Leica TL 2
Leica TL2 £1,700/$1,950 Leica’s newest mirrorless camera is certainly a style statement – but what about its photos?
Leica’s slick new mirrorless camera is certainly stylish on the outside, but do its insides produce images to match up? We test it
Specifications
Sensor 24.3MP APS-C format CMOS Lenses Leica-L Memory SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS II) Viewfinder Optional Max video resolution 4K (UHD) at 30p ISO range 100-50,000 Autofocus points 49 Max burst rate 7fps mechanical shutter, 20fps electronic shutter LCD screen 3.7-inch touchscreen, 1,300k-dot LCD Shutter speeds 1/4,000 to 30 sec, Bulb; electronic shutter to 1/40,000 sec Weight 399g (with battery and memory card) Dimensions 134 x 69 x 33mm Power supply BP-DC13 lithium-ion battery, 250 shots
Leica’s best-known for its old-school M-series rangefinder
cameras. It also makes full frame mirrorless and medium‑format D-SLRs for the professional market. The TL2 is at the opposite end of the range: it’s a style-conscious fashion statement that’s also intended to be a serious photographic tool.
Machined from a single block of aluminium, the TL2 has a slim, minimal look. There’s no viewfinder, although you can purchase a clip-on Visioflex for a further £350/$575. The twin dials on the top are unmarked, and adjust different settings according to the shooting mode.
Inside there’s a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor teamed up with Leica’s Maestro II image processor. The TL2 has a new 49-point AF system and an ISO range of 100-50,000, and can shoot 4K video. It can also shoot stills at up to 20fps.
Unfortunately, the slim and elegant body is overbalanced by the 35mm f/1.4 lens supplied for our test, and the most common ‘bundled’ lens for this camera. It’s fast and sharp, but costs even more than the TL2 and produces a front-heavy combination that doesn’t sit well in your hands. The TL2 really needs a less optically ambitious but smaller ‘pancake’ lens.
The minimalist controls look beautiful but take a little figuring out; some common adjustments are harder to get to than you expect. The 3.7in touchscreen display is bigger than normal and works well.
When everything’s perfect, the camera and the 35mm f/1.4 lens can turn in some super-sharp results. But there’s no image stabilisation and the autofocus is not particularly fast – it also threw us a curved ball a few times by focusing on the wrong thing, despite what it showed on the screen.
The image quality is likely to leave the TL2’s buyers perfectly happy, but it’s the camera’s body/lens weight distribution, quirky controls and sometimes sluggish responses that we’re worried about.
It’s the camera’s quirky controls and sometimes sluggish responses that we’re worried about 1 The only control on the front of the camera is the lens release button. 2 Correct – there’s no viewfinder. Leica’s optional clip-on Visoflex costs as much as an entry-level DSLR. 3 The rear touchscreen offers responsive access to the camera settings… once you’ve figured it out. 4 All the advantages of the TL2’s super-slim body are lost when you attach a lens like Leica’s excellent but bulky 35mm f/1.4.