Leica debuts S-system, 37-megapixel flagship S2 camera

[jerry_sousa]

The new S2 has very clean lines, almost like some 1950's designer tea kettle. I suppose that the photographers

shooting with one will have to get used to doing arithmetic division in their heads, instead of multiplying focal

lengths? Poor things.

 

Where these beasts sell well will give us a clue to the new world economic order. I predict healthy sales in Russia

and

China.

[stephen_delear]

Well I think that if you have to take high quality photos for industrial applications in a cramped space (for example looking for damage on the space shuttle), this might be the camera for you. Other then that I think most photographers who need high priced digital medium format are already using a digital back.

 

Well that and I expect we'll see Canon and Nikon get into the greater then 35mm arena in the next couple of years.

[hjoseph7]

Surprise, surprise, but did they say anything about Live-View .

 

For all the dreamers out there keep dreaming, The cost of this camera is gong to be scary !

[Brad_]

Just another camera. Is anyone here going to buy one and produce something compelling with it that couldn't be done with

another cam?

[ilkka_nissila]

No, the people who buy these kinds of cameras are busy photographing, not posting on internet chat rooms. They have to be, to pay for the gear.

 

Pros who do not have work, use small format digital or medium format film; pros who have work use medium format digital.

[danbliss]

Thought 1: I waaaaaannnnt it.

Thought 2: No way I can afford it.

Thought 3: I am guessing that Leica is not quite dead yet. :-)

 

Dreaming is inexpensive.

[l_dasousa]

<b>The time to buy R lenses cheap was last week.</b>

 

It will be interesting to see if that will be the case. Does that not presuppose there will be sudden great interest in the R system from people who do not own already their cadre of R lenses?

[tomhallphotography]

If one had the money to pay for this I can't see why it wouldn't be a better idea to buy a Hasselblad H Series Camera. At least then you'd know what you're getting.

[christopher_m]

A good strategy from a business standpoint. Although the market for full frame DSLR is pretty crowded, the market for larger than full frame is probably wide open. (I'm not very up to date with all of the DSLR offerings). It's 37 MP also blows away the Canon 5d.

 

I see it has a wi-fi connector as well. If the camera can directly email photos, that could be a big plus. Any one know if other cameras do that? (I'm not into the details of DLSRs).

 

I'd like to see it side-by-side with the M8 and Nikon D3 in order to get an idea of the size.

[jstarks]

I can't afford Leica's current offerings so I'll pass on this one. It's a sweet looking rig though! Jesse

[robert_meyers]

You know, I keep seeing people complaining about the price for a camera with no listed price. People we need a firm price first:)

 

If they can make it with one lens for under $18K, they will prob. Have a winner. Above that... And things get iffy.

[michael s.]

There is apparently no announced price for this camera, so we can remain calm for a few more moments.

 

Why, they haven't even called me yet for my recommendation. :-)

[bobtodrick]

This just might be the turning point for Leica.

 

We had our first tentative order placed today (contingent on final pricing). An architectual photographer who recently purchased his second Leaf back...says if he had know about this he wouldn't have bought the Leaf.

 

I think this is going to be way out of most amatuers price range, but the pro commercial/industrial/portrait photographer now using medium format digital and wants something of that quality that is more suited for location work will, I think, ante up if the product turns out as good as it looks.

[Robin Smith]

"Just another camera. Is anyone here going to buy one and produce something compelling with it that couldn't be done with another cam?"

 

Of course not! In order for that to happen Brad needs one.

[Brad_]

>>> Of course not! In order for that to happen Brad needs one.

 

For street snaps? No thanks....

[roland_vink]

Some comments:

 

The 30x45mm sensor is 1.25x larger (linear) than the traditional 24x36mm film/FX format. The S2 37.5MP sensor has the identical pixel pitch as a 24MP FX sensor (24 * 1.25 * 1.25 = 37.5). That is a fairly high pixel density, will be interesting to see what the high ISO performance is like. Lenses will need to be excellent to match the sensor resolution all the way to the corners, although if anyone can do it, Leica can.

 

It's pretty brave of Leica to introduce a whole new system - no legacy lenses to draw on, unless adapters for medium format lenses are made.

 

I'm not sure the 2:3 aspect ratio is the best choice. Sure it's the same as 35mm film and DSLRs so everyone is familiar with it, but I find this format is often too long and narrow for portraits and flowers, and it does not match most print media so would require cropping. The ideal ratio would be 1:1.414 - sqrt(2). This format perfectly matches the metric paper sizes (A5, A4, A3) and is close to most imperial formats. Getting a square format requires cropping only 40% off the ends, and a similar 40% off the top and bottom for 2:1 panoramas. Wouldn't that be a more versatile format?

[Spearhead]

If Leica really wants the pro market, they are going to have to do something about their service. The reports here and on other sites are really not very encouraging.

 

I have had one day turnaround from Canon and Mamiya, but people have talked about three months and more for small Leica repairs. If they are going to sell a pro camera, it will take more than producing one. And the price is high enough that nobody is likely to buy two because of service turnaround.

[lightsmith1]

Leica is not trying to compete against the big guys, Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc. but rather in the MF space where only Hasselblad provides any serious competition. The Leica form factor is very similar to that of the the MF Pentax SLR cameras.

 

Hasselblad has a 36.7x49.0mm sensor in its H3DII-39 camera and has announced a 50 megapixel 645 digital back. All the film FF lenses work just fine with their "crop" digital MF cameras just as the 35mm film lenses were fine with the APS-C size sensors.

 

Leica on day one will have only one lens for their medium format camera while Hasselblad presently has 17 lenses. Leica may succeed against Hasselblad but they have a very difficult job ahead.

[doug herr]

Bruce Stenman wrote: "<I>The Leica form factor is very similar to that of the the MF Pentax SLR cameras.</I>"

<P>

It's the size of a D700.

<P>

"<I>Leica on day one will have only one lens for their medium format camera while Hasselblad presently has 17

lenses.</I>"

<P>

Leica has developed 9 lenses for the S2 so far including a 30mm T/S and a 120mm APO-Macro.

[r22eng]

The Mamiya ZD was a "medium format DSLR" that took the Mamiya 645 lenses. However, the ZD exists now only as a digital back. The S2 reminds me of the Mamyia ZD 22MP. Here some links to the Mamiya ZD:

 

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/04092902mamiya_zd.asp

 

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/mamiya-zd-ist.shtml

 

(link)

 

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/mamiya-zd-22-megapixel-dslr-is-here-finally/

 

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/336/C6865/

 

Reading the old posts in light of the Leica S2 announcement is interesting. Hopefully, Leica will fair better.

[mohir_ali]

I guarantee Steven Lee had less than zero to do with this camera.

 

Why? Who IS responsible? With the lead time to production of a couple of years, nine new lenses for the S2, seven new lenses for the M, M8, M8.2, R10. S2. When has Leica introduced so many products in such a short time?

[peteradownunder]

Brad - you tell me what a "compelling shot is" and i guarantee to make one for you with whatever camera you nominate! -:)

[andy_piper2]

"Who IS responsible?" Maike Harberts is the woman who is the product manager for the S2 - she's on facebook if you want to look her up.

 

Head of Leica says they are aiming - very hard - for 10,000-15,000 Euros for the body. Under 15 as an absolute.

[mohir_ali]

Who was CEO during the development of all these new products?

[gary_gumanow]

Maybe when people realize that digital is just a fad and people go back to film, I'll be able to afford this camera??? Afterall, that's how I afforded my M6TTL.