October 18, 2026

Toronto Street Photography | Leica SL2s

Leica

SL lenses perform superbly, but adapted Leica M lenses still shine on the Leica SL2s. Photographer Daran visited Toronto, Canada during the summer, taking a leisurely street shoot through Downtown — let's soak in the North American urban vibe!

By Daran Wu

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North American temperatures are never too annoying — even on sunny days there's a touch of coolness in the air. I love exploring cities without maps or navigation, on foot and by instinct, so every encounter becomes something to look forward to.

Street photography has been one of my favorite pursuits for many years. Every time I travel for work or leisure, I feel at ease only with an M camera on me — its compact size and rangefinder focusing give me great room to play while traveling.

Compared to the M system, the SL system is much bigger — yet its modern electronics and image quality still deliver excellent performance. For adapting M lenses, the SL2 / SL2s offer great handling and UI; the high-resolution EVF / LCD makes focus peaking highly accurate, even more efficient than an optical viewfinder. And the compact M lenses lighten the whole camera considerably while keeping image quality excellent.

So let's see what I ran into Downtown!

Leica SL2s + M 50mm F1.4 ASPH / ZM 25mm F2.8

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Further reading:

Leica SL2 + APO SL 50mm F2: First Impressions
Leica's Perfectionism | APO-Summicron-SL 50 f/2 ASPH

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Toronto Street Photography | Two pedestrians walking on the sidewalk past a beige brick building with a short term lease sign in the storefront window
Toronto Street Photography | A large pink AirPods billboard on a downtown building with the CN Tower rising behind it and streetcar wires crossing the frame
Toronto Street Photography | A pedestrian crossing at Front Street West with cars waiting at the traffic lights and Toronto Blue Jays signage below the Rogers Centre dome
Toronto Street Photography | Three people in blue Toronto Blue Jays baseball jerseys crossing the street at Front Street West, seen from behind
Toronto Street Photography | A Kerastase haircare advertisement poster on the sidewalk with a downtown street and high-rise buildings behind it
Toronto Street Photography | A white sedan parked in front of the glass-fronted building signed 320 Front Street West, with trees and flower planters along the sidewalk
Toronto Street Photography | A red road bicycle locked to a post on the sidewalk in front of a stone-clad downtown building
Toronto Street Photography | A person leaning against a blue public parking sign at a parking garage entrance while looking at a phone
Toronto Street Photography | Pedestrians walking in front of a Starbucks Coffee shop at 300 Front Street, a glass-fronted downtown building
Toronto Street Photography | A road closure at Front Street West with traffic cones, sidewalk closed signs and a glass office building behind the construction barriers
Toronto Street Photography | A Wellington Street West sign and traffic light in front of a red brick building with arched windows and glass office towers
Toronto Street Photography | A covered walkway beneath a downtown office building with spiral bicycle racks and high-rise towers beyond the columns
Toronto Street Photography | Black and white photo of a pedestrian crossing a sunlit downtown street in front of a shadowed office building
Toronto Street Photography | Black and white photo of a pedestrian crossing streetcar tracks at York Street with glass office towers on both sides
Toronto Street Photography | Looking down a downtown street framed by glass high-rise towers, with the Northbridge Place building on the right
Toronto Street Photography | Pedestrians waiting at a downtown crosswalk, including a couple holding hands and a woman looking at her phone
Toronto Street Photography | A white tour coach parked at the curb with a person loading luggage and a dark sedan passing in front
Toronto Street Photography | A man leaning on the railing of an elevated walkway overlooking a downtown plaza, with large concrete office buildings behind him
Toronto Street Photography | Pedestrians walking past the Marriott Hotel dropoff entrance with flower planters and vintage-style street lamps on the sidewalk
Toronto Street Photography | Two pedestrians walking in opposite directions in front of a bagel shop with a small tree on the sidewalk of a modern glass building
Toronto Street Photography | Two pedestrians wearing black face masks crossing a downtown street, the woman in a green polka-dot dress
Toronto Street Photography | Black and white photo of pedestrians crossing at Gerrard Street in front of a Shoppers Drug Mart on a downtown corner
Toronto Street Photography | The ambulance exit of SickKids hospital with ambulances parked inside and two people sitting on a flower planter outside
Toronto Street Photography | A helmeted rider on a black cruiser motorcycle waiting at the Dundas Street West intersection in front of a BMO branch
Toronto Street Photography | Downtown Toronto skyline with a large hotel tower in the centre, glass office towers and the BMO tower behind it under a clear blue sky
Toronto Street Photography | Pedestrians on a street corner in front of the Friendly Stranger cannabis shop and neighbouring storefronts, with a concrete barrier in the foreground
Toronto Street Photography | A red hatchback crossing a downtown intersection lined with trees and low-rise shops, with condominium towers behind
Toronto Street Photography | Pedestrians passing a poster-covered community pole on the sidewalk, including a man in a yellow t-shirt looking at his phone
Toronto Street Photography | A white pickup truck crossing a downtown intersection with the CN Tower rising between the buildings in the distance
Toronto Street Photography | Pedestrians seen from behind crossing toward a vivid red geometric mural wall, including a woman in yellow with a backpack
Toronto Street Photography | Patrons sitting on the wooden patio fence of the Warehouse restaurant, with a tattoo studio and sports shop next door
Toronto Street Photography | Storefronts with a Starbucks logo, New You cosmetic centre and the Tribal Rhythm vintage shop, with pedestrians on the sidewalk
Toronto Street Photography | Pedestrians chatting and walking on a sunlit sidewalk beneath a Sushi Xtra restaurant sign
Toronto Street Photography | People waiting at a glass bus stop shelter with a beer advertisement, in front of a red brick building housing a CIBC bank
Toronto Street Photography | A red paper lantern printed with the Tiger beer logo hanging among tree branches in Chinatown
Toronto Street Photography | A tree-lined sidewalk with an animal hospital and a pizza shop, a bike share station and a streetcar passing in the background
Toronto Street Photography | Looking up at older brick buildings in the foreground with new condominium towers and a construction crane rising behind them
Toronto Street Photography | Traffic and streetcars on Spadina Avenue with a twisted glass condominium tower and an older brick building on the right

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