I was a bit dismayed when this announcement was made. Aside from wanting to start seeing what the S2 can do, it raised a couple of points in my mind. First, really not sure why the delay in shipping for those units that were ready to ship. Leica must have known a while back when changing the production line. That entire part still seems a bit strange to me. Second, if there are some found last minute glitches, it is good that Leica is trying to iron them out before the S2 ships. The hope is that any such glitches are minor and easily corrected, but I admit that I have a sneakingly not so good feeling about something a bit more serious needing attention. Again, if that is the case, glad they are doing it before shipping.
On the other side of things, this delay is probably not helping them. It seems to give more time to Hassy and Phase to offer a few more options and things to keep folks in their camp, or even to attract some that may have been sitting on the sidelines. Not that a month or two is that big a deal, but in this case, given all the other stuff starting to drop into the market also, it could slow the burn for the S2. Personally, I was really waiting to see this thing in action, see some real images finally (including RAW files), and get thinking about decisions. With the offerings, deals and pushes from other camera companies now, the S2 is slowly drifting a bit further away. Hope they do not suffer any more delays.
Have to say, with the recent D3s and now the 1DMkIV announcements in the 35mm DSLR camp, the promises of a 28-32+MP DSLR are getting much closer. Yes, the comparisons between the sensor and the glass are probably not going to be that close, but the higher resolutions and new technologies there are hard to ignore, given all those other beasts can do already. It will be interesting, as part of what could have been the group from the 35mm DSLR camp that were seriously thinking about the S2, are seeing some pretty attractive options to remain with Canon or Nikon before they even get a chance to evaluate the S2. Again, hope this is the only delay, and that the reason is nothing serious, but I cannot shake the feeling that this is not good for Leica at this point.....unless the really only care about selling to a more select, less demanding crowd that is willing to wait and pay for their S2.
LJ