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S Is For Show Us Your S2 Shots

Paratom

Well-known member
Thanks for your comments.

As for high ISO, I actually shoot a lot at 800 - 1600 due to low light conditions. Unfortunately, most users seem to agree that 640 is the upper limit for the S2, and I am a bit concerned this may be a bit on the low side for my hand held shooting. Prehaps i will just have to wait for the eventual S3 :)

Chris
Chris,
I also own Nikon (D700 now, in earlier times D2 and D3x) with good glass.

Regarding high ISO I agree that 640ISO is totally fine and 1250 not really that great (I try to avoid it).
Now the other thing is that lately I have been experimenting a lot with f-stops. Shooting same scene wide open andmore stopped down and it happens that I very often prefer the wide open shots. Meaning I use a lot f2.5 and f4.0, meaning I get along fine (in daylight) handhaldshooting.
The nice thing is that the S2 lenses are really very good even wide open.

Now if you are more some one shooting with a lot DOF, stopping down to f8-f1 6 all the time it might be a different story.

All I can say is that each time when I take the S2 I am rewarded afterwards when looking at the images.
Its still good to know to have the D700 for action and low light, however I admit to not use it that often.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Lovely shot of baby!

.....
should we feel bad because no 80 megapixel chip?:cry::D
Thanks guys for the comments. This was also with the 120 at f2.5 by the way.

Regarding the 80MP - I feel so good that right now there is no product /S2-body I could upgrade too and for me the relativly long product cycles we are used from Leica are relaxing for me. (But then I am also someone wha doesnt have the need for more MP than the 37)
 

GMB

Active member
Tom--Very cute shots of you little one. I prefer the second. For the composition of the first, I would try to a shot where the mouth is in focus as well. As much as I like shallow DOF, I think this might be stronger visually; baby skin is already so soft.

Georg
 

David K

Workshop Member
Woody, I am glad to have the S2 back and feel good about the way Leica service handled my repair. We all know how busy they must be trying to fill back-orders on lenses and I was apprehensive that this would lead to a long turnaround time. I'll try to post some 120 shots soon but Marc's 120mm post of the camera and golden mousetrap is a tough act to follow :)

Peter, agree that the battery life is nothing short of remarkable. Finally had occasion to use my spare but only because I couldn't remember where I put the original when I shipped the camera for repair. For how and what I shoot 80MP would not be desirable... even in an S3. I envy your being busy at work... the real estate development market here in Florida is still very much in the doldrums. I'd encourage you to try and shoot more often, even if it's only those around the house shots, etc. You posted an image of a cup and saucer on your porch a while back that still sticks in my mind. Bob is an inspiration for that sort of thing.

Georg, understand your dof preference on the shot of the baby. I sometimes find myself taking shallow dof pics simply because... I can. Took a shot of a model with the .95 noct that she doesn't like at all but those who know the lens think it's great. Either way... it's still a beautiful baby :)
 

Paratom

Well-known member
.....Georg, understand your dof preference on the shot of the baby. I sometimes find myself taking shallow dof pics simply because... I can. Took a shot of a model with the .95 noct that she doesn't like at all but those who know the lens think it's great. Either way... it's still a beautiful baby :)
I have to go back and see if I have shot comparable image stopped down a bit. As I wrote before I now shoot often some images of the same subject either way and see later which I like better.
Georg, thanks for the "Tip"
 

woodyspedden

New member
Woody, I am glad to have the S2 back and feel good about the way Leica service handled my repair. We all know how busy they must be trying to fill back-orders on lenses and I was apprehensive that this would lead to a long turnaround time. I'll try to post some 120 shots soon but Marc's 120mm post of the camera and golden mousetrap is a tough act to follow :)

Peter, agree that the battery life is nothing short of remarkable. Finally had occasion to use my spare but only because I couldn't remember where I put the original when I shipped the camera for repair. For how and what I shoot 80MP would not be desirable... even in an S3. I envy your being busy at work... the real estate development market here in Florida is still very much in the doldrums. I'd encourage you to try and shoot more often, even if it's only those around the house shots, etc. You posted an image of a cup and saucer on your porch a while back that still sticks in my mind. Bob is an inspiration for that sort of thing.

Georg, understand your dof preference on the shot of the baby. I sometimes find myself taking shallow dof pics simply because... I can. Took a shot of a model with the .95 noct that she doesn't like at all but those who know the lens think it's great. Either way... it's still a beautiful baby :)
Hey David

Totally agree about Marc's shots. He is a wonderful photographer.

However you do great model shots so thought you might be able to post some of those taken with the 120mm!

Have a great week

Woody
 

KurtKamka

Subscriber Member
Sustained 40mph winds on Lake Michigan coupled with a temperature of 42 degrees made for some frigid conditions but interesting photos yesterday. The waves and the cloud formations were very dramatic. The water along the shoreline was brown-colored because the strong waves churned up the sand bottom.

The last image probably best describes the fury of Mother Nature ... ;)







 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Tom... I love the second picture of your baby...those are captures you will treasure for years to come.

Kurt...what great conditions to shoot in....Numbers One and Two are my favorites...I love the trailing steam from the smoke stack. Number Four reminds me of a Henning Mankel murder film....spooky.

Bob
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Kurt,

These are absolutely beautiful! But how can we be sure it's the camera and not the photographer? Would you mind reshooting these, and perhaps the Rugby series, using an M9, a 35mm DSLR (your choice) , and an X100?

Thanks,:ROTFL:

Matt

(Do I have to point out that this is meant as humor, poking fun at gear insecurity? I am immensely grateful for the samples and opinions in this thread!):thumbs:
 
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H

HCHeyerdahl

Guest
Chris,
I also own Nikon (D700 now, in earlier times D2 and D3x) with good glass.

Regarding high ISO I agree that 640ISO is totally fine and 1250 not really that great (I try to avoid it).
Now the other thing is that lately I have been experimenting a lot with f-stops. Shooting same scene wide open andmore stopped down and it happens that I very often prefer the wide open shots. Meaning I use a lot f2.5 and f4.0, meaning I get along fine (in daylight) handhaldshooting.
The nice thing is that the S2 lenses are really very good even wide open.

Now if you are more some one shooting with a lot DOF, stopping down to f8-f1 6 all the time it might be a different story.

All I can say is that each time when I take the S2 I am rewarded afterwards when looking at the images.
Its still good to know to have the D700 for action and low light, however I admit to not use it that often.
Thanks again for sharing your experience :)
Guess I am asking a lot of questions and I am gratefull for everybody bearing with me and sharing their experience. Switching camera system is a tough decision and changing format to MFD even more so.

From being basically a f 9 shooter I too have experimented with f stops and found that I frequently like the version shot at f 2,8 with my Nikons. I was considering adding the line of new Nikon primes to my kit. However, since i also need to upgrade to the D4x for more pixels, I realized I would nearly be buying a new kit! I thus started thinking that perhaps using this towards a MFD is a better way to go. Apart from the ISO 640 limit, the S2 really seems to fit the bill for me. Hmmmm.....

Chris
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Thanks again for sharing your experience :)
Guess I am asking a lot of questions and I am gratefull for everybody bearing with me and sharing their experience. Switching camera system is a tough decision and changing format to MFD even more so.

From being basically a f 9 shooter I too have experimented with f stops and found that I frequently like the version shot at f 2,8 with my Nikons. I was considering adding the line of new Nikon primes to my kit. However, since i also need to upgrade to the D4x for more pixels, I realized I would nearly be buying a new kit! I thus started thinking that perhaps using this towards a MFD is a better way to go. Apart from the ISO 640 limit, the S2 really seems to fit the bill for me. Hmmmm.....

Chris
It also might depend if you need to use continues AF (more a Nikon thing) and if the S2 focal length fit your bill.(They do for me)
 

David K

Workshop Member
Chris, buying into the Leica S2 and some lenses will make a Nikon kit look cheap (unless you include the super-tele lenses which Leica does not have). For what I shoot I find the S2 and Nikon D3S (and a couple of zooms) to be the best of both worlds. As good as the S2 may be it will not give you the near instant AF and 9 fps of the Nikon. Look carefully before you leap... :)
 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
I had the morning free so went looking for Texas Flora and Fauna....


Pinzgauer Herd





Young Portrait






Closer Portrait






A Bit Shy






Bob
 

KurtKamka

Subscriber Member
Bob and Georg, thanks for the comments.

Tom, kind of hard not to just take the S2 with you anywhere for any type of images. Wonderful blue eyes.

Bob, no long horn steers? Aren't you in Texas? ;) Those cow images demonstrate exactly what I like about the S2. They look like Leica images, but they have a detailed, sharp, clear dimensionality that is quite distinctive.

Mat, I would have had fun shooting those recent images no matter what I was shooting with at the time. But I'm not certain that I would have achieved the same exact results ... as I explained in the paragraph above, there is an S2 'look' that I really like and am having a lot of fun exploring.

As an aside, I've been using a friend's 120mm lens for the past couple of weeks ... as a few of the folks who post in this thread (like David K) can attest, I've tried and used just about every Leica lens there is to try including the latest Noct, the M luxes, 35-70/2.8R, 280/4R, 180/2R, the R Telyt modular system and others. So you know that this isn't a BS statement ... the 120mm might be the best of them all. It's a killer lens.

Kurt
 
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