Leica's longest SL lens is here, with a new teleconverter for sports and wildlife

By Sebastian Oakley
published

Love Leica? Love sports and wildlife? The new 100-400mm is the longest SL lens, and there's a new 1.4x teleconverter too

Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3
(Image credit: Leica)

For those Leica photographers using the SL system for either sports or wildlife photography, your prayers have been answered with the latest announcement. 

The brand new Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 instantly becomes the longest super zoom in the Leica SL lens (opens in new tab) lineup. However, if 400mm is still a little too short, the manufacturer has also announced a new 1.4x teleconverter. The Leica Extender L 1.4 will transform the new lens into a 140-560mm – which is perfect for shooting sport, and could be among the best lenses for wildlife photography (opens in new tab).

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Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3
(Image credit: Leica)

The Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 has an Arca-Swiss-compatible tripod base, that can be removed and inserted directly into a suitable coupling system without a quick-release plate. This provides a secure hold at all times when photographing or filming with a tripod. 

A lockable tripod clamp also enables the lens to be fixed securely at any angle, with the clamp locking every 90° for quick changes between landscape and portrait orientation. 

(Image credit: Leica)

As an additional option, the new Leica Extender L 1.4x pushes the focal length of the lens all the way to 560mm. Its compact dimensions mean that it can easily be carried and accessed in any shooting environment. Both the extended focal length and the aperture are also written into the image data as usual, ensuring that the settings used are always accurate.

This new SL lens, on its own and in combination with the extender, complements the L-Mount portfolio, giving photographers and videographers a wider range of options with exceptional quality. 

The RRP for the new Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 is £1,910 (approximately $2,260 / AU $3,427) and the Leica Extender L 1.4x is priced at £785 ($898 / AU $1,408). Both are now available globally at Leica Stores, the Leica Online Store, and through authorized dealers.

If this article has been of interest why not check out our best Leica cameras (opens in new tab) buying guide or see our reviews of the Leica SL2 (opens in new tab)and the Leica SL2-S (opens in new tab).

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Sebastian Oakley
Sebastian Oakley
Ecommerce Editor

For nearly two decades Sebastian's work has been published internationally. Originally specialising in Equestrianism, his visuals have been used by the leading names in the equestrian industry such as The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), The Jockey Club, Horse & Hound and many more for various advertising campaigns, books and pre/post-event highlights.


He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, holds a Foundation Degree in Equitation Science and is a Master of Arts in Publishing.  He is member of Nikon NPS and has been a Nikon user since the film days using a Nikon F5 and saw the digital transition with Nikon's D series cameras and is still to this day the youngest member to be elected in to BEWA, The British Equestrian Writers' Association. 


He is familiar with and shows great interest in medium and large format photography with products by Phase One, Hasselblad, Alpa and Sinar and has used many cinema cameras from the likes of Sony, RED, ARRI and everything in between. His work covers the genres of Equestrian, Landscape, Abstract or Nature and combines nearly two decades of experience to offer exclusive limited-edition prints to the international stage from his film & digital photography.

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