DucatiTerminator Posted November 24, 2015 Share #1 Posted November 24, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) As far as I know (please correct me if I am wrong), there is no lens roadmap for S System lenses. In a previous thread, one of the replies to a naive question of mine (thanks RVB) included an image of the S body and various lenses: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/252655-how-well-is-the-s-series-actually-selling/?p=2927395 in which two of the lenses pictured (TS and 350mm) are not yet available. Recent responses in other S System threads point to the possibility of the the TS not being feasible (or perhaps not having tilt functionality) and the 350 being "shelved?" due to high cost. While I understand that the various S lens adapters open the system considerably to other focal lengths that don't exist in the S ecosystem, it seems pretty obvious that a S lens is the preferred choice in almost all cases. That said, does Leica have an informal roadmap/wishlist/dangling carrot for future S lenses? As someone who is getting closer to pulling the trigger on a S body, the 350 would certainly be appealing to me, even at 30-90 Vario+) pricing. The R system lens lineup looked quite extensive before EOL of that line; how many years did it take to mature? Do you feel the S system will grow similarly in time, or is it too expensive or have too small of a demographic to do the same. Thanks in advance for your input. Alvin Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 24, 2015 Posted November 24, 2015 Hi DucatiTerminator, Take a look here S Lens Roadmap?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Jeff S Posted November 24, 2015 Share #2 Posted November 24, 2015 The 120 S T/S lens is listed in stock at various stores. Jeff 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manolo Laguillo Posted November 24, 2015 Share #3 Posted November 24, 2015 The 120 S T/S lens is listed in stock at various stores. Jeff The lens on the right in the picture mentioned by Alvin is not the 120mm T/S. Perhaps it is meant to be the 30mm or 35mm T/S... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DucatiTerminator Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted November 24, 2015 (edited) The 120 S T/S lens is listed in stock at various stores. Jeff That's what I thought as well, however, as Manolo mentioned, the lens in the picture is supposedly a wide angle. One of the other members pointed out that the 120mm T/S S-Lens currently available is by Schneider, and indeed it does look very, very similar to the Schneider-Kreuznach PC TS APO-Digitar 120mm f/5.6 for Phase One. Edited November 24, 2015 by DucatiTerminator Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted November 24, 2015 Share #5 Posted November 24, 2015 (edited) Roadmaps aren't among Leica's strengths (likely intentionally, like Apple)....good news only for forum conversation, which would otherwise lose hundreds of pages of threads for every product line devoted to predictions, wish lists, etc. On second thought, maybe not... Jeff Edited November 24, 2015 by Jeff S Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erlingmm Posted November 25, 2015 Share #6 Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) I'd like a small pancake for walk-around, maybe a 45/4 or thereabouts, non-CS Edited November 25, 2015 by erlingmm 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted November 25, 2015 Share #7 Posted November 25, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Sigh! I have been waiting for the 350mm for the past five years... I have asked David Farkas repeatedly and their is truly no news... Keep waiting and hoping... Albert :D 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bab Posted November 29, 2015 Share #8 Posted November 29, 2015 I see no reason why they can't produce a 350-600mm f4.5 zoom it would fit in many kits for mono pod sports events , nature and creative shooting like skateboarding, surfing, golf, birding, racing, skiing, tripod for Astro, mountain landscape, seascape giving a great PR value to the entire system! Yes it would be expensive but not prohibitive and there seems to be many companies with future developments of long zoom lenses on the horizon so I'm sure the thought of designing and making such a lens has occurred to Leica more importantly the challenge of producing and selling such a lens. Wow if they also made a 1.4x and 2.0x extender the 350-600mm IS F4.5 would be "THE" most desired piece of glass on the planet! I would be willing to guess they could sell 500. Heck if Leica can sell limited edition S kits they can sell just about anything. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted November 29, 2015 Share #9 Posted November 29, 2015 I cannot imagine the size and weight of that ;-) Even 35mm zooms stop at 500mm f5.6 I think.... john 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jip Posted November 30, 2015 Share #10 Posted November 30, 2015 I'm using the Hasselblad HC 300mm 4.5 lately and it's great already! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albireo_double Posted November 30, 2015 Share #11 Posted November 30, 2015 I'm using the Hasselblad HC 300mm 4.5 lately and it's great already! I agree. Not too big, not too heavy. Sharp with good contrast. Paid 3300 Eur for my mint used copy. Bought from a reputable dealer, with six month warranty. No need to wait for the 350 from Leica, especially given its likely cost. A "pancake" for travel would be nice, with about 55mm focal length. The 45mm is a beautiful lens but it's a beast for hiking, skiing etc. Other than that, I don't see any gaps in the system, lens-wise. What I'd like Leica to do, however, is to convince Profoto to make their TTL Air-remote in a version for Leica S, to be able to use with their awesome B1/B2 heads. Profoto already sell these TTL controllers for Canon and Nikon. I guess making one for Leica would just be a matter of different firmware since the physical arrangement of the hotshoe contacts is exactly the same as with Nikon. I suggested this to the Leica S system sales rep but I am not sure he understood what I was talking about... http://profoto.com/us/products/off-camera-flash/item/air-remote-ttl-n 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted December 4, 2015 Share #12 Posted December 4, 2015 I see no reason why they can't produce a 350-600mm f4.5 zoom it would fit in many kits for mono pod sports events , nature and creative shooting like skateboarding, surfing, golf, birding, racing, skiing, tripod for Astro, mountain landscape, seascape giving a great PR value to the entire system! Yes it would be expensive but not prohibitive and there seems to be many companies with future developments of long zoom lenses on the horizon so I'm sure the thought of designing and making such a lens has occurred to Leica more importantly the challenge of producing and selling such a lens. Wow if they also made a 1.4x and 2.0x extender the 350-600mm IS F4.5 would be "THE" most desired piece of glass on the planet! I would be willing to guess they could sell 500. Heck if Leica can sell limited edition S kits they can sell just about anything. A zoom in that range would be insane (price but especially lugging that monster around ~6-10 kg just be the thought of it). No, a set of two super telephotos + TCs would be fantastic. A 300/2.8 for starters + TC1.4 TC1.7 and TC2.0 A 500 or 600 mm with a reasonable aperture (no 15.000 EUR 10kg monster) should be next and last slow aperture variants for backpackers. I would love to see the S system in long lens sports - the image quality is just wonderful. But then comes its very biggest limitation for this application - the focus system. Until then, Mamiya and Pentax offer great options, if slower apertures and less flexibility are ok too, other makers offer long lenses as well. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsmphoto Posted December 4, 2015 Share #13 Posted December 4, 2015 (edited) Hmm, I'll take that 30mm PC when/if it rears it's ugly head. I used an HTS and 24HCD on the S2 and S for awhile (the auto focus even worked on the 24 with the HTS, something that didn't happen on the Hasselblad), but without DAC and with a 1.5x factor I abandoned that path. Edited December 4, 2015 by rsmphoto 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Warwick Posted December 4, 2015 Share #14 Posted December 4, 2015 (edited) Hmm, I'll take that 30mm PC when/if it rears it's ugly head. . Me too - I'm very seriously about to pull the trigger on an S, but by far the largest reason for not buying yet is perspective control (front rise for architecture). The PC lens for an S really seemed to be potentially on the table all those years ago, but then nothing, just silence. Without a wide PC lens, I'm still mulling something like a Phase back that can be used on both an SLR for general use, and tech cam body for architecture. A more complex set up. A PC lens for the S would tick many of those boxes in one system ......., Edited December 4, 2015 by Jon Warwick 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVB Posted December 5, 2015 Share #15 Posted December 5, 2015 Hmm, I'll take that 30mm PC when/if it rears it's ugly head. I used an HTS and 24HCD on the S2 and S for awhile (the auto focus even worked on the 24 with the HTS, something that didn't happen on the Hasselblad), but without DAC and with a 1.5x factor I abandoned that path. Main problem with the HTS is the 1.5x multiplier. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manolo Laguillo Posted December 5, 2015 Share #16 Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) WE NEED A NATIVE 30 mm SHIFT LENS FOR THE LEICA S. This is a fact. Why is Leica not working in this direction? I don't want to work with an Alpa or an Arca, I want to travel light. The Leica S is ok in this regard. Leica develops an astonishing 50mm Summicron APO, with a high price, and manages to sell it. And neither the 50mm Noctilux nor the 24 Summilux are cheap... The Vario-Elmar S 30-90 zoom's price is at this very high level, and Leica is selling it. How high would be the price of this (still) non-existent 30mm Shift lens? Would it be above this 10.000 € limit? And what if this would be the case? If you enter the medium format realm (Arca-Swiss, ALPA, etc), the lens prices aren't low... The new Schneider Kreuznach 28mm Super Angulon PC costs around 6000 €, quite cheap in comparison. ... A Leica S 30mm Shift lens could be used on the new SL, BTW Edited December 5, 2015 by Manolo Laguillo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted December 6, 2015 Share #17 Posted December 6, 2015 Manolo, Leica surely is here in a very, very different situation than Schneider Kreuznach is. Any lens Leica would develop will ONLY be used on the Leica S (and now with the introduction of the SL also potentially be used on that camera). Schneider does develop lenses to be used with different systems, hence their development cost for such a complicated lens spreads over a larger production quantity of units, hence their relatively moderate pricing. I am afraid we know too little inside info on a potential Leica TS lens and the potential pricing factors but to think of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tthorne Posted December 6, 2015 Share #18 Posted December 6, 2015 I am so glad to see this being spoken about here. It is actually what I came to the S forum to find out. I am a full time architectural photographer and I would really like to make the move to the new 007, however, my current setup for that work is an A7R2 with a Canon 24mm TSE L2 adapted to it. I also have the 17mm TSE, but it is just too wide for serious architecture work. Anyhow, no matter how I slice it, I can't seem to get away from the need for the shift movements for my line of work. I tried locking my TSE lenses and shooting them with no shift on a job the other day and there was just no way. I really hope the 30mm Tilt/Shift becomes a reality here because I spent some time with the S and the 30mm and 24mm, and I have to say that I absolutely loved the camera and the files. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DucatiTerminator Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share #19 Posted December 7, 2015 It would be nice if the decision makers at Leica looked in on threads like this and similar internet chatter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted December 7, 2015 Share #20 Posted December 7, 2015 They do, I have had off-list contact from Wetzlar with things mentioned here. john 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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