So my first outing with my Leica SL was with a 50mm M lens. When I bought the SL body I was not sold on the weight nor the size of the 24-90mm zoom. Yes, M lenses on the SL give it an odd look, but despite what some of you no doubt think, I do not strap the SL on me for a fashion statement. But, shooting an M lens on an SL means no AF. The SL though has that amazing EV, enlarging using the toggle button and focus peaking, so shooting manual is pretty easy, so long as you pay attention to your ISO and aperture settings. (Here I will confess to downloading a primer on manual settings to brush up on what had been my standard shooting method in my youth.) I’m not anti AF (read on), but you do engage more wth your camera if you are not just tapping the shutter button.
I spent the morning taking a mix of street shots and still life photos while relearning the basics of manual photography. Yes, my other cameras shoot manual, but I was content to let the camera handle the details. It is digital after all. Anyway, toward the end of my outing, I happened on a bed of tall flowers full of pollinating bumble bees. I waded in and proceeded to shoot away.
Here are some of those photos cropped, but with no other Lightroom adjustments:
Loading these once back home, I was stunned by the results. First day with a new camera and a non SL system lens, shooting manual for the first time in decades, I could not have been more pleased.
Where is the AF love I promised? Here. Later that afternoon I went back out to shoot some street shots. A better photographer, I’m sure, could have pulled it off (I did get a good shot now and again), but lost too many to the few seconds it took me to raise the camera and focus the lens. The next day I bit the bullet and ordered the SL’s 24-90mm. (A used one, which chipped a few less teeth.) Yes, that lens is more intrusive on the street, but you can stand much further away and take the shot. Just lift, tap, and go. AF has its uses. Another tool, but never a crutch.