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Leica S2: first impressions
The Leica S2 is one of the biggest innovations in Leica history. It
is a completely new system built from scratch, it is medium format, it
is 100% digital and it has autofocus and a new range of lenses! The
prototype was announced in September 2008, and now the S2 is a real
camera, and it is going to be on the market in December 2009. Thanks to
Polyphoto, the Italian importer of Leica, I tried this fascinating
camera and and I have had the opportunity to publish review and samples!
NOTE: the body I have tested is still a pre-production unit, so
when it will be available on the market there may be improvements (in
particular in low light performance). I'll try to test a production unit
as soon as it is available.
Specifications (in comparison with other high end cameras)
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Leica S2
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Canon 1DsIII
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Hasselblad H4D-60
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Sensor size
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30 x 45 mm
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24 x 36 mm
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40 x 54 mm
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Megapixels
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37 megapixels
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21 megapixels
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60 megapixels
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ISO sensitivities
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80 - 1250
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50 - 3200
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100 - 800
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ISO performance
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(to be determined)
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usable up to ISO 3200
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?
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Continuous shooting
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1,5 FPS x 8 RAW
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5 FPS x 17 RAW
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0,5 FPS
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LCD screen
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3"
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3"
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3"
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Live view
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no
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yes
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no
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Video
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no
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no
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no
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Dimensions
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160 x 120 x 80 mm
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150 x 160 x 80mm
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153 x 131 x 136 mm
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Weight
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1.4 kg
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1.4 kg
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1.8 kg
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Price
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18500 €
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7000 €
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29000 €
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Announced
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2008
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2007
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2009
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Built
quality, user interface and autofocus
The built quality is undoubtedly
excellent - it feels solid and professional, even though in comparison
with the 1DsIII it feels a bit more "plastic" due to its rubberized body
(the M9, the 1DsIII and other cameras feels more "pro" due to their
metal body, but it is only an impression and actually they are all very
well built!). I am not crazy with the user interface - it is good, but
it could be better; the back is a bit too minimalist, without even some
symbol to explain the meaning of the buttons. Anyway, after a little of
time you won't have difficulties using it.
The autofocus is
better than expected - in good light, it is pretty fast and precise
(better than the AF of the Hasselblad H2D-22 I tried some years ago); in
low light it is so-so, but the S2 is not a low light camera anyway ;-)
In terms of shooting speed, the S2 is better than other medium format
cameras (1.5 FPS, while other MF shoot at 1 FPS or less), but it is way
slower than 35mm cameras...on the other hand, there is no 35mm camera
with a resolution that comes close the the S2.
The viewfinder is
huge and bright - much bigger than the viewfinder of the 1DsIII, and way
bigger than the viewfinders of APS-C cameras. Overall the camera is big,
but surprisingly it is not as big as my 1DsIII...in all photos of this
article you can see the S2 side-by-side with my 1DsIII, and when you
look at the cameras from the back it is clear how big the 1DsIII is, due
to its built-in battery grip: Leica has been smarter, and if you want
battery grip you can add it optionally, it is not built in.
The
3" LCD screen is big and bright and it is a little sharper than the LCD
of 1DsIII; the top LCD, instead, is very small and in direct sunlight is
it not as easy to read as the LCD of Canon and Nikon cameras. Like the
rest of the camera body, the top is minimalist; there is only the
shutter speed selector and the shutter release.
Overall, the
Leica S2 is in the middle between the top pro 35mm FF cameras as
1DsIII/D3x and medium format cameras as the Hasselblad H4D-60; both in
terms of features, price and image quality. |
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Image Quality and
samples
With good techniques and the
first rate Leica S lenses, the Leica S2 is capable of awesome image
quality - extreme detail, good dynamic range, no artifacts. Its large
sensor has not anti-aliasing filter, so it is able to deliver excellent
sharpness even at 100%: comparing 100% crops at low ISO, the S2 is
clearly sharper than any APS-C or 35mm FF camera (I am not talking about
megapixels, but "per pixel" detail).
In these two photos, my
friend Giada posed for some test shots. You
can download the full size images to
evaluate image quality; these photos had
been taken with studio lights, RAW format,
and post-processed with Adobe Camera RAW and
Photoshop CS4. Please respect the copyright!
You can not publish these photos anywhere
nor use them for any other usage other than
personal evaluation of image quality. |
Look at me, Giada! :-) Leica S2, LEICA APO ELMAR-S 180mm f/3.5, 1/125
f/9.5, ISO 160.
Click here to download the full size photo.
Model posing - Leica S2, LEICA SUMMARIT-S 70mm f/2.5 ASPH, 1/125 f/13,
ISO 320.
Click here to download the full size photo.
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Image
quality and ISO
In spite of their large
sensors, medium format cameras usually
don't have great high ISO performance:
is the Leica S2 on par, worse or better
than other MF cameras and 35mm DSLRs? I
have taken some shots at all ISO
sensitivities; these are 100% crops
without any post processing.
ISO 160:
ISO 320:
ISO 640 / ISO 1250:
[NOTE: in the first version of the
review, I published some crops from ISO
640 and ISO 1250 photos. I have removed the crops
since the camera was a pre-production
unit and the image quality in the final
version should be much better! I am
going to repeat the test as soon as a
production S2 is available for testing!]
Conclusions
The Leica S2 is one of
the most interesting cameras I have
tried: it combines amazing image quality
with a camera body much more responsive
than the majority of medium format
cameras. Its sensor is not as big as the
sensor of the Hasselblad H4D, but it is
way bigger than 35mm FF sensors; another
nice thing about the Leica S2 sensor is
that it has 3:2 ratio, instead of the
4:3 ratio of the majority of MF cameras
(this is a matter of personal taste, for
me the 3:2 ratio is more pleasing).
Of course it is a very
specialist camera. It is fantastic for
studio photos, landscapes and other
static subject in good light, but it is
not a camera for low light shooting or
for action, due to its limited ISO
capabilities. The price is very high,
but it is on par with other MF cameras
that have similar features. Overall, I
think that the S2 is a real winner for
Leica - a modern MF camera system, with
the built and image quality that you
expect from Leica. If you want to know
more about the Leica S system, I
recommend to visit the official website:
http://s.leica-camera.com/
Do you
have comments or questions?
If you have comments or
questions about this article, feel free to
ask in the
Juza Nature Photography Discussion Forum!
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