Leica APS-C photography still has a pulse, thanks to the L-Mount

Much has been written in the pages of Macfilos about the demise of the Leica APS-C system. Anguished wailing and gnashing of teeth, as well as countless references to ‘betrayal’, litter the accompanying comments. But Leica’s stroke of genius in equipping the system with an L-Mount means owners of TL- and Cl-series cameras can still pair them with a growing collection of cool lenses. Thanks to that L-Mount, Leica APS-C photography still has some life in it.

Leica’s strategic decision to withdraw from the APS-C format meant no new camera models from the TL or CL series would again grace the shelves of its boutiques. However, the ‘end-of-the-line’ models released by Leica, now available on the secondary market, still have much to offer.

Before exploring the many opportunities still afforded by these Leica APS-C format cameras, I should comment on the lenses designed specifically for this system.

High and dry

Owners of a Leica CL or TL2 who invested in a collection of TL-series lenses probably feel they were left high and dry by Leica’s change of heart on the APS-C format. At the time, Jörg-Peter Rau offered his thoughts on alternative ways to utilise these excellent optics, should the cameras themselves eventually bite the dust.

His options included mounting the lenses on an SL-series body. The full-frame sensor would still deliver high resolution images, even if only part of the sensor was exposed when using these APS-C format lenses. A more drastic option would be to sell the collection and migrate to a completely different system.

As you will read below, I bought one of Leica’s TL-lenses, knowing full well that the company had abandoned this format. I wonder if others readers have done so, or how they have managed their existing TL-lens collection?

The situation is different for the cameras themselves. Because of their L-Mount, the universe of lenses to which they could be coupled has continued to evolve, even if the cameras are now frozen in a final version. In the rest of the article, I will share examples of new opportunities for Leica APS-C photography that L-Mount now enables.

Silver machine

I bought a used Leica TL2 in silver-finish a few years ago. My aim at the time was to extract more value from my superb, albeit expensive, Leica M lenses. With an M-to-L adapter, I could extend their effective focal length by shooting on this APS-C camera. Manually focusing these lenses on the TL2 was easy.

Subsequently, I bought a used, native 18mm f/2.8 TL autofocus lens to give myself a stylish, pocketable, walk-around kit. It remains one of my oft-used street photography companions.

Over time, I began to realise that the L-Mount-equipped TL2, perhaps the pinnacle of Leica APS-C photography, together with a vast L-Mount lens ecosystem, afforded me even more new photographic opportunities. I would like to describe a few of those in this article.

But first, let me say a bit more about the camera itself. I largely covered the technical aspects in previous articles (see links in table below) so here I shall comment primarily on its aesthetics.

It’s a looker

Apart from the recently introduced Sigma BF, I don’t believe there is any other camera which remotely resembles a silver-finish Leica TL2. Its ultra-sleek, machined-aluminium body is a triumph of Audi-led industrial design. Equipped with a matching, silver-finish lens, it is a functional work of art that could sit proudly in any exhibition of modern design.

To protect its smooth, metallic surface from scratches, I tracked down a canary yellow leather half case, sold as an accessory by Leica at the time. This called for a matching yellow rope strap, custom-produced by a small company I found through Etsy.

More recently, I stumbled upon an orange T-Snap, another TL2 accessory available from Leica back in the day. It’s a little trickier to fit, but is another means of protecting that precious silver TL2 surface. Naturally, this called for another matching custom strap, sourced again from an artisanal outfit operating via Etsy.

I have to remove both these protective cases to retrieve the SD card or plug in the USB-C charging cable. But I consider that a small inconvenience compared to the satisfaction of being the most stylish photographer in my neighbourhood.

Cheap at twice the price

Who would pair this gorgeous silver-finish gem with an ugly black lens? Well, I confess I have indeed committed that sin, as I will describe shortly. But if possible, it’s got to be a lens in (close to) matching finish.

Since my 18mm f/2.8 TL lens already gives me a full-frame equivalent 27mm focal length, I decided to buy a compact 35mm L-Mount APS-C lens. I would then have a full-frame equivalent 52.7mm focal length, with a 44.6° rather than 63.4° field-of-view.

How do I know these relationships between focal length, sensor format, and field-of-view? Because I recently built a lens-format-converter app, which I will describe below.

So, I splashed out on a TT Artisan 35mm f/1.4 L-Mount APS-C silver-finish lens, which I described in a recent article. It is focused manually. Having read positive reports of this manufacturer, and good reviews of this lens, I thought I would give it a whirl. If you did not read that earlier article, I wonder if you can guess how much I paid for it, brand-new. No need to look it up; I will give you the answer below.

Not a bad performer

The lens is not quite as sharp as my Leica APO Summicron SL 50mm ASPH (Author Note: in case you missed it, that was meant to be a droll understatement…). Nevertheless, I have taken some worthwhile shots with it on photo-walkabouts in my local neighbourhood.

Here are a few shots comparing the TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 L-Mount and a Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux, the latter attached via a Leica M-to-L adapter. The first set were all shot wide-open.

For completion, I have also included photographs of the same scene, taken with a 35mm T/1.8 Super-35 1.33-squeeze anamorphic lens (see below). The images are aligned as best I can to aid comparison, hence the white space either side of the spherical images.

The next set was shot at f/8.

What do you think?

A lens-format-converter app

I am routinely swapping lenses between my APS-C TL2 and full-frame SL2 or M240. These format switches bring changes in effective focal length and field-of-view. I have also done some shooting with digital medium format cameras recently. Here again, focal length and field of view differ from the full-frame standard.

I decided to build a personal lens-format-converter app, with which I could easily determine how these parameters changed. I recently described how I used Claude, the Anthropic large language model, to vibe code an effective focal length calculator. So, I built on that experience to generate this latest app. Here is a screenshot of the user interface.

It features an input field (with drop-down menu) for the native lens format, plus the lens focal length, as well as input fields for the camera format on which it will be used, and its sensor size.

The output is the effective focal length, field of view, and effective sensor size of the camera-lens pair. The app is a .html file which sits on my computer, opening up a new browser window when launched. I would like to take credit for the tasteful layout and colour palette, but that’s all the work of Claude.

Anamorphic adventures

I have written previously about shooting with a Sirui 35mm Super-35 T1.8 1.33-squeeze anamorphic lens on my TL2, so I will not spend much time on it here. It’s another example of exploiting the camera’s L-Mount to pair it with an interesting lens.

As mentioned above, I now have three 35mm lenses I can mount on the Leica TL2. So I thought it would be interesting to generate some three-way comparison shots. You saw some earlier. I have included further examples below, the first set of which were all shot wide-open.

In order to make it a fair comparison, I used a consistent vertical field of view for all three images in each set. This means there is white space either side of the spherical images, since the horizontal field of view of the anamorphic image is 30% wider. Here is the final set, shot at f/8.

I think the inexpensive TTArtisan and Sirui lenses both acquitted themselves honourably.

Big bazooka

Now for something completely different. A benefit of mounting a full-frame telephoto zoom on an APS-C-equipped TL2 is the resultant boost in effective focal length. My app tells me when fully extending my Sigma 100-400mm telephoto zoom, I achieve an effective 602.9mm focal length and 4.1° field of view.

This extra reach has come in handy in recent projects, pursuing images of the sun and the moon, ideally adjacent to notable terrestrial landmarks.

The TL2 almost looks like an afterthought, tacked on the rear of a bazooka-like telephoto lens sitting happily atop a tall tripod. For the moon shots, where accurate manual focus is critical, I used a Leica Visoflex 02 attached to the TL2.

Come to think of it, all the images in this article were taken using manual focus, since none of the 35mm lenses I employed possess autofocus.

Here are a couple of shots of the moon, as it passed through its phases, taken with this set up.

Leica APS-C photography

While it is unfortunate that Leica no longer produces these beautifully designed, compact, interchangeable-lens cameras, I, for one, still enjoy using them.

I entered the world of Leica APS-C photography well after the company had discontinued production of the TL2. I was drawn to it as an alternative way to use my M lenses, and the appeal of owning such a gorgeous device. But I have steadily come to appreciate both its versatility and ease of use.

Coupled with lenses at the short end of the focal-length spectrum, it offers a very compact and lightweight package, easily covering popular focal lengths. Coupled with full-frame lenses at the long end of the focal-length range, it provides a welcome boost in reach. It has no in-body-image-stablisation though, and so a tripod becomes obligatory.

I do not plan to abandon my full-frame L-Mount cameras and lenses any time soon, but I am pleased to also have a small stake in Leica APS-C photography. If your budget can handle it, and you are after a fun way to make the most of your L-Mount lens collection, I can highly recommend tracking down a Leica TL2.

It’s a bargain

You can find links to other articles featured in our APS-C-week coverage in the table below.

By the way, my TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 silver-finish APS-C lens cost $68 plus tax.

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The future of APS-C systems	Leica’s use of its APS-C technology in FF devices
More articles from Keith James	Leica v Fujifilm APS-C
Ways to use Leica APS-C lenses	The end of Leica APS-C

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