nickywaldo Posted May 3, 2011 Share #1 Posted May 3, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I just bought the S2 grip and I am curious whether it comes with a battery. I should have asked really, but I just assumed it does. Anyone else using it and what do you think? Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Hi nickywaldo, Take a look here I just bought the S2 Grip. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Constable Posted May 3, 2011 Share #2 Posted May 3, 2011 Mine did, but I think it might have been a mistake Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickywaldo Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted May 3, 2011 Thanks... I will keep my fingers crossed... Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfarkas Posted May 3, 2011 Share #4 Posted May 3, 2011 The Leica Multifunction Handgrip S does not include an extra battery. Honestly, you probably don't need it. The S2 will shoot 2000 images per battery. That's a lot of captures. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickywaldo Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted May 4, 2011 Thanks. Do you put the main battery in the grip, if you are using just one? Many thanks, Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfarkas Posted May 4, 2011 Share #6 Posted May 4, 2011 Thanks. Do you put the main battery in the grip, if you are using just one?Many thanks, Nick Nick, You need to have a charged battery in the camera for it to work. The grip doesn't require you to use a second battery, but does allow for one. The camera will draw from the battery in the grip first, then from the one in the body. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
msadat Posted May 6, 2011 Share #7 Posted May 6, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) a leica designed , china built battery grip for 1400 usd when the Chinese version of a canon or nikon grip only costs 60usd. just a little cheap for leica and the price they charge. if it was 300 or 400 it would have been ok Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_keith Posted July 21, 2011 Share #8 Posted July 21, 2011 a leica designed , china built battery grip for 1400 usd when the Chinese version of a canon or nikon grip only costs 60usd. just a little cheap for leica and the price they charge. if it was 300 or 400 it would have been ok It would be even better if the grip actually fitted to the S2 correctly!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amoebahydra Posted August 7, 2011 Share #9 Posted August 7, 2011 I just got mine! No surprise, it does not include a spare battery nor the handstrap that I expect. The battery compartment is at the left hand side and my RRS L-bracket for S2 block access to battery compartment completely. Besides, it is a bit heavy when carry a spare battery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom0511 Posted August 10, 2011 Share #10 Posted August 10, 2011 I just got mine! No surprise, it does not include a spare battery nor the handstrap that I expect. The battery compartment is at the left hand side and my RRS L-bracket for S2 block access to battery compartment completely. Besides, it is a bit heavy when carry a spare battery. I really dont see the need to use a spare battery. I agree that they could have included the handstrap at least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Richardson Posted August 11, 2011 Share #11 Posted August 11, 2011 How is it to use though? Is it nicer to use for portraits, or does it feel like a clunky add-on? Is it really made in China (not that that is always bad!), or is that just a theory? I was under the impression that most of the stuff Leica did outside Solms was done in Portugal...The R9 motor drive was done there, and in my experience it was just as well made as any other part of the R system! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted August 11, 2011 Share #12 Posted August 11, 2011 The R9 motor drive was done there, and in my experience it was just as well made as any other part of the R system! Virtually everything, apart from the lenses (and the S system?), is made in Portugal. The 'finishing' and final calibration is done in Germany - at least it is for the M bodies (I believe some of the R bodies were made in Portugal in their entirety). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georg Posted August 12, 2011 Share #13 Posted August 12, 2011 The vast majority of work is done by suppliers - I think besides some old machines from Wetzlar/Ontario for M-parts mostly assembly work is done Portugal. I thought it is a bad joke that they buy the handgrip in China - or is it just the cells from the battery (nevertheless, there are higher-quality cells from Japan/Germany/Switzerland as well)? Most production workers in Solms are craftsman, comprehensively trained in practice and school in specific technical crafts - workers in China are not and I doubt Leica transferred the German education system to Portugal (Mercedes for example does not do it in Portugal) - all "trained-on-the-job". Cheap and easily replaceable - it makes a difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted August 12, 2011 Share #14 Posted August 12, 2011 I thought it is a bad joke that they buy the handgrip in China The handgrip is definitely made in China. It states on the grip (in pure 'Apple-ese') that it is "designed by Leica in Germany. Assembled in China". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Richardson Posted August 12, 2011 Share #15 Posted August 12, 2011 I am a bit surprised to be honest. That handgrip costs more than a brand new Nikon D7000 (which is a very good camera AND shoots 1080p video...). I don't mind paying for quality, but 1400 USD for a made-in-China handgrip (or even a made-in-Germany handgrip) is nutty, especially if it does not even come with the battery or handstrap! I certainly won't be buying one... I get that the S system bodies and lenses are expensive, but I don't understand why everything else should be too, even if it is not necessarily complex or made in a country with high-salaries and materials costs. Why should the grip cost 8-10 times what a comparable product does from Canon or Nikon? Just because the camera does? That does not really seem to be a good enough reason for me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted August 12, 2011 Share #16 Posted August 12, 2011 Why should the grip cost 8-10 times what a comparable product does from Canon or Nikon? Just because the camera does? That does not really seem to be a good enough reason for me... I guess that the numbers involved are different: similar investment in tooling, etc. but far fewer S2 grips will ever be made. That said, the price does seem to be a bit of "well, the S2 is £20K, we can't sell the grip for £250 (sounds too cheap), let's call it £900". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted August 18, 2011 Share #17 Posted August 18, 2011 I looked at one a Photokina and thought it was very well made, much better attachment mechanism that a typical Japanese DSLR. I would be surprised if it is made in China. How many will Leica be making? 1000? I will not be buying one, mainly because I don't have a camera to attach it to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted August 18, 2011 Share #18 Posted August 18, 2011 I would be surprised if it is made in China. That's what it states on the grip - it would be an odd thing to make the claim if it's not true. I agree that it seems to be a well made product (though, like you, I won't be buying as I also don't have a camera to attach it to*). *If I had money to burn, I could see myself buying a - even without a camera to mount it on. I haven't seen one in the flesh but it looks to be a beautiful piece of design and engineering (the way it shifts and tilts by rotating rings is quite exquisite). Puts Leica's wobbly aperture rings to shame. A very reasonable £2000 too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Richardson Posted August 18, 2011 Share #19 Posted August 18, 2011 Ian -- you made a good point about the relative numbers made. I am sure that impacts the price. I would be surprised if it impacted the price THAT much, however. I can see it doubling the price. Currently, it is about five and a half times more. And if you want the strap and battery for it, you are looking at another 350-400 USD. But anyway, obviously it is a choice one has to make if it is worth the money. I recently got an S2 and two lenses (though they are not in my hands yet!), but I really don't think I will be getting the grip because the cost/benefit seems to be so far off...But if I was always working handheld and shooting in portrait orientation, I would suck it up and buy it! Mark -- I think the attachment method you are describing was only on the prototype. They had some beautifully designed locking method that they were concerned would not hold up in the field, so now there is a simple wheel attached to a screw like in most other grips like this. As for that 90mm PCTS...it looks great. I have the 90mm f/4.5 APO Companon HM as an enlarging lens -- it is outstanding. I wonder if they use the same or very similar lens? It would have more than enough coverage for 35mm, and the actual size of the glass elements does not look that different...obviously the huge surrounding lens bodies are totally different. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted August 25, 2011 Share #20 Posted August 25, 2011 A rule of thumb in the electronics industry is that something halves in price if you make 10 times as many. Not clear whether this applies to Leica handgrips. Disappointed they have gone back to the thumb wheel. The original has a beautiful locking mechanism. That Schneider lens looks great, the Nikon lenses are not nearly as well made but when working with a D3* do have an electric aperture stop down and so support open aperture focusing and metering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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