New Leica S2 ----> 37 Million Pixels!

[aizan]

The body is being redied to include a WiFi module. That is a recent change that Solms didn't originally plan.

the left strap lug has a pretty slick design. i doubt it was a last minute addition.

 

[Ray Nalley]

Actually, you were a biology major in college 7 years ago, but whatever.

 

[slm]

It means the M8 is history? 🙂

Isn't the M8 dominating the DRF market ?

 

[slm]

The body is being redied to include a WiFi module. That is a recent change that Solms didn't originally plan.

How do you know this ? And what's the problem with making a change to their product, that hasn't been released yet ?

 

[tmfabian]

How do you know this ? And what's the problem with making a change to their product, that hasn't been released yet ?

indeed...no reason they can't make changes still...I watched a video clip on youtube and they were saying it's still in the prototype phase...won't be coming out till august of '09. They also hinted at possible faster FPS once the engineers finish tweaking the thing and how it's going to have a similar cover to the R9. I just kind of hope they tweak that menu system to look prettier...i know it's silly...but those menus look ugly.

 

[infrequent]

if you see the wireless thingmajig for nikon, the leica solution almost approaches magic!

http://www.nikonwatch.com/images/d90realsmallwithgps.jpg

 

[MikeL]

Interesting to see the S2 sitting next to a D700 ... the Nikon looks very busy in comparison to the simple clean lines of the Leica.

Yeah, but I bet you can't play video games on the Leica.

Boring.......

 

[Kevin]

I originally pointed out some missing features that the current spec was missing and received poor marks from a young cheeky member here.

Leica didn't only "hear our visions, our needs, our experiences and incorporate them into their new S2", they are still gathering requirements and incorporating them iteratively into the prototype.

For example, here in Cologne the latest communicated update is that "the prototype cameras have even been redied for a wi-fi module that is still in development." (http://www.dpreview.com/articles/photokina2008/Leica/)

If Leica is really targeting "professional photographers" and if this target includes wedding photographers, anyone moving to this system will either have to buy two of everything or be prepared to switch systems at the blink of an eye. It is a requirement of professional wedding photographers to carry at least one backup system on a wedding day in the common event of equipment failure.

Most of my full-frame colleagues are happy using 24x36 sensors and pro zoom lenses, by the way, so I cannot imagine that this system will convince even a small minority of pro wedding photographers to make the jump. It's just too expensive when you consider the real requirements of having to have backups of everything and the stress involved of having to change systems while going down the rapids.

The same scenario applies to advertising photogs. Imagine a studio or location set full of assistants, models, makeup artists, wardrobe stylists, coordinators and customers and suddenly your one and only S2 breaks down in the middle of the shoot.

Advertising photos don't require portability in a studio or even on location because they have lots of lighting equipment to deal with. Wedding photogs, on the other hand, don't require tethering or WiFi because they are usually working alone. They require the added safety net, however, of being able to save their RAW or JPG files onto two separate cards simultaneously. (Either you are a RAW shooter or a JPG shooter. You are not both at the same time.)

I am sure the picture quality from this camera will be fantastic and this is an important attribute but there are other equally important requirements that different types of pro photographers have.

One of them - common to all of us - is being able to quickly change settings via dedicated buttons.

 

[urban_alchemist]

I originally pointed out some missing features that the current spec was missing and received poor marks from a young cheeky member here.

Leica didn't only "hear our visions, our needs, our experiences and incorporate them into their new S2", they are still gathering requirements and incorporating them iteratively into the prototype.

For example, here in Cologne the latest communicated update is that "the prototype cameras have even been redied for a wi-fi module that is still in development." (http://www.dpreview.com/articles/photokina2008/Leica/)

If Leica is really targeting "professional photographers" and if this target includes wedding photographers, anyone moving to this system will either have to buy two of everything or be prepared to switch systems at the blink of an eye. It is a requirement of professional wedding photographers to carry at least one backup system on a wedding day in the common event of equipment failure.

Most of my full-frame colleagues are happy using 24x36 sensors and pro zoom lenses, by the way, so I cannot imagine that this system will convince even a small minority of pro wedding photographers to make the jump. It's just too expensive when you consider the real requirements of having to have backups of everything and the stress involved of having to change systems while going down the rapids.

The same scenario applies to advertising photogs. Imagine a studio or location set full of assistants, models, makeup artists, wardrobe stylists, coordinators and customers and suddenly your one and only S2 breaks down in the middle of the shoot.

Advertising photos don't require portability in a studio or even on location because they have lots of lighting equipment to deal with. Wedding photogs, on the other hand, don't require tethering or WiFi because they are usually working alone. They require the added safety net, however, of being able to save their RAW or JPG files onto two separate cards simultaneously. (Either you are a RAW shooter or a JPG shooter. You are not both at the same time.)

I am sure the picture quality from this camera will be fantastic and this is an important attribute but there are other equally important requirements that different types of pro photographers have.

One of them - common to all of us - is being able to quickly change settings via dedicated buttons.

There's always one that poops on the parade.

EVERYTHING you've said above is a pile of that ***. I have a simple solution: just buy two. Can't afford it? Don't buy any.

Just stop with the incessant (and unfounded) negativity...

 

[hitmanh]

I originally pointed out some missing features that the current spec was missing and received poor marks from a young cheeky member here.

Leica didn't only "hear our visions, our needs, our experiences and incorporate them into their new S2", they are still gathering requirements and incorporating them iteratively into the prototype.

For example, here in Cologne the latest communicated update is that "the prototype cameras have even been redied for a wi-fi module that is still in development." (http://www.dpreview.com/articles/photokina2008/Leica/)

If Leica is really targeting "professional photographers" and if this target includes wedding photographers, anyone moving to this system will either have to buy two of everything or be prepared to switch systems at the blink of an eye. It is a requirement of professional wedding photographers to carry at least one backup system on a wedding day in the common event of equipment failure.

Most of my full-frame colleagues are happy using 24x36 sensors and pro zoom lenses, by the way, so I cannot imagine that this system will convince even a small minority of pro wedding photographers to make the jump. It's just too expensive when you consider the real requirements of having to have backups of everything and the stress involved of having to change systems while going down the rapids.

The same scenario applies to advertising photogs. Imagine a studio or location set full of assistants, models, makeup artists, wardrobe stylists, coordinators and customers and suddenly your one and only S2 breaks down in the middle of the shoot.

Advertising photos don't require portability in a studio or even on location because they have lots of lighting equipment to deal with. Wedding photogs, on the other hand, don't require tethering or WiFi because they are usually working alone. They require the added safety net, however, of being able to save their RAW or JPG files onto two separate cards simultaneously. (Either you are a RAW shooter or a JPG shooter. You are not both at the same time.)

I am sure the picture quality from this camera will be fantastic and this is an important attribute but there are other equally important requirements that different types of pro photographers have.

One of them - common to all of us - is being able to quickly change settings via dedicated buttons.

I think the wedding photog market for this camera is about as large as the wedding photog market for Hasselblad.

 

[P. Lynn Miller]

If Leica indeed does put this camera into production and the price is at all reasonable(on par with other DMF systems), I will be looking to buy a pair of these with a good selection of glass. This camera is perfect for an upcoming field project that requires medium format quality and portability.

Of course, there are a lot of 'if's' that need to be answered but in concept this is a brilliant camera/system for the working medium format field photographer. A high-resolution digital camera with a medium format sensor built by Leica and supported by Phase One that is smaller than a Nikon D3, sounds almost too good to be true.

Wish a few people around here would get their heads out of their lens caps and see that the S2 bodes well for every Leica user, including M users.

 

[tmfabian]

If Leica indeed does put this camera into production and the price is at all reasonable(on par with other DMF systems), I will be looking to buy a pair of these with a good selection of glass. This camera is perfect for an upcoming field project that requires medium format quality and portability.

Of course, there are a lot of 'if's' that need to be answered but in concept this is a brilliant camera/system for the working medium format field photographer. A high-resolution digital camera with a medium format sensor built by Leica and supported by Phase One that is smaller than a Nikon D3, sounds almost too good to be true.

Wish a few people around here would get their heads out of their lens caps and see that the S2 bodes well for every Leica user, including M users.

i like you 🙂

 

[urban_alchemist]

If Leica indeed does put this camera into production and the price is at all reasonable(on par with other DMF systems), I will be looking to buy a pair of these with a good selection of glass. This camera is perfect for an upcoming field project that requires medium format quality and portability.

Of course, there are a lot of 'if's' that need to be answered but in concept this is a brilliant camera/system for the working medium format field photographer. A high-resolution digital camera with a medium format sensor built by Leica and supported by Phase One that is smaller than a Nikon D3, sounds almost too good to be true.

Wish a few people around here would get their heads out of their lens caps and see that the S2 bodes well for every Leica user, including M users.

I like you too 😀

 

[percepts]

there an interesting interview at http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=816500 which explains where leica see the S2 going and it being the base platform for all future leica digitals.

 

[Petroleum V. Nasby]

I find the 14 megapixel Kodak sensor is more than sufficient for a jerk like me:

 

[Pherdinand]

Say whatever you want... that camera body is butt ugly. 🙂
As i said, a design disaster.
The latest R bodies were rather ugly already, but this is the top.

 

[rolleistef]

if they sell a few thousand S2's I think it will be a really good point for Leica. But of course the 6X7 proportion is slightly akward... on the other hand/end, who cares about the 4/3 format?

 

[percepts]

Does 4x3 format matter for this camera? I think probably it does but this camera is not 4x3 format. It is 3x2 format just the same as 35mm film. And that is its problem. The sensor is 30x45 mm which is 3x2 and will give 7500x5000 pixels or thereabouts.

The problem is that the interview at the http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=816500 says this camera is designed for fashion photographers and commercial photographers. Fashion and commercial photographers work is for publication, usually in magazine format and for that purpose portrait orientation in 4x3 format would be a far superior format for the photographer. So I think that Leica either doesn't know what its doing or it is not being genuine about the intended market. Could they get it that wrong or is the camera really aimed at M Leica owners who will buy it just because its a Leica? If it were for fashion photography, would the sensor be vertical in the camera and not horizontal which would make a lot of sense. Anyone know which way the sensor is orientated in this camera?

 

[rolleistef]

hmm interesting, I didn't know about the 4x3 ratio... I guess the sensor is horizontal (hence the LCD), there would have been some issues designing a mirror box which is higher than wide, and anyway it would have been too unusual. Since the S2 is being released next summer, they'll have plenty of time to develop other things (such as the Wi-Fi they installed during the Kina).
It must be the reason why the S2 has been introduced one year before it's being marketed..

 

[percepts]

Well here's a kick in the nuts for Leica. It's going to make their S2 camera look very very expensive when their main competitor for the S2 is selling a 60 megapixel camera for similar price and 39 megapixel cameras for a lot less.

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=817641