I Shot a Wedding with Both the Leica SL3-P and SL3-S — Here’s What Happened

I've talked about the Leica SL3-S before, but this time I wanted to put both of my Leica SL cameras through a real-world test: an entire wedding day.

I had the opportunity to shoot a full wedding using both the Leica SL3-P and Leica SL3-S, from the bride and groom's preparations all the way through the ceremony, reception, couple's session, group photographs and games.

This wasn't a controlled test in a studio. It was a real wedding, with real pressure, difficult light, a packed ceremony room—and temperatures reaching 36°C.

So, if you're wondering whether the Leica SL system is actually suitable for professional wedding photography, here's what my experience was like.

The setup: two SL bodies, two different lenses

For this wedding, I used the Leica SL3-P as my main camera.

I paired it with the Leica 24-70mm, which is a very versatile combination for wedding photography. Having that kind of focal-length range available on the main body means I can move between wider environmental shots and tighter portraits without constantly changing lenses.

On the SL3-S, which was originally supposed to be my B-camera or backup body, I used the Samyang 14-24mm.

I had previously reviewed this lens and found it to be extremely sharp, lightweight and responsive. It's a lens that I think is somewhat underrated, particularly if you need a wide-angle option.

As it turned out, having the two bodies with these two very different lenses made for a really useful combination throughout the day.

A complete wedding day

The assignment covered the entire day up until dinner.

I photographed the bride and groom's preparations, including hair and makeup, followed by the ceremony. Then came the appetizers and reception, a dedicated session with the bride and groom, and finally group photographs and some games.

That gave me plenty of opportunities to see how the two cameras behaved in very different situations.

And there was another factor that made the day particularly interesting:

It was really hot.

Temperatures reached around 36°C.

That gave me an unexpected opportunity to see how the two cameras would perform during a long wedding day in difficult conditions.

36°C—and absolutely no overheating

Both cameras were fitted with protective covers, but despite the heat and the amount of shooting I was doing, I had absolutely no overheating problems. Not once. The cameras simply kept working.

That's important to me because when I'm photographing a wedding, I don't have the luxury of stopping because my equipment isn't happy with the conditions.

A wedding can last many hours, and you're constantly moving, shooting and changing situations.

For me, reliability is one of the most important characteristics a camera can have.

And throughout this wedding, both SL bodies performed exactly as I needed them to.

The real challenge: a very dark ceremony

The ceremony was probably the biggest challenge of the day.

It took place inside an old castle, and the lighting was difficult.

There were tungsten-yellow spotlights pointing down into certain areas, while much of the room remained dark. On top of that, there was a blue daylight window on the side of the room.

So I was dealing with a mixture of very warm yellow light and cool blue light, while also working in a generally dark environment. Normally, adding flash might be an option.

But I don't generally shoot with flash during weddings.

I might occasionally use a small flash later in the evening, but I don't like bringing a lot of cumbersome equipment to a wedding—especially because I work without an assistant.

In a packed room like this one, moving around with additional lighting equipment simply wasn't practical.

So I had to work with what was available.

Shooting at ISO 32,000

This was where the SL3-P really had to prove itself.

I ended up pushing the camera all the way to ISO 32,000. That's a lot of ISO, and under normal circumstances you might expect the files to require quite a bit of work afterwards.

Fortunately, modern noise reduction has come a long way.

Using Lightroom's AI-powered noise reduction, I was able to recover the photographs and get results that I was very happy with.

More importantly, the bride and groom were happy with the results too.

And ultimately, that's what matters.

The photographs don't need to look perfect at 100% on my computer. They need to look great when I'm delivering them to my clients.

Autofocus: I don't actually rely on tracking

One of the things I wanted to talk about in the video was autofocus and tracking.

Interestingly, this isn't an area where I personally find a huge difference between the SL3-P and SL3-S for weddings.

The reason is simple: I don't really use tracking autofocus when I shoot weddings.

My shooting style is much more based around central focus, recompose and shoot.

I also don't take enormous bursts of photographs.

There are situations where bursts are useful—if a child is running, for example, or when you're trying to capture something like the bouquet toss. But for the majority of a wedding day, that's not how I work.

Because of that, I didn't notice a dramatic difference between the SL3-P and SL3-S in terms of tracking autofocus during this wedding.

For sports or other types of photography where tracking is absolutely critical, that might be a different story.

But for the way I photograph weddings, it wasn't something that changed my experience significantly.

Leica's user profiles are incredibly useful

One feature I particularly appreciate on Leica cameras is the ability to create and save user profiles.

This might sound like a small thing, but during a wedding it makes a huge difference.

I can have different settings prepared for different situations.

Maybe I want to change my setup for outdoor shooting. Maybe I want to put a flash on the camera. Maybe I need a different configuration for another part of the day.

Instead of digging through menus and changing everything manually, I can simply switch to the profile I need.

The buttons can also be customized, so I can assign the functions I actually use. That's something I really appreciate about the Leica interface.

Everything can be prepared beforehand, so when I'm in the middle of a wedding, I already know which button to press and which setting to change. There is very little wasted time.

How many batteries do you actually need?

Battery management becomes particularly important when you're shooting with two bodies.

For this wedding, I had two batteries in the cameras and one spare. All three were Leica batteries. I also have Leica's USB-C dual charger, which I find very convenient.

For a two-camera wedding setup, however, I think four batteries would be the ideal setup.

That way, you can have two batteries in the cameras and two charging or ready to go. Three batteries worked for me during this wedding, but I was making sure to keep cycling them and charging whenever I had access to an outlet.

During the preparations, for example, I could keep batteries charging.

The same was true around the ceremony.

The problem came later in the day, when I no longer had access to an outlet. That's why planning ahead is important.

I didn't completely drain my batteries. I generally brought them down to around half and rotated them so that I always had charged batteries available.

For a wedding, I'd consider two batteries the absolute minimum, three workable, and four a much more comfortable setup when using two bodies.

Dual-card recording: I don't take chances

There's another feature that is absolutely essential to my wedding workflow: backup recording.

I use both an SD card and a CFexpress card in the camera. My CFexpress card is 512GB, while the SD card is smaller. I don't normally shoot more than around 60–70GB of photographs during a wedding, particularly when working around the 24–26 megapixel range, so storage isn't really an issue.

But I want the backup.

Because when you're photographing a wedding, you don't get a second chance.

If something happens to one card, I want another copy. And my backup doesn't stop there.

When I get back to the studio, I transfer the photographs to my external NAS, where they are backed up across two external hard drives redundantly.

So the photographs exist in multiple places. It's a workflow that gives me peace of mind.

Editing Leica files is a pleasure

Another thing I really enjoy about working with these cameras is the editing workflow.

The RAW files work very well in Adobe's ecosystem, and I've always found Leica files enjoyable to work with.

For me, a good wedding workflow starts before I even open Lightroom. If I get my exposure and settings right while I'm shooting, I don't need to spend enormous amounts of time correcting every photograph afterwards.

That's particularly important when you're dealing with hundreds or thousands of photographs.

I want the files coming out of the camera to already be close to where I want them to be.

Then the editing becomes much more about refining the photographs rather than rescuing them.

The EVF is one of my favorite things about the SL system

The electronic viewfinder on these cameras is excellent.

It's incredibly crisp, and it gives me a very clear idea of what I'm actually going to get before I press the shutter. That matters enormously at a wedding.

You're constantly changing environments and lighting conditions, and being able to quickly look through the viewfinder, compose and react is a huge part of the shooting experience.

For me, the SL system has become very stable in that regard.

I know what I'm going to see, I know how the camera behaves, and I can concentrate on the photograph instead of fighting the equipment.

Reliability is everything

I've now used the SL system extensively for weddings, and—knock on wood—I haven't had an issue with the cameras during a wedding.

This particular wedding reinforced that confidence.

36°C heat? No problem.

Long shooting day? No problem.

Dark ceremony? The cameras delivered.

High ISO? With the help of modern noise reduction, the photographs were completely usable.

That's exactly what I need from a professional camera.

And to be completely clear, this wasn't a sponsored video. Leica didn't pay me to say any of this. I'm simply sharing my experience after actually using these cameras to photograph a real wedding.

So... SL3-P or SL3-S?

If you're asking me whether you should buy an SL3-P or an SL3-S specifically for weddings, my answer is probably a little different from what you might expect.

Both work.

The SL3-S is an excellent option, especially if you don't want to spend the extra money on the SL3-P.

But after shooting a full wedding with both cameras, I absolutely see the value in having the SL3-P as my main body.

At the same time, I don't feel like the SL3-S is simply an inferior camera sitting there as a backup.

It is an extremely capable second body.

And having two cameras that I know and trust, with familiar controls and the same overall interface, makes my workflow much easier.

What makes Leica Leica?

This is probably the hardest thing to explain if you only look at specifications.

You can look at megapixels, autofocus points, burst rates and ISO numbers all day long.

But for me, what makes Leica special is the attention to detail in the overall experience.

The user interface is streamlined.

The controls are customizable.

The user profiles are incredibly useful.

The viewfinder is fantastic.

The cameras feel like tools that get out of the way and let me concentrate on taking photographs.

And that's ultimately why I have moved completely to the SL system for my professional wedding work.

I now have two SL bodies specifically so that I can shoot weddings this way. And, at least for now, I don't see myself going back to anything else.

Would I shoot a wedding with Leica?

After doing this wedding with both the SL3-P and SL3-S, my answer is simple: Absolutely.

Not because Leica is necessarily the best camera system for every photographer. Not because it has the longest list of specifications. And certainly not because Leica is written on the front.

It's because these cameras fit the way I work.

I can customize them before the wedding, set up my profiles, attach the lenses I need, carry two bodies, work with available light, shoot at high ISO when necessary, back up my photographs and get through an entire wedding without the cameras becoming a distraction.

That's what I want from my equipment. The camera should disappear. The wedding should be what I remember. And the photographs should be what remains.

So, would you shoot a wedding with the Leica SL3-P or SL3-S?

Or are you already using an SL system for weddings?

Let me know in the comments. I'd genuinely love to hear how other Leica photographers are using these cameras for professional work.

https://youtu.be/3p1vd22LvyI

Watch the full video