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

[adam lowy]

I wish I had a company as 'small' as Apple:)

[kens]

There's a difference between expressing your opinions and disrespecting the audience. That's where you go wrong, Fang. A person earns respect by respecting others first, even opinions counter to your own. Until you start showing respect for those who don't agree with you, you'll just be another troll.

[vivek iyer]

The Apple analogy is not bad. They made both the hardware and the software.

 

Leica is a making the camera + the lenses.

 

Now, for the cash, where is the i-Leica for video captures?!

 

At least one person here has already expressed some interest.

[doug herr]

Vivek Iyer wrote: "<I>At least one person here has already expressed some interest.</I>"

<P>

And several others on other forums.

[sitemistic]

The price seems to be confirmed from several sources as $23,000 USD.

[michael s.]

<< ... <i>The price seems to be confirmed from several sources ... </i>>><p>

 

Actually <u>confirmed</u>, or are we talking about consensus among those speculating about the price ?<p>

 

Just asking.

[marc_bergman1]

From Ken,

 

"A person earns respect by respecting others first, even opinions counter to your own"

 

That is true of everyone on this board. It is not just El Fang that this should be directed to.

[kens]

Fair enough.

[william_john_smith1]

Define small.<P> Lets see now, Apple has over 28,000 employees, revenues of over $24 billion last year, net income of over

$3.5 billion in 2007 and has $21 billion cash in the bank with no long term debt. Third largest computer manufacturer in the United States,

behind HP and Dell. Apple is now the largest music retailer in the United States, ahead of Wal-Mart. Not bad for a small company.<br> If

Mr.

Jobs wanted to he could buy Leica

with Apple's pocket change.

[joshroot]

William, re-read the previous comments. We're not talking about Apple in 2008. That would be a pointless comparison.

 

Apple lost $1.045 billion in fiscal year 1997. That is just about the time that the existing CEO was booted, Steve Jobs returned as CEO, and the "turnaround" began.

[studor13]

Since we are now all talking about Apple, does anyone admit to owning a Newton? About $3000 in today's terms.

 

The unit failed, but it was way, way ahead of its time.

 

Time will tell if the S2 will change the future of digital photography. Personally, I think the idea is fantastic.

 

Now, where's that Newton of mine?

[jonathan_reynolds]

I must have blinked, 'cos evidently I missed the S1. Seriously, what does that numbering tell us about behind-the-scenes development? Did Leica maybe ditch an earlier model because it was not progressive enough?

[nee_sung]

There was an S1, issued in the early 2000's. I wanted to buy it at the time. It was not the cost of the camera that put me off, but the cost of the computer and the memory that I had to buy to use the files! Guess that doesn't apply nowadays.

[Landrum Kelly]

Here is what dpreview.com has to say about the sensor:

 

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08092401kodak_ccd.asp

 

What Hasselblad does will be at least as interesting to watch. One wonders if Canon will remain committed to the 24mm x 36mm sensor, or whether it, too, will finally decide to move up to a larger sensor, since pixel density is getting pretty high on both the 1Ds Mark III and the 5D Mark II--but what would be the right sensor for existing lenses?. Hasselblad has already been building on the idea of essentially two full-frame sensors on top of each other. Does that mean that the future of square sensors is almost over, or are we about to see a multiplicity of sensor sizes and shapes and resulting formats?

 

Competition at the high end could get interesting--especially in terms of price, as more companies chase a market segment of indeterminate size.

 

--Lannie

[ilkka_nissila]

Personally I wouldn't mind seeing this camera succeed. If it performs well against the Hasselblads and Leica can build a support network then why not. It seems to me that right now there is an abundance of competition in the APS-C sector, some competition in 24x36 (one year ago there was none), very little competition in the medium and large formats. To bring the prices of cameras using larger than 24x36 sensors down, we need more companies fighting for the market in this sector.

[michael s.]

The S1 <a href=http://www.photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00GqzV>looked like this</a>.<P>

 

The S1's unusual appearance prompted one forumer -- one with a sense of humor -- to refer to it as the "bear trap Leica." Not sure whether that nickname stuck ? :-)

[jonathan_reynolds]

If the S2 saves you having to do this...<p>

 

<center><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/7894791-lg.jpg"></center>

<p>

...it will be worth it.

[peteradownunder]

Thank Leica for good news from MF digital makers - Hasselblad has just dropped their prices for their H3D11-39 to

$22K, Sinar is dropping them , Phase will follow as will Leaf. This makes Medium format cheaper than the M8 a

four of the new Leica M lenses announced or just the Nocti and an M8. <p> You can already get set in lots

megapixels in MF for less than teh price of an M8 or CaNikon with a 50.<p> SO lets stop talking 'price' or

'cost'.<p> By teh time the S2 is launched - CaNikon will have announced their own versions..so Elfango and Other

CaNikon fanboys can have their versions if they like..<p> hmm maybe people can get back to making pics now?

hahahahhaha

[vivek iyer]

<i>hmm maybe people can get back to making pics now? hahahahhaha</i>

<p>

Peter, Leica perhaps come up with a product once a decade so this isn't the time to get back to making pics. :)

So, now is the time (certainly before a working camera comes out in the market and all the nits are picked) talk about a Leica camera.

<p>

Besides, it is only the <i>CaNikon fanboys</i> that have kept this forum alive (just making an observation):-)

[l_dasousa]

The problem with Leica announcing this S2 almost one year before it can be sold, is that some other brand such as Hasselblad can come in the meantime with something new, with availability immediate, and so capture away many buyers before the S2 is in the street.

[Brad_]

>>> Besides, it is only the CaNikon fanboys that have kept this forum alive (just making an observation):-)

 

I don't think there is anyone here on this forum singing the praises of the Nikon and Canon camera companies, as suggested.

 

For those that aren't part of the leica herd, and feel that cameras are just tools to be used, I'd say there are some who exhibit a

healthy degree of skepticism to the dogma put forward. I use sony, canon, and (have used) oly/pentax/ricoh. I could care less about

what the internal politics and personalities are of these companies. Or how/if they're developing a super high-end "game-changing"

camera, that due to price and performance, would make little sense for me to buy.

[jtk]

Where's Leica's DSLR Video Thang? Looks like they've given up on photojournalism.

 

Nikon produced D90 partially for a huge, young photojournalist market, knowing that all newspapers demand video skills from photo hires and knowing that video skills are more central to journalism educations than still photo skills. D90 is already more than plenty for most TV news, including BBC's, which now makes heavy use of cellphone videos.

[Landrum Kelly]

Forgive what I am about to say:

 

Thank God there are photojournalist/action shots. Thank God there are other than photojournalist/action shots.

 

Stills that take some time to set up still rule in my book.

 

--Lannie

[akochanowski]

I don't think there is any herd going on here. For once this odd company seems to be introducing a genuinely different product. A 37 MP sensor will likely have visibly greater resolution than the current crop of sensors, and like them or not Leica can make a great lens to now go with a presumably first-rate sensor. What I think this will be is a camera that will be analogous to the AF 645 cameras that produce visibly better resolution than 135 film in a hand-held and portable device. Philip Lorca-DeCorcia for one has done beautiful street photography with medium format. I've seen several of his prints and they are gorgeous. If I could figure out a way to justify spending $30K on a camera I would-- I think I could generate some good photography with it, different from what I am currently doing. That's what tools are about, aren't they?

[Brad_]

>>> If I could figure out a way to justify spending $30K on a camera I would-- I think I could generate some good

photography with it, different from what I am currently doing. That's what tools are about, aren't they?

 

For sure. For what I do (sp), I can't see it improving anything. Sure, the images might be a little sharper at very large print

sizes, but that's not something I strive for. Higher ISO/noise is important. Ergonomics and small size is important for me as

well. That's why I "downgraded" to a rebel. That has made a big difference.

 

Now, for Pete, who is into large stitched panoramics, that cam would no doubt yield a huge imporvement.

 

That's why I asked earlier what people here are going to do with the cam.