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So, where is the Leica S2?
- Thread starter fotografz
- Start date
Steve Hendrix
Well-known member
Marc:
At the time the camera was announced, it was vaguely mentioned that delivery would be summer or so of 2009. So they could very well be on track. I hope so, as the also vague (very vague) mention of Leica lens production for Phase One camera has me anxious to see what the reality of that turns out to be.
Steve Hendrix
Phase One
[email protected]
631-745-3599
The S2 is on target for this summer. The first four lenses, the 35, 70, 120 Macro, and 180 will launch along with the camera. These CS lenses all have leaf shutters. The following five lenses will not have any leaf shutters and will become available in the months following release.
I'm hoping to learn more at PMA in Las Vegas the first week in March. I already have an appointment with the product manager for the S2 to discuss the details and will be updating my blog with any info I get.
David
I'm hoping to learn more at PMA in Las Vegas the first week in March. I already have an appointment with the product manager for the S2 to discuss the details and will be updating my blog with any info I get.
David
BradleyGibson
New member
Does anyone know if CS lenses can be operated with the focal plane shutter a la Hasselblad CF lens?
There has been the report in LFI some time ago, where a S2 has been used for all images.
Back in the end of last year, there were "allready" prototypes which would take images (I had one in my hand on a show in Francfort).
I have no doubt they are heavily working on it, but I wouldnt want to bet if they become available in June or in September. The summer is long in Germany.
Back in the end of last year, there were "allready" prototypes which would take images (I had one in my hand on a show in Francfort).
I have no doubt they are heavily working on it, but I wouldnt want to bet if they become available in June or in September. The summer is long in Germany.
Well, we'll just have to wait and see. A birdie told me there was much consternation over the pricing since things have changed so drastically on all fronts.
Because of my changing business model, this camera/system is now on my radar ... but it still will come down to pricing against alternative options. Speculation as to IQ differences ranks a bit lower since all of the options are so good and it becomes subjective quibbling over minutia IMHO. Factors other than IQ are what interest me, but at what price do they outweigh the alternatives ... especially alternatives that are already paid for and are devaluating at a ferocious rate ... making their value one of use, not resale? (i.e., love the one you're with.)
Seeing a 30K+ Sinar Hy6/75LV sell for $14,500. and some of the other deals that have transpired recently, or the Mamiya/Phase free lens deal, or the availability of factory warranted refurb Hassey 39 meg Multishot CF backs under 20K, etc., etc. gives one serious pause.
No offense to anyone's opinion, but it really is "just business" more than at any other time in my long photographic career ... currently, indulgence is a word ripped out of my personal dictionary.
Because of my changing business model, this camera/system is now on my radar ... but it still will come down to pricing against alternative options. Speculation as to IQ differences ranks a bit lower since all of the options are so good and it becomes subjective quibbling over minutia IMHO. Factors other than IQ are what interest me, but at what price do they outweigh the alternatives ... especially alternatives that are already paid for and are devaluating at a ferocious rate ... making their value one of use, not resale? (i.e., love the one you're with.)
Seeing a 30K+ Sinar Hy6/75LV sell for $14,500. and some of the other deals that have transpired recently, or the Mamiya/Phase free lens deal, or the availability of factory warranted refurb Hassey 39 meg Multishot CF backs under 20K, etc., etc. gives one serious pause.
No offense to anyone's opinion, but it really is "just business" more than at any other time in my long photographic career ... currently, indulgence is a word ripped out of my personal dictionary.
Forrest Black
New member
Marc, you might want to change the title to: so, where is Leica?
KeithL
Well-known member
Generally speaking I find professional photographers to be careful, considered and conservative when it comes to putting their hands in their pockets to pay for equipment. This is the real world, not the world of merchant bankers* and wealthy dentists.
It is indeed unfortunate that Leica are about to launch the S2 onto a market ravaged by a severe downturn, really, the last thing they needed, but this is the reality they have to face. The S2 looks very interesting, I can certainly see the appeal for someone like Marc. Competition and pricing in MFD is cut-throat, it will be interesting to see how Leica fare in today's marketplace.
*As a Cockney, the one good thing that I've witnessed to come out of this recession is the Cockney Rhyming Slang term "Merchant Banker" being shortened to just "Banker" and now being in widespread use
:ROTFL:
Well, the only thing I REALLY care about is a M9. Full frame 16 meg or so. And a M7 with the new whisper quiet 1/4000th shutter in it. I'd pop for the latter in a NY nano second. How hard could that be to do?
Rangefinder: that's what I can't get elsewhere. Frankly, MFD is covered and the truth be told, a S2 would be an indulgence no matter how I slice it, or how droolingly delicious it may be.
tashley
Subscriber Member
You may want to join the Facebook campaign to have 'James Blunt' officially recognised as Cockney Rhyming Slang...
KeithL
Well-known member
:ROTFL: :ROTFL: :ROTFL:You may want to join the Facebook campaign to have 'James Blunt' officially recognised as Cockney Rhyming Slang...
Forrest Black
New member
You didn't ask me but I'd weigh in anyway: a shade under $9000.00.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
At that price it would be on my hit list
Yes, with the S2 you can switch between leaf shutter (if you are using a CS lens) and focal plane shutter. There is a switch on the back, to the left of the viewfinder that has three positions: Off, CS, FPS. So, you get fast flash sync with leaf shutter or 1/4000th of a sec for using lenses wide open at f/2.5 in sunlight without ND filters, in one camera. This is one of the real advantages of the S2.
David
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
David , I was asked if i wanted a VIP presentation of the S2 at PMA. Trying to decide if I should drive up . My wife is out of town and trying to work that out. I'm sure you will be there and i would really like to get my hands on one.
PeterA
Well-known member
@ $9000 they are head to head with 23 megapixeled CaNikon bodies and I guess they could win a decent market share over time. I wonder what this <$10K price point implies for their pricing of the R10 and then (hopefully - the ff M9?)
The threat to Leicas product range if they pitch too low is that they kill the margins in their other to be announced follow up products - certainly the development costs of the S2 will take longer to recoup today than a year ago..
I would be very surprised to see a sub $15K price for the body alone.
If they want to sell a $15-25K body - they have to convince people that their offer is better than a P45+ or a H3d11-39. Maybe this could happen - but the switching costs are pretty high so I guess this woudl take even longer to gain a decent market share of a crowded and small market.
I agree with people's general views that price will be the key determinant of take up potential.
This hedge fund manager - are we the lowest of the low according to Cockney wit and intelligence? - isn't going to cough up for one - until the early adopters have found all the bugs ...and they have been fixed..
btw can we shoot film with these magnificent flat line MTF curve lenses?
I think that the most likely buyer will be the Leica nut - not the typical working pro with his/her 5D11..and A4 magazine product shot.
This is going to be very interesting..
The threat to Leicas product range if they pitch too low is that they kill the margins in their other to be announced follow up products - certainly the development costs of the S2 will take longer to recoup today than a year ago..
I would be very surprised to see a sub $15K price for the body alone.
If they want to sell a $15-25K body - they have to convince people that their offer is better than a P45+ or a H3d11-39. Maybe this could happen - but the switching costs are pretty high so I guess this woudl take even longer to gain a decent market share of a crowded and small market.
I agree with people's general views that price will be the key determinant of take up potential.
This hedge fund manager - are we the lowest of the low according to Cockney wit and intelligence? -
isn't going to cough up for one - until the early adopters have found all the bugs ...and they have been fixed..btw can we shoot film with these magnificent flat line MTF curve lenses?
I think that the most likely buyer will be the Leica nut - not the typical working pro with his/her 5D11..and A4 magazine product shot.
This is going to be very interesting..
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"I think that the most likely buyer will be the Leica nut - not the typical working pro with his/her 5D11..and A4 magazine product shot. (my edit: or his/her Phamiya/Hassy 39)".
Unfortunately, I agree entirely. As for a $9000 S2 body - Nice, but Leica has shown NO recognition of the need (or of having the ability to) as yet to price products at anything resembling a correlation to the dynamics and price/performance curves of the DSLR (and now MFGD) market. As for their S&S structure.....
Unfortunately, I agree entirely. As for a $9000 S2 body - Nice, but Leica has shown NO recognition of the need (or of having the ability to) as yet to price products at anything resembling a correlation to the dynamics and price/performance curves of the DSLR (and now MFGD) market. As for their S&S structure.....
I am surprized that on one side people say the S2 is aimed to pros, but on the other side say the price is determing factor.
I am not a pro, but I do run a business. Isnt it much more important how good the tool (camera system) can do a job vs if the price is 2-3k more or less? Is the money for photographic equipment such an deciding factor for a professional photographer?
Lets say he could do one more job per year because the S2 is waterproof, or because the system is faster to use (or he might not need another DSLR because of that fact), wouldnt that be much more important?
I read here, that some photographer own 2 MF systems just because they need focalplane shutter AND sometimes fast flash sync as well.
I am not a pro, but I do run a business. Isnt it much more important how good the tool (camera system) can do a job vs if the price is 2-3k more or less? Is the money for photographic equipment such an deciding factor for a professional photographer?
Lets say he could do one more job per year because the S2 is waterproof, or because the system is faster to use (or he might not need another DSLR because of that fact), wouldnt that be much more important?
I read here, that some photographer own 2 MF systems just because they need focalplane shutter AND sometimes fast flash sync as well.