looking towards Terminal Island.

    In a 5 day period, numerous locations and 391 shot, I put the camera through its paces. The full gamut of my photo needs. I was left with a very positive impression. Interestedly enough, a week after this test shoot I started another TV series. The file was put aside, actually forgotten. I just very recently resurrected it, and felt I needed to do the test drive justice with this post.

As always all images are copyrighted, ©PeterPolitanoff, and may not be reproduced without explicit consent. You are more than welcome however to point to or mention this page.