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Another S2 Experience

dfarkas

Workshop Member
David did a good job hand holding the Mythos beer bottle shot. I couldn't get my beer bottle to stay still long enough to get a good hand held shot. Seriously, his technique was better than mine. I couldn't get as good results even at 1/45th.
Yes....but you will notice that my glass is still full when I shot this. :ROTFL:

David
 

fotografz

Well-known member
The problem I have is that I have yet to see any posts of a 100% crop out of a 640 ISO or 1250 ISO image. Mark, that tattoo parlour shot looks about right, but don't know what ISO it was shot at.

In addition to high ISO, it has to be a high ISO shot taken in an environment where you would typically use it, ie, room light, or late in the day natural light. I've seen high ISO samples from manufacturers taken at 1PM on sunny days and tossed them out. That is the best possible scenario for high ISO in terms of what the quality would be, but that is not how users would typically use it. Or rather, it does not demonstrate the quality that a user would see when used in lower light, shadowy conditions.

I am very anxious to see what we see on December 3 at our Leica open house in Miami. When I rate a product as usable at a certain ISO, that status is based on very stringent criteria and until I demonstrate it at that criteria, I'm not sold.

That said, we obviously have seen enough from our brief time with the S2 to make a pretty major decision to take on the Leica line and we're excited about that.


Steve Hendrix


Steve
Here you go ... ISO 320 on the shaky shot :ROTFL: and 1250 on the second one. No white card balance, or tripod ... just hand held snaps indoors to see the noise difference. LR3 Beta at defaults, no sharpening.
 

Steve Hendrix

Well-known member
Here you go ... ISO 320 on the shaky shot :ROTFL: and 1250 on the second one. No white card balance, or tripod ... just hand held snaps indoors to see the noise difference. LR3 Beta at defaults, no sharpening.
Thank you Mark.

We'll be shooting some people faces indoor and late in the day next Thursday with the S2 and see how she goes.


Steve Hendrix
 

markowich

New member
I tried Raw Therapee and C1 processing the DNG raw files, and they look good to me. But IMHO, S2 cannot compete with 30+MP MF digital backs (I like my Sinar 75LV better), and cannot beat high-end Nikon/Canon DSLR's either. We always pay a higher price for some compromises, but miss both best ends.
my D3x produces more leica feel with certain lenses, like the 85mm f 1.4 or the 105mm f2.0. sorry guys, but the S2 is just another low res MF system with issues like color fringing etc.
peter
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
Here's a more "Leica-like" shot with the S2 and 70mm. South Beach volleyball. ISO 320, 1/3000th at f/4.8.

Anyone want to see the action shots?

David
 
D

ddk

Guest
Here's a more "Leica-like" shot with the S2 and 70mm. South Beach volleyball. ISO 320, 1/3000th at f/4.8.

Anyone want to see the action shots?

David
Of course, and raw files would even be more appreciated!:)
 

David K

Workshop Member
Here's a more "Leica-like" shot with the S2 and 70mm. South Beach volleyball. ISO 320, 1/3000th at f/4.8.

Anyone want to see the action shots?

David
Hey David, you're worse than Scrooge McDuck. Time to deliver the goods !!!!
 

stephengilbert

Active member
"Hey David, you're worse than Scrooge McDuck. Time to deliver the goods !!!!"

A full set of raw files will come with each S2 purchased. There's no hurry is there?
 

dfarkas

Workshop Member
Okay, I just published a short posting on my blog with all the beach volleyball images and some explanation behind them.

I'll also be posting updates from the S2 studio event as well as images from actual shoots.

I know some of you are interested in seeing RAW files and that's great. I have lots of DNGs from the production S2 that I can share, but due to time and bandwidth constraints I'd prefer not to upload them all. If anyone is interested in getting these files, I'd be happy to send out a DVD with a variety of RAW images on it. Please either email me at [email protected] or call me on my cell at 954-655-9069.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

David
 
Marc, it was nice to meet you. Your ISO 1250 photo looks pretty good. The 1250 photos I took show a good bit of noise, but they have a grain look to it and may look good in B&W or other situations.

Steve, the tattoo photo was at ISO 320 with an off camera flash. That particular photo has a gritty look to it that I like. I am not sure why it looks different - maybe it was the flash or the man's complexion. Fortunately, you will get a chance to see the S2 capabilities first hand on Dec. 3.

Additional comments about focusing.

Speed and Accuracy - I found the autofocus S2 to be very accurate. I didn't loose a single shot due to missed focus point. I also found the focus speed to be acceptable, but not dSLR quick. Focus accuracy is more important than dSLR speed to me. Of course, I would love to have dSLR speed along with high accuracy.

Single Focus Point - The fact that the S2 only has a single center focus point doesn't bother me at all. I shoot sports and wildlife with my dSLRs and always use the center point only (simply because it is the most accurate and fastest).

Focus Tracking - I didn't get a chance to specifically test the S2's ability to track focus of a moving subjects. I don't expect the S2 to have dSLR focus tracking capability. However, I do expect it to be able to keep up with a person walking. I wished I had tried that.

Manual Focus - Simply put, manual focus is a dream on the S2. The viewfinder is big, bright, and offers good feedback for manual focus. The 70mm and 180mm lenses I used were both a pleasure to manual focus with the right amount of focus drag/tension/feel and a comfortable focus throw.

I have to remind myself that the S2 is not yet released and it is reasonable to expect Leica to improve the firmware between now and then. I expect the S2 to be better in some performance areas when it is released for sale than it is now. Another improvement will come with the release of camera specific profiles for the raw conversion software.

I am adding another photo which shows (at least to me) the S2 is capable of quick enough autofocus and at least some focus tracking. The street car in the photo caught me by surprise. It came up behind me and by the time I heard it and turned around it was already even pretty much even with me. I raised the camera, pressed the rear focus button, and fired the shutter as I was panning to keep up with the street car. The photo is far from perfect, but it came out pretty good considering the quick moment in which it occurred.

70mm, 1/60th sec, f4.0, ISO 320



Crop



Edit: corrected typo
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
(...) I have lots of DNGs from the production S2 that I can share, but due to time and bandwidth constraints I'd prefer not to upload them all. (...)

With regards to bandwidth constraints: Mediafire.com offers unlimited uploads, unlimited downloads and unlimited storage of =< 200 Mb files for free.
And they have the bandwidth.
 

Hauxon

Member
As a nature/bird photographer I find the detail in the pelican 100% crop very impressive. I'd love to have a camera like the S2 in a two body setup (with Canon 1 series for action) but budget will probably never allow it. :-D
 
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