Top 10
The best new tech heading your way
1 LEICA SL3
£5,920, leica-camera.com
When the market for premium full-frame mirrorless cameras exploded at the turn of the decade, there was one name notably absent. Leica released the flagship SL in 2017, and the SL2 in 2019; while the latter (and its 2020 sort-of-sequel, the SL2-S) was enough to sate die-hard fans of the German brand, the SL3 is its first new full-frame flagship in almost five years. And it shows, without doubt, that Leica still means business.
Marginally smaller than its predecessor, the SL3 naturally jams in a lot more in the way of power, pulling in the Leica Q3’s Maestro IV processor and pairing it with an 8Gb buffer. That doesn’t necessarily translate to super-fast stills shooting, with an average of around 5fps if you need autofocus and 14-bit shooting, or up to 15fps if you’re happy locking down the focus and exposure. But it does translate to some serious video chops, as the SL3 can send 8K 30p in 10-bit colour to a CFExpress card while simultaneously throwing a 4K feed through its full-size HDMI output.
But the real innovation here comes in the form of greater control. Leica has completely overhauled the user interface, both by adding a third command dial and entirely redesigning the touch controls it first introduced in 2014’s compact Leica T. This is a camera designed to be used, and one which puts everything professionals and cash-rich amateurs need right at their fingertips.
The SL3 is like a greatest hits camera. Besides having the processor of the Q3 and the interface of the T series, the sensor here, a massive 60MP BSI CMOS number, comes from the M11 compact snapper.
TS SAYS...
The SL3 should shoot for longer thanks to a larger 15.8Wh battery – Leica reckons it’s good for 1,350 shots. And if you’re setting up for a long day of fixed-position shooting, you can buy a dummy battery with a Type-C port, keeping the SL3 powered without tying up its built-in USB socket.
Leica isn’t doing this alone, as its tech partnership with Panasonic is still ongoing. In this case Panasonic seems to have dished up (amongst other things) the SL3’s subject recognition functionality, which can both reliably detect humans and focus track teensy objects.
2 SAMSUNG GALAXY A55
From £439, samsung.com
If Samsung keeps blurring the lines like this, we’d wager the flagship end of its phone business might take something of a knock. The A55, just the latest in the A-series to impress with higher-end functions in a lower-end shell, now introduces features like Samsung’s Knox Vault hardware security, as well as offering up an AI-assisted camera package that ups the A-series low-light game and introduces 12-bit HDR video. The A5
