After a 2025 spent celebrating its 100th birthday, Leica returns to market with its first new camera of 2026, the SL3-P Mirrorless Camera. Accompanied in its release by two new lenses, the APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100mm f/2.8 and the Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH., the SL3-P arrives as the most advanced full-frame camera in the company’s storied history, introducing cinema-level video performance to match the Leica photographic pedigree and create a comprehensive system engineered for the modern hybrid creator.
Three principal upgrades distinguish the SL3-P from its predecessors: a new 44MP sensor, a new hybrid autofocus system, and its flagship video capabilities. Together, the upgrades produce a sharper, faster, smarter, and most versatile SL-series camera to date.
Leica developed the new backside-illuminated CMOS sensor to meet the demands of today’s working hybrid professionals, balancing resolution, speed, and exceptional low-light performance. The new sensor achieves better detail and smoother tonal transitions while capturing up to 14 stops of dynamic range with a native ISO 50-200000 sensitivity.
A flagship readout architecture supports the new sensor, which Leica says operates up to 156% faster than earlier SL-series cameras, yielding up to 40 fps continuous shooting speeds with autofocus support, reduced rolling shutter distortion during electronic shutter operation and video capture, and an improved Multishot mode with resulting images reaching up to 176MP.
Leica is also debuting a brand-new autofocus system in the SL3-P, a tripartite system combining phase detection, contrast detection, and object detection autofocus into a single hybrid architecture. The sensor’s 819 autofocus points, supported by new machine-learning algorithms for subject recognition, enable rapid and precise focus acquisition across multiple domains.
The SL3-P introduces a level of video performance unprecedented in a Leica camera, making it suitable for both dedicated film work and hybrid workflows. Headlined by 8.1K Open Gate recording in 3:2 format at up to 30p, the camera’s versatility extends to 4K 120p slow-motion footage, recording in Apple’s ProRes codec at up to 5.8K, and the introduction of two new in-camera LUTs, Leica Pure and Leica Cine, for post-production flexibility.
Further benefitting hybrid and video-first creators, the SL3-P features a redesigned Video Profile menu and other professional tools like HDMI RAW output, False Color monitoring, and HDMI Mirroring.
The camera’s entire design strategy emphasizes efficiency, connectivity, and durability across photo and video. A redesigned user interface keeps users appraised of the shooting mode, and professional tethering support benefits studio and commercial applications. Native Cloud-to-Camera debuts in the SL3-P through Adobe Frame.io, while built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth empower remote control of the camera through the Leica FOTOS app.
In keeping with Leica’s commitment to image authenticity, the SL3-P also features Content Credentials technology.
Designed and manufactured in Germany, the SL3-P boasts a full-metal chassis engineered for the stress of professional use. Its weather-resistant, IP54-rated build encourages use of the camera in unpredictable outdoor environments, as does the P-Series all-black design that omits the traditional red dot logo for discreet use in documentary and photojournalistic applications.
Released alongside the SL3-P are two new lenses, the APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100mm f/2.8 and the Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH.
The first is a contemporary homage to one of Leica’s all-time, best-selling lenses, 1987’s APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 100mm f/2.8. The new all-metal lens shares its forebearer’s renowned image quality in macro and portrait applications, bringing modern fast and silent autofocus, dust and water protection, and Aqua Dura coatings on external elements into the design. In macro use, the lens can achieve a 1:1 reproduction ratio with a minimum close focusing distance of 11.4”.
The Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. enters the market as the most compact full-frame autofocus lens in its class, and the first Leica lens developed in house with a Voice Coil Motor-driven system for fast and quiet autofocus. A refined optical design yields its lightweight, compact form factor—weighing just 1.2 lb at 3” long—featuring two aspherical elements and eleven aperture blades for soft, natural bokeh.
Its IP54-rated weather-resistant build shares an all-metal construction and the Aqua Dura coatings on the external elements, making it suitable for use in adverse outdoor conditions.
For more information about the new camera and lenses, including additional features, specs, and highlights, be sure to check out the detailed product pages for the SL3-P Mirrorless Camera, the APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100mm f/2.8 lens, and the Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens.
