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S Is For Show Us Your S2 Shots

Doug, for a bird photographer such as yourself, the Everglades is a great location. For the most part, the birds are accustomed to people and let you get pretty close. The Leica 180mm on the S2 was long enough in a lot of cases and on occasion the minimum focus distance was all that kept me from getting closer.
 
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ceh

Active member
Hi CEH,

I love your images! I especially like this one with the warm and cozy looking cabin lit up in the lower left corner and the distant city lights. Very nice. Did you climb before sunrise to get high up for day break? These are a beautiful series.

Great Images! Gary P
Gary,
There's a chalet in the lower left corner we stayed at. We went up to the mountain - hill in the dark to catch daybreak and sunrise.
 

D&A

Well-known member
Dave,t-streng,GMB,
Those two small black dots are my friends who decided to take photos from that hill...
Wow, the S2 not only has great resolution, but facial recognition too, at impossibly great distances! It allowed CEH to identify those two black dots on the horizon as her aquantences :) .

Seriously, from what I see so far from CEH and others, there is much to admire about the S2 system.

Dave
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Good afternoon,
I wondered why we dont see 120mm images here?
Is it a question of availability or did you all skip 120 for 180?
For porrait stuff the 120 could be a nice option, with being a little faster and haveing that nice close focusing distance.
 
The 120mm is exceptional, but in short supply. The only thing in shorter supply is my toy fund.

I have shot a few frames with the Leica S 120mm (thanks to David F.) and it certainly lives up to expectations one would have from looking at the MTF charts.

I agree the closer focusing distance is great. However, it makes DOF even more of a challenge or asset depending on the look you're after.
 

David K

Workshop Member
Is it a question of availability or did you all skip 120 for 180?
For porrait stuff the 120 could be a nice option, with being a little faster and haveing that nice close focusing distance.
A combination of availability and it being very close in focal length to the Hassy/Zeiss 110/2 which I already own and can use with an adapter. I've always found this lens to be very good for portraits... not so sure about the 120mm.
 

KurtKamka

Subscriber Member
As ceh has shown in his last series of excellent images, it's nice to have the extra resolution and detail that the S2 offers should you need it. Here's my example. As I was cloning out the dust spots out of the background at 100%, I noticed the hawk at the top of the highest peak ... I didn't notice him in the full-size shot.



 

Paratom

Well-known member
Impressive detail...
So here I come with another question in my never ending process to decide for the S2.

How much/often do you get along fine with the S2 for day to day use as the one main system (besides maybe a M9 when size or higher ISO is a concern).
Would you also use the S2 in your private environment for images of family, vacation etc?
How much can it replace a DSLR? (The areas where I would see the DSLR in advantage are higher ISO combined with faster lenses, and of course lighter and smaller lenses -> action, sports, low light) I would keep my DSLR with few lenses for those things but wondered how you get along with the overall bulk of the S2 lenses?
I would want to make sure the S2 would be a camera system I would use a lot and carry often even for casual shooting. Any experience?
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Impressive detail...
So here I come with another question in my never ending process to decide for the S2.

How much/often do you get along fine with the S2 for day to day use as the one main system (besides maybe a M9 when size or higher ISO is a concern).
Would you also use the S2 in your private environment for images of family, vacation etc?
How much can it replace a DSLR? (The areas where I would see the DSLR in advantage are higher ISO combined with faster lenses, and of course lighter and smaller lenses -> action, sports, low light) I would keep my DSLR with few lenses for those things but wondered how you get along with the overall bulk of the S2 lenses?
I would want to make sure the S2 would be a camera system I would use a lot and carry often even for casual shooting. Any experience?
Since I haven't lived with the S2 for a long time yet I can't speak definitively to this, but basically what you have outlined is the whole premiss I used when evaluating the S2 system.

Obviously, part of my justification is the use for commercial projects involving weddings, environmental portraiture, and location stuff like shooting corporate functions and business environments. My back-up for these type assignments will be a Sony A900 and a couple of lenses including a longer zoom. But primarily only as back-up, since I do not shoot many very high ISO shots for this type work. I also use a M9 and fast M lenses for some of this work when working in low ambient lighting.

However, I have found that 1250 ISO is very capable ... more so than I first anticipated. This isn't important just for low light scenarios, but also for medium light where you want to get the shutter speed up to freeze action, provide more DOF, or a steadier shot with the 180mm.

I also do destination weddings from time-to-time, and to date have not taken MFD with me due to bulk. The S2 changes that because it packs more easily in less space inside my overhead bin carry-on roller bag.

However, use for private imagery was a big part of the evaluation regarding value for money spent. In fact, most of my use to date (other than test junk), has been family outings, happy snaps, and events over the Holidays. In those situations (as opposed to action sports in crap light), it was much the same as using any Pro level DSLR ... So, if not the M9 for minimalistic portability, then the S2 is the weapon of choice for me now. The S2 IQ is quite addictive, and it is difficult to go back to a 35mm DSLR with its AA filter contaminated CMOS sensor, even for snap shots :ROTFL: ;)

Time will tell more, but I'm pretty confident my personal evaluation to date will bear out over the coming year.

-Marc

Oh, and as to bulk verses that of a standard DSLR, I have mitigated that difference with the addition of a hand strap/shoulder strap configuration and use of my Think-Tank lens bag ... which I use with the Sony also anyway. The S lenses are all slim enough to easily fit in this lens bag ... so while everything may be a little bigger, actually carrying a three lens outfit: 35, 70, 180 (or 120), is not much different than carrying the Sony, and would be even less so if my 35mm DSLR were a Canon or Nikon Pro model.
 

David K

Workshop Member
I really do think the girls from Brazil are some of the most beautiful in the world. I've never traveled there but it's high on my wish list... Two different skin tones here... can't make up my mind which I prefer.
 
One line from Marc's reply sounds like what I have been saying for the last year since owning the S2.

"The S2 IQ is quite addictive, and it is difficult to go back to a 35mm DSLR with its AA filter contaminated CMOS sensor, even for snap shots"

I have a full Canon SLR setup and even bought the Leica X1 when I got the S2 thinking that I would want a small carry camera for times when the S2 was too bulky or not suited. What I have found in actual use is that the S2 is the camera I use the most by far. The only time I have used the Canon in the last year was to shoot the college football season. In fact, I brought the Canon and 500mm f4 IS with me to the Everglades last week and never got it out of the car except to let someone else try it out. I didn't shoot a single frame with the Canon.

I also carried my X1 everywhere on my South Florida trip last week and only shot about 30 frames with it. That is sad really. In fact, that trip prompted me to put the X1 up on the Buy/Sale forum due to non-use (about 1,000 frames in almost a year).

I know I use the S2 in some situations where it may not be the best choice. But, for the most part, I get away with it. What is more telling than anything, is that I have other cameras I could use and don't.
 
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