LEICA SUPER-VARIO-ELMAR-SL 16-35MM IN-DEPTH REVIEW
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THE WIDE-ANGLE ZOOM FOR THE LEICA SL IS HERE: SEE HOW IT PERFORMS IN THIS LEICA SUPER-VARIO-ELMAR-SL 16-35MM F/3.5-4.5 ASPH IN-DEPTH REVIEW!
After a long wait, with the release of the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH, in April 2018 Leica completed the classic trio of zoom lenses for their Leica SL professional mirrorless camera system. In this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review I’ll examine this new zoom’s performance as far as sharpness, distortion, flare, drawing, and so on.
Since the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH overlaps with the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm F/2.8-4 ASPH at the long end, and since many Leica SL users made do so far with the wonderful, little Voigtlander 15mm Super-Wide Heliar at the wide end, it should prove interesting to see how the newcomer compares with both of them. This is even more interesting for me, since these lenses have been my workhorses for the last couple of year of work with the Leica SL.
As always, please keep in mind that all my reviews are made under the point of view of a Fine Art Landscape Photographer: if your genre of photography is different, my findings might not apply to you and your work.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am a Leica Ambassador. That said, I am a professional photographer looking for the best equipment for my work, I buy all my gear with my hard-earned cash and I don’t get paid by anyone to write articles for my blog.
Finally, I’d like to thank the great guys at NEWOLDCAMERA in Milan for fulfilling my order incredibly fast, sending me the very first copy of this lens they received: once more, their service has been impeccable.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am not affiliated with NewOldCamera in any way.
Let’s get this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH review started now!
BUILD, SIZE AND WEIGHT
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is built like a tank, its all-metal body is weather-sealed, beautiful to hold and use. The lens feels like it can withstand anything you’ll throw at it, something fundamental for my work in extreme weather conditions.
The body of the lens featured in this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review is extremely solid, with no rattles, internal moving parts or noises of any kind. Focussing or zooming will not make the lens barrel extend, nor its front element rotate. This is great for photographers like me, relying on the use of filters for their work.
With its 88mm diameter and 123mm height, weighing at 990 gr, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL size is in line with similar 16-35mm f/4 lenses from Nikon or Canon, and slightly larger than the Sony 16-35mm f/4 Vario-Tessar. For reference, the Nikkor AF-S 16-35mm f/4 is 81mm wide by 124mm high weighing at 660 gr.; the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4 is 82mm wide by 113mm high weighing at 615 gr.; finally, the Vario-Tessar is 78mm wide by 99mm high weighing in 518gr. While all these lenses are lighter, let’s keep in mind that all of them are made of plastic, not metal like the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL.
On paper, the new Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is just a bit smaller and lighter than the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm. In use, however, thanks to the non-extending lens design, the 16-35mm feel much smaller, lighter and compact than the 24-90mm.
A curiosity. The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH shows focal length markings for 19mm and 21mm, rather than the more usual 20mm seen i.e. on Nikon and Canon’s 16-35mm offers. I take this as an homage to Leica’s classic 19mm and 21mm lenses for the Leica R. The full series of focal length markings on the lens barrel is 16mm, 19mm, 21mm, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm.
USE OF FILTERS
The ability of using my 100mm square filter system is fundamental for me when I choose a lens. Going with the larger, heavier, more cumbersome 150mm square filter system is not an option for me, if I can at all avoid it. The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH has a standard 82mm filter thread, allowing me to use my beloved Formatt-Hitech Firecrest Ultra kit with an 82mm standard ring.
Starting October 2021, I am a proud Ambassador for H&Y Filters, in my opinion simply the best filters out there with the most innovative, easy to use, practical filter holder (see my BEST FILTERS FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY and BEST 100MM FILTER HOLDER FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY articles for more info).
Thanks to my relationship with H&Y Filter, I am happy to offer you a 10% discount on H&Y FILTRI, their Italian distributor’s website. Just use code Vieri10 at checkout to enjoy your discount!
IN USE: FOCUSING AND DIAPHRAGM
Autofocusing the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is quite fast and nearly silent. The lens never hunts, and focus is precise. The ability of moving the focus point with the Leica SL’s joystick all over the frame is great for landscape photography with the camera on a tripod, when focussing and recomposing might not be feasible. More, the magnifications of focus area feature of the Leica SL make achieving perfect focus a breeze. Compared to the near-instantly focussing Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is slightly slower: for my landscape work, however, the lens is definitely fast enough.
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH uses a “focus-by-wire” system to manual focus the lens: in practice, this means that manually turning the focus ring will tell the lens in which direction, and how much, to move focus electronically. More, there is no infinity stop on the focus ring. This is the same system used by all SL Vario lenses. The focus ring on the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is extremely well damped and feels great in use. As with other SL zoom lenses, focus precision is great, and there isn’t any serious lag to worry about.
Aperture is controlled directly by the camera, and no manual aperture ring is present on the lens itself.
SHARPNESS AT INFINITY
Methodology: using my usual “real world” test scene, I manually focussed on the trees on the far ridge in the middle of the frame using the maximum focus area magnification for precise focus. I then prepared 100%, 900 x 600 px crops of the center, top left corner and mid-right side at full-stop apertures ranging from wide open to f/11. When comparing lenses, of course I left the tripod unmoved. My Leica SL had Firmware 3.2 installed.
16mm
Let’s start looking at the full scene first, compared with the Voigtlander 15mm to see how much difference there is in real-world use between the 105.6 degrees angle of view of the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH at 16mm and the 110 degrees of the Voigtlander 15mm (click on the images to enlarge):
Let’s now examine the crops in detail, starting with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in the center (click on the images to enlarge):
Sharpness in the center is amazing, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH wide open at f/3.5 is simply perfectly sharp. Stopping down, the lens stays perfectly sharp until f/8; sharpness then starts declining slightly from f/11 on due to diffraction.
Let’s see how the Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar 15mm compares (click on the images to enlarge):
The Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar 15mm offer its best performance in the center when wide open at f/4.5. Stopping down, sharpness starts declining slightly from f/5.6 and clearly from f/8 on due to diffraction.
Let’s now examine the top left corner, starting with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH (click on the images to enlarge):
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is almost perfect wide open at f/3.5, improving at f/4 to be perfectly sharp between f/5.6 and f/8 (probably slightly sharper at this last aperture). Sharpness starts declining slightly from f/11 due to diffraction.
Let’s see how the Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar 15mm behaves in the top left corner (click on the images to enlarge):
Performance here is definitely not great wide open, improving constantly until f/11. Since performance in the center behaves in the opposite way, I’d take this as a sign of field curvature.
Finally, let’s check the mid-right side, Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH first (click on the images to enlarge):
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH starts practically perfect here wide open, improving slightly until f/5.6 where it becomes just perfectly sharp staying that way at f/8 too. Sharpness starts declining slightly at f/11 due to diffraction.
Let’s check the Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar 15mm in the mid-right side (click on the images to enlarge):
Performance here is much better than in the top left corner: the lens starts off very strongly and keep its performance up to f/8. At f/11, sharpness starts declining due to diffraction.
24mm
Again, let’s see the full scene image first, compared with the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm. You can see that, at a reported focal length of 24mm for both lenses, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH covers a slightly wider angle of view than the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm (click on the images to enlarge):
Let’s examine the center crop first, starting with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH. Reported maximum aperture at 24mm is f/4.1 (click on the images to enlarge):
At 24mm as well, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH’s performance in the center of the frame is already perfect wide open at f/4.1. Stopping down, the lens stays perfectly sharp until f/8; sharpness then starts declining slightly from f/11 on due to diffraction.
Let’s see now how the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL compares at 24mm in the center (click on the images to enlarge):
The Vario-Elmarit-SL starts off near perfection wide open at f/2.8 and is perfectly sharp at f/4 and f/5.6. Sharpness then starts declining slightly from f/8 on due to diffraction.
Let’s examine the top left corner now, Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH first (click on the images to enlarge):
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH performs extremely well wide open at f/4.1, improves further at f/5.6 and is perfectly sharp at f/8. After that, sharpness starts declining slightly from f/11 due to diffraction.
Let’s see the Vario-Elmarit-SL in the top left corner now (click on the images to enlarge):
Wide open at f/2.8, the Vario-Elmarit-SL is definitely softer than his newer brother wide open: let’s keep in mind that there is one stop of difference between lenses at this focal length though. Sharpness picks up at f/4, to be nearly perfect at f/5.6, starting to decline again at f/8 due to diffraction.
Finally, let’s go check the mid right side of the frame, as always starting with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH (click on the images to enlarge):
Here too, the performance of the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH wide open at f/4.1 is perfect. Stopping down, the lens stays perfectly sharp until f/8; sharpness then starts declining slightly from f/11 on due to diffraction.
Let’s see how the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm performed here (click on the images to enlarge):
Again, the Vario-Elmarit-SL starts off nearly perfect wide open at f/2.8 and is perfectly sharp at f/4 and f/5.6. Sharpness then starts declining slightly from f/8 on due to diffraction.
35mm
As always, let’s see the full scene image first, compared with the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm. Again, you can see how, at a reported focal length of 35mm for both lenses, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH covers a slightly wider angle of view than the Vario-Elmarit-SL (click on the images to enlarge):
Let’s see first how the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH behaved in the center (click on the images to enlarge):
Again, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH starts off perfectly sharp in the center wide open at f/4.5 and stays that way until f/8. Sharpness then starts declining slightly from f/11 on due to diffraction.
Let’s check out the Vario-Elmarit-SL in the center (click on the images to enlarge):
The Vario-Elmarit-SL also starts off perfectly sharp in the center wide open at f/3.1 and stays that way until f/8, where sharpness starts declining slightly due to diffraction. At 35mm in the center of the frame, the Vario-Elmarit-SL seems to be resolving more fine detail than the Super-Vario-Elmar-SL.
Let’s now check the top left corner, Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH first (click on the images to enlarge):
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH starts off great at f/4.5, and sharpness increases until f/8 where the lens is perfectly sharp. As usual, sharpness starts declining slightly from f/11 on due to diffraction.
Let’s see how the Vario-Elmarit-SL behaves in the top left corner (click on the images to enlarge):
Almost perfect wide-open at f/3.1, the Vario-Elmarit-SL starts off even better than the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH. Sharpness then improves to be practically perfect at f/5.6 and start declining again after f/8 due to diffraction.
Last, let’s see how the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH behaves at 35mm in the mid right of the frame (click on the images to enlarge):
Once more, a perfect performance from wide open at f/4.5 to f/8, and a very slight decline in sharpness at f/11, as always due to diffraction.
How about the Vario-Elmarit-SL? Let’s see (click on the images to enlarge):
The Vario-Elmarit-SL starts off slightly softer wide open at f/3.1 than the lens in this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review, to become perfect at f/5.6. Sharpness declines as expected after f/8 due to diffraction.
SHARPNESS AT CLOSE FOCUSING DISTANCE AND BOKEH
To examine sharpness at close focusing distance, as well as to see how the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH draws out-of-focus areas, I focused on the Phillips screw right under the mailbox’s red flag in the lower right corner of the frame (about 70cm from the lens barrel). Together with the full frame image, I included 100% crops taken at the point of focus, to check out sharpness, and center crops to see what happens in out-of-focus areas near infinity.
16mm
Let’s see the full image first, again compared with the Voigtlander 15mm to see how much difference there is in real-world use between their respective angle of view (click on the images to enlarge):
Let’s now examine sharpness at the point of focus, starting with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH (click on the images to enlarge):
Wide open at f/3.5, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH’s performance is already extremely strong. Sharpness improves steadily stopping down, with best results between f/5.6 and f/8, where the lens is practically perfectly sharp. At f/11, as expected, diffraction takes its toll.
Let’s now compare it with the Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar 15mm at point of focus (click on the images to enlarge):
At close distances, the Voigtlander’s corner performance is much better than at infinity. Sharpness at the point of focus is already very good wide open at f/4.5, improves at f/5.6 and the lens is perfectly sharp at f/8. With f/11, diffraction starts making the image softer again.
Let’s see now how the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH renders out-of-focus areas at far distances in the center of the frame (click on the images to enlarge):
And the Voigtlander 15mm Super-Wide Heliar v. III (click on the images to enlarge):
While not the first lenses coming to mind for their out-of-focus capabilities, both the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH at 16mm and the Voigtlander 15mm Super-Wide Heliar v. III render out-of-focus areas nicely, gaining sharpness gracefully stopping down.
24mm
Again, comparing full frame images you can see that also at close focusing distances at a reported focal length of 24mm the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH covers a slightly wider field of view than the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm (click on the images to enlarge):
Let’s now examine sharpness at the point of focus, starting with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH (click on the images to enlarge):
Again, we witness an amazing performance here for the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH, which starts off nearly perfectly sharp wide open at f/4.1, becoming perfectly sharp at f/5.6 and f/8. Diffraction kicks in at f/11, as expected.
Let’s compare it now with the Vario-Elmarit-SL (click on the images to enlarge):
The Vario-Elmarit-SL is equally impressive, and even more so considering that it’s one stop faster than its wider sibling.
Let’s check now out-of-focus rendition at 24mm, starting with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH (click on the images to enlarge):
And the Vario-Elmarit-SL, keeping in mind the extra stop advantage (click on the images to enlarge):
At 24mm, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH draws pleasantly, increasing sharpness nicely stopping down. Personally, I find bokeh to be slightly nervous after f/5.6. While I like the way it draws, I find that the Vario-Elmarit-SL draws in a much nicer way wide open thanks to the extra stop, and keeps a smoother character even at apertures equal to those of the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH.
35mm
Once more, comparing full frame images you can see that at 35mm the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH covers a slightly wider angle of view than the Vario-Elmarit-SL also at closer focusing distances (click on the images to enlarge):
Let’s start once more examining sharpness at the point of focus, Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH (click on the images to enlarge):
One more 10/10 performance for the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH here: the lens starts off perfectly sharp wide open at f/4.5 and stays equally sharp all the way to f/11.
Let’s compare it with the Vario-Elmarit-SL now (click on the images to enlarge):
The Vario-Elmarit-SL also show a perfect performance.
Let’s check now out-of-focus rendition at 35mm, the “tele” end of the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH (click on the images to enlarge):
And the Vario-Elmarit-SL (click on the images to enlarge):
Once more, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH draws very nicely at 35mm as well, where in my opinion its out-of-focus rendition is at its best. The Vario-Elmarit-SL behaves also very pleasantly here, with a smooth transition along the f/stop scale.
SHARPNESS CONCLUSIONS
In short, the performance of the lens in this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review is very impressive, being almost perfectly sharp all over the frame, at any focal length and at any aperture, both when focussed at infinity and when focussed very close. A minimal, slight softness in the corner at 16mm wide open aside, as far as sharpness is concerned this lens is nothing short of an optical feat.
Compared to the Voigtlander 15mm, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH wins hands down. Compared to the amazing Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm, the new Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is as good if not better. However, the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm has about one stop advantage at all comparable focal length, which might make it more suitable for your work.
VIGNETTE AND COLOUR RENDITION
In real world use, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH shows a hint of vignetting at wider focal lengths, especially wide open. Personally, I find this vignette not disturbing at all; it is something I wouldn’t feel the need to correct for 95% of my images. In fact, I often add some vignette in post-processing to my images, to help drawing the viewer’s eye towards the more important areas of my photographs.
Colour rendition is very pleasant to my eye and is in line with the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm, making for a great duo in the field for work where colour consistency between lenses is required.
DISTORTION
To check for distortion, I photographed my garage door, increasing contrast and adding straight red lines in PP to help seeing distortion better. Let’s see the results (click on the images to enlarge):
As you can see, the lens in this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review is extremely well controlled for distortion, with straight lines staying straight at every focal length.
Since I have been comparing the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH with the Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar 15mm version III and the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm f/2.8-4 ASPH for sharpness, while I was at it I decided to add distortion images for both these lenses as well. Please keep in mind that, to level the field, I applied Adobe CameraRaw’s Voigtlander, 15mm Super-Wide Heliar lens profile (click on the images to enlarge):
Both these lenses are equally well controlled for distortion, showing no signs of it whatsoever.
FLARE
During my test, I never used the provided lens hood; more, in the “mailbox” sequence I was shooting against the sun, and with the sun in the frame. Nevertheless, as you can see in the full frame images below, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH showed great contrast and resistance to flare (click on the images to enlarge):
CHROMATIC ABERRATIONS
In my “real world” test, I have never seen any sign of colour fringing and chromatic aberrations, even when shooting against the sun.
THOUGHTS ON THE FOCAL RANGE
When the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH was announced, I was in the camp of those who would have preferred a 12-24mm lens instead. My logic was that such a lens would have been wider, which I love, and would not have had any overlapping with the amazing 24-90mm. However, in time I changed my mind about Leica’s choice of range. Here’s why.
Optical quality, speed, weather-sealing, and everything else being equal:
– A 12-24mm would very likely have been bigger and heavier;
– A 12-24mm would very likely have required a bulbous front element, such as any other similar lens on the market, and therefore would have required me to use 150mm square filters which, as mentioned above, is something I’d do anything possible to avoid;
– Since my most used focal lengths range between 15mm and 35mm, a 12-24mm lens, being limited to 24mm on the long end, would have been less “universal” in terms of range for my work. I can easily see going out just with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH for many of the locations I routinely go to, while with a 12-24mm I would have needed to carry the 24-90mm as well.
Therefore, for my work, I find the 16-35mm focal range to be a good match with my existing kit. Of course, your requirements – and therefore your conclusion – might be different.
APERTURE: FIXED OR VARIABLE?
In designing the zooms for the Leica SL system, Leica seems to have chosen a variable aperture approach for all their lenses. The same decision went into the design of the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH.
While for your work you might have preferred to have a fixed f/4 or even a fixed f/2.8 lens instead, for me as a Fine Art Landscape photographer this is completely irrelevant since I do most of my work at f/8 – f/11 anyway. More, the difference between a fixed f/4 lens and a f/3.5-4.5 lens is negligible in terms both of light gathering and bokeh. Again, for me the lens being a f/3.5-4.5 instead than a fixed f/4, doesn’t make much difference if any at all. What counts is its optical quality.
THE DIGITAL CORRECTIONS CONUNDRUM
A heated debate about whether design of Leica SL’s lenses must only rely on optical excellence to produce great images, or whether is acceptable for them to be “helped” digitally by lens profiles, has been going on on the internet for a while now. To me, this is sort of a moot point: let me explain you why.
First of all, more than speaking about cameras and optics taken singularly, I always prefer to consider my gear in terms of a “system” of various pieces of equipment all working together towards a common goal, that of allowing me to create the best images I can in the easiest possible way. Much like other mirrorless systems, the Leica SL and its zoom lenses have been designed for the digital world, from the ground up, and are intended to work as a whole. The benefits of such an approach are as evident with the lens in this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review as they have been with all other native SL lenses so far.
Some quality of a lens can only be achieved through superior optical design and construction, especially by keeping built tolerances to an extreme minimum. Such qualities are sharpness, contrast (especially for fine detail), drawing and rendering, coma, flare resistance and so on.
Other qualities instead, such as vignette and distortion control, can be achieved with the help of software as well.
Now, if adding digital corrections for vignette or distortion impacted image quality, sharpness, contrast, micro-contrast or detail rendition in any way, I would agree with those preferring a full-optical approach to image quality.
However, images created with the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH are extremely sharp all over the frame, at all focal lengths and at any aperture; they have great flare resistance, great contrast, and so on. Examined at 200% as I routinely do, they don’t show any signs of digital stretching, or noise in the corners resulting either from digitally lifting vignette or from correcting distortion, nor they show any digitally-created artefacts of that sort. Therefore, whether vignette and distortion corrections are done optically or digitally, is of very little importance to me; is the result that counts.
In my opinion, rather than discussing to no end on the quality of either approach, our job as photographers should be that of taking such great image quality and put it to a good use, technically and especially artistically.
CONCLUSIONS
A long-waited and very welcome addition to the Leica SL’s native lens lineup, the lens in this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review didn’t disappoint: it is a superb, class-leading lens indeed.
Technically speaking, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is extremely sharp all over the frame at every focal length, at any distance, and at any aperture. For landscape work, using it at around f/8 will guarantee you flawless, perfectly sharp images from corner to corner. The lens is extremely resistant to flare, is very well contrasted at macro level and shows great micro-contrast as well. Distortion, vignette and chromatic aberrations are all either absent or very well corrected.
Artistically, the lens draws quite beautifully. Its arrival opens new possibilities for wide-angle photography with the Leica SL, using all the benefits of native lenses versus adapted lenses: fast and reliable autofocus, weather-sealing, perfect built and amazing image quality.
What about landscape work? Well, as always it depends on your preferences in terms of focal lengths. If, like me, you love to use wide-angle lenses, this lens is simply a no-brainer for existing Leica SL users or for people considering this system for landscape photography. It will free room in your bag and make your workflow better and more streamlined both in the field and in post-processing by replacing quite a few prime lenses, with equivalent or better optical quality and adding native AF, weather sealing and filter-friendliness to your arsenal of wide-angle lenses for the Leica SL.
In short, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH found a permanent room in my bag, and I can’t wait to put it to a good use in the field. Highly recommended.
Thanks for reading this Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH in-depth review, I hope you enjoyed it! Why don’t you share it with your friends, or drop me a comment to let me know how you feel about this?
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excellent presentation and factual – wonderful that those Leica users are always in awe what their lenses can produce…
our family use of Leica cameras is in fact a time period of over 65 years…
long may it continue john kelley
Thank you very much John, I am glad you enjoyed the review!
Best regards,
Vieri
All that is very nice, but once again, Leica falls short. They left out Image Stabilization in a lens that costs thousands of dollars! Both the 24-90 and 90-280 have it and it’s great.
Why they left it out is once again disappointing to those of us who are older photographers and really benefit from IS. I personally will look for third party alternatives instead, even if they don’t have IS, they will be a lot less expensive. Had this lens been made with IS, I would have bit the bullet and paid the price. Disappointment in Leica continues.
they didnt fall short at all .. its wide angle lens after all and there is no need for EVERYTHING to have IS build in … we are real photographers and we got skills for shooting and we know how to use the camera … so we dont need so much teach so we be lazy and we want everything ready to go …
everyone need to stop crying about over easy needs especially in photography … no one was crying back in the film days .. why we dont have this why we dont have that .. you roll the film .. do the 2 settings which is shutter and aperture and call it a day …
so enjoy what you have .. Leica is not stupid company to not add or add things .. they know what they do .. you like it .. welcome .. you dont .. then you know where to go
cheers
Hello Robert,
I am sorry that you are disappointed because Leica didn’t include IS in the 16-35mm. However, personal requirements aside you’ll have to admit that it is quite reasonable not to include IS in such a wide-angle zoom, and therefore I don’t think it’s fair to say that “once again, Leica falls short” just because they decided not to include a feature that you wanted or needed. That said, of course you are free to look for different solutions: luckily, Leica SL’s flexibility allows you to use pretty much any lens you want with it.
Best regards,
Vieri
Thanks for your comparison!
Thank you very your comment Elmar, glad you enjoyed it!
Best regards,
Vieri
Vieri
Many thanks for the review. As usual, excellent detail and scope. I’ve been using the SL with the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm and Voigtlander 15mm – mainly for landscape – I absolutely love the camera and the lenses. I’ve been waiting for the 16-35mm and I’m pleased to see it you’re not disappointed with the performance. I’m not sure yet whether the improvement over the 15mm is worth the price – always the headache for the amateur user! I think I’ll be checking my piggy-bank…
Hello Eddie,
thank you for your comment, I am glad you enjoyed the review. As you, I have been using the 24-90mm and the Voigtlander 15mm as my main kit for my professional Fine Art landscape work for about a couple of years now, and just loved what the little Voigtlander could do. While the Voigt is amazing in the center, the performance of the 16-35mm at 16mm is far superior to that of the 15mm in the corners, and the 16-35mm offers the added convenience of being a zoom lens. However, whether this is worth the almost tenfold increase in cost to you, only you can answer…
Best regards,
Vieri
Hi Vieri
Well, I couldn’t resist it – my 16-35 lens arrived yesterday. I gave it a short outing today and first impressions are very, very good. I’ll take it for a nice day out in Glencoe (a couple of hours drive from me and an area I think you know well!) over the next week or two for a proper test!
Once again, many thanks for the detailed review.
Best regards
Eddie
Hi Eddie,
that’s great! Enjoy your new lens, the 16-35mm is just wonderful – I brought it with me on the Dolomites in May, and loved it :) Yes, glance is an area I know very well and love very much – can’t wait to go back next Spring for my next Workshop there!
Thank you once more for your kind words about my articles, much appreciated indeed, I am glad you are finding them useful. Have a great Sunday! Best regards,
Vieri
Hello Vieri.
Thanks for the review. Could you maybe complete the picture of this lens by adding tests for the gaps at 28mm and 19/21mm ? Even if you have no direct comparison with other lenses.
Or maybe you have and could compare it to the WATE or a M Elmarit 28mm ?
Thanks for the interesting review.
Hello Stephen,
Thank you for your comment, I am glad you enjoyed the review. No, I am not planning to add any further comparisons for other focal lengths, sorry about that. I feel that 16 – 24 – 35mm is enough to give a pretty complete picture of what this lens can do, since both in my testing and in the field I cannot find any significant difference in performance at 21mm or 28mm that couldn’t be inferred looking at what you see here.
In short, the lens is closer to perfect at every focal length and any aperture than any zoom I have ever tried or seen tested :)
Best regards,
Vieri
Hi Vieri,
I have just bought the 16-35 for my SL2, which incidentally has IBIS, and to complement my APO Summicron SL 90mm and a recently acquired Leica 24-70mm SL. I have seen some of your stunning work and am wondering if four years later you have anything to add to the review? Also, what tripod do you use?
Thank you
Hello Michael,
thank you for your comment and for your kind words about my work, much appreciated. I stopped using the Leica SL system years ago now, so unfortunately I don’t have any further updates on the 16-35mm, sorry about that. Enjoy your new lens, best regards
Vieri