Member Mark Gowin

Beautiful. I miss that color!

I tried this on an M9 just for fun, but no luck. Is there a similar service menu for the M9?

I actually did not know of that shortcut to get to the M8's service menu, however I can confirm that it works! This is the screen you will see after selecting “Body Debug Data”:

Manilaman2001;3374 wrote: Well 4 months after i asked this questioned, got your replies, and now have sold the 3 R lenses, Leica comes out with the R to M adapter. :(:(:( Nothing lost, i got better and equivalent focal length glass for the M. I could have just kept them for the Canon bodies. 🙁

Sadly, no one knew when Leica would provide…[Read more]

GPLeica;3383 wrote: David,

Here's a basic question. How do you think the lens hood will function on the new zoom….is it really only functional for use at the 30mm focal length?

Geoffrey

Good question. Honestly, I don't know. The answer will have to wait until I get a chance to test the lens.

The S2 doesn't officially support SDXC cards. The new S camera will, so I assume this is something that can be updated via firmware, seeing as how both cameras have the same Maestro processor.

My suggestion would be to hold off using the new 64GB card until it is officially supported via firmware. It might work now, but I would be wary of…[Read more]

A quick follow up…it's been about a year since we had the OLED screen's replaced on our S2-P bodies, and they haven't faded at all. And it looks like it's the same OLED that's going in the new S, which is a good sign.

I've been pleasantly surprised with the S2's reliability over the past few years, however that doesn't mean that problems never happen. Leica's S service in Germany is absolutely fantastic, courteous, and their turnaround times are very quick. If you send the camera directly to them (without going through Leica USA in NJ) it's usually two weeks…[Read more]

rmviet;3193 wrote: HI, David,
best report on the Leica M so far.
Why did they keep that big red dot on the front of the camera, the M9-P is soo elegant without it?… I regret the absence of the illuminating frame which ix part of the smart design of all Ms so far.
And they did not mind keeping the thickness of previous digital Ms. The MP…

[Read more]

GMB;3315 wrote: If someone has experience with this adaptor, I would be happy to learn your experiences. I have no Hassi lenses, but I might be interested in the 300mm, as Leica is not offering anything in that focal length.

Pretty simple really. H lenses work the same a S lenses on the S2 or S. The adapter communicates electronically with…[Read more]

Am I the only one excited about using the Leica Apo-Telyt-Modular 800mm f/5.6 setup on the new M? I wish we never sold our 800mm f/6.3!

PebblePlace;3287 wrote: It is very unlikely we would see the ISO steps change on the S2 because that is linked to the hardware and the amount of amplification performed by the hardware. Generally ISO starts with a base level hardware amplification and then some or all the subsequent ISO increments are extrapolated by the camera's software.…

[Read more]

PebblePlace;3293 wrote: For the 120mm TS, you may want to consider the Mamiya / Phase One mount ($4643 at B&H) and the S / Mamiya adapter ($875 at retail). That combo is $1500 less. Both lenses are fully manual with no automatic aperture.

FYI, the 120mm Schneider in Mamiya mount is also available at Dale Photo & Digital. The Leica version…[Read more]

Mark Gowin;3219 wrote: Good point David. Reading your report of the S improvements reminded me of some conversations and requests I have made to the Leica staff.

Question, is focus bracketing an option in the new S? If not, then forewarn Stephan that I will be asking him about it again at PhotoPlus. 🙂

C'mon, Mark! If the new S had…[Read more]

Pete Walentin;3213 wrote: I must add here, after reading Davids report, that Leica has really listened to what we discussed here and asked for. Thanks Leica.

Pete,

I feel the same way. Very few companies pay such close attention to the requests and issues of its users. The M9 was created, in large part, from an Internet poll of features…[Read more]

Guys, I updated the article with a few corrections, feature additions and more images. Check out the article (again) for more accurate info.

Roger;3200 wrote: Pete

Very nice report . Looks like you are enjoying yourself ..I am jealous !

David

So the sensor is the same (formerly Kodak ) CCD ? This is good and bad …the IQ should match the near perfect S2 (no problem in interchanging bodies on a shoot) but it also limits the possible improvement in high ISO to…

[Read more]

Mark Gowin;3186 wrote: The new S has a lot of hardware changes (e.g., new sensor board, new AF module) as well as changes in control (joystick) and menus so I don't know how much firmware love us S2 guys will be seeing. I believe still room to improve the S2 via a firmware update. Maybe the guys at Leica will have some time for S2 firmware now…

[Read more]

Jack MacD;3144 wrote: Excellent work Pete,
David, you should hire Pete for your blogs.

I think I might just start to outsource. Good job, Pete! Too bad we missed each other today. I was spending some quality time with the new M. S is tomorrow for me.

I saw the new S camera today at the event and talked to a few folks at Leica about some of the behind the scenes goodies. While I think the upgrades are indeed evolutionary, they are some of the most often requested ones. The new screen (same used on new M, btw) is really, really nice. There is a new menu system, but it was in German and I didn't…[Read more]