S2

[svante.johansson]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29782425@N08/2879015170/sizes/l/">S2?</a>

[denis_pleic]

Is this for real?

[Brian]

Of course it is. Does the internet ever lie?

[stuart_richardson]

The article sounds legit to me -- just the wording, and the rationale from Maike Harberts (who is the R system manager at

Leica) sound pretty real to me. I am surprised, however. Anyway, we will find out more today when they have their press

conference.

[waltflanagan]

I heard that they were supposed to have a HUGE announcement at the press conf today and this is definitely huge. I guess this is the new "Afrika" system that they have been working on.

 

I've been ready to write off Leica for years but this has me saying WOW!

[ymages]

most exciting announcement so far !, I'll be at Photokina tomorrow at 10 am !

[waltflanagan]

According to leicarumors.com there is a 1pm Eastern time press conf to officially announce it. This is one of the few times that I would trust a rumors site.

[Brad_]

Will it do video clips?

[peter_n1664876959]

Yes. The video is being streamed from the LUF forum but that URL is (predictably) already timing out.

[ymages]

yes video and a button direct print

[HarryBaker]

Interestingly, I got chatting to a chap with an RF film camera in St James's Park, London, last Saturday

afternoon and he said 'Leica will be announcing a new up-market DSLR early next week'. I wonder who he was.

[beepy]

<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/22/leica-debuts-s-system-37-megapixel-flagship-s2-camera">Engadget

article</a>. Interesting. Canon 5D announce is resetting the price expectation in the 20+ megapixel SLR category (following

Sony's announcement). Fun times for buyers.

[michael s.]

From the "Professional Photographer" website:

 

http://www.professionalphotographer.co.uk/professional-photographer-news/leica-s2

 

I'm guessing that's a 'negative' on that video, Brad. But who knows ?

[mike_earussi1]

It's not listed on this page:http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/new_products/

 

Leica barely updated the M8 so I'll believe they've come up with an entirely new system when I see it.

[photo_dark]

"...the best professional photography system available..." (paraphrased from the interview)

 

I guess for pure image quality alone, this will probably be the ticket.... however, i do wonder if it's in an awkward position.... People who want fast and small but with good quality will pick the D3 or 1Ds3... those who want extreme resolution and image quality would probably just pick the H3D-II and a P45 back or something similar (considering the price).

 

I'm going to assume the MSRP for this thing will be astronomical, so i can't imagine that anyone would actually find a place for this in their bag, even in the mid-upper end of the professional market (much less advanced hobbyists of any kind). I'm sure some will, but will that number actually be large enough to make this whole venture of their's sustainable? Will the quality actually be worth the price it will sell for?

 

The danger for leica is if it fails to exceed the quality of other MF systems, and fails to exceed the speed of the 1D/D3 systems, it won't sell. There just arn't enough die hard leica fans out there with money to burn.

 

Time will tell I suppose... the above is just my own musings :) Reader beware...

[marc_bergman1]

Here is a link to an article in BJP. They mention a list price of 20,000 EUROs, body only.

<p>

<a href="http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=816234">Leica S2.</a>

<p>

[el_fang]

<i>The danger for leica is if it fails to exceed the quality of other MF systems, and fails to exceed the speed

of the 1D/D3 systems, it won't sell. There just arn't enough die hard leica fans out there with money to burn.</i>

<p>The S2 doesn't necessarily have to exceed the quality of other MF systems because it's quite a bit smaller;

official measurements put it around the size of a Nikon D700. It doesn't need the speed of a 1D/D3, either,

because... the format is much larger, and it's designed for an entirely different market than pro sports

photographers.</p>

<p>The S2 is actually unique in its position, much like the M8 is. The problem is, and I've already touched on

this in related threads:</p>

<p>1) Nobody's seen a file from it yet, so image quality is still unknown.

<br>2) It's only a <a href="

target="_blank">prototype</a> at this

point (Leica's words, not mine), and isn't scheduled for release until summer 2009.</p>

<p>The S2 is an interesting and unique product, in view of today's marketplace. However, a lot of things can

happen between now and summer 2009, and what is interesting now may not be so interesting by then.</p>