MAKING MOVIES

The SL full-35mm mirrorless camera is Leica’s star performer as far as video is concerned while the TL2 – and now the CL – have enough for photographers who occasionally want to make video clips, mostly for fun. Neither is likely to figure on the shopping lists of dedicated video-makers. Nevertheless, the CL can record 4K video in the Ultra HD resolution 3840x2160 pixels at 30 fps. The alternative resolution settings are Full HD at either 30 or 60 fps and HD at 30 fps. Clips are recorded in the MP4 format with MPEG 4 AVC/H .264 compression and 4.0 GB file size limit (but with automatic partitioning so recording isn’t interrupted). Stereo microphones are built-in, but there’s no provision for connection an external mic (in fact, unlike the TL2, the CL doesn’t have any connections at all which also means no HDMI terminal). Audio recording levels can be adjusted via a gain control and there’s a wind-cut filter. Left and right channel level meters are displayed in the monitor screen. You can select a ‘Video Style’ preset with the same choice as for photography (i.e. Standard, Vivid, Natural, B&W Natural or B&W High Contrast) with adjustable parameters. The only control available over exposures is the compensation range of +/-3.0 EV.

Continuous autofocusing is available and this is where the ‘Touch AF’ facility really comes into its own, being both quick and quiet. If you prefer to focus manually, both the magnified image and focus peaking display are available.

Functionality limitations aside, the video quality is excellent, both 4K and 2K, but you need to be very careful to avoid picking up handling noise on the soundtrack.