Historically, I’ve been quick to post first impressions of any significant gear acquisition, only to find later that I was probably too optimistic in my early assessment. So after deciding to do round two with a 100-400mm SL zoom a few weeks ago, I kept quiet while I got familiar with how it performs on the SL2.

My previous copy was shot largely on a CL and sparingly on an SL2-S. I don’t have any recollection of having an SL2 at the time I owned the lens and I don’t have access to my archives at the moment. More importantly, autofocus in the SL2 (S) bodies has been improved dramatically by firmware 6, which was not out at the time I previously owned the lens. So it feels like an entirely new experience.

Upon its introduction, the lens bore the brunt of criticism from a lot of people who either never gave it a fair chance or never used it at all. Made in Japan with an optical formula like the Sigma 100-400mm DG DN, it mostly got scorned as a rebadged Sigma.

Having owned the SLR version of the Sigma zoom as well as two different copies of the mirrorless L-mount version, I can tell you that it’s not a “rebadge.” I don’t pretend to know what Leica did, but on the SL2 the lens is on par with a couple of the best 100-400mm zooms ever made.

The funny thing about it is that its suggested retail is actually lower than that of the other two. The specifics, wherefores, and whys I don’t know. But what I do know is that this is one gift horse that’s gonna get ridden a lot.

SL2/75mm Summilux-M . . .