Leica SL has a
24.0MP Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Maestro II processor. On the other hand, Leica S2 has a
38.0MP Medium format (45 x 30 mm ) sized CCD sensor .
Leica S2's sensor provides 14MP more than Leica SL's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Leica SL's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the SL and S2 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Leica S2 has a 1.6x Larger sensor area than Leica SL. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
Both Leica SL and Leica S2 sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, SL has scored 88, 12 points higher than S2.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Leica SL |
88 |
25.0 bits |
13.4 Evs |
1821 ISO |
Leica S2 |
76 |
23.9 bits |
12.2 Evs |
824 ISO |