Yep, one has to factor that in.
The HCD lenses (28mm and 35-90mm Zoom) cover an area of 49X37mm ... the S2 sensor is 45X30 useable area, producing a 1.08 X lens factor on the S2. So the HCD/28 is about a 31 on the S2. Leica makes a S30mm, but if you already have a HCD/28 ... you have to decide if you want to drop $8,000 on the S30CS lens. I have the S35mm so would not be likely to use the HCD/28mm unless I needed that little bit more coverage.
The HCD35-90 zoom offers a different proposition for the S2 owner. It is 38-98mm on the S2, and currently there is no corresponding dual shutter able zoom in the S2 lens line-up, in fact no zoom yet at all.
The HC (non-digital) focal lengths (35, 50, 80, 100, 120, 150, 210, 300) are full 645 coverage lenses (41.5 X 56mm) the lens factor for each of those lenses is about 1.25X on the S2 So the 100/2.2 is still a 100mm but FOV is reduced to an equivalent of a 125/2.2.
Like with crop frame 35mm DSLRs, the gain is more of a benefit at the longer focal lengths in terms of reach and compositional factors. A HC 210 becomes a 262mm FOV, and the HC300 a 375 FOV ... neither of which currently exists in the S2 lens line-up.
The newly redesigned HC120/4-II, offers additional benefits in allowing more true macro shooting for the S2 owner. Not only is the HC120 a 1:1 macro, on the S2 it is a 150mm FOV macro ... thus allowing much closer photography than possible with the 1:2 S120/2.5.
Whether all this will attract more S2 purchases is indeed debatable. Depends a lot on what type of photographer. It may affect interest in used S2s as much or more than new ones ... a camera that provides a H4D/50 or H4D/60 shooter with a completely different form factor, weather proofed body, and more compact body for travel and location shooting ... while using their existing lens investment. I sold my H4D/40 to get to the S2, and that decision would have been easier had I known I could use my H lenses on it.
-Marc
Marc, I think your drunk with the excitement of getting to use all the H lenses you own on your S2! Hopefully you aren't operating any heavy machinery today (I think the H4D with 35-90 counts as heavy machinery
)!
This is all wrong. The length of the lens
does not change. I know you know this and after your buzz dies down you'll realize you went off in the wrong direction, but for everyone else's benefit.
The following two combinations will produce
identically cropped frames*:
- An S2 with a Leica 120mm
- An S2 with a Hassy 120mm
Notably using the Hassy 28mm on a Leica S2 will be just that: a 28mm. Therefore a smidge wider than the Leica 30mm.
The underlying physics is that what the CAMERA sees changes but what the LENS projects does not. The lens projects the same image circle whether it's sitting in front of a Hassy, a Leica, or a home made shoebox camera, and the camera simply sees a smaller or larger part of that unchanging image circle.
This is the reason why in our
Digital Transitions Visualizer the lens slider does not have a brand selection. A 120mm lens is, as Jack would say, a
Honey Badger - it doesn't care what body it is on.
Now there IS some math involved when comparing these two combinations:
- a Hassy 120mm with a H4D-60
- a Hassy 120mm with an S2
I have updated the
Digital Transitions Visualizer Beta to save you the math.
Here is a screen grab illustrating a Hassy 120mm on a Leica S2 compared to a Leica 120mm on a Leica S2. Note they are
identical, so the red frame marks and green frame marks overlap each other such that you only see the green.
Now here is an illustration comparing a Hassy 120mm on a P65+ and a Hassy 120mm on a Leica S2. The P65+ and H4D-60 have the same sensor size so, in this regard, are interchangeable. See the S2 frame (in green) is cropped in? What you're seeing there is the smaller sensor size of the S2. The Hassy 120mm lens is projecting the same image whether in front of the S2 or the P65+, but the S2 is "seeing" less of it.
*Often lenses are not the exact round number they put in the marketing materials. For instance the Leica 120mm might actually be closer to 121mm. So in an actual real world test those two lenses may produce frames with every-so-slightly different framing when used on an S2.