Digital Camera early verdict
While low light may challenge some areas of the tech, it’s certainly not a problem for the image sensor. It makes easy work of di cult light conditions, thanks in part to its Dual Basis ISO, with clean imagery that seldom betrays a lack of illumination during capture.
The in-body image stabilisation system (IBIS) is solid, but if you’re used to the eight stops of compensation oered by the likes of Canon, OM System and Fujilm then you will denitely notice the dierence with the ve stops on oer here. While it’s more than enough to deliver rock-solid stills, it isn’t a replacement for a gimbal when shooting video. Arguably, no IBIS system is, but while I would be happy to steal handheld shots on other bodies, I would be loath to do it with the SL3.
Perhaps the only real sore point is the battery life. Usually, the CIPA rating is a conservative estimate that you can easily sail past in actual use but, here, it was depressingly accurate. On paper, the SL3 is good for 260 shots but I was only able to squeeze 267 with a few minutes of video and 272 with no video at all. It’s also worth noting that, while the battery from the SL2 will physically t, it’s a lower-capacity cell and locks out some features on the SL3.
Finally, a special mention for the improved Leica Fotos app, and the ridiculous speed at which it can transfer les from your camera to your phone or tablet. Leica boasts that it can transfer a 60MB DNG via Wi-Fi in just two seconds and via a cable connection in less than one second. While I didn’t try the latter, I found Wi-Fi transfer to be lightningfast for both DNGs and jpegs.