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S2 Impressions: A year later.

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I completely switched to Arca plates on my camera's. Both the Phase and Sony are Arca branded. The RRS plates are bigger on the mount so you really can't mix them up when using the clamp lock style which I like otherwise you have to adjust the throw every time. So I decided on ARCA plates but no slot for hand straps. Thinking of machining oneout
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Caution re the Camadaptor Arca plate. It is not the same as standard AS plates. A couple of months ago I got the strap and two of the Camadaptor AS adapters. They work fine in a screw-type AS clamp, but the ridge/groove areas seem to be too thick to slide into the flip clamp on my Cube - unless I loosen the clamp adjuster right off. That adjuster thumbwheel is a pain.

With the Cube flip clamp loosened, the Camadpator plate fits but, of course, my other AS plates are all too loose. Sort of kills the universal mounting plate convenience factor.
This is correct, and a valuable caution.

However, I have more use for a dual-lug Camadapter plate for my H4D/40 so I can use the hand strap AND the shoulder strap for mobile work with that camera. So I only use the knob type quick release on my tripod and monopod. The Monopod has the RRS heavy-Duty flip head with knob QR so I don't need a L plate to go back-and-forth from landscape to portrait. In my case, the L plate and monopod is to slow and a bit more dangerous in hectic shooting conditions

I have one lever type RRS QR and one Arca lever type and you cannot swap back-and-forth between a standard Arca plate and the Camadapter dual strap "Arca type" plate without adjusting the wheel ... which is a huge PITA.

In the studio, I use the RRS camera rotator platform on a camera stand ... where even an L plate is a PITA to use.

-Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Back on topic::rolleyes:

UPDATE:

Yesterday AM a brand new Leica S2P landed on my doorstep. I had returned the one that was locking up with a detailed explanation of the circumstances and full details, so Leica could learn from it. My dealer wanted me to get the replacement and check it for him even if I send it back ... which I assume he will then use as his demo unit.

So, I will be giving it a shake-down, including further investigation of the auto focusing performance ... now with a brand new camera, battery/charger, and I bought a new Sandisk 16 gig Extreme Pro CF card to use this time.

I also received a very nice e-mail from Kelsey Fain, Product Specialist S-System Leica USA opening up a direct dialog for further discussion. As I get into it over the next few days, and this week-end, I will be contacting him directly with observations, and any questions. Specifically, I would like to know more about the AF system, how it works and what area is actually being measured.

Pretty darned responsive, and in direct conflict with some of my previous less than stellar "service" dealings with Leica in past.:thumbup:

Kudos to Leica despite the issues I experienced ... and a deep hope that my Luck favors me this time.

More to come.

-Marc
 

David K

Workshop Member
Back on topic::rolleyes:

UPDATE:



Kudos to Leica despite the issues I experienced ... and a deep hope that my Luck favors me this time.

More to come.

-Marc
Glad to hear that Leica is listening to what's happening on the forum and responding. I hope this one works out for you Marc and in any event will look forward to following the sequel.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Glad to hear that Leica is listening to what's happening on the forum and responding. I hope this one works out for you Marc and in any event will look forward to following the sequel.
Not sure they are specifically listening to the forum or not ... but they did listen to the dealer all the way up to the president of Leica USA.

-Marc
 

PeterA

Well-known member
Marc - make sure that the camera is loaded with the latest firwre update - which has 'just' been announced - apparently autofocus improvement as well as loss-less compression in DNG introduced amongst a few other tweeks.

Pete
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Marc - make sure that the camera is loaded with the latest firwre update - which has 'just' been announced - apparently autofocus improvement as well as loss-less compression in DNG introduced amongst a few other tweeks.

Pete
The previous cameras had that firmware, and so does this one. It's the first thing I checked :)

Yhanks,

-Marc
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Hi Marc,
I am looking forward to your experience with the new one.
I got a test-S2 today (for few days) and here are my initial thoughts:

1)Went out and just shot around the 70mm lens wide open and focus and various distances looks very good to me (from initial few images I took). Ot of 20 there were maybe 2 which were not focused well all others look very good.

2) ISO performance 1250 ISO looks noisy in the shaddows but much better than I had expected. 640 ISO looks very good (to me better than the A900 at 320ISO) First impression that I feel 1250 is really usable.

3) exp metering and WB - even autowb seems to work quite good. Exposure metering (matrix) does look pretty good to (all just first impressions)

4) Overall handling experience: very nice, its pretty big but handles very well. For a MF camera it feels very nice to have the ease of use like a DSLR regarding handling/WB/Exposure metering and a great thing to have in camera jpg and a quick review of the image.
Also well damped and quiet for a MF camera. I took some images handhold at 1/60 Sek which came out pretty sharp.

5) IQ: Color and tones look very nice to me just how they come out of the camera. Even the jpgs look very good.
F2.5 with 70mm is a very nice shallow DOF and the bokeh looks very nice to me. I like the focal length (I allways liked 50 on the M8 and also on the M9) and 70 is somewhere in between. Compared to 50mm for DSLRs the 70mm SUmmarit shows a very nice bokeh and seems great even wide open.

6) what I dont like so far:
- 180mm lens is pretty big and heavy
- Price - worst part IMO ;( (I had hoped for horrible AF and locking shutter to make the decision more easy)
 

ceh

Active member
"3) exp metering and WB - even autowb seems to work quite good. Exposure metering (matrix) does look pretty good to (all just first impressions)"

...absolutely crucial points - especially WB..:)
 

AnthonyFlores

New member
No it was released in december.. Leica is late in informing and updating the news...:)
Yah I don't think there is one since the 1.0.0.24 version released in December -- although judging from some of the focus issues some have posted I really hope they produce another update much sooner than their normal cycle.
 
J

JackM

Guest
Marc,
I just stumbled into this discussion and think it should be retitled, "S2 Impressions; It will take a year to read this thread"

I too would have been very upset if the camera failed on an assignment. That's pretty emotional. But it appears you also have an emotional attachment to the camera's positive points.

Having had the S2 for half a year, I have had zero problems, much pleasure, and excellent results. Sorry for your difficulty, Glad Leica is working with you.

So very glad your dealer got you a third camera. Marc, thanks for giving it another try, if not for yourself, for all these forum posters. Given that you love the camera but fear the reliability, I will be interested to see if you give it up if this one continues to work.

Jack

macdonough.net
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Well, with all due caution, a healthy dose of skepticism, and more complete testing to come ...

It seems the third time is a charm.

I've racked off a host of my usual boring but informative (for me) test shots, including shooting in cold outdoor temps and crappy dull light at ISO 640 ... and did everything I could to fool the AF. This new S2P nailed every single shot with wide open apertures. I even did one of my standard test shots (The eye on the Sculptured Head with minimum DOF) 10 times in a row at different close distances by manually throwing the subject OOF then AF it over and over ... and it got it right every time. I also did some shots at distance with a pretty difficult AF subject (red table) ... and it also got it right every time ... go figure.

It is supposed to snow this weekend, so that should be a fun test :)

Here a few of those quick uploads with a couple of crops, and a ISO 1250 shot of my wife's "shrine" to her little doggie ... :ROTFL:

Sorry for the bad photography ... but that's not the point right now.

So far, so good. More to come ...

-Marc
 

AnthonyFlores

New member
Well, with all due caution, a healthy dose of skepticism, and more complete testing to come ...

It seems the third time is a charm.

I've racked off a host of my usual boring but informative (for me) test shots, including shooting in cold outdoor temps and crappy dull light at ISO 640 ... and did everything I could to fool the AF. This new S2P nailed every single shot with wide open apertures. I even did one of my standard test shots (The eye on the Sculptured Head with minimum DOF) 10 times in a row at different close distances by manually throwing the subject OOF then AF it over and over ... and it got it right every time. I also did some shots at distance with a pretty difficult AF subject (red table) ... and it also got it right every time ... go figure.

It is supposed to snow this weekend, so that should be a fun test :)

Here a few of those quick uploads with a couple of crops, and a ISO 1250 shot of my wife's "shrine" to her little doggie ... :ROTFL:

Sorry for the bad photography ... but that's not the point right now.

So far, so good. More to come ...

-Marc
Nice Marc. Everyone is going to be watching in bated breath ...

Also it's interesting because in one sense many were sad/disappointed/upset the camera failed on you ... but now many still might be upset (in a different way) this time because your new tests might make it even harder to talk themselves out of getting one! lol

I guess there is always that troublesome little thing called "price" ... :p
 
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