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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 132 total)
  • #9778
    Josh Lehrer

    To be honest I'm actually pleased with Leica’s decision to stay at 37.5 megapixels. Having made many large prints with the S2 and the S (Typ 006) I've yet to find myself wanting for more resolution. I find that the only times the image sharpness is not satisfactory is when I make a mistake in my technique. As we all know the tolerances for medium format are extremely tight; the tiniest mis-focus or vibration can make for soft images.

    Instead of diving into the megapixel war, Leica innovated on other fronts. By maintaining the 6-micron pixel size Leica can offer the best low-light performance of any medium format camera out there. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll get a call from someone interested in the S-System that asks about the high ISO performance. As someone who frequently uses the S as my walk-around camera this is great news. I don’t know if I will spend much time shooting at ISO6400 but if I can shoot a noise-free image at ISO800, then I can walk around with a polarizer attached and not end up with blurry images as soon as a cloud obscures the sun.

    Also, the higher the megapixel count the quicker you will run into diffraction. I'm comfortable shooting S lenses at f/13 and would not be happy to have to give that up. An increase to say, 50 megapixels to make a print a few inches larger on each side without interpolation is not worth all of the trade-offs. I’ll be able to take the S (Typ 007) into areas that no other medium format camera could venture without an extremely airtight insurance policy, so you can be happy at home with your 80 megapixel camera and I will be out getting “the shot!”

    Regarding the LCD of course I would never be against bigger and better but using the S in the bright Florida sun I’ve yet to run into a situation where the screen was not visible. Same thing with the M (Typ 240). While sapphire glass would be nice, the reality is that it’s time consuming and expensive to procure in that size and I never concern myself with the occasional small mark on an LCD screen because I can never see them when the screen is powered on anyway. I should also note that those “inexpensive consumer grade DSLRs” are produced by multi-billion dollar companies with the ability to purchase mass quantities of high-end components that a comparatively small company like Leica would not have access to. I think the same logic applies to the self-cleaning sensor. That also adds to the complication, cost and size of the body.

    And when it comes to video while I don’t shoot much if it myself, I don’t mind having the ability to. It’s just one button and a few menu settings that I can ignore if I want. The future is moving towards more video and I think it’s clever for Leica to be the first medium format camera maker to incorporate this function.

    We are still a ways away from having a sample that we can really put through the paces. David and I have both been absolutely thrilled with the results from the Leica M (Typ 240) despite trepidation from customers early on that it wouldn’t be able to surpass the M9. I have a strong feeling that when it’s out in the hands of users the Leica S (Typ 007) is going to change the way people think about medium format cameras.

  • #4190
    Josh Lehrer

    Dale, I've already emailed you but I also want to post here that of course we will replace your Noctilux with another, new lens and send this defective unit back to Leica. It's rare that we see defects on new lenses but when it happens, we always replace it right away!

  • #3863
    Josh Lehrer

    The Leica S/S2 can shoot either a compressed or uncompressed DNG file. If you shoot an uncompressed DNG file it will be around 75mb in size. If you shoot compressed, that's around 45mb. By default, Lightroom does not change the file size of a DNG, what you are probably seeing are files that you shot compressed.

  • #3840
    Josh Lehrer

    Sadly I didn't take another absurd photo of me with all the cameras…I knew I could never top the photo from New England!

  • #3837
    Josh Lehrer

    I didn't shoot very much, but here are a few of my favorites from the trip:

    I was able to shoot a bit with the new Leica M and some interesting lenses including the Leica APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (used on the black and white shot of the bricks) and a Zeiss Contax Vario-Sonnar 35-70mm f/3.4 (used on the last image). I know that our participants got some great images and I can't wait to see them here!

  • #3819
    Josh Lehrer

    I didn't even know that myself, thank you for the tip about the SDXC cards!

    No firmware updates have been made available yet for the new S, so you will not see anything in the Owner's Area. Leica does not allow you to re-install firmware, so they do not make the current version available for download.

  • #3794
    Josh Lehrer

    What more could you want! Nice shot and nice cars.

  • #3769
    Josh Lehrer

    I have not had the chance to test this myself but Leica Camera offers very thorough lens data documents on their downloads page (at the bottom):

    http://www.s.leica-camera.com/en/DOWNLOADS

    The documents include distortion charts, among other things, and you could compare the distortion of the 30-90mm to the fixed focal length lenses too!

  • #3768
    Josh Lehrer

    I find the dynamic range of the S sensor to be all that I really need, I couldn't really quantify it because I don't believe that measurement ever really means anything. I will say that I don't have any difficulty recovering highlights that are 2+ stops over exposed, but I rarely attempt to recover extremely deep shadows because that's always where noise lives on any sensor.

    When it comes to the dynamic range of any sensor, it's important to me not because I want to recover improperly exposed images, but to extract as much detail as possible out of my properly exposed files. In those scenarios I often find that I can process my S raw files multiple times to create an extended dynamic range image from just one file.

    And it's not hard to upgrade your S camera…just sell it and buy the next one! It's the same thing users of other systems do when new bodies and backs come out.

  • #3758
    Josh Lehrer

    Because the sensor cracking issue is a known manufacturer defect, it will be a free repair for the lifetime of the camera (or at least as long as parts are available) so Leica will repair the cracked sensor free of charge even if the camera is out of warranty.

  • #3754
    Josh Lehrer

    Yes, that is a cracked sensor. The camera needs to go to Leica for repair. The good news is that the repair will be covered under warranty, and they'll do a full “clean and check” of the camera while they have it.

  • #3732
    Josh Lehrer

    It's possible, because your settings should not be reset that quickly!

  • #3731
    Josh Lehrer

    I can also confirm that the new S hand grip works just fine on the S2. I tested it here at the store, the grip reads the extra battery just fine.

  • #3729
    Josh Lehrer

    It's a clever idea but I agree with the posters above, the eyepiece cap stays in the box. I believe the part costs somewhere around $50 to replace from Leica. I haven't found a scenario where I need it.

  • #3728
    Josh Lehrer

    Mark:

    The S2 should not reset ANYTHING unless you turn the camera off (or it goes to sleep) or pull the battery out. If the camera is changing your settings while it is still on, then something is not right with the camera. The “drive mode” and mirror lockup settings are both reset to default (they are not sticky) when the camera is turned off, but the AF mode is not. I think your camera might need a trip to Leica for service.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 132 total)