robert blu
quiet photographer
I know for many it's a "controversial" camera. Someone likes it, other hates it.
I only had one in my hands a few minutes in a store and I was impressed.
Innovative interface, small size, adapter for M lenses. IQ ? I do not know much, so long the photos I have seen are good.
Curious to know if anyone has and uses this camera. Why? Because we have many comments about Q, S, SL but it seems the only Leica camera without any comment from us RFFes is the T
robert
PS: I'm not interested in any Leica bashing or suggestion this xyz is better than, thanks
I only had one in my hands a few minutes in a store and I was impressed.
Innovative interface, small size, adapter for M lenses. IQ ? I do not know much, so long the photos I have seen are good.
Curious to know if anyone has and uses this camera. Why? Because we have many comments about Q, S, SL but it seems the only Leica camera without any comment from us RFFes is the T
robert
PS: I'm not interested in any Leica bashing or suggestion this xyz is better than, thanks
rbelyell
Well-known
i think the lack of physical controls on either the camera or (expensive) lenses made this camera less appealing to members of this particular forum. it would be interesting to get a handle on the IQ though, esp low light.
I liked it, but its supposed slow AF and its price tag turned me off pretty quickly. When the used price goes down more, I may check it out.
robert blu
quiet photographer
CVickery
Established
I just recently bought a used T with the Visoflex and the 18-56 zoom. For all the bad press it's actually a nice kit to use. The latest firmware update greatly speeds up the AF, so that's really not that much of an issue anymore. The lens has very nice handling and the IQ is excellent. I had been reluctant to buy thinking that Leica would likely be abandoning the system, but the newly announced lenses and the new SL body using the T mount convinced me that Leica was going to continue to support this system for some time.
Here's the blog of an enthusiastic user: http://www.soundimageplus.com/
YouAreHere
Established
I bought one second hand and use it primarily for the convenience of interchangeable zoom lenses and/or autofocus. Sometimes a little automation is a nice break from working all manual all the time.
DGPNY
Newbie
I have and love the Leica T
I have and love the Leica T
I own a T and absolutely love it. The handling and controls are great and the IQ is superb. Like its big brother (the M), you can create art with this camera.
Firmware update v 1.4 make this like a new camera. Autofocus, startup time and handling are greatly improved.
The limited physical controls are not limiting for me. Rather, the customizable touchscreen menus makes secondary controls easily accessible when (rarely) needed.
I've simultaneously gone out shooting with an M and T to compare handling and IQ - and for me, the T is fast(er) handling. It's like a modern day rangefinder with its size and handling (if you can live with an EVF which is also quite good).
I use it with T lenses and M lenses and I continue to be impressed and inspired as a photographer. The APS sized sensor is not a big limitation in terms of dynamic range and IQ.
The zoom lenses really are quite good (sharpness, micro contrast, color rendering, lack of distortion) - and this makes the camera even more versatile and fast handling (eliminating the need for lens changes).
Highly recommended. A surprisingly very good and under-rated camera. I look forward to the upcoming new lenses.
I hope this is helpful. Cheers!
I have and love the Leica T
I own a T and absolutely love it. The handling and controls are great and the IQ is superb. Like its big brother (the M), you can create art with this camera.
Firmware update v 1.4 make this like a new camera. Autofocus, startup time and handling are greatly improved.
The limited physical controls are not limiting for me. Rather, the customizable touchscreen menus makes secondary controls easily accessible when (rarely) needed.
I've simultaneously gone out shooting with an M and T to compare handling and IQ - and for me, the T is fast(er) handling. It's like a modern day rangefinder with its size and handling (if you can live with an EVF which is also quite good).
I use it with T lenses and M lenses and I continue to be impressed and inspired as a photographer. The APS sized sensor is not a big limitation in terms of dynamic range and IQ.
The zoom lenses really are quite good (sharpness, micro contrast, color rendering, lack of distortion) - and this makes the camera even more versatile and fast handling (eliminating the need for lens changes).
Highly recommended. A surprisingly very good and under-rated camera. I look forward to the upcoming new lenses.
I hope this is helpful. Cheers!
robert blu
quiet photographer
@ DGPNY: thanks for your comments and Welcome to the RFF forum.
robert
PS: maybe you can share some of your pictures...if you like it of course
robert
PS: maybe you can share some of your pictures...if you like it of course
Eric T
Well-known
I bought a Leica T and 18-56mm lens brand new at a greatly reduced price. I like it.
Easy to use. AF is fast enough for me. IQ and colors are great. Somehow it just makes me want to use it.
Easy to use. AF is fast enough for me. IQ and colors are great. Somehow it just makes me want to use it.
Jim Evidon
Jim
I bought a T with a 23mm Summicron precisely because it has fewer buttons and dials.
At first I was turned off until I was shown its incredibly intuitively way of setting it up.
All the "buttons and wheels" are in an easy to navigate display and it requires you to make your shooting choices and save them (up to four combinations). It then becomes a sophisticated point and shoot, ideal for grab shooting or street shooting. I still like my M9P, FujiXPro-1 and OM-D E-5M cameras, but the T is the one you grab when you just want to carry along a camera just in case you get that shot you might otherwise have missed. I use it with a 35mm equivalent FOV bright frame viewfinder. The IQ is typical Leica and the large f2.0 lens is super sharp with nice contrast and bokeh.
At first I was turned off until I was shown its incredibly intuitively way of setting it up.
All the "buttons and wheels" are in an easy to navigate display and it requires you to make your shooting choices and save them (up to four combinations). It then becomes a sophisticated point and shoot, ideal for grab shooting or street shooting. I still like my M9P, FujiXPro-1 and OM-D E-5M cameras, but the T is the one you grab when you just want to carry along a camera just in case you get that shot you might otherwise have missed. I use it with a 35mm equivalent FOV bright frame viewfinder. The IQ is typical Leica and the large f2.0 lens is super sharp with nice contrast and bokeh.
Eric T
Well-known
The Leica T is getting cheaper by the day. Well worth the current prices.
ellisson
Well-known
Just traded in gear for a new TL2/18mm 2.8 lens kit and the TL 18-56 3.5-5.6 zoom. I'll probably use it with smaller M lenses, the M to T adapter and visoflex, but I am impressed wth the handling and the simple, intuitive UI of the camera. Small and light weight with excellent IQ and I like the rendering. I cannot compare it to other AF cameras, but it works well enough for my shooting and printing needs, and I like not being locked into one focal length.
Its a different creature with no plans for further development from what I've read and heard, but it sure is fun to shoot. That said, I don't see large followings for this camera here, on LUF, or Flickr. That, and I suppose the many other higher priority platforms Leica has in their corner of the competitive digital camera world prevent further development of this particular camera.
Its a different creature with no plans for further development from what I've read and heard, but it sure is fun to shoot. That said, I don't see large followings for this camera here, on LUF, or Flickr. That, and I suppose the many other higher priority platforms Leica has in their corner of the competitive digital camera world prevent further development of this particular camera.
kangaroo2012
Established
I have a CL and zoom lenses and love it. A couple of years ago when it was impossible to get the 11-23 I stumbled upon a TL2 with 11-23 attached so I bought both.
TL2 has been an eyeopener as my iphone photography was non existent. It works in a similar way and is intuitive even for a Luddite like me.
I use it with the Elmar 18 and it fits in a pocket.
I have used it in theatres in quite low light and have no complaints.
My CL is still used the most as I find it easier to handle with the bigger zoom lenses.
Now looking for a Sigma macro as the elpro is too limiting.
Cheers
PHILIP
TL2 has been an eyeopener as my iphone photography was non existent. It works in a similar way and is intuitive even for a Luddite like me.
I use it with the Elmar 18 and it fits in a pocket.
I have used it in theatres in quite low light and have no complaints.
My CL is still used the most as I find it easier to handle with the bigger zoom lenses.
Now looking for a Sigma macro as the elpro is too limiting.
Cheers
PHILIP
phofseth
Established
Out of curiosity I have tried a cheap TL for a while.
Being used to the analog M-series it is very annoying not to have full control , to have the imprecise screen with no enlargement button for focusing and to put up with capricious autofocus when I wish to focus on a specific point. Fine for snaps of nearby motives with nothing in between to attract focus attention, but useless if infinity focus is desired and there happens to be some twigs nearby.
This is a general fault of most autofocus systems if the focus point cannot be precisely centered, not a Leitz peculiarity; their autosystem is quick to lock on whatever the camera thinks is important.
I used auto everything because the annoying screen controls do not work with gloves on (minus 10 C here). Only battery eating review etc. turned off. The snaps showed that the picture quality is good enough for casual use, a bit grainy if one does not watch the ISO setting. Very positive point is that the RAWfiles are in the DNG format and the Jpg files do not seem to be too mishandled by in-camera trickery like sharpening, noise reduction and artificial saturation. I have not used Raw Therapee to see whether the lens has the usual cost saving design shortcuts that are neutralized by camera software
I found the 18-56 lens to be satisfactory, contrast and sharpness seemed OK though the camera had stopped down so far that I believe diffraction would certainly have interfered with results.
I did not manage to make proper test snaps at low sensitivity and larger aperture settings focused at infinity. Both my fairly recent 50mm Summicron- M, my 40mm Minolta-M and a Voigtländer apo-lanthar 90 worked as expected on an M-adapter.
the zoom hood, however, has a tendency to fall off, quite unlike the hood on my R21-35 which sits firm.
I am tempted to use my ancient VisoflexII to achieve proper focusing but that will limit me to longer glass. and with a non standard position of the release button and no arrangement for the old type double release device, that will have to wait
p.
Being used to the analog M-series it is very annoying not to have full control , to have the imprecise screen with no enlargement button for focusing and to put up with capricious autofocus when I wish to focus on a specific point. Fine for snaps of nearby motives with nothing in between to attract focus attention, but useless if infinity focus is desired and there happens to be some twigs nearby.
This is a general fault of most autofocus systems if the focus point cannot be precisely centered, not a Leitz peculiarity; their autosystem is quick to lock on whatever the camera thinks is important.
I used auto everything because the annoying screen controls do not work with gloves on (minus 10 C here). Only battery eating review etc. turned off. The snaps showed that the picture quality is good enough for casual use, a bit grainy if one does not watch the ISO setting. Very positive point is that the RAWfiles are in the DNG format and the Jpg files do not seem to be too mishandled by in-camera trickery like sharpening, noise reduction and artificial saturation. I have not used Raw Therapee to see whether the lens has the usual cost saving design shortcuts that are neutralized by camera software
I found the 18-56 lens to be satisfactory, contrast and sharpness seemed OK though the camera had stopped down so far that I believe diffraction would certainly have interfered with results.
I did not manage to make proper test snaps at low sensitivity and larger aperture settings focused at infinity. Both my fairly recent 50mm Summicron- M, my 40mm Minolta-M and a Voigtländer apo-lanthar 90 worked as expected on an M-adapter.
the zoom hood, however, has a tendency to fall off, quite unlike the hood on my R21-35 which sits firm.
I am tempted to use my ancient VisoflexII to achieve proper focusing but that will limit me to longer glass. and with a non standard position of the release button and no arrangement for the old type double release device, that will have to wait
p.
ellisson
Well-known
On the TL-2, there is 3x and 6x image enlargement that appears automatically on the screen whenever you turn the lens focus ring with the camera set in manual focus mode. It can be de-activated to the actual frame size with just a touch of the shutter button.
The magnification does not occur in the autofocus modes, but you can use the focus aid tool (highlighting edges) to check or alter focus when using any of the autofocus settings.
If you want the most precise control of your focus point, manual focus always beats autofocus.
The magnification does not occur in the autofocus modes, but you can use the focus aid tool (highlighting edges) to check or alter focus when using any of the autofocus settings.
If you want the most precise control of your focus point, manual focus always beats autofocus.
phofseth
Established
the lowly TL has no such focusing finesse it seems, at least not with manual M-optics regardless of how much one turns the wheels or touches the fingerprint catcher.
Today it was a balmy minus 3, so I managed without gloves and experienced a recalcitrant software that insists on displaying the last picture taken and obstructing framing of the next one until the shutter is pressed, even if the review option is set to "off".
I did, however discover a very positive finesse, the built-in storage which saves the pictures even if no card is present. I had forgotten the SD card in my computer, but the snaps were safely stored anyway.
With ISO set at 200 I managed to use f.5,6 at a reasonable shutter speed, so I could judge camera picture quality (good colours and no distracting noise). Only with a quite good M-lens however. The menu does not seem to allow choosing aperture settings, so there was no chance to exercise the zoom to force one specific opening, one would have to fiddle with adjusting exposure compensation while watching the info setting; not feasible without gloves if there is a bit of wind. One option would have been to leave settings to chance and look at the exif afterwards.
Conclusion, much better than a phone camera but limited by trying to emulate one.
p.
Today it was a balmy minus 3, so I managed without gloves and experienced a recalcitrant software that insists on displaying the last picture taken and obstructing framing of the next one until the shutter is pressed, even if the review option is set to "off".
I did, however discover a very positive finesse, the built-in storage which saves the pictures even if no card is present. I had forgotten the SD card in my computer, but the snaps were safely stored anyway.
With ISO set at 200 I managed to use f.5,6 at a reasonable shutter speed, so I could judge camera picture quality (good colours and no distracting noise). Only with a quite good M-lens however. The menu does not seem to allow choosing aperture settings, so there was no chance to exercise the zoom to force one specific opening, one would have to fiddle with adjusting exposure compensation while watching the info setting; not feasible without gloves if there is a bit of wind. One option would have been to leave settings to chance and look at the exif afterwards.
Conclusion, much better than a phone camera but limited by trying to emulate one.
p.
helen.HH
A smile & a wink…
had a T in 2018, Loved the Touchscreen, Beautiful simplistic menu you could easily alter
Fantastic little camera... Gorgeous piece of metal
Fantastic little camera... Gorgeous piece of metal
helen.HH
A smile & a wink…
helen.HH
A smile & a wink…
ellisson
Well-known
ph.,
I've never tried the TL, but there should be two dials on top if it's like the TL-2. If you go into the settings (clicking on the camera icon on the left) and choose aperture priority in the exposure submenu, you can change the aperture using the left most dial. The right most dial controls iso by default, but you can change that to other things just by pressing on the iso symbol when you turn the dial. On the TL-2, you can program either dial to aperture, shutter speed, iso, exposure compensation et al.
Problem is the 18-56mm f3.5-5.6 mm zoom lens, though very sharp and with nice rendering, is slow. By 35mm, it is already at maximum aperture of 5.0. Probably a compromise to limit the size of this zoom lens. I find the images in decent light are fine with ISO up to 1600. Things change at 3200. Not much different then the CL, and these cameras share a lot of the same image making "guts".
The last software update was in 2018, which added some functionality. Worth getting if you have not already done so. I like the TL-2, especially for the interface, which I find very fast and convenient once you know it well. I have the Visoflex, although I'm still waiting for an adapter so I can use my smaller M lenses.
I was thinking about getting the CL (or a CL2 when its available instead of the TL-2, but I'm happy with the smaller TL-2 and the unique (for Leica) interface. Looking forward to using it with some faster M lenses.
Cheers,
Gary
I've never tried the TL, but there should be two dials on top if it's like the TL-2. If you go into the settings (clicking on the camera icon on the left) and choose aperture priority in the exposure submenu, you can change the aperture using the left most dial. The right most dial controls iso by default, but you can change that to other things just by pressing on the iso symbol when you turn the dial. On the TL-2, you can program either dial to aperture, shutter speed, iso, exposure compensation et al.
Problem is the 18-56mm f3.5-5.6 mm zoom lens, though very sharp and with nice rendering, is slow. By 35mm, it is already at maximum aperture of 5.0. Probably a compromise to limit the size of this zoom lens. I find the images in decent light are fine with ISO up to 1600. Things change at 3200. Not much different then the CL, and these cameras share a lot of the same image making "guts".
The last software update was in 2018, which added some functionality. Worth getting if you have not already done so. I like the TL-2, especially for the interface, which I find very fast and convenient once you know it well. I have the Visoflex, although I'm still waiting for an adapter so I can use my smaller M lenses.
I was thinking about getting the CL (or a CL2 when its available
instead of the TL-2, but I'm happy with the smaller TL-2 and the unique (for Leica) interface. Looking forward to using it with some faster M lenses. Cheers,
Gary