I finally pulled the trigger on an SL2-S last month because I wanted that specific sensor for low light stuff and video work here in London. The body is honestly a dream but I am currently stuck using a heavy 24-70 Sigma zoom and it is killing my wrist after a few hours of street shooting. I have a wedding gig for a close friend coming up in late October and I really want to get one solid, reliable prime lens that I can just leave on the camera most of the time without breaking the bank completely.

I have been doing a lot of reading on the L-mount options and honestly I am more confused than when I started. Everyone raves about the 35mm and 50mm APO Summicrons but those are like five grand and my budget is strictly under $2000 for this one lens. I saw some people online saying the Panasonic 1.8 primes are the secret sauce because they are so light and affordable but then others say the image quality lacks that certain pop you want when you buy into Leica in the first place.

The Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG DN Art seems like the logical choice for pure value but I keep hearing mixed things about the autofocus speed on the SL2-S specifically since it uses contrast detect and apparently the Sigma motors can hunt a bit. I also looked at the Sigma 35mm i-series f2 because its tiny and looks great on the body but I worry f2 isnt quite fast enough for some of the moody pub shots I end up doing. Then there is the Panasonic 50mm 1.4 which is supposed to be incredible but its a total brick and weighs a ton.

So I guess what I am really wrestling with is where the sweet spot is for native L-mount glass if you dont have five thousand dollars to drop on a single lens. Is the extra money for the non-APO Leica 35mm Summicron actually getting me better color and rendering than the Sigma or am I just paying for the brand name at that point? If you had to pick one prime for the SL2-S that balances size and image quality for around $1500 to $2000 what would it be...