john_r_smith Posted July 6, 2006 Share #1 Posted July 6, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Folks I read somewhere recently that Leica were considering the development of a medium-format camera and lens range back in the '90s sometime. Is this true? John Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 6, 2006 Posted July 6, 2006 Hi john_r_smith, Take a look here A BIG Leica?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wparsonsgisnet Posted July 6, 2006 Share #2 Posted July 6, 2006 There was one of these in production. I saw pictures of it and noticed the 5-figure price as well. Couldn't tell you if it's still in production, but I haven't seen anything abouut it in many years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest user8952 Posted July 6, 2006 Share #3 Posted July 6, 2006 There was one of these in production. I saw pictures of it and noticed the 5-figure price as well. Couldn't tell you if it's still in production, but I haven't seen anything abouut it in many years. MUST have been a hoax... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyj Posted July 6, 2006 Share #4 Posted July 6, 2006 I don't think it was a hoax. Many people do not remember Leica's first digital camera, the S1 and S2 which were intended as studio and copy cameras. I think that Leica wisely chose not to go down that road, which would have required extensive R&D and had to evolve into a digital offering to survive. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted July 6, 2006 Share #5 Posted July 6, 2006 It was not a hoax, and was a studio camera. The picture I saw showed it on a studio mount (not the tripod type, but the heavy duty mount). I recall that it was called the S1. I believe it also had to be tethered to a computer for storage of the images. For Leica, I'm sure it was a great learning experience, and, of course, there may only have been one built. If it escapes, imagine the collectible value! And, look where we are now; the R8/9 under their belt and on the verge of releasing the digital-M. Is there another company in the world of such capabilities? The best lenses, some of the best survival instincts (how many new owners by now?), and a devoted clientele (some of whom are WAITING ANXIOUSLY for the Digital-M). Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flatfour Posted July 6, 2006 Share #6 Posted July 6, 2006 A prototype was shown in the Frankfurter Zeitung on 1st April 1991. It was a new format 43x43 and had two focal plane shutters selectable from a dial on the top of the box. I don't think anyone bought it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironfly Posted July 6, 2006 Share #7 Posted July 6, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Leica S1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted July 6, 2006 Share #8 Posted July 6, 2006 As I remember it used R lenses and had a scanning sensor, so could only really be used in a studio. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironfly Posted July 6, 2006 Share #9 Posted July 6, 2006 It can use all type of lenses, also not Leica's, since it can use Leica M lenses you can put on near everything. if i remember correctly it had a 3 time scan sensor. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overgaard Posted July 6, 2006 Share #10 Posted July 6, 2006 I saw a photographer here locally in 1992 who did pack shots (studio shots for catalogs of mugs, trailers, pens, etc) who bought one or two of these. It was VERY hightech then and very expensive. I belive it took several minutes to take a picture and they used special digital light equipment (a series of daylight tubes). But even then - with a new studio building and completely new setup of equipment - he saved a lot on it compared to film. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertwang Posted July 6, 2006 Share #11 Posted July 6, 2006 Nice, where can you find a s1 or something similar around here? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted July 6, 2006 Share #12 Posted July 6, 2006 Actually there were THREE versions of the S-1 - the basic version, a faster lower-res version (still many seconds exposure) and a ??higher-res?? version. Sort of like the Nikon D1, D1x and D1h. Englewood Camera (englewood colorado) has one in their collection case. It will indeed take M lenses as well as R or Hassy lenses, via different adapters. I think it had a modified R5 viewfinder behind a 43 x 43mm focusing screen, that slid out of the way (like the old Leica copy/microscope "focoslide") for the scanning CCD to do its thing. Original price for the basic camera was ~$19,000. Took approx 25 Mpixel images (5000 x 5000) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironfly Posted July 6, 2006 Share #13 Posted July 6, 2006 See the LEICA S1 high precision digital camera system for archiving and documentation. Leica presents three S1 digital cameras. The LEICA S1 Alpha for print sizes up to A4 in 300 dpi (offset) quality, the LEICA S1 Pro for print sizes up to A2 and the LEICA S1 HighSpeed - the fastest available scanner-camera - for print sizes up to A3. Reproductions of artwork, photography of sculptures, multiple Scans, digitising of transparencies and even images for Web publishing are possible. The output files can be RGB, CMYK, LAB - tifs including CMM profiles - from 2 to 155 MB. All cameras allow nearly unlimited types of lenses from Leica, Contax, Rodenstock, Schneider, Hasselblad with Tilt and Shift and others. http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GqzV Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
masjah Posted July 6, 2006 Share #14 Posted July 6, 2006 Some time ago a UK dealer had a second-hand S1 for (I think) £5k. Not being advertised now, so maybe someone bought it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerd K Posted July 6, 2006 Share #15 Posted July 6, 2006 "A prototype was shown in the Frankfurter Zeitung on 1st April 1991. It was a new format 43x43 and had two focal plane shutters selectable from a dial on the top of the box. I don't think anyone bought it." 1st of April is a joke. In Germany they say: "In den April schicken" Gerd Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest user8952 Posted July 7, 2006 Share #16 Posted July 7, 2006 the S1 was a scanner camera - NOT a medium format camera. a medium format leica never was in production. by the way: if the "Frankfurter Zeitung" reportet on it in the 90s, it must have been a hoax, because "Frankfurter Zeitung" was only published until 1943. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grober Posted July 7, 2006 Share #17 Posted July 7, 2006 Aren't we all hoping that the M8 will give "medium format" results? Mine's already on order... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyj Posted July 7, 2006 Share #18 Posted July 7, 2006 I think that the S1 / S2 cameras had 5140 x 5140 pixel configuration, a 79 MB file size. The sensor appears to have been larger than 35 mm format, although I don't know the specifications (the pixel count is sized at what is being used today as a medium format sensor). At the time the camera was introduced the company I was consulting for was looking for museum quality documentation capability. If I remember correctly the S1, S1 Alpha and S2 had an excellent reputation for this kind of work. J.W. - I know that my DMR gives "medium format" results. I still have my Hasselblads but they hardly get any use. The files out of the DMR are great, as Guy M has reported. The DMR sensor and M8 sensor are supposed to be the same. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted July 7, 2006 Share #19 Posted July 7, 2006 The DMR sensor and M8 sensor are supposed to be the same. The sensors are both from Kodak, but I don't believe they'll be identical since Leica quotes different crop factors for the two cameras (DMR 1.36 I believe, and M 1.33). Since crop factor is equal to the ratio of the format diagonals, that would imply a slight difference between the two. Of course, in two months we can stop speculating! --HC Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicapfile Posted July 8, 2006 Share #20 Posted July 8, 2006 Six months or so ago, there was a post on an astronomy forum that noted that Leica had an amatuer astronomical telescope in the works, including some prototypes in the field for testing. If so, move over Questar! Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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