The Leica SL2 was only introduced recently; yet the busy SL photographer, Tino Scherer, who was one of the first photographer allowed to try out the camera, can no longer imagine not having it as one of his working tools. We take a look at three of his recent projects, where he used the new Leica camera. 

Leica SL2

It's your choice.

Heading into the mountains

The Schilthorn is a well-known, much visited mountain in the Bernese Alps, that rises 2970 metres above sea level. Located at its peak is the Piz Gloria revolving restaurant, that Scherer photographed at sunset from a helicopter. This picture, that adorns the cover of the current issue of the Leica Courrier, was taken during a photo shoot for the Schilthornbahn AG (train). Taking photographs from a helicopter demands concentration, precise planning and speed. With its internal image stabiliser, the SL2 was able to do a convincing job, evening out what was, at times, considerable shaking. The SL2’s reduced concept also proved to be very user-friendly during this challenging photo shoot, making it possible for Tino to take perfect pictures with the camera, even while he was wearing gloves.

Out on the water with the Swiss Wakeboard Champion  

In September, Scherer photographed the frequent and current Swiss Wakeboard Champion, and 2015 European Champion, Sam Lutz out on Zurich’s Obersee. Perfect preparation is the be all and end all for action shooting. Scherer also studied the details for this project with great care: optimal lighting conditions at sunset, a Super Air Nautique G23, a boat that forms the perfect kind of wakeboard wave, and, of course, a boarder who can produce spectacular trick at the perfect time. You need a lot of patience before everything comes together like it does in these pictures. You also need a camera that does exactly what the photographer has in mind. Tino took the pictures with the SL2 with a Summilux-SL 50 f/1.4 ASPH. Because he is one of those photographers who, on principle, focuses manually, the challenges in this case were also great. A small but refined feature of the SL2 that proved very useful for these images, was the individually applicable function buttons. With one of the two function buttons on the front side, that Tino used with the detail magnification to focus manually, it was possible to focus very precisely – even with a virtually fully open aperture and a very low level of sharpness.

One of the oldest types of cheese in Europe

The final assignment for Tino Scherer took him to the interior of Switzerland, where he photographed every one of Sbrinz’s 26 cheese types. The traditional Sbrinz hard cheese (AOP) is among the oldest sorts of cheese in Europe. Using traditional methods, it is made by hand, primarily in the cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden and Lucerne. The number of locations, the diversity of the landscapes, the different light conditions, the moods and even the motifs, were enormous. The photographer took on these special challenges using the universal Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 f/2.8-4.0 ASPH. lens on the Leica SL2. Its new sensor and the rich resolution of practically 50MP, made it possible to produce cropped, different-format images in post-production. The high light sensitivity of 800-1600 ISO required in certain situations was no obstacle, delivering low-noise, razor-sharp images. In contrast to the high-speed action pictures, this assignment was not about speed; rather it was slowness that played an important role – for the individual stories as much as for the cheese production. 

Tino Scherer grew up in a small village in Switzerland. Today he lives in Lucerne and works as a sports and lifestyle photographer for many well-known brands, such as Audi and Adidas.

You can find out more about the photographer on his website.