In January 2023, on the last day of a trip to Fukuoka, I had a little time before my flight, so I was having coffee at FUGLEN, one of my favorite cafés. The camera I had with me was a black Leica TL2.
Finally tracking down a black Leica TL2
The Leica TL2 is an APS-C mirrorless camera announced in 2017. It has a sensor of roughly 24 megapixels and uses the L-mount. On the back is a large 3.7-inch touchscreen, and there’s no built-in viewfinder (an external electronic viewfinder was sold separately).
In May 2022, Leica announced the end of the CL/TL system, its line of APS-C L-mount cameras that included the TL2. It was that autumn that I started looking for a TL2.
I went from one used camera shop to the next and looked through countless listings online, searching for any copy I could actually buy. This is the one I finally found.
I chose black. Back then, the black body looked really beautiful to me.
My only lens was the ELMARIT-TL F2.8/18mm ASPH. There were other lenses I wanted, but most of them could no longer be found, new or used.
Since this was a Leica TL2, I wanted a Leica lens with the same design to match it, and this was the one I managed to get.
Because I bought the camera used, it didn’t come with the fittings for attaching a TL-series strap, so I couldn’t put one on. I contacted a Leica boutique and bought them there, which is a fond memory now. When I bought them, I believe they told me it was the last one they had.
Thinner and lighter than the Sigma BF: a body machined from aluminum
The TL2’s body is machined from a solid block of aluminum. No seams, nothing extra. It’s a simple, refined design through and through.
I’ve also handled the Sigma BF, another camera that got attention for its machined body. Side by side, the TL2 is thinner and lighter. Of course, the two differ in features and in era, but from a minimalist point of view, I still prefer the TL2. Incidentally, the TL2 and the BF both use the same L-mount.
Cameras without a viewfinder are getting attention again. That’s exactly why I find myself thinking about the TL2 I had back then.
| Leica TL2 | Sigma BF | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 134 × 69 × 33mm | Approx. 130.1 × 72.8 × 36.8mm |
| Weight (with battery) | 399g | Approx. 446g |
| Sensor | APS-C | Full frame |
I love viewfinders, yet the rear screen alone felt just right
Normally, I like to look through a viewfinder when I shoot. The viewfinder was one of the reasons I chose the Nikon Zf, too.
The TL2 has no viewfinder. It’s a camera you shoot while looking at the large touchscreen on the back.
Buttons and dials are kept to a minimum, and you pick menu items by tapping icons that look like smartphone apps. It’s simple in both looks and handling. Shooting with only the rear screen suited the camera’s design perfectly. Even as someone who loves viewfinders, I really enjoyed shooting on the screen.
Leica color a phone can’t give you, and an angle of view of about 27mm in full-frame terms
If you can shoot casually while looking at a screen, you might wonder why not just use a smartphone. But the photos I took with the TL2 were different.
They had that Leica color, and somehow the photos just felt beautiful. Meals on the road, city scenes — I could shoot them casually, without any fuss. And still, they were photos a phone couldn’t take.
Because the sensor is APS-C, 18mm works out to about 27mm in full-frame terms. Not too wide, not too narrow — a very easy angle of view to work with. The ELMARIT-TL F2.8/18mm ASPH. was my only lens, but I kept it on the camera and took it everywhere, on trips and in everyday life. It’s a thin pancake lens, so the body stays slim even with it mounted.
Two days in Fukuoka with the TL2
Going to Fukuoka after getting the Leica TL2 is another fond memory.
The weather was bad, unfortunately, but I packed a lot into my first trip to Fukuoka: I ate everything I’d wanted to eat, did some sightseeing, and snapped whatever caught my eye along the way. It was a slow, relaxed trip.
A spring onsen trip, and everyday life
The Leica TL2 truly became part of my daily life as an everyday camera. Back then I wasn’t doing YouTube seriously yet, so I feel like it was always with me as the camera I’d grab on my way out on weekends.
Time with friends, little weekend getaways — I brought it along, and whatever caught my eye, I shot with the TL2 instead of my iPhone. That’s how it was.
All photos: Leica TL2 / ELMARIT-TL F2.8/18mm ASPH.
The downsides: not much use on shoots, and worrying about scratches
I let it go because I stopped using it. As I did more shooting for YouTube, the camera I reached for when it was time to shoot kept turning out to be a different one.
The other reason was scratches. It was a copy I’d finally tracked down, and the same camera could no longer be bought new. That’s exactly why I worried about scratching it if I took it out often. My wish to keep it safe outweighed my wish to carry it around.
Never adding a good lens is another regret.
I do regret letting it go — all the more now that prices have gone up and it has become hard to find. When I remember how hard I searched for it, part of me still can’t let go. If you come across a good used copy, I think it’s a camera worth considering.
The feel of that machined body, and those colors. Three years after letting it go, it’s still a camera I can’t forget.
- Camera: Leica TL2 (black)
- Lens: ELMARIT-TL F2.8/18mm ASPH.
