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You are listening to Adorama narrated a collection of our favorite blog posts presented in audio format. Laika SL3P who says a workhorse can't be beautiful? Written by Daniel Norton Almost 10 years ago, I stood on my front porch and made a video. It was titled it's not the Camera, it's the photographer. Or is it? I was addressing the age old idea that the camera is just a box. The photographer as artist and technician is what matters. Feel free to watch the video. I'll embed it at the bottom of this article. The too long don't read is yeah, the photographer is the most important ingredient. However, there are some cameras that can inspire us to create in new and sometimes better ways. So here we are eight years later and new cameras are still coming out and people are still fighting over them. And here I am writing about the launch of the Leica SL3P. What does this all have to do with the Laika launch? Photography first, that's the Laika way. Okay? That's not their official tagline. At least I don't think it is. I was never good at taglines. However, when Laika flew me and Fernando, head of Adorama YouTube, to Germany for this launch, that was the vibe I got. Laika treated us to tours of the Leica factory to see the craftsmanship that goes into their cameras. Like the SL3P, we had tours of their camera and photo archive as well. There we saw their love of photographic history. We spoke to the Leica team on every level and 90% of the discussions were about capturing beautiful photos. They didn't hard press the specifications of the SL3P on us constantly, and I won't either. I'll touch on some of the tech below, but you can see a full breakdown here. Hands on experience beats PowerPoint every time. Leica gave us about four days with the cameras. We were free to wander and shoot around the complex the first afternoon to get a feel for the Leica SL3P. Essentially, they gave us a rundown of the functions and made their team available to answer any questions that came up naturally during our shooting day two, we not only got a chance to work on a fashion set to see how the SL3P performs in a studio environment, but we also had the chance to visit their darkroom and see prints being made. As a film analog lover myself, I was thrilled to see a master darkroom technician at work in studio with relatively low light. The hybrid autofocus system with 819 points worked well, keeping the subject's eyes sharp in every frame. Two new Leica SL lenses with the Leica SL3P for most of my time in Germany, I chose to work with the new Summilux SL50F 1.4 ASPH. Leica calls this the world's most compact autofocus lens. With this focal length and a Lens speed of f 1.4, that seems right in my estimation and in use even seemed a bit smaller than the summicron f2. This lens was fast, compact and sharp. What else could you want from a 50mm? I also took some time to make portraits and detail shots with the new apo Macro Elmerit SL100F 2.8. There was a lot of excitement in the air for this lens as the apo Macro Elmarit R100F2.8, released in 1987 is often adapted by SL users. Is the SL3P going to be the workhorse of the SL3 line? One thing I appreciated about this trip to Leica was, for lack of a better word, the honesty. I've been to. Many launches and brands tend to want to position their new releases as as amazing innovations while still maintaining that the other cameras in their lineup are absolutely perfect for everyone. In short, this is what Leica has to say about the SL3. One original SL3 loved for its huge files but not fast enough for some shooters. Two SL3s is made to be fast video forward with smaller file sizes. However some photographers really need larger files. 3sl3p was made to be fast and have large files. Not as large as the SL3 but large enough for many commercial shooters. 44 megapixels SL3P is fast with a 40 frames per second burst mode and an autofocus system that keeps up with it. Simple as that. This camera is meant to bridge the gap to be the go to for most types of photographers. But those who want the small and fast SL3s and have that option and those who need that extra bit of file size have the SL3. These are not incrementally better. They are a group of cameras that make up a complete and versatile system. Real life testing of the Leica SL3P because the Leica SL3P is about versatility, Leica gave us a variety of shooting options and locations. I already mentioned the fashion shoot above. We were also given the opportunity to shoot at a medieval festival in a small town and finally at the neubering race. What does 14 stops of dynamic range actually mean? Dynamic range is one of these things we always mention in the specifications. I want to talk about why this is useful and really helped when we walked around the small town and the medieval festival. Simply put, the wider the dynamic range, the less you have to sacrifice when shooting in contrasty light. That is you don't have to expose so your highlights don't blow out at the cost of detail in your shadows or vice versa. Keep in mind that some tweaking needs to be done during raw development to put out all the details. Did I mention 8k30p open gate video? I was so focused on the stills that I almost forgot how capable the Leica SL3P is in video. Below is the video we made for Adoramatv. All the video in Germany was shot on the Leica SL3P. You can read all about how it does 4K120P, Apple ProRes and other great video specs here. Also watch the video 40 frames per second with the Leica SL3P. This is one of those features that I tend to breeze over as I rarely use such things in my portrait and fashion work. However, with Leica getting us access to the Nurbaring, I had my chance to blast away. I attached the Sigma 500mm f 5.6 DG DN OS sports lens. Of course you know Sigma is part of the L Mount alliance and had great fun capturing the cars as they sped past. Any missed shots were definitely on me as the autofocus and burst rate performed perfectly. Make the Leica SL3P your own in 2009 Leica handed me the S2. This was their second entry into the medium format digital market and a beautiful camera. Why I mention this is that it was the first time I saw a feature that would now be the standard on the SL3 line blank buttons that are fully and simply customizable. Press the button and the assigned function is activated. Long press and a menu comes up that allows you to assign a function to this button where the S2 had four such buttons. This is applicable to all the buttons and dials on the SL3P. Of course many cameras allow you to customize some or all of the dials, but the fact that they are blank on the SL3P and the process to change functions is so simple. Programming and finding exactly the right setup is instinctive and fast. I know Fernando was quite happy with the button that switches between photo and video mode and the fact that the menu, etc. Changes color based on which mode you are in. Is the Leica SL3P for me or you? I'm a long time Leica M shooter and I love the quality, feel and simplicity of those rangefinders. Not to mention the Leica look. For my commercial work and videos, I use mirrorless cameras. Could this camera handle everything I do as well as bring the solid Leica build quality and look into all my work? Yes, yes it could. I've already requested that Leica loan me a sample for another test in my actual studio, doing the work I do on a day to day basis. If it performs half as well as I believe it will, I have found my next pro camera. Only you can decide what is right for you. Check out the video, check out the specifications and rent or borrow an SL3P if you are like me, you'll know this has been Laika SL3P who says a workhorse can't be beautiful? Written by Daniel Norton Read for you by Ninky Haller for more posts like this, check out the 42 west blog at adorama.com blog links are in the show notes. Be sure to follow adoramannarrated on your favorite podcast app and leave us a review if you enjoy the content. Remember, create no matter what.