Weather sealing is incredibly important not only for inclement conditions, but dust-resistance. What’s more, it helps your camera gear work for a longer period of time. Lots of brands say their cameras have weather resistance. But only one really makes the best full frame camera gear with weather sealing. It’s Leica! And you’ll be surprised to see the reasons why!
Understanding LEica LEns Nomenclature
Some things about Leica SL lenses might not be very clear. So here are a few things worth quickly explaining:
- Summicron: Leica’s designation for a lens being an f2 maximum aperture
- SL: Meaning the lens is designed for full-frame L-mount cameras
- ASPH: Aspherical lens elements
- APO: Apochromatic design
- M: Designed for full-frame M-mount cameras
- Noctilux: Faster than f1.4
- Summilux: f1.4 through f1.7
- Summarit: f2.4 and f2.5
- Elmarit: f2.8
- Elmar: Around f3.4 to f4
- Summaron: f5.6
- Telyt: Long telephoto focal length
Understanding the Best Full Frame Camera Gear with Weather Sealing
Here’s what you need to know about the best full frame camera gear with weather sealing:
- You’re probably looking at this article and wondering why there are tons of wet cameras and lenses. That’s because we hold manufacturers to their marketing claims. Leica SL products have an IP durability rating most other camera manufacturers don’t offer. To that end, we need to ensure that the products can work according to their marketing claims. With that said, these are genuinely the best. The full frame camera gear with weather sealing presented here will be incredibly reliable.
- We’re specifically recommending Leica SL lenses in this roundup. Those lenses are for L Mount. They work with any Leica L-Mount camera and any Leica TL camera.
- Why are these the best full frame camera gear with weather sealing? Well, besides the IP durability, we’ve actually used this stuff in rough conditions and they’ve never failed us.
- All the best full frame camera gear with weather sealing are made by Leica. And they’ve done a great job with that too!
- These lenses have a metal exterior, so they’re durable enough to handle lots of abuse.
- Leica SL lenses are all autofocus. You can zone focus with them, but they’re not going to work the same as Leica M-mount lenses. Granted, there are some positively wonderful Leica M-mount lenses that you’ll be happy to adapt to the SL system. But you’ll lose autofocus, the IP-rated durability, and the overall feel of the package.
- On the Leica SL2, the Leica SL Prime Lenses will render their sharpest images because of the resolution of the sensor. Keep this in mind when doing things like printing photos of products for clients or retouching.
- On the Leica SL2-S, the Leica SL Prime Lenses will focus faster and help passionate photographers in low-light situations better. Our Editor in Chief uses the Leica SL2-S as his main camera for most situations.
Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-70mm f/2.8 ASPH.
- Not much heavier than the Sigma lens.
- Better built than the Sigma variant
- Faster focusing than the Sigma variant
- Good colors
- They basically did what Sigma should’ve done in the first place rather than just focusing so hard on just the optics.
- Weather sealing
- Very versatile
In our review, we state:
The Leica 24-70mm f2.8 SL is in this beautiful place between being pretty standard and pretty saturated regarding colors. It’s beneficial as a photographer. I like it, and when combined with the right sensor, it will mean your colors are that much better.
Essential Tech Specs
- 19 elements (3 with ASPH surfaces on both sides) in 15 groups
- Consistent f2.8 maximum aperture through full zoom range
- Fast internal focusing with a single, lightweight lens element
- Compact dimensions and lighter weight thanks to omission of OIS
- Lens is stabilized by the SL2 and SL2-S IBIS systems
- Excellent sharpness across all f-stops and focus distances with creamy bokeh and the Leica look
- Metal body with weather sealing
- Durable in any environment, making it suited for even the rigors of outdoor landscape and adventure photographers or the hustle and bustle of a pro wedding photographer
Leica APO-Summicron-SL 28mm f/2 ASPH.
- The fastest autofocusing Leica lens we’ve used to date.
- Great colors
- Keeps distortion down
- Beautiful bokeh
- Does a nice job with portraiture
In our review, we state:
“What’s to hate about the Leica 28mm f2 Summicron SL’s image quality? Honestly, nothing. Leica’s colors are always outstanding. The bokeh from this lens is beautiful and surely has a bit of character. On top of that, it’s an incredibly sharp lens.”
Essential Tech Specs
- Fast wide-angle lens with f2 aperture
- Excellent optical performance
- Extremely fast and reliable autofocus with Dual Synchro Drive
- Close-focusing down to 0.24m
- Same dimensions and filter size as all APO-Summicron-SL lenses
- L-mount
Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH.
- Lots of beautiful lens character. It doesn’t feel sterile at all!
- Built like a prime, pretty much
- Fairly fast autofocus
- Great build quality
In our review, we state:
Something I adore about the Leica 16-35mm f3.5-4.5 SL is the color. Combine that with fixed white balances, and you’ll be very happy. Part of that comes from Leica’s sensors and processors.
Essential Tech Specs
- Improved frame geometry and high quality coating
- High flexibility
- High product quality and exceptional imaging performance with specially developed focus motor
- Newly developed optical design
- Wide-angle photography
- Focal length of 16-35 mm expands existing portfolio
- Fast and almost noiseless autofocus
- L-mount bayonet
Leica APO-Summicron-SL 50mm f/2 ASPH.
- Beautiful metal build
- Excellent mix of quality and character
- Nice contrast
- Lovely bokeh
- Simple design
- About 25% lighter than the Leica 50mm f1.4 SL
In our review, we state:
“While it’s not the brightest nifty fifty for L mount shooters, the Leica 50mm f2 SL still delivers beautiful bokeh, solid contrast, and minimal distortion. The lens offers an ideal balance of the things modern photographers are looking for without eliminating the potential for a bit of character. The lens mixes minimal distortion and good sharpness with the potential for some flare.”
Essential Tech Specs
- High performance in a handy format
- New dimension of visual aesthetics
- Versatile standard focal length extends the lens portfolio of the Leica SL and other L-mount systems
- Quick and quiet focusing thanks to precision autofocus system with Dual Syncro Drive TM
- Precise production “Made in Germany” under the highest quality standards
- Reflection and scattered light optimization through high quality coating and optimized frame geometry
- AquaDura ® coating for dust and spray protection for use in everyday photography under extreme conditions
Leica APO-Summicron-SL 35mm f/2 ASPH.
- Fairly well balanced with the entire L mount system.
- Beautiful image quality
- Sharp
- I like the lens hood
- Pretty fast to focus
- Weather sealing
- Feels great in the hand
- Probably my favorite L mount lens
- Better autofocus performance on Leica cameras
In our review, we state:
“One of the best things about this lens is the color it can produce. It’s truly stunning. In my tests, I felt I got better colors straight from the Leica SL2s’s RAW files in Capture One.“
Essential Tech Specs
- High performance in a handy format
- Classic reportage focal length
- Quick and quiet focusing thanks to precision autofocus system with Dual Syncro Drive TM
- Precise production “Made in Germany” under the highest quality standards
- Reflection and scattered light optimization through high quality coating and optimized frame geometry
- AquaDura ® coating for dust and spray protection for use in everyday photography under extreme conditions
- The eye detection enables sharp, pinpoint portraits, even with very shallow depth of field
- L-mount bayonet
Leica APO-Summicron-SL 90mm f/2 ASPH.
- Small size
- Metal exterior
- Build quality, it’s weather sealed!
- Beautiful image quality
- Fast focus and tracking with the Leica SL2s.
- Nice bokeh that you’re going to love!
- Sharp, but not overly sharp! Leica has this wonderful balance
In our review, we state:
“Optically speaking, there isn’t much to say about the Leica 90mm f2 SL besides the fact that it’s pretty perfect. It’s got colors you’re going to love. And that bokeh? Oh, man! You’ll almost feel like you’re shooting with a 135mm lens instead! It’s also sharp without being too sharp.”
Essential Tech Specs
- High performance in a handy format
- Quick and quiet focusing thanks to precision autofocus system with Dual Syncro Drive TM
- Precise production “Made in Germany” under the highest quality standards
- Reflection and scattered light optimization through high quality coating and optimized frame geometry
- AquaDura ® coating for dust and spray protection for use in everyday photography under extreme conditions
- The eye detection enables sharp, pinpoint portraits, even with very shallow depth of field
- The high detail contrast in combination with the maximum magnification of 1: 5 provides impressive images
- L-mount bayonet
This piece is presented in partnership with Leica. We’ve independently and ethically reviewed all the lenses in this roundup already without sponsorship. And we worked with them to recommend a few key gems to you. The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product.