PHOTO QUALITY. This 24-megapixel mirrorless camera captured images with merely fair quality, which is unusual for a Mirrorless. Pictures were very sharp, which means you can see even tiny details and very subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were not as sharp as those of most models. We judged this model excellent for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; fair for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And poor for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. This model has no flash.
LENS. This camera has a standard 3x optical zoom lens. The lens also has wide-angle (27mm) capability that's useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. Although this model doesn't have an image stabilizer, it did an excellent job of minimizing the effects of camera shake in our tests. Shooting telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did a very good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed excellently and almost never produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were excellent.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Leica CL w/ 18-56mm powers up very quickly. It has a very short interval between shots, which can be important when shooting fast-moving or unpredictable subjects.
VIDEO. The Leica CL w/ 18-56mm takes good video. It also captures 4K-UHD video at 3840 x 2160 60p or 30i. As for sound, it captures good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like most mirrorless models, this camera does include an electronic viewfinder, which means you have flexibility when composing your photo or video; this viewfinder has excellent quality.
