FIRST LOOK: LEICA TL2 - The Future of Mirrorless camera operation?

Callum heads to London's famous Leica store to see the new Leica TL2. The new camera has quite a sleek menu and operation system that is more like a smartphone than a camera. However, perhaps surprisingly it works well.
Gear in this video:
Leica TL2 bhpho.to/2hLD4aT
Leica Summilux-TL 35mm f/1.4 ASPH bhpho.to/2ASMZzg
Leica Visoflex (Typ 020) Electronic Viewfinder bhpho.to/2ARMSUE
Leica SF 40 Flash bhpho.to/2hMFk1o
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[@Photogearnews]

The slick design of the Leica TL2 looks pretty cool. Hey, it's a Leica. But, and it's a big but, will it end up being design over function? Callum had a good play with the camera in the Leica studio and it seems to actually work very well for casual shooting. We'll be testing it in the next few weeks. What do you want to know more about? Let us know!

[@simonfarrell5675]

agree about this being the future, earlier this year when i was asked what I thought cameras would look like in the future I thought mirrorless combined with a smartphone. This seems to be a big step there.

[@Photogearnews]

+Simon Farrell Oddly it was Samsung that led the way with this with the Galaxy NX. Huge LCD touchscreen, but with a serious camera at the core and a decent amount of physical controls. And the Samsung NX1 was a great camera. Such a shame they pulled out the camera market as they seemed so close to a breakthrough that may have changed the market (@richsibley)

[@billkigathi3492]

Well done review 👍👍👍

[@peteanddrake4242]

Pentax K-01 already tried this form factor about 6 years ago. All the rest of the specs point to Sony sensor and internals. Reminds me of when Hassi re-badged an A6000. Silly.

[@PaulAmyes]

Think about it another way Leica have put 4K video into an enthusiast level camera before Canon have. Who would've ever thought it.

[@jfjoubertquebec]

is it possible to angle visoflex in order to shoot rolloflex style... looking down?

[@MiCoopRS]

yes....

[@BIGDRONEFLYER77RC]

very nice thanks for sharing

[@MrChomiq]

I assume that this viewfinder is an accessory with a retail price of ca. $1000, right? Edit. 370 gbp, steal!

[@victorbart]

I see you hitting the touch screen a little bit to much. I rather prefer some physical buttons that I can find without looking on the body. So maybe the future? I hope not. I don't need smart phone control like this on my camera. Also the future but no flipscreen and it can now shoot raw + jpg..... So that is innovating :D haha

[@Photogearnews]

+RETRO Machines We didn't mention in the video (our bad), but also, no stabilisation. It's seems to be a great piece of technology and aesthetic design, but then lacking in features that photographers really want. But Leica know their market for this camera, and thankfully they do offer other cameras that clearly have more 'serious' photographers (with some £££s) in mind.

[@CallumMcInerneyRiley]

Once you get the settings locked in, you pretty much only have to use the two wheels at the top to change your settings. AV mode, ISO on the left, Aperture on the right - That's sorted for a while!

[@Photojouralist123]

4k but no head phone jack or mic jack?

[@Photogearnews]

+John Ishii similar to a few Panasonic cameras... however those Panasonic cameras are also £1500 cheaper. The Leica SL uses an adapter cable, but it doesn't look like that is an option here.

[@MrChomiq]

Hold on, 20 fps burst rate in DNG with a buffer cap of 29 frames? Great design!

[@Photogearnews]

+MrChomiq if you were shooting sports or wildlife this would be an issue, but for the target audience I can't see that being an issue (@richsibley)

[@43connor3]

they join with apple?

[@fellowcitizen]

Audi design

[@NetvoTV]

Leica CL review please!

[@simonblossom]

Brooklyn Beckham will buy one and the photos will still be out of focus trees without the two birds that flew away.

[@maxfactor4209]

I have a Panasonic Vacuum cleaner and it Sucks well. not sure about their cameras

[@chirag4]

lol

[@robiulahmed]

I have no idea why anyone would buy this over a Fuji X-Pro 2 or even a Sony A6500.

[@Kdkjdjewerdnxa]

The leica dot, and literally that's it. The TL lenses aren't even that sharp, they're not up to the same level of quality as their M-Mount lenses, not even close.

[@shang-hsienyang1284]

Ryan It shoots 20fps like the Sony a9. Why not?

[@robiulahmed]

Because touch screens are inferior to physical controls.

[@shang-hsienyang1284]

Yet Nikon, Canon, Sony, and Hasselblad are adopting touchscreens to their cameras. You're just not used to it yet.

[@chirag4]

Shang-Hsien Yang, agreed, . . . and TL2 has an alluring fit-finish/appearance too, . . . it is carved from a one single block of Aluminium. Fuji & Sony are not Leica-like in being a Chunk of Metal. I have handled the XPro1 & XPro2 both, and the heft + solidity was lacking, having a hollow feel to it. Nothing comes close to a Leica in build. Even the Nikon D3 comes off second-best.

[@movietheme]

awww i guessed i missed first LOK

[@laszu7137]

Now I looked for info about these lenses. They are optically inferiour to M lenses but so huge! Ridiculous to have such a big lens (that is not even so much sharp) on camera that is supposed to be compact.

[@18yearsoldnot]

Years later they made you a Leica q

[@thiccardo]

The only people I can see buying this are the type of people that take pictures of their fancy cheeses and wines lol

[@CallumMcInerneyRiley]

Or maybe get their butler to do it 😂

[@WYCAN]

Have they thought about how anyone is going to hold this thing with one hand, securely???

[@CallumMcInerneyRiley]

You can hold it securely with the 23mm prime - it's pretty easy. But... when you get the 35mm prime on it, you'll prob want to support the lens.

[@Deetroiter]

Not sure why all the hate on the TL2. People have no problem pissing away thousands of dollars on some Canikon, but a reasonable price for a handmade camera with great optics is the end of the world.

[@fiskpad]

The "original" was the T and not the TL.

[@schizzlschnitzl]

actually a good video without Lok. awesome!

[@JB_Hobbies]

I want to like Leica, I really do, but they keep putting out stuff that just doesn't measure up to literally anything else, and, for some inexplicable reason, price it way beyond what they should be charging. I mean, this is a handicapped A6000 with fewer lenses and priced way higher. At this point, I feel like their next camera will be a smartphone that doesn't make calls, shoots only GIF for still and video, comes with a screen glossier than the one on the TL2, and doubles as an NES emulator. Price: $15K. But hey, great build quality, and has that special something that makes you feeeel like you're really crafting a photo--never mind actually having the ability to take one. Also, 20FPS, yeeeyy; oh wait--29 frame buffer . . . . Sooo listen, it's really solid, you guys . . . . You know what, never mind, forget the smartphone, they're skipping that and they're gonna go straight to the paintbrush with augmented reality. "If you want a photo so bad, why don't you paint one."--Leica. That will be $20K, thx.

[@weizenobstmusli8232]

JB , its M Mount, so you have plenty great lenses, unless Sony, where you have plenty mediocre lenses.

[@JB_Hobbies]

I won't dispute that Leica has a great reputation for their lenses. I also won't dispute that the E-Mount lineup is pretty thin. However, there are still fantastic options for E-Mount, e.g.: Zeiss & G-Master lenses, which also have a great reputation for excellent optical performance. Setting all that aside, you do know that there are plenty of M to E-Mount adapters, right? There are even a couple that will autofocus M lenses on E-Mount . . . . sooooo, if all Leica has to best Sony are its lenses, well, that "problem" is cheap and easy to fix.

[@Kdkjdjewerdnxa]

That external makes a very pretty camera into one of the ugliest things I've ever seen. They should really put an internal viewfinder, there's plenty of space on the back since there are 0 buttons, just push the screen over and have a built in viewfinder like the X-Pro series or even the Leica Q.

[@gur262]

Relative to this, the a9 looks cheap. The evf makes it bulky. The only thing it has over any competition is 20fps. For just over one second... 11fps for several seconds is more useful for many

[@simeonkolev1231]

Are those guys nuts :) except the 23mm the other lenses are huge. What is the point of this camera?

[@DessieTots]

FFS do you really have to play that metronome in the background.

[@laszu7137]

This hipster camera has worse controls than cameras that are really 40 years old. :D

[@emmanuelgoldstein8233]

You always see poor people shitting on expensive products but never rich people shitting on cheap products. Just saying.

[@chocomonya]

ライカはなんでTLシリーズを廃盤にしちゃったかなぁ。 唯一無二の製品なのに……。

[@jeansicard3517]

too much noise around!!!!

[@RonScibilia]

Mick Jagger will give them to a hundred of his closest friends for Christmas gifts. Resembles a supercharged version of the much damned EOS M five years later and ten times the price. Forget to say, yeah, it's pretty, lovely esthetics.

[@shang-hsienyang1284]

This camera is so innovative I can't believe it's a Leica! I am so delighted about these changes.

[@Ginshaker22]

the one who is going to buy this is those people who has a lot of money that they do not know where to spend it😁😁😁😁

[@ellbertdinoy]

when u only care about brand name

[@whtbrb]

OMG! Jpeg and DNG simultaneously? Really? It's 2017 guys! Leica Slowpoke edition.

[@ItsAMbutyoutubechangedmyname]

nice review. I don't see the point of this camera more then showing hey look at me I have money. when you are out and about and lets say u have sun shinning bright and it glares up the whole LCD screen how great is then the touch screen its then like a smartphone no value when u can't even see the screen. call me old fashion but I like regular dslr where u have buttons so that you can actuallyvsee what the heck u are doing

[@maypoolqueen9265]

I hope they Sony Corp buy Leica someday, and make it more affordable. :D

[@BlackPete...]

Or maybe a camera company could buy Leica..? Fujifilm, perhaps... Nah. Leica aren't serious about pure photography nowadays. They're more of a "brand". Maybe the Kardashians should buy Leica...

[@Dashcam_Drivers_Switzerland]

Sorry, but this is an Panasonic Cam in an Leica Coat.

[@Photogearnews]

+Matthias Schaad by J'MS-Photography Which Panasonic camera?

[@Dashcam_Drivers_Switzerland]

Photogearnews Brand Leica, made by Panasonic. So simple is that. You didn't know? Real Leica cams are the M, S, SL and Q. Fact

[@Photogearnews]

The compact and bridge cameras are rebadged Panasonic's. The instant cameras, rebadged Fujifilm - everyone knows that. The TL is completely different. It is 'made in Germany', although quite how much is 'made' and how much is assembled is open to question. Apple phones use all sort of parts from Sony, Samsung and various others.... but they are not just a 'rebadged' Sony or Panasonic. Panasonic don't, on known level, produce a APS-C size 24.2 million-pixel sensor.They certainly could manufacture one, but given that it probably wouldn't be cost affective for either Leica to buy them or Panasonic to produce them - especially when Sony dominate the sensor market. Panasonic even use Sony sensors. The camera has some similarities to the Leica TL... most notably the same lens mount. Leica would have certainly designed all of the menu system and interface, as well as all of the colour science. Panasonic may have helped with some of the engineering design, but that far from makes it a 'Panasonic camera with a red dot' In the same way Nikon cameras aren't 'Sony cameras with a Nikon logo' This isn't a Hasselblad Lunar where they have similar made the menu of a Sony camera look pretty and wrapped another body over the top. Of course the compact and bridge cameras are exactly that. The T/TL range is a very different proposition (@richsibley)

[@kahirisepakang]

You obviously don't know what you are talking about. Heck you are not even a photographer I guess

[@maxfactor4209]

with the price of that viewfinder, you can buy a camera that take better picture. though no one buy leica for image quality anyway

[@Dashcam_Drivers_Switzerland]

max factor I see, a nerd with experience ROFL.

[@wayneleung3120]

only a fan boy toy. the screen is not good for professional work

[@Dashcam_Drivers_Switzerland]

Wayne Leung Who said, this is a pro cam? No one. Just for people who can't buy an real Leica

[@jeremyspal78]

they copied sony hagaha

[@technohow6494]

Lets get real, this is way over priced and without in built EV is just stupid!!!. Sony A6500 wins, no contest.