My Favorite Camera and Lens Combination For the Past Two Years

Leica SL2-S and Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2

I have decided to stop and take a deep breath with this post to glance back at the last couple of years. Although you may see numerous new gear reviews on my site, I keep a core camera kit with a few favorite lenses, and sometimes they deserve some attention.

Trying to figure out how often I should switch out cameras and lenses is my least favorite part of running a review blog. I think many would think the opposite is the case. Arguably, it’s a good problem to have, and please don’t think I am complaining.

Once in a while, I land on a favorite camera and lens combination. Although I have contemplated selling the camera and lens mentioned in this article, every time I use my Leica SL2-S or just hold it, I realize I cannot sell it.

In the following, I will provide an update on my progress with the Leica SLS-2 after 2 years and explain why the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 VM has been my favorite lens.

The Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 VM on the Leica SL2-2 — The Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 VM adapted to the Leica SL2-S with a Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount

Leica SL2-S Progress Report 2026

I have had plenty of use out of the Leica SL2-S over the last two years, mainly for travel and lens reviews on this site.

My lens reviews fall into four categories for the SL2-S, and you can find them via the links here:

Leica Reviews
Sigma Reviews
Panasonic Reviews
Voigtländer Reviews

The Leica SL2-S has also been my travel companion on trips to France, Italy, and Denmark, as well as on road trips in British Columbia. You can check my travel posts here:

5050 Travelog Travel

I have also used the SL2-S for pro gigs, namely corporate portrait sessions.

Two friends at Agon-Coutainville, France, at sunset — Agon-Coutainville, France, Leica SL2-S, Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 Aspherical VM, Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount

Reliabilty

I have only had one issue with the SL2-S, and it has been purely cosmetic. The rubber ring eye cup broke in a couple of places after hiking at high altitude on a windy day at the Jasper SkyTram. It was a somewhat cold day, and I think the eyepiece was rubbing on my jacket as we were hiking.

I have ordered a new off-brand eye cup via eBay for around $40.00, and will report back here once I receive it.

The alternative was to send the camera to New Jersey in the US, which could be expensive and also troublesome due to possible duty fees when crossing the border to Canada.

Otherwise, I haven’t had any mechanical or functional issues with the camera.

When I updated to the latest firmware, I lost all my custom settings. I later found out that I could have saved my profile, thereby saving time spent setting it up again from scratch.

A foggy winter eve at English Bay Beach in Vancouver. — Vancouver, Leica SL2-S, Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 Aspherical VM, Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount

Leica SL2-S Pros

By far, the build quality and overall feel of the SL2-S are its greatest assets to me. Except perhaps from the Nikon Z9, I have yet to put my hands on another camera that feels as solid and well-thought-out. Cameras such as the latest Leica SL3, SL3-S, and the Nikon Z8 come close, but the SL2-S still feels a notch above.

I love the grip on this camera and the narrow body profile. In ways, this reminds me of my old Nikon F3.

This translates into a wonderful user experience every time you pick up the camera. I should mention the 5.76m-Dot 0.78x OLED EVF. Aside from the 9.44 m-Dot EVF in the Fujifilm GFX 100 II and GFX100RF, the EVF in the SL2-S is among the best, especially if you use manual-focus lenses.

I have also come to appreciate the menu system, which feels intuitive and well-laid out. I have enough custom buttons for my needs, and they are easily changed by pressing the button for 3 seconds.

I love the image quality and colors coming out of the SL2-S and find them easy to edit to my liking without film simulations, preset packs, LUTS, or tedious workflow.

Lifeguards at Moliets-et-Maa, France — Moliets-et-Maa, France, Leica SL2-S, Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 Aspherical VM, Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount

Leica SL2-S Cons

For my style of photography (travel, street, portrait, and landscape), the autofocus speed and efficiency are more than adequate. After the latest firmware upgrade, eye tracking is also quite good.

However, you know the newer cameras with phase-detect AF will be even better, especially if you venture into tracking faster subjects such as wildlife or sports photography.

For almost all the autofocus lenses I have used, the experience has been good enough for my use cases, but in a couple of cases, I have had issues.

For the Sigma 45mm f/3.5 DG DN, the AF was unreliable and hunting enough to be annoying. I should mention I was buying a used copy, and the lens may have been the problem.

The second lens was the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art II. On this lens, the autofocus was so fast that I saw a visible wobble in the viewfinder, which I found weird. I should mention the AF appeared to be fast and accurate, but it was as if the cameras could not keep up with the lens fully. I have not tried a second copy.

I have not had issues with other Sigma or Panasonic lenses.

Stay tuned for an upcoming review of the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG Art II, crossing my fingers for a good autofocus experience with this lens.

Leica SL2-S, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2, Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount — Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 VM adapted to the Leica SL2-S with a Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount

The weight of the Leica SL2-S gets to me at times. On the one hand, I love a solid-feeling camera, but some days I can’t be bothered to take it out for a bike ride or a walk in the city.

I am fortunate to have lighter Fujifilm cameras, but I wanted to mention that you have to be prepared for the heft if you are considering an SL2-S; it weighs 2.05 lb / 32.84 oz (931 grams), including the battery.

That said; For our trip to France and Italy, I traveled with the SL2-S, Voigtländer Nokton 28mm f/1.5, and 50mm f/1.2 lenses and thoughly enjoyed the experience and was very pleased with the photos I came home with.

A classic Tram in Milan 4600 — Milan, Italy, Leica SL2-S, Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 Aspherical VM, Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount

Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 Aspherical VM

If you poke around my site for a while, you will find that I have reviewed the Nokton 50mm f/1.2 VM with various cameras. Check the links to reviews below the sample images.

While some photographers may find it a disadvantage that it is a manual-focus lens, its strength lies in its vastly smaller and lighter size compared to an equivalent autofocus lens with the same specs.

I was raised with manual-focus lenses as I started dabbling with photography back in the early eighties, so I am no stranger to the idea.

The way the Nokton 50mm f/1.2 renders is almost like having two lenses in one. If you shoot it wide open, it has a wonderful, dreamy, classic character, and if you stop it down, it is razor sharp with a more modern-looking rendering. A sweet spot for the lens is at f/1.8, and it is probably where I shoot it the most.

The Nokton 50mm f/1.2 is a portable option for the SL2-S, and I am never disappointed when I return from an outing or shoot with it.

The Rocky Mountains at Jasper SkyTram in Alberta — Jasper, Alberta, Canada, Leica SL2-S, Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2 Aspherical VM, Leica M-Adapter to L-Mount

Wrapping Things Up

Although the SL2-S has good video specs as well, for me it’s a 100% photographers' camera that feels excellent in the hand. Its minimalist design appeals to me, and I realize this is completely subjective, but whatever camera you pick, make sure you like its aesthetics, as you are more likely to use it.

Surely I have been tempted by higher-megapixel cameras from time to time, but for the vast majority of my topics, 24 megapixels has been enough, and when landscape shots have called for more, I’ve used the 96-megapixel multi-shot mode, and it works great, albeit only on a tripod.

That said, the new SL3-S or S1 II cameras from Panasonic have a multi-shot mode that works handheld, which is pretty cool.

The SL2-S has proved to be a reliable tool. For lack of a better word, paired with the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f/1.2, the results always feel “Special”, and isn’t that what we always strive for when we head out with our photography gear?