Leica's $5,300 SL3-S is its latest hybrid still photo and video camera
Leica has launched a new camera for professionals shooting video and still photos. Launched today, the $5,295 Leica SL3-S is a full-frame mirrorless hybrid camera optimized for fast-action stills and 6K video. Like the SL3 it's based on, the SL3-S has a compact body and a 3.2-inch tilting touchscreen display. But whereas the SL3 with its 60mp sensor is intended primarily for still photography, the SL3-S is optimized for speed: its 24mp sensor can shoot 6K video using 12-bit raw footage, and it can shoot stills at up to 30fps with continuous tracking automatically Focus.
The SL3-S's new video editing means it supports recording in open 6K (5952 x 3968 resolution) of its full 3:2 sensor at up to 30fps, or 4K at up to 60fps, and can record directly to SSD-C connection. While it doesn't have a particularly high-resolution still image sensor, it makes up for it with its speed and focusing capabilities. The SL3-S has 779 phase detection AF points, more than double the SL3's 315 points. It also has improved object detection and tracking focus, and the shooting speed is fast enough to achieve 48-megapixel and 96-megapixel high-resolution multi-shot compositions without a tripod.
Otherwise, the SL3-S has a lot in common with the SL3—the same body design, dual card slots (one UHS-II SD and one CFExpress Type B), tilting touchscreen, color-coded menu system (red for photos/yellow for photos) videos), and that weird glowing power button. (Seriously, why isn't the power button a nice physical switch like on other cameras?) This is a similar approach to what Leica took with its previous generation SL2 and SL2-S, with the SL3-S again looking identical to it save for some blacked out Except for the Leica name, similar products are more expensive.
The SL series is aimed at professionals who need to use their fine German cameras more as all-around workhorses with high-resolution video recording and autofocus capabilities, rather than as slow-paced dedicated photography tools like the Leica M rangefinders. So it makes sense that Leica would incorporate its content credentials into the SL3-S, leveraging Adobe's Content Authenticity Program for image verification, as it originally did with the M11-P. Oddly, this feature won't be available in the standard SL3 when it launches in March 2024, and it won't be added via a firmware upgrade. Leica spokesman Nathan Kellum-Pathe said edge SL3 lacks the necessary hardware, and while software-based content authentication is possible, it “does not comply with Leica's encryption standards for critical data.”
If you have Leica money, but not unlimited Leica money, then the SL3-S feels like a better value to all but the pickiest pixel-peepers.