Leica.Connect | Experiencing the Leica SL3-P in SoHo, NYC with Mark Mann

On Friday, August 8, we spent a late afternoon in SoHo with Mark Mann and a group of photographers, working with the new Leica SL3-P and photographing model and dancer Kelsey Cauthen.

We left the SoHo store at 460 West Broadway and worked our way lower into Manhattan, using the neighborhood as the set: cast iron, painted-over graffiti, and a few blocks that hold light well at that hour. This was a portrait walk rather than a street walk, and that difference set the pace for the whole afternoon. Nobody was waiting for a moment to happen. There was a subject, a background to photograph her against, and a few minutes of usable light before the group moved on to the next corner. Find the background first, then place the person in it, then work the frame until it holds together.

Everybody got hands on the camera, direction from Mark on the picture itself, and answers on the SL3-P body and the menus from the Camera West SoHo team and Leica’s Rob Passman.

LEICA SL3-P · f/4 · 1/60 · ISO 500 · 28mm

Everyone was on the same kit, SL3-P bodies with the Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70 f/2.8, which made the differences easy to see. Same subject, same corner, same lens, and no two people came back with the same photograph. Some stayed near 28mm and let the buildings crowd in around her. Others sat at 70mm wide open and let the street fall away. A few closed down to f/8 and dragged the shutter to a fifth of a second so she blurred and the block stayed sharp. One turned around and photographed the group itself, standing on the corner waiting for the light to change.

Special thanks to the photographers who joined us and shared their work from the event, featured below:

• Blake Buettner, @blake_buettner
• Hetanshi Vakta, @hetanshivakta
• Charles Viers, @charlesdotviers

Charles Viers – @charlesdotviers LEICA SL3-P f/2.8 · 1/320 · ISO 100 · 50mm Hetanshi Vakta – @hetanshivakta LEICA SL3-P f/3.2 · 1/500 · ISO 1000 · 28mm Hetanshi Vakta – @hetanshivakta LEICA SL3-P f/5.6 · 1/1000 · ISO 1000 · 70mm Charles Viers – @charlesdotviers LEICA SL3-P f/2.8 · 1/125 · ISO 125 · 70mm Hetanshi Vakta – @hetanshivakta LEICA SL3-P f/5.6 · 1/4000 · ISO 1000 · 35mm Blake Buettner – @blake_buettner LEICA SL3-P f/6.3 · 1/125 · ISO 100 · 70mm Hetanshi Vakta – @hetanshivakta LEICA SL3-P f/10 · 1/80 · ISO 1000 · 43mm Hetanshi Vakta – @hetanshivakta LEICA SL3-P f/2.8 · 1/800 · ISO 500 · 70mm Blake Buettner – @blake_buettner LEICA SL3-P f/2.8 · 1/250 · ISO 200 · 70mm Blake Buettner – @blake_buettner LEICA SL3-P f/2.8 · 1/250 · ISO 100 · 70mm Blake Buettner – @blake_buettner LEICA SL3-P f/4.5 · 1/640 · ISO 100 · 33mm