Forgive me - but I think we are missing the point here.
If the past is any record, the S2 will be technically a superior product. Leicas have always been that, traditionally optically and mechanically so,
Since we're talking about a camera that isn't close to shipping yet, this is all theoretical.
Yes, maybe on a monitor at 200% this or any larger than 35mm sensor camera will offer more detail but I don't think you can buy the S2 or any new european system with a few lenses for under $30,000.
For 30k you can take your photography a step further just with a parabolic umbrella, or HMI's or better post production and by the time the S2 is on the shelf does anyone really believe that Canon and Nikon won't have something out there in the 30mpx area as well.
This is a pixel peeping crowd and there is nothing wrong with that in theory, but in the real world where portfolios and websites are viewed at about 1 second a photo and every photograph goes through 4 rounds of retouching, pixel peeping becomes irrelevant.
Even if the economy hadn't dipped downward Hasselblad changed the larger than 35mm world just by dropping their prices. You see it here with topics like what does a p21+ sell for. In theory it should probably sell for 10 grand but in reality $6,500 is probably the going price and I've worked with few ADs or clients that knows or cares about the difference between an 18mpx image and a 33mpx image.
If the economy continues and this is a year of slowdowns every photographer needs to step back and decide where to put their resources. Under these conditions this is the best time to expand your body or work and though photographer's seem more pre disposed to spend money on cameras and lenses the best investment is in better stylists, talent, locations, retouching and promotion.
Photography at any level has never been about 20x loupes and the ability to enlarge 40ft. high, at least not photography that moves you forward. Photography is about showing a unique vision and when it comes to digital cameras, the formats of 35mm to almost 645 there just isn't that great of a difference.
If cameras are the goal and you want to offer something different, then probably stepping back into the world of film will get you closer than anything in digital. There is a difference between a 6x7, 4x5 or 8x10 format vs. 35mm but in the history of photography, film or digital it's all about what you shoot, not necessarilly what you shoot it with.
I'd feel different, and a lot more predisposed to cough up 50 grand if the sensors were larger, or if a Canon, Leica, Phase, Hasselblad, Nikon, Sony, Leaf . . . . produce a much different look, but the differrence is in very small percentages in comparision to what photography is really about.
Let's face it our "films" are now down to just a few choices. Dalsa, Kodak, Canon, Nikon/Sony. That's it, all a bunch of wafers cut from the same 4 makers and we can wrap any aluminium and plastic body around them but the difference just isn't that great anymore.
If the leica was the format of a pentax 6x7 then I'd understand it, or if it offered the same moveable iso as the Canons and Nikons then just the bling factor alone may be worth extra $20,000 but for close to the same image quality and a more limited system, to me this is a camera that probably sounds good talking trash at the country club, but in the world of producing art for commerce, or your den, it will probably make little difference.
Regardless, go through these sites and tell me if format, pixel peeping, ca, dr, file size is important.
http://www.helmutnewton.com/current_exhibi.../gallery.html#5http://www.artkane.com/fullsize/lyrics/fzlady.htmlhttp://www.guybourdin.org/http://www.peterlindbergh.com/http://www.paoloroversi.com/diaporama/photographs.htmlhttp://www.nadavkander.com/#and I could make the list 1000 times longer and it wouldn't change a thing other than to know that the technical attributes of an image are much less important than subject, lighting, talent (both behind and in front of the camera) and budget.
Now saying this, I hope I'm wrong and this is the greatest camera ever. I dig Leica's love the way they feel and like driving a porsche, you just know it's something special, but like the porsche it better perform or it's just a waste of resource.