Forum Replies Created
David Farkas;3897 wrote: Have you tried Quickview in Image Shuttle? The 2MP preview JPG is pushed over the wire before the DNG and displays in about 1-1.5 seconds.
This function works great to check composition, expression, lighting, etc.
Thanks for the tip David.
Will try once my S2 will come back from Leica Portugal, went for a sensor cleaning (should be tomorrow or thursday) – will let you know how it works.
Again, thank you for the tip
Jack MacD;3885 wrote: Always happy to save someone from having a $5-7000 lens hit the floor, much less a lake.
I'm curious what drew your attention to this post? I tried to make it attention getting but perhaps I could do better?So now tell us your 35mm story please
Jack
Since I just bought a S2 ( I know, I know, not two years ago as everyone else, but Im happy as a kid can be in a candy store now 🙂 ) and Im also new to Medium Format > used dSLR's a while ago (may moons ago) and for the last decade Ive been a rangefinder Leica user, from film to all the digital iterations of the thing (still keeping my M9 as of today though, just cant part with it)
Ive tried MFD here and there, but always for a few days or hours – and everything is new to me in this arena – shutter speeds (minimum), iso (maximum until im happy), processing files, etc. So Im pretty much opening all the topics of the S2 and getting as much info as I can and trying to avoid other people mistakes and not to repeat them 🙂
One thing Ive learned in my first week with the S2 : its a mistress. It is ! Proper technique, proper handling, proper shutter speeds and the rewards are immense. Careless approach, disregards to technique and its implaccable, shows no mercy.
Im regards of the 35mm S lens, my big mistake was putting it on my camera > I want one now… *sigh* .. these S optics are simply perfect. No flaws.
Have to forget that 35mm for few moons now, just had the blessing of the wife to spend 12k on the S2 and keeping the M9, so .. 🙂
RVB;3915 wrote: You haven't missed anything,the D800 sensor is extraordinary,huge DR..but its a next generation sensor.. shadow and highlight recovery is stunning.. (see how well it handles the highlights in the water)
But the big attraction to the S system is the S glass and I think that in the not too distance future Leica will add a completely new (probably CMOS) sensor to the S body..
The other consideration is that the D800 is so competitively priced that one can buy one to compliment a MF kit..
true true & true
my M9 is at peril now. it would make more sense to sell it and add a D800E for everything that the S2 cant do quite well > high iso, long tele lenses, fast AF
but … call me imbecil, but got a love affair with Leica rangefinders that goes before the dawn of time 🙂
antonybphoto;3895 wrote: Thanks for the input guys.
I guess the thing I keep reading is S is not MF it's just 35mm on steroids.
Usually people who say that never had a S2 for more than 1 hour in their hands or simply never had one full stop period.
Just because its SLR/like doesnt mean its a 35mm on steroids. Lots of things a 35mm SLR does better > AF speed, high ISOs, etc.
Lots of things the S2 does better > bigger sensor, humongus viewfinder, etc.
antonybphoto;3895 wrote: Will I see the quality difference from a D800?
Either you see it or you dont. I learned a valuable lesson the other day with a known photographer here in the forum * fotografz * but in other forum – dont try to explain the difference in the images. either you see it or you dont. simple as that.
S2 files are superior – clarity, contrast, 3D feeling, transitions, etc.
If the D800 is the best bang for megapixel around? one of the most complete cameras around with a rock bottom pricing ? for sure. but its no S2. why ? get both and see it for yourself.
maybe it matters to you / maybe it doesnt. its your money, only you can decide.
personally ? Im a long time Leica M9 user (mine was one the firsts to be delivered in Portugal really close to the announcement date) and the S2 in terms of files is a big M9 files with better lens. for me it was worth it vs a D800. your milleage may vary.
antonybphoto;3895 wrote:
I guess that the form factor and style of the S makes it perfect for my work. But so far all I have seen is some photographer called florian riding around on horse back taking silhouette pictures that are worthy of a compact camera.Leica really not selling the camera benefits in my mind hence the confusion and concern in my mind.
S is a great system. Terrific lenses. Great form factor. But it isnt as versatile as 35mm SLR. Its league on its own in the MF world. Great for some. Not so for others.
Get one, rent it, try it before you buy and decide. I was a bit unsure as yourself – so many contracdicintg reports and every dissapeared and made sense from the moment i holded one.
Being a new S2 owner, lots of stuff is new to me.
Friend this weekend loaned me his 35mm lens * big mistake, but thats another story * and when I put again my 70mm , this triangle appeared. Though it was the exposure comp triangle, but this blinked.
All was pretty much normal until I came to the forum to well, procastrinate a bit eheheh and saw this post. Went back to my S2 and was this / the lens was not correctly attached and not properly seated.
Thanks for sharing this !
Also, with LIS and USB, the image takes longer to get to the computer than Hasselblad & Firewire but then again, Its purely a port speed thing.
Some people moan about it but I find it acceptable / find it strange if Leica in the new S wants to keep the USB but didnt updated the port to USB3, but Leica have their own schedules when it comes to introducing new features 🙂
Josh Lehrer;3873 wrote: Leica's Image Shuttle software offers complete control over all the S2's settings including focus, not only can you activate the camera's auto focus, you can type in a physical distance and the lens will focus there. You can also fine-tune the focus in small or large increments. All without touching the camera.
Could you clarify what you meant by “see the focusing” when using the Hasselblad with the Phocus software? I have not had the chance to use any of Hasselblad's cameras in a while so a refresher is always helpful so I can stay on top of all the new features.
Correct me if Im wrong, but when I shot Hasselblad in a studio tethered, I could “live view” in BW what the camera could see and I could point where the camere woud focus in the image, from the computer.
With the LIS, I can only put + or – in the scale for focusing. I dont see a live image of what the camera is “seeing”.
Also, my settings in LR and in LIS for the camera ( metering mode, shutter speed, aperture, etc ) are all “locked” , ie, I cant change them. I have to go to the camera and change them.
Again, Im new to the S2 – only have it for a week – so perhaps Im doing something wrong ?
tethered shooting with the S2 is a bit of a .. mehhhh feeling.
after trying phocus and hasselblad, being able to see the focusing, adjust everything on the computer, Leica Image Shuttle is a bit of a joke. Same with Lightroom.
Not that I much product and studio shoot, but it would be refreshing to see a nice solution where I could see actual focus and adjust focus visually on the monitor and change all the settings on the computer.
I'll join what others said here.
I've been a long, LONG, LONG LONG LONG time M user. M6, then M7, then MP, then M8 since its launch date then M9 since its launch date ( actually first M9 delivered in Portugal was mine – very early serial number, put a deposit once it was announced )
As Marc said and he put it really well, they are completly different beats.
Rangefinders, film or digital, its all about the content and of the photographer immersing himself in the image. I did a reportage style of the Bordeaux wine making process and the first thing people say when they saw it is “hey, it seems I'm there with them”.
It comes with trade offs however: DOF control is a gamble, critical focus is hit and miss, flare control is “let me check the lcd” and anything wider than 28mm is very “let me check up the vf, let me goe down and focus, let me go up and recompose, let me go down again and focus”.
Its great for many things, it sucks hard for many others.
The S system, to which I'm new – my new Leica S2 is a few days old, its very dSLR like but in a MF guise : ISO is meh-meh ( compared to new dSLRs ) but control and instant feedback is everything : critical focus is easy, framing is a doodle. Its all about instant feedback. AF is spot on – not the fastest ever but very precise.
They dont really replace other – while I sold a couple of M lenses to fund my new S , I didnt sold my M9 – I just couldnt. First because my lovely wife ( just in case she's reading eheheh ) gave me the OK for the S2 buy and second because I would be shot dead and tortured if I sold the M9 – most likely not in this order 🙂 I got married a couple of years ago and my wife loves the M9 ; when I said that I might would have to sell it to fund the S2, she said “no way, its our weeding camera – just go to the other account”. We maried in a small island, just the two of us – and that M9 was the “third” person that was with us ; she loves using it, even if only from time to time.
In the end, she is right though ; the M9 is a fantastic complement to the S2, not a replacement.
And I say this and I'm adapting to the S2 – I'm still a bit lost by not using a dSLR for years, but slowly coming together.
If you can, dont trade one for another. Its like trading a Hummer for a Ferrari. Or vice versa.
my heart stopped the first time I cleaned my M9 sensor : the exact same thing happened. battery was half charge, put it on cleaning mode, few swipes here, loupe there, swipe here and there and exactly on the millisecond that I was removing the swab, shutter closes.
Nothing harmed, but really, 1 second later and I really dont know what would have happened.
Leica should incorporate an acousting sinal or something to warn that the shutter is about to close due to battery running out.
Now with my new Leica S2, I asked for Leica Portugal for a quote to clean its sensor. 40 euros was quoted. Seems a bargain to me compared to a heart failure due to some damage to the sensor 🙂
