The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

S Is For Show Us Your S2 Shots

David K

Workshop Member
Love that last shot Kurt. I used to go to Coney Island with my folks when I was a kid and watch the Russian guys take that plunge. They must have had strong hearts.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Thanks ceh, Amin, Dave, Tom and Arif.

Arif, love the image. Besides being an excellent photo, if definitely highlights the crisp, bright and colorful nature of the S2 look.

Dave, the S2 and M9 are definitely not substitutes for each other. But, either can be pressed into duty to carry out some of the strengths of the other. For instance, while I liked the separation I was getting with the M9 and fast lenses, I'm able to get a different type of separation with the S2 that has more depth.

Tom, I think the biggest advantage I'm realizing with the S2 versus the M9 is just the added versatility I have in carrying the camera around versus the M9. For the first time in a long while I get longer lenses, AF when I need it and the sensor size I want if I want to print really large prints. I find it to also be the right size (for me) to carry around versus the other options available from Phase and Hasselbad (and, yes I did spend a great deal of time with both systems in developing my opinion). I enjoy the idea that it has a bit of a hybrid form factor. It allows me to pursue my own idea of what I like to shoot. Whereas there are a lot of folks in the medium format section that utilize their megapixel monsters for methodical stitching, tech cameras and maximum depth of field, that isn't me. I believe that there are other ways to use larger sensors to capture the world that surrounds us. As an example, after spending some time driving around in the fog looking for an interesting landscape like the one above, I drove into the city yesterday and grabbed some shots with the 180 and AF. Later in the evening, I put a 110/2 on the S2 via adapter and unabashedly shot some ISO1250 shots as I continue to try to see how far I can push the S2 into the night without flash. It's the freedom that I'm gaining that I'm enjoying most.
Thanks Kurt. Sounds good to me and I also think when looking on the images in this forum we can see the approach to shoot a wider range of subjects and images vs the landscape and studio focus MF image thread.

By the way what lens do you like best so far?
 

David K

Workshop Member
... I also think when looking on the images in this forum we can see the approach to shoot a wider range of subjects and images vs the landscape and studio focus MF image thread.
Agree with this completely and I think it's a big part of what attracts many of us to the S2. It's not that you can't shoot these subjects with the other MF cameras, it's just more convenient with the S2.
 
CEH, I'm really liking several of your later photos posted. I think the tree lined road on the hill has potential for more photos. The few you have already posted from that area make me want to see more. I bet it is pretty in the spring time as well.

Kurt, you're are freezing me with your last two sets of photos - especially the first one on the beach with the wind blowing.

David, your kite surfing photo shows good dynamic range by holding the texture in the clouds and the dark seaweed on the beach. Roger has been telling me about the kite surfing down there and one of these days I am going to make down there to try photographing it myself. It looks like it is challenging to photograph.
 
Arif, your photos here and on your blog continue to impress. You are fortunate to have very interesting subject matter. However, it takes a skilled photographer to capture that subject matter as thought provoking photographs which express a mood and sense of being there. Well done.
 

Arif

Member
Arif, your photos here and on your blog continue to impress. You are fortunate to have very interesting subject matter. However, it takes a skilled photographer to capture that subject matter as thought provoking photographs which express a mood and sense of being there. Well done.
Mark and Kurt and T_streng;
Thank you very much for your encouraging comments.

Mark, it was thanks to your advice and help that I picked up the S2 and I am glad it has worked out for me. I take it everywhere I travel and look forward to any opportunity that I get and now rely less and less on the D3x. I am still playing with it to find what is natural for me.

Here is a picture of one of the carved, wooden, guardians at Todaiji temple in Nara. Those who have visited the great temple must recognize the abundant and friendly deer running around the temple. The strong sunlight was tricky to photograph since the guardians are in strong shadows and I wanted to still get the deer and the person to show the sense of scale.

Take care,
Arif

P.S. Please feel free to leave comments on the blog ;) It is a nice reminder that someone is reading
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
David, looks much warmer on the south side of the continent. I was at the beach on Lake Michigan this afternoon for the annual polar bear plunge. Two hours outside in 15 degree fahrenheit weather with 35mph winds. Battery on the S2 still at full charge. Frozen fingers, but not crazy enough to jump in the lake. ;)





Kurt,

I went swimming in the pool yesterday with my 4-year-old daughter. Even with a heated pool and the outside temp at 74, I was pretty darn cold (she doesn't have nerve endings). I can't even imagine 15 deg temp and plunging into Lake Michigan!!! :eek::eek:

Nice shots. And nice to hear about the cold-weather battery performance as this is kinda hard to test where I am. :D

David
 

gogopix

Subscriber
Lots of nice winter shots ... ceh. Here are a few of mine ...

Kurt, very nice pictures.
What lens did you use?
........................................

Vlad,
I have a CG 241 W, hardware calibration, D50, Gamma 2.2.
I am very happy with it.
.........................................



Neat shot, (Cyril is it? )

At first I thought it was CIREK! :eek:

Victor
 

KurtKamka

Subscriber Member
Tom, I've used the 35mm, 70mm and 180mm lenses. It's hard to find fault with any of the lenses. That being said, I'm loving the 180.

David, you certainly know your way around horses. ;) That second shot is gorgeous. I'm confident you won't be returning the S2. ;)
 

KurtKamka

Subscriber Member
I know that several people have mentioned on a variety of forums their feeling that an S2 might be overkill for impromptu shots. What's great about these S2 lenses and the extra pixels is that the big sensor allows you to crop in to create a variety of other image possibilities. In this instance, I had the camera in a portrait position because I was standing in the middle of a crowd and it allowed me to use all of the frame. If I would have tilted the camera back into a horizontal orientation, I would have missed these two 'rogue' surfers as they quickly posed for an image for someone next to me.

Even at f3.5, the 180mm lens is very sharp. Here's the crop and the full image.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I know that several people have mentioned on a variety of forums their feeling that an S2 might be overkill for impromptu shots. What's great about these S2 lenses and the extra pixels is that the big sensor allows you to crop in to create a variety of other image possibilities. In this instance, I had the camera in a portrait position because I was standing in the middle of a crowd and it allowed me to use all of the frame. If I would have tilted the camera back into a horizontal orientation, I would have missed these two 'rogue' surfers as they quickly posed for an image for someone next to me.

Even at f3.5, the 180mm lens is very sharp. Here's the crop and the full image.
Great shots! And great argument for using a larger sensor as well ;)

Although I would not have expected something different from the 180 - knowing the focal length of 180 has always been one of the strengths of Leica (2.8/180, 2/180). So now producing a 3.5/180 for the slightly larger format (image circle) was not such a big evolution for them.
 

David K

Workshop Member
Tom, I've used the 35mm, 70mm and 180mm lenses. It's hard to find fault with any of the lenses. That being said, I'm loving the 180.

David, you certainly know your way around horses. ;) That second shot is gorgeous. I'm confident you won't be returning the S2. ;)
Glad to hear all the lenses are spot on for you Kurt... mine are too, even using AF under difficult conditions (shooting into the sun). I'm a city guy and really know nothing about horses but there's something special about a pretty girl and a horse. Kind of like the whole is more than the sum of it's parts... if you know what I mean. The S2 is a keeper for me. I won't say it doesn't have it's quirks but the camera and menus are really simple compared to Canon, Nikon and Sinar.
 
Top