Not really the kind of shots I'm looking to get w/this lens. It's troubling as I'm not sure if it's that the lens isn't what I want, or if it's just that the samples don't put across
Thanks for the heads up though.
Understandable reaction to the Leica samples. IMO, they convey Leica's somewhat directional skew for the S as a professional fashion photography camera.
I have quite a bit of imagery done with the S100/2 … most of it used wide open in available light … unfortunately, they are on a hard drive I left in Florida when I abruptly had to return to Michigan for a family emergency.
Perhaps you could elaborate on your statement
"the things I'm looking for"?
I can tell you what I was looking for from the S100/2 …
when I chose the Hasselblad H system, one key deciding factor was their HC100/2.2 … however the drawback was that the top shutter speed was 1/800 due to being a leaf-shutter system. That made it more difficult to shoot it wide open in bright light. When I adapted the HC100/2.2 to the S camera, I then could shoot it either leaf-shutter to 1/750 on the S2 and sync with studio lights, or up to 1/4000 using the FPS setting on the S2. When Leica offered the S100/2 I decided to get it and sell the HC100/2.2 in order to have more consistency amongst the S lenses.
The drawback of the S100/2 is that it is not a leaf-shutter lens so I can't sync up 1/1000 in the studio … but in practice I tend to use the CS120/2.5 for most studio work (product and portraits) or the CS70/2.5 for more full length shots.
So, the S100/2 has become my "normal" lens on the S(006) … and coupled with the CS35/2.5 or CS45/2.8, my most used walk-about kit for street, travel, events, places of interest, and available light portrait lens. I'll be carrying it to the
"Woodward Dream Cruise" this week-end … which is always a treasure trove of interesting people, and of course, all sorts of cars.
The best way I can describe the characteristics of the S100/2 is a cross between a Mandler M75/1.4 and a M75/2 ASPH. In focus areas are quite defined with a nice gentle fall-off to unfocused areas … and backgrounds dissolve to a beautiful bokeh.
- Marc