Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

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Archive 2009 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

roanjohnnyc
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p.1 #1 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

.......on dpreview:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0911/09111203leicas2gallery.asp

Files are amazing, though ISO 640 it starts to deteriorate!!! Too bad its >$20,000.

Nov 12, 2009 at 03:22 PM

Lotusm50
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p.1 #2 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

roanjohnnyc wrote:
.......on dpreview:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0911/09111203leicas2gallery.asp

Files are amazing, though ISO 640 it starts to deteriorate!!!

Yes. It's quite soft and noisy at 640, even at 320. Any advantage the larger sensor and MP count might have over the current range of 21-24mp DLSR's appears to be lost by 320 ISO.

Too bad its >$20,000.

Typical response to a Leica product. ;-)

Nov 12, 2009 at 03:40 PM

thrice
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p.1 #3 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Just for fun I took their ISO 1250 shot and ran it through my usual NR & sharpening process for high ISO shots. It's resized for web (at a pretty big size mind you) but the images from this camera taken at high ISO will likely be of a particular style that doesn't require 37.5Mp of true detail. Where this camera will shine is in controlled environments (studio) or tripod environments (landscape). Oh I applied a little curves to give it some punch, lost a bit of dark detail as a result, but I prefer the look.

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Here is the original file from DPreview resized and sharpened in exactly the same way:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Ahh... I lost considerable detail in the horizontal patterns of the grill and wall in the out of focus areas... might have to fiddle with my PP technique some more.

Nov 12, 2009 at 04:00 PM

roanjohnnyc
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p.1 #4 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Not bad..........but I wonder how much chroma noise you get from this image if it was in color. Still looks decent.

Nov 12, 2009 at 05:20 PM

edwardkaraa
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p.1 #5 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

One has to keep in mind that no matter how large the sensor is on these medium format cameras, they are still dinosaurs compared to the sensors of 35mm DSLR. Canon, Sony and others have manufactured and sold millions of cameras and all this experience has lead to substantial improvements and developments in the technology. Unfortunately this does not apply for MF sensor manufacturers so their development is quite slower.

Nov 12, 2009 at 06:03 PM

Greg Feldman
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p.1 #6 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

I'm not so sure they're amazing. Some of them are very good, including this one, but I'm not sure I'd choose this system over certain other MF systems. For that matter, considering the price for the body and one lens with leaf shutter (which is one of the big selling points), I'm not so sure I'd choose it over whatever Canon does with their 1Ds4 plus a dozen good Canon lenses.

Nov 12, 2009 at 06:30 PM

kosmoskatten
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p.1 #7 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Greg; the one you linked to looks great.

Images look fine, as expected. If they are world class? Hard to say.
The optics seem first rate and the sensor/camera seems fine too.

Worth the extortionistic price tag? I can't see that any camera would be worth that much.
I would not mind working with the S2 but for the asking price I would have to be plain stupid not to consider the alternatives first. Even IF I had the money.

Nov 12, 2009 at 07:39 PM

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p.1 #8 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

amazing... i just saw the video:

leica S2 video

Nov 12, 2009 at 09:24 PM

mawz
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p.1 #9 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

And once again, I'd just like to note that DPReview's preview samples always suck.

Nov 12, 2009 at 10:01 PM

mawz
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p.1 #10 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

kosmoskatten wrote:
Greg; the one you linked to looks great.

Images look fine, as expected. If they are world class? Hard to say.
The optics seem first rate and the sensor/camera seems fine too.

Worth the extortionistic price tag? I can't see that any camera would be worth that much.
I would not mind working with the S2 but for the asking price I would have to be plain stupid not to consider the alternatives first. Even IF I had the money.

The alternatives cost similar amounts to the S2. Its pricetag is similar to a P45+/645DF combo or H3DII-39. The high-end PhaseOne or Hasselblad stuff is quite noticeably more expensive at the $40k mark, but delivers resolution that is absolutely unbelievable.

Nov 12, 2009 at 10:02 PM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #11 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

The images of the young lady do look good! and the camera isn`t bad either

Nov 13, 2009 at 12:46 AM

dave chilvers
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p.1 #12 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

bellyface wrote:
amazing... i just saw the video:

leica S2 video

Gotta want one of those

Nov 13, 2009 at 12:53 AM

Spyro P.
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p.1 #13 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

thrice wrote:
Just for fun I took their ISO 1250 shot and ran it through my usual NR & sharpening process for high ISO shots.....

One day you should take me through your NR process step by step. It looks good.

Nov 13, 2009 at 01:01 AM

pixelpix
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p.1 #14 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Personally I shall keep working towards a Phase One system, as the Leica seems to have a way to go yet before it's as good.

Nov 13, 2009 at 01:42 AM

thrice
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p.1 #15 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

I've handled the S2, it's very very nice. I do wish Leica had put the Maestro processor in the M9, it's very quick. The viewfinder is HUGE and clean, just a crosshair in the middle for AF, oh and the AF is very quick (but a bit noisy) and accurate.

Also, it's very well weather sealed

I'll be happy to show you any time Spyro, it's very simple, in fact I could just send you a pm with it which I may do shortly.

Nov 13, 2009 at 02:03 AM

Wilfredo
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p.1 #16 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

kosmoskatten wrote:
Greg; the one you linked to looks great.

Images look fine, as expected. If they are world class? Hard to say.
The optics seem first rate and the sensor/camera seems fine too.

Worth the extortionistic price tag? I can't see that any camera would be worth that much.
I would not mind working with the S2 but for the asking price I would have to be plain stupid not to consider the alternatives first. Even IF I had the money.

No doubt the images are excellent but I'm starting to wonder about the wisdom of Leica? Few photographers need a 37 megapixel camera. Unless Leica planned for a low volume of sales for this system, I don't see success down the road for the company. I'm baffled as to why they canned the R10 for this?

The fact that I can't even think about purchasing this elite camera system because of the cost does not irk me at all. It actually makes me feel even better about the Canon 5D II with Leica and Zeiss primes.

Nov 13, 2009 at 03:50 AM

Tariq Gibran
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p.1 #17 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

I wonder why they chose not to offer a 100% viewfinder.

Nov 13, 2009 at 03:50 AM

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p.1 #18 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Wilfredo wrote:
Unless Leica planned for a low volume of sales for this system...

Indeed they did, it's a medium format camera. In that scope it's reasonably competitive, even on price.

Nov 13, 2009 at 03:57 AM

rscheffler
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p.1 #19 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Wilfredo wrote:
kosmoskatten wrote:
Greg; the one you linked to looks great.

Images look fine, as expected. If they are world class? Hard to say.
The optics seem first rate and the sensor/camera seems fine too.

Worth the extortionistic price tag? I can't see that any camera would be worth that much.
I would not mind working with the S2 but for the asking price I would have to be plain stupid not to consider the alternatives first. Even IF I had the money.

No doubt the images are excellent but I'm starting to wonder about the wisdom of Leica? Few photographers need a 37 megapixel camera. Unless Leica planned for a low volume of sales for this system, I don't see success down the road for the company. I'm baffled as to why they canned the R10 for this?

The fact that I can't even think about purchasing this elite camera system because of the cost does not irk me at all. It actually makes me feel even better about the Canon 5D II with Leica and Zeiss primes.

I suspect because an R10 would be a specialist manual focus camera competing in an AF world against the likes of Canon & Nikon (& Sony). With the S2 Leica can reposition themselves into a niche area with other specialist players, competing for buyers willing to and expecting to pay a significant premium, where they might have a better chance of standing out since all of the systems are similarly priced. Yet here they are offering something that is a bit more dynamic in its operability compared to the other more traditionally designed MF systems, which wouldn't likely have been the case for the R10 vs. the Canon & Nikon systems. Either way Leica would have invested a lot of development money. With the S2 they get a fresh start rather than having to continue to support a legacy system, that while technically excellent, was operationally obsolete for most working photographers in the 35mm DSLR market.

Nov 14, 2009 at 03:01 AM

RustyBug
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p.1 #20 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Seems to be a move akin to Olypmus 4/3 (i.e. something different that nobody else has) ... in the opposite direction.

Nov 14, 2009 at 03:08 AM

telyt
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p.1 #21 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

rscheffler wrote: I suspect because an R10 would be a specialist manual focus camera competing in an AF ....

Before the R product line was discontinued, the R10 was being developed as an AF camera.

Nov 14, 2009 at 03:23 AM

edwardkaraa
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p.1 #22 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

If I want to buy into an MF system, I certainly would not consider the S2. I don't see the advantage of using a 30x45mm sensor, barely 1.25x larger than 35mm. There is barely any noticeable MF look to it, meaning the optical characteristics induced by a larger sensor and longer optics. Moreover, It does not have the versatility of other modular systems.

Nov 14, 2009 at 05:39 AM

thrice
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p.1 #23 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

Aside from being weatherproof, much better to handle and having typically shaper optics. It also has a higher framerate and faster menus. These features would offer me personally, a lot of versatility. The modularity is the only benefit of the other systems. Given the amount of shots we have seen I would say it's far too soon to say it has "barely any noticeable MF look to it".

The sensor is in linear horizontal or vertical terms 1.25x the size. In surface area it is 56% larger, or 1.56x the surface area.

Nov 14, 2009 at 05:52 AM

edwardkaraa
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p.1 #24 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

There will be less difference between 35mm and the 1.25x larger sensor of the S2, than there is between the 1.3x crop bodies of the 1D series and FF. Difference is there but not so obvious.

Even the current MFDB have too small sensors to be really called MF. But at least the largest ones have around 1.5X over 35mm and that is significant.

Nov 14, 2009 at 09:45 AM

carstenw
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p.1 #25 · Leica S2 Sample gallery posted

The S2 sensor has 56% more area, the usual way to compare sensors (and film), not side length (which is used to compare crops). The S2 sensor is just 7.5% smaller (by area) than the popular 33x44mm chips (P30/P30+/H3D-31/...), and larger than the CFV sensor. No one ever called that one out on not having the MF look. The S2 will certainly look much more similar to MF than to 35mm-FF.

The only versatility the S2 doesn't have compared to other systems is that you can't remove the back and put it on a technical camera. If you want to do that, don't buy an S2. The vast majority of MF owners don't do this though, so there is a target market there. There is also the lack of a wast-level finder, but one of the primary competitors here, the Phase One 645 AF doesn't either. Furthermore, due to its compact size (smaller than a D3x/1Ds3), relatively fast AF, higher shooting rate, weather sealing, and so on, it adds a lot more flexibility to the equation in other ways, and there are market segments where these will be appreciated very much.

Edited on Nov 14, 2009 at 10:58 AM · View previous versions

Nov 14, 2009 at 09:49 AM


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