In summary
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16–35 f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is one of the largest and most solidly-construction lenses in its category and will make a useful ‘workhorse’ lens for professional users.
This lens is well suited to applications like landscape and architectural photography, where its low distortion levels will be appreciated. For similar reasons it can also useful for group portraits as well as wedding, event, and concert photography. Photojournalists who work in confined spaces and shoot stills and video could also find it a valuable addition to their kit.
Full review
Launched in April 2018, the Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16–35 f/3.5-4.5 ASPH. completes the trio of zoom lenses for the Leica SL system, overlapping with the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm f/2.8-4 ASPH, which we reviewed in January 2017. The third lens in the trio is the APO-Vario-Elmarit-SL 90–280 f/2.8–4, which we haven’t reviewed. The 16-35mm lens is a bit smaller than the 24-90mm lens but remains one of the largest and most solidly-construction lenses in its category and will make a useful ‘workhorse’ lens for professional users.
The Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16–35 f/3.5–4.5 ASPH. lens. (Source: Leica Camera.)
The optical design of the lens (shown below) contains a total of 18 elements in 12 groups. Among them two aspherical elements for correcting monochrome aberrations plus three elements made from glass with anomalous partial dispersion to address chromatic aberrations.
This diagram shows the positions of the two aspherical lens elements plus the lightweight focusing group. (Source: Leica Camera.)
The lens design also uses an improved mount geometry and high-quality coating to minimise reflections and stray light within the optical system. Multi-layer coatings have also been applied to reduce flare and ghosting and provide increased contrast when working in backlit conditions.
Internal focusing is driven by a specially developed focusing drive that uses a stepping motor and linear guide to control the positioning of a single group of paired elements and ensure the length of the lens remains constant. This lightweight group can be moved extremely quickly and almost silently.
The robust metal construction and complete dust and splash water protection makes this lens useful in adverse conditions.
Who’s it For?
Put simply, owners of a Leica SL-series camera who want a wide-angle zoom lens to complement existing lenses. It could also be used on Leica TL and CL cameras (which have APS-C-sized sensors), where it will provide a 24-53mm equivalent focal length range.
This lens is well suited to applications like landscape and architectural photography, where its low distortion levels will be appreciated. For similar reasons it can also useful for group portraits as well as wedding, event, and concert photography. Photojournalists who work in confined spaces and shoot stills and video could also find it a valuable addition to their kit.
Unfortunately, it’s not particularly fast, with an f/3.5 maximum aperture at 16mm that drops to f/4.5 at 35mm. The minimum focus of 25 cm remains relatively constant throughout the focal length range.
Build and Ergonomics
Made in Germany, the Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16–35 f/3.5-4.5 lens has a diameter of 88 mm and is 123 mm long without its end caps and lens hood. Build quality is up to Leica’s class-leading standards, with an all-metal body and weather-resistant sealing plus an AquaDura coating on the external surfaces of optical elements to prevent water, oil, dirt and other particles from sticking to the surface and provide some protection against scratches.
The lens barrel is finished in a low-gloss black with wide focusing and zoom rings that have thick ridges to provide a secure grip. There’s no aperture ring or distance scale and no depth-of-field indicator. These settings are controlled from the camera’s menu.
Zooming is also internal and the front element does not rotate so users can fit angle-critical filters without hassles. Like other lenses in the trio, this lens accepts 82 mm diameter filters. The front section of the lens barrel carries the bayonet mounting for the supplied lens hood.
This diagram shows the main physical components. (Source: Leica Camera.)
The focusing ring is located roughly 22 mm behind the front edge of the barrel. It’s 25 mm wide and turns freely through 180 degrees. There are hard stops at either end to show when the focus is at the minimum focus or infinity. The close focusing limit for the lens is 25mm, which does not provide macro capabilities but will allow some close-up capabilities at the 35 mm focal length.
Behind the focusing ring is a 5 mm wide unmarked section of the lens barrel that separates the focusing and zoom rings. The zoom ring is approximately 40 mm wide with an unridged 5 mm wide section around its trailing edge.
Engraved into this section are focal length settings for 16mm, 19mm 21mm, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm, which line up against the white line on the section of the lens barrel behind the ring. We found they corresponded well with the Exif metadata recorded in the image files.
The lens barrel continues for another 20 mm before stepping in to the very solid metal mounting plate, which is about 60 mm in diameter and made of very solid stainless steel. The lens is supplied with front and end caps plus a generous, rectangular lens hood that resembles the hoods on serious movie lenses.
Performance
The review lens turned in a competent – but unspectacular – performance in our Imatest tests. While JPEGs fell slightly below expectations at the highest resolution, DNG.RAW files converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw were just able to meet expectations.
Fortunately, although edge softening was apparent at wider apertures across the zoom range, centre resolution remained fairly consistent but fell slightly as focal length was increased. Diffraction took effect from about f/10 onwards as shown in the graph of our test results below
Without internal corrections applied by the camera, lateral chromatic aberration was greater than we normally see in image files and mostly remained in the ‘low’ CA band. In the graph of our test results below, the red line indicates the boundary between ‘negligible’ and ‘low’ CA and the green line the border between ‘low’ and ‘moderate’ CA.
Interestingly, converted raw files (in which chromatic aberration is corrected by default in Adobe Camera Raw) showed this aberration to be negligible to low, indicating it’s worth applying in-camera corrections. Traces of blue fringing were observed towards the edges in DNG.RAW shots in contrasty conditions, suggesting it is a relatively minor issue.
Backlit subjects were handled better with raw files than JPEGs and flare artefacts were common when the camera was pointed towards a bright light source. Examples are provided in the Samples section below.
We found little in the way of rectilinear distortion in either JPEGs or DNG.RAW files. Slight vignetting could be seen in raw files at the widest aperture settings with all focal lengths, although it was barely noticeable.
Autofocusing was quite fast – although not super-snappy – and also virtually silent, which is good for photographers who shoot video. We found no indication of camera sounds in any of the video clips we recorded and the AF system performed well when tracking moving subjects.
Bokeh was smoother than expected for such a wide angle lens and we found no instances of outlined highlights, even at 16mm. Bokeh fringing, a common characteristic with faster lenses, was not detected.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Picture angle: 105.6 degrees to 64.6 degrees
Minimum aperture: f/22
Lens construction: 18 elements in 12 groups (including 2 aspherical plus 3 elements with anomalous partial dispersion glass)
Lens mount: Leica L bayonet mount
Diaphragm Blades: (circular aperture)
Weather resistance: Weather-sealed with AquaDura coating on front and rear optical surfaces
Focus drive: Stepping motor plus floating elements
Stabilisation: No
Minimum focus: 25 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.13 to 0.27x
Filter size: 82 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 88 x 123 mm
Weight: 990 grams
Standard Accessories: Front and rear caps, lens hood, lens bag
Distributor: Leica Camera Australia, (03) 9248 4444.
TESTS
Based on JPEG files taken with the Leica SL2-S camera.
Based on DNG.RAW files recorded simultaneously and converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at 16mm, f/3.5.
Vignetting at 20mm, f/3.8.
Vignetting at 24mm, f/4.1.
Vignetting at 28mm, f/4.4.
Vignetting at 35mm, f/4.5.
Rectilinear distortion at 16mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 20mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 24mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 28mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 35mm.
Close-up at 16mm f/3.5, ISO 100, 1/1000 second.
Close-up at 19mm f/3.7, ISO 100, 1/1000 second.
Close-up at 21mm f/3.8, ISO 100, 1/1000 second.
Close-up at 24mm f/4.1, ISO 100, 1/1000 second.
Close-up at 28mm f/4.4, ISO 100, 1/640 second.
Close-up at 35mm f/4.5, ISO 100, 1/1250 second.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/80 second at f/16.
20mm, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/16.
24mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/16.
28mm, focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/16.
35mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/16.
Side-lit scene; 35mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/20 second at f/9.
Crop from the centre of the above image at 100% magnification.
Crop from the corner of the image at 100% magnification showing egde softening.
Crop from the edge of the above image at 100% magnification showing traces of coloured fringing.
Flare artefacts in a DNG.RAW file taken in strong backlighting; 14mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/11.
Sunstar in a shot taken at16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/40 second at f/18.
Sunstar and flare artefacts with the 35mm focal length at, ISO 100, 1/50 second at f/18.
Angular distortion at 21mm focal length, caused by tilting the camera; ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/13.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/8 second at f/16.
35mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/8.
35mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/50 second at f/10.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/80 second at f/16.
35mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/40 second at f/13.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/9. (DNG.RAW original)
35mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/9. (DNG.RAW original)
Additional image samples and test results can be found with our review of the Leica SL2-S camera.
Rating
RRP: AU$8800; US$6295
- Build: 9.0
- Handling: 8.9
- Image quality: 8.8
- Autofocusing: 8.9
- Versatility: 8.8
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