Member Peter Dooling

Unfortunately, I got to experience some winter weather too this weekend. I much preferred the warm south Florida climate from the weekend prior. At least I was out shooting so it isn't all bad.

Sparks Lane, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Constable and Jack, these photos make me cold just to look at them. It is cold here in Tennessee so unfortunately I can relate to the photos. I visited south Florida last weekend and I really miss the warm sunshine. Plus, it was great to see David Farkas, David K., Roger, and Josh. Wish I had more time there.

erlingmm;4155 wrote: I have a Mamiya APO 300mm F/4.5 IF on hand at a good price, it is supposed to work with the S2 via the L16025 adapter. Does anyone have experience with this lens on the S2? What will the actual FOV of lens be on the S2, given that it is made for a larger sensor?

I haven't tried this lens on the S2, but a 300mm is a…[Read more]

The official word from Leica on this upgrade program is now available:

Leica S CS Lens Upgrade Program Finalized

The official word from Leica on this upgrade program is now available:

Leica S CS Lens Upgrade Program Finalized

Questions or concerns? Post them here and I will address anything I can.

Jimmy:

I've moved your post to a new thread within the S forum so that more users will see it.

There are some key differences between the S-120mm and 180mm lenses. The 120mm is an f/2.5 lens and the 180mm is f/3.5. The 120mm is also a macro that focuses down to about 20 inches.

The 180mm is great for landscape, wildlife, and any…[Read more]

John, we have not heard any official statement yet from Leica but I know they are aware of the problem. When we do hear news of a firmware update I will definitely post it on the main page here!

The text below was copied from my voucher.

“You can trade up your S lens, with this voucher, at any time up to 30th September 2011, via the authorised Leica S dealer from whom you originally purchased it. They will exchange your current lens for a lens of same focal length but with a central shutter. The original purchase price of your lens…[Read more]

Derek:

It would be important to note that the cost of the Schneider lens is $4,643 (at a major camera shop that shall remain nameless) but you would also want to factor in the cost of the Leica S-Mamiya 645 adapter which is $850, so now are at $5,493, or a $1,457 price difference.

I would say the primary advantage of purchasing a…[Read more]

Alex,

I'd also suggest using a card reader to download your images, rather than the camera. The USB connection on the camera is really only meant to use for tethered shooting to a computer. In the case of tethering, the data mode is set to External and the camera won't go to sleep.

I use a Lexar USB 3.0 dual card reader with both SD and…[Read more]

Nice stuff Scott! I can't wait to see some of the photos from the actual race weekend. I'll agree with Mark that the focus on the last shot is a bit off, but for someone who JUST got a Noctilux and is really new to the M system, you are doing amazing things with it. Keep it up!

Scott, I like the series. They provide a more personal viewpoint of the racing scene. The thin DOF works well in most cases, but it can be tough to get in the correct place with a rangefinder. For example, in the last photo the plane of focus is on the neck instead of the eyes unless that was intentional.

Fortunately, the camera and lens combination are smart enough to know when you are wanting to shoot at the wide-open aperture. For example, if you are at f3.5 with the lens zoomed to 30mm, then zoom to 90mm the aperture goes to f5.6, but when you zoom back to 30mm the aperture goes back to f3.5 just as it should.

Ddanois we are just as excited as you to get our hands on this lens. I believe they will begin shipping in the USA next week, although I won't make a formal announcement until I have 100% confirmation. Keep an eye on the main page of Red Dot Forum for updates.

Andy, congratulations on getting the 30-90mm. That lens is at the top of my purchase list. It is a very flexible focal range and has the typical Leica S character – sharp with excellent OOF rendering.

The little time I spent demoing the lens lead me to the conclusion that the lens hood may not be of much value when the lens is at the mid to…[Read more]

Here are links to some early versions of my Lightroom 4 Leica S presets, one for each ISO:

Dale_LR4_S_800_V1.lrtemplate
Dale_LR4_S_100_V1.lrtemplate
Dale_LR4_S_400_V1.lrtemplate
Dale_LR4_S_200_V1.lrtemplate
Dale_LR4_S_1600_V1.lrtemplate

I am open to all suggestions of course so please download them and try them out. I…[Read more]

I will definitely be posting more ISO1600 samples as I use the camera more. To be honest, I had no trouble using the S2 at ISO1250. As long as you are careful not to under-expose the images were very usable, especially with a bit of processing. If I look through my database of S2 images, I would say 95% are at ISO320 or lower. When I work in low…[Read more]

Very nice image Joe. Congrats on getting the new S. I have seen your work on getDPI with other cameras in the past. You will do well with the S. I look forward to seeing more.

Josh, please keep your thoughts and discoveries about the new S coming – even if it is a bit frustrating that I don't have one (yet).

Very nice Joe! I am glad you were able to make use of the +0.5 EV technique. While the S puts out a great file from the camera, there is a lot of “potential” in the files that can be brought out with a combination of tone adjustment, sharpening, and noise reduction (for higher ISOs) within Lightroom 4. I have found that the S images can take…[Read more]

Albert, as you know I emailed you about this but I want to put it here as well. With some firmware updates, the S2's settings may be reset, usually if there are major changes happening at lower levels of the camera's operating system. This is perfectly normal. I keep an SD card with my settings from the S2 saved on it in my camera bag, so that if…[Read more]