June 19, 2024

Los Angeles (Photo) Vibes

Seeking a change of scenery and some foodie adventures, I decided to visit Los Angeles, even though it is not my first choice for a change of scene location. However, its diversity of cuisines makes up for it, long commutes notwithstanding. Los Angeles didn’t disappoint — Glendale, Torrance and Thai Town all delivered what I was looking for: some great food.

If food was my first reason, the second reason I wanted to visit Los Angeles was to put my Leica SL3 through its paces. As you know, I am conducting a long-term review of the camera, comparing it with SL, SL2, and SL2-S. I don’t have any strong opinions yet. What I do know is that I need to sell my SL2 — the new SL3 is simply better. (If you are interested, get in touch.)

Los Angeles has wonderful light, and even during the harsh mid-afternoon, the light is still wonderful. With Leica’s 50mm and 90mm M-mount lenses, I wanted to capture some images while out and about. I was hoping some opportunities would arise while walking to restaurants and coffee shops. Given that I was staying in downtown LA, I felt there would also be ample opportunities for me to capture the Disney Center during the golden hour.

Disney Center has been on my wish list for making photographs, and I didn’t walk away disappointed. I am still sorting through the images, but I have a small set that I am looking forward to sitting down and tweaking. The objective is to end up with four great interpretations of the iconic building.

Before sharing photos of the Disney Center, I thought it would be a good idea to share some images captured while out and about. These were created using the SL3 and Leica’s standard color profile. I didn’t make any changes to the images. I used an “embedded camera profile” in Adobe Lightroom, applied lens corrections, and adjusted the exposure. I think they are a good showcase of what SL3 can produce.

At first blush, even though the SL3 uses the same 61-megapixel sensor as Leica’s M11 camera, I found the images to be less saturated and more natural. To my eyes, M11 produces images that I find to be too saturated. I also find that M11 images felt very “hot” and needed a lot of editing. In comparison, SL3 images feel perfectly normal — something you should expect from a Leica camera.

Here are some photos from my trip.