Leica has announced the SL3-S camera as the latest addition to its SL System, which combines high-end stills photography and video features.
The SL3-S features a new BSI CMOS full-frame sensor with 24MP native resolution, 48MP and 96MP multishot modes, and a new AF system. The latter incorporates the latest generation of phase detection AF (PDAF), depth map (object detection AF) and contrast detection AF, enabling continuous shooting at up to 30 frames per second with full autofocus support.
This makes the SL3-S the fastest Leica system camera ever built. It can also record up to 6K video and offers 3:2 open-gate recording for added flexibility. Portrait-format videos can be recorded in 4K, 9:16 without loss of quality, for example, Leica says, and the field of view in recorded material can be determined retrospectively too.
The SL3-S also records HDMI-RAW in 5.9K at 30fps to external display recorders.
Leica SL3-S has content credentials, too
This is the first camera in the SL System to come with content credentials technology, enabling each image to be ‘signed’ with tamper-proof metadata, including information about the photographer, the creation date and editing details. For more about the Content Credentials Initiative, which aims to make it easier to see whether AI was used in the creation of an image, see here.
Other key highlights are shared with its 60MP SL3 stablemate, the Leica SL3. These include in-body image stabilisation up to 5 stops, a 3.2in tilting touchscreen and a 5.76m-dot electronic viewfinder with 0.76x magnification.
The Leica SL3-S is available now for £4,500 from Leica Stores and authorised dealers. See here for more information and check out our guide to the best vlogging cameras, too.
