Holly cows..

[ndevlin]

Dear N., FYI:

The digital part and electronics in the M8 have been made by Jenoptik for Leica.

As far as my information goes, the S2 is a 100% Leica development.

Best regards,
Thierry

Hey,

I may have misunderstood the announcement of the partnership between Leica and Phase that was announced at the same time as the S2. You are certainly better placed than I to know these things, but you must admit the back of the S2 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Phase interface, no?

- N. (Nick)

[ThierryH]

hi Nick,

I honestly couldn't say, for not having seen or hold it. So you must be right concerning the resemblance.

Best regards,
Thierry

..., but you must admit the back of the S2 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Phase interface, no?

- N. (Nick)

[Guy Mancuso]

Hey,

I may have misunderstood the announcement of the partnership between Leica and Phase that was announced at the same time as the S2. You are certainly better placed than I to know these things, but you must admit the back of the S2 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Phase interface, no?

- N. (Nick)

Looks just like it. I just played with it at PMA and did a demo of the S2 . Really it is a overgrown DSLR and it is quite nice and very solid but like anything Leica which i am very familiar with your going to have to reach deep in those pockets. Yes it is 100 percent Leica . The Phase equation is still a question mark and still in high level talks.

[dfarkas]

Hey,

I may have misunderstood the announcement of the partnership between Leica and Phase that was announced at the same time as the S2. You are certainly better placed than I to know these things, but you must admit the back of the S2 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Phase interface, no?

- N. (Nick)

Nick,

The S2 is 100% Leica. Phase One had no involvement in the R&D, design, or production of the camera at all. Phase One will also have nothing to do with distribution, sales, marketing, support, or service. All of these aspects are to be handled 100% by Leica and select Leica dealers. At most, Leica is working with Phase to integrate the S2 with Capture One. As it is, I believe that Leica is Phase One's number one customer from a software licensing standpoint. All M8s, M8.2s, and D-Lux 4s ship with a C1 license. We are talking tens of thousands of units here. So, I believe this is what is meant by "continuing strategic partnership".

As far as the four button interface surrounding the rear LCD.... perhaps Guy (as a current Phase user who has handled the S2) can attest to the fact that the menu system and the interface, beyond the four button approach is simple, fast, intuitive, and purely Leica.

David

[eronald]

Nick,

The S2 is 100% Leica. Phase One had no involvement in the R&D, design, or production of the camera at all. Phase One will also have nothing to do with distribution, sales, marketing, support, or service. All of these aspects are to be handled 100% by Leica and select Leica dealers. At most, Leica is working with Phase to integrate the S2 with Capture One. As it is, I believe that Leica is Phase One's number one customer from a software licensing standpoint. All M8s, M8.2s, and D-Lux 4s ship with a C1 license. We are talking tens of thousands of units here. So, I believe this is what is meant by "continuing strategic partnership".

As far as the four button interface surrounding the rear LCD.... perhaps Guy (as a current Phase user who has handled the S2) can attest to the fact that the menu system and the interface, beyond the four button approach is simple, fast, intuitive, and purely Leica.

David

Is there a joypad somewhere on this thing? Joypads may be a recent invention, but they sure are useful for selecting a focus point, and also for scrolling through a display. The Phase interface shows what can be done with 4 buttons, but it also shows what cannot be done with four buttons. And no, the Leica doesn't have a Phase interface.

Edmund

[Guy Mancuso]

It's very similar to the Phase as far as layout is concerned , obviously the menu's and such are much different. The top left button acts in the same way to get to the main menu but from there the setup is different and unique. It's also very fast on review , zooming and getting around. You shoot the review is up so it is quick. The processing engine of the S2 has a lot of power and mostly the main reason the camera can shoot fast for a MF and do all the other stuff as fast as a Nikon or Canon. The only slow part compared to a Nikon or Canon is the shooting speed and obviously stuffing 37mpx down a pipeline is different than a 24 mpx . This part of the camera is avery welcome plus to the MF shooter. If you took the shooting speed at 1.5 fps and put it into the way Phase calculate the shooting speed at least the way it is described you need a Phase back to go.7 seconds. They word this differently so it is confusing but the bottom line for a Phase to match the shooting speed it would have to be .7. The Phase 21 back does .8 but that is a 18mpx back. Really the fastest big back at the moment is the P65 plus at 1 second. I expect this to change in the future . Newer faster image processors are now available so as new entrants come to market they will hopefully be faster and also make use of bigger LCD which need more power and create more heat in the past and reason you don't see them. This will change but as much as some say the Leica is old already it is actually ahead on the curve in these area's .