New Leica S2 Review with Example Images

[MattBeardsley]

Hey LL,

Hope everyone is doing well.  Just posted a new chapter in my ongoing Leica S2 review, concentrating more on actually using the big camera and not so much market position or competition.  Also, we set up some fun editorial-style test shoots around San Francisco.  Please let me know if you catch any errors or oddities.  Also, does anyone know if Leica has plans to ship the S2's 30mm tilt-shift lens or 24mm in the coming months?

Thanks guys!

http://photoartsmonthly.com/blog/2011/03/22/on-location-with-the-leica-s2/

Matt

[paratom]

As far as I know the T/S is not planned any more since they say not enough interest.
The 24 I think is one of the next lenses but I highly doubt it will ship that soon.

[JohnBrew]

Thanks, Matt, for posting this. It makes for interesting reading. Now, where to find 30 grand my wife won't notice?

[dfarkas]

Matt, nice follow-up article on the S2. I also got a kick out of your interview with Chiun-Kai Shih.  I was assisting/teching on Chunky's latest shoot with the S2 here in Palm Beach just a few days ago. We shot at 320 or 640 ISO the whole shoot, all handheld. Didn't even change a battery until halfway through the second day, after 2500 shots. Chiun-Kai really loves the camera and pushes it as far as he can. He produced some fantastic shots and the S2 performed flawlessly over three days and close to 6000 exposures.

To answer your question, the next lenses to be released are the 24mm f/3.5 and 30mm f/2.8, followed by the 30-90mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom. No specific dates have been given, but I'd expect them to ship later this year. The 30mm is not a T/S, but will be offered in a CS (central shutter) version as well. No word on T/S, although we (Dale Photo) already have a T/S solution in the meantime.

David

[MattBeardsley]

David,

Good to hear from you.  Chiun-Kai spoke very highly of you during our interviews!  (which were conducted, in part, from his Florida hotel following the shoot you mention).

He sent some impressive high-res images from a previous S2 shoot.  I've really enjoyed getting to know him a bit.

Thank you also for the lens availability info.  It's really a great line of glass and I'm excited to see it expanding.  I really enjoyed the 35mm during testing, very low distortion and plenty of wide-angle effect to add life to environmental portraiture.  Sadly, I had to give up the demo copy the day before the diver and musician shoots for the write-up.  As it turns out, everything that ended up in the piece was shot with the 70mm.

So what's the T/S solution you'd put together?  Sounds like fun!

Matt

Matt, nice follow-up article on the S2. I also got a kick out of your interview with Chiun-Kai Shih.  I was assisting/teching on Chunky's latest shoot with the S2 here in Palm Beach just a few days ago. We shot at 320 or 640 ISO the whole shoot, all handheld. Didn't even change a battery until halfway through the second day, after 2500 shots. Chiun-Kai really loves the camera and pushes it as far as he can. He produced some fantastic shots and the S2 performed flawlessly over three days and close to 6000 exposures.

To answer your question, the next lenses to be released are the 24mm f/3.5 and 30mm f/2.8, followed by the 30-90mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom. No specific dates have been given, but I'd expect them to ship later this year. The 30mm is not a T/S, but will be offered in a CS (central shutter) version as well. No word on T/S, although we (Dale Photo) already have a T/S solution in the meantime.

David

[paratom]

The lens lineup is so sparse, with only promises of future lenses, not sure the sheer cost of the basic kit to be worth it.

I guess it depends what you want.
The offering are much less lenses than offered from other brands.
On the other side the few lenses offered are of very high quality and quite flexible what they can do IMO.
What I mean is for example a 120mm/2.5 macro lens, which works great for portrait , which you can focus pretty close, which delievers great IQ even wide open and offers f2.5 plus its weather sealed.
I find that 35,70,120Macro,180 covers allready many things, Now if they also have 24 its a pretty good lineup.
I just wish they would continue with the idea to make the 30mm a T/S lens.

[salaamss]

I currently own an M9 with a Leica standard 5omm Summarit lens.  To avoid endless delays and rather arrogant responses from Leica and its suppliers I chose to go for a Zeiss 28mm lens for my landscape photography. I stopped there, as I am reconsidering my Leica strategy.  I have an S2 ordered that will be delivered June 2011 at the earliest.  When I asked for an Apo Macro Summarit 120 CS for my portrait studio photography, I was told order first with a down payment and we will come back to you with delivery time!   Honestly this is just totally unacceptable!  Why launch a camera with a lens line up that you cannot deliver - even to your own customers???  While this may work for the niche that Leica is targeting for its M9, this surely will not work with the majority of professional photographers that they would target for the S2.  While I am not a professional photographer (but certainly ticked off at this Leica attitude/mismanagement), I am sure professionals require absolute reliability and availability in terms of supply of the camera as well as the lens and accessories range that has already been fully announced and is being listed at suppliers and sites such as B&H and Robert White, etc.  Can someone tell me what the heck is going on?  I am about to run out of patience and cancel my S2 order.  I currently have a Hasselblad H4D-31.  I can use the money for an upgrade to a 50MP without worries about delivery and availability. I also have a whole range of lenses that I already own to go with it.  I honestly thought an S2 would have been ideal for outdoor photography (size/weatherproof).   

[fredjeang]

I currently own an M9 with a Leica standard 5omm Summarit lens.  To avoid endless delays and rather arrogant responses from Leica and its suppliers I chose to go for a Zeiss 28mm lens for my landscape photography. I stopped there, as I am reconsidering my Leica strategy.  I have an S2 ordered that will be delivered June 2011 at the earliest.  When I asked for an Apo Macro Summarit 120 CS for my portrait studio photography, I was told order first with a down payment and we will come back to you with delivery time!   Honestly this is just totally unacceptable!  Why launch a camera with a lens line up that you cannot deliver - even to your own customers???  While this may work for the niche that Leica is targeting for its M9, this surely will not work with the majority of professional photographers that they would target for the S2.  While I am not a professional photographer (but certainly ticked off at this Leica attitude/mismanagement), I am sure professionals require absolute reliability and availability in terms of supply of the camera as well as the lens and accessories range that has already been fully announced and is being listed at suppliers and sites such as B&H and Robert White, etc.  Can someone tell me what the heck is going on?  I am about to run out of patience and cancel my S2 order.  I currently have a Hasselblad H4D-31.  I can use the money for an upgrade to a 50MP without worries about delivery and availability. I also have a whole range of lenses that I already own to go with it.  I honestly thought an S2 would have been ideal for outdoor photography (size/weatherproof).    

That is indeed the prob with this camera.

I assisted to a pathetic scene some months ago when even a worldwide recognised photographer that has his pics hanged in the best museums of the planet AND is a Leica not only user but actually figure in the official webpage could not get an S2 on reasonable time. As the guy is cool he didn't care that much though but the vendor was very embarrassed because the guy in question is almost an icon here in Spain.

All that is not very serious.

Almost impossible to get one for evaluation here.
 

[Erick Boileau]

I currently have a Hasselblad H4D-31.

which is certainly as good if not better than a Leica S2 ....ans weather proof with a Thinktank or Kata rain cover

[mikeber]

Personally, if I couldn't buy a camera with my $30K, I would switch my business to others (and there are some great products out there).
It is unreasonable to wait that long. That said, the whole industry has recently been restructured, with everything is short supply. You cannot order and  get immediate delivery of Nikon or Canon cameras and lenses.  A huge portion of B&H and Adorama stocks are back ordered. Its an unprecedented situation for photographers. Manufacturers and retailers found that keeping everything tight, allows them to raise prices and is a better business model for them.

[telyt]

Can someone tell me what the heck is going on?  I am about to run out of patience and cancel my S2 order. 

Demand has been much greater than supply.  There have been several threads discussing the pros and cons of the S system at the GetDPI forum, both in the Leica subforum and the Medium Format subforum:

http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22143
http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21559
http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24292
http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20975

[salaamss]

"Demand exceeds supply" is what we always get, but can anyone quantify the demand vs. supply numbers against let us say Hasselblad, Pentax (MF) and/or PhaseOne demand/supply stats.  Just how many people out there have put a firm order for an S2 and just how many S2 can Leica produce in a week/month/year?  I am sorry I am being a pain on this, but it's because I am in pain for having ordered a Leica S2 (in addition to owning an M9 - try ordering the Noctilux).  Nonetheless, I do promise to follow the links you have posted on the pros and cons.  That should be helpful in making my final decision on this one.  Thanks for the advice.

Salaam