S2, worth it?

[Eastgreenlander]

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I have decited to buy the S2 along with two lenses, 35mm and 70mm summarits. I will receive my kit in about one month. Going medium format is exciting.

[vintola]

I have decited to buy the S2 along with two lenses, 35mm and 70mm summarits. I will receive my kit in about one month. Going medium format is exciting.

 

Thinking about the same move, except that I'd probably choose 35 mm and 120 mm. Waiting eagerly Your experiences.

- vintola -

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[Stuart Richardson]

Congratulations Per! I saw your site a month or two ago and was impressed with your work. Very interesting to see a Greenlander's interpretation of their own country! So much of what we see is from foreigners. Not that it is necessarily bad (Rax's work is great, for example), but it is best to have a native's perspective as well. I ordered an S2 a few weeks ago, and it's due to arrive on Sunday, along with my father. Or maybe it's the other way around, that my father is arriving with the S2? I am excited for both! In any case, you should look me up if you are ever in Reykjavík, I run a black and white lab and exhibition printing service here called Custom Photo Lab. I mostly work for the museums, photographers and galleries here in Iceland, but I do some international work as well.

Vintola -- you should get one too, then we are well on our way to a good Nordic representation for the S2!

Edited September 8, 2011 by Stuart Richardson

[Eastgreenlander]

Congratulations Per! I saw your site a month or two ago and was impressed with your work. Very interesting to see a Greenlander's interpretation of their own country! So much of what we see is from foreigners. Not that it is necessarily bad (Rax's work is great, for example), but it is best to have a native's perspective as well. I ordered an S2 a few weeks ago, and it's due to arrive on Sunday, along with my father. Or maybe it's the other way around, that my father is arriving with the S2? I am excited for both! In any case, you should look me up if you are ever in Reykjavík, I run a black and white lab and exhibition printing service here called Custom Photo Lab. I mostly work for the museums, photographers and galleries here in Iceland, but I do some international work as well.

Vintola -- you should get one too, then we are well on our way to a good Nordic representation for the S2!

 

Thanks for replying! I cannot believe my luck. I've been looking for a lab like your Custom Photo Lab in Iceland. Sending film / printing to Denmark is far too long in turn around time, iceland being much closer and only flight away, is perfect. You certainly seem passionate by the video on your website, great person to trust my negatives with! You just gained a new customer

[tom0511]

Just wanted tocongratulate for the decision.

The only bad thing I can find about the S2 so far is price... and maybe that they have not yet fulfilled my wish for a T/S lens.

Other than that its just so easy to handle and use, I am also quite happy with AF accurancy (which was my biggest concern before getting the S2).

Its also a good P&S:

yesterday, with the 35mm.

[dhsimmonds]

Congratulations Per! I saw your site a month or two ago and was impressed with your work. Very interesting to see a Greenlander's interpretation of their own country! So much of what we see is from foreigners. Not that it is necessarily bad (Rax's work is great, for example), but it is best to have a native's perspective as well. I ordered an S2 a few weeks ago, and it's due to arrive on Sunday, along with my father. Or maybe it's the other way around, that my father is arriving with the S2? I am excited for both! In any case, you should look me up if you are ever in Reykjavík, I run a black and white lab and exhibition printing service here called Custom Photo Lab. I mostly work for the museums, photographers and galleries here in Iceland, but I do some international work as well.

Vintola -- you should get one too, then we are well on our way to a good Nordic representation for the S2!

 

Did you know that many southern Europeans and even some American businessmen consider the UK to be part of the Nordic region!

[Stuart Richardson]

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Per, I would say we are both lucky! Always good to have new customers...I will send you an email to tell you a bit more about the place, since you can´t just stop by!

 

Tom -- I like that shot of your daughter, as well as the other you posted at GetDPI. You seem to be having a good time with the S2. One of my greatest hopes for the S2 is that it behaves like the M9 in that it disappears in your hands. One of the most often overlooked aspects of photography is the ability of a well-designed camera to almost make you forget you are using it. It allows you to concentrate on the photography itself, rather than on superfluous messages, warnings or poorly thought out design issues. As you think less about the camera, so too does your subject (if it is sentient, anyway), and that also helps your photos. I think that this is one of the reasons that, until the M9, I always took my best shots with film. Not so much because film has a beautiful look (which it does), but because the cameras tended to be so much better designed and intuitive to operate than most feature loaded digital cameras. They don't overwhelm you with useless info! Leica really seems to have gotten this point, and for that I think we should be extremely happy.

 

Dave -- I am willing to grant an exception for things North of Manchester or Leeds...don't know if Hampshire counts though! Maybe Nordic is in the heart though...I am an American born in New Zealand, so while I am not Nordic myself, it is where my heart is.

[tom0511]

.....One of my greatest hopes for the S2 is that it behaves like the M9 in that it disappears in your hands. One of the most often overlooked aspects of photography is the ability of a well-designed camera to almost make you forget you are using it. It allows you to concentrate on the photography itself, rather than on superfluous messages, warnings or poorly thought out design issues. As you think less about the camera, so too does your subject (if it is sentient, anyway), and that also helps your photos. I think that this is one of the reasons that, until the M9, I always took my best shots with film. Not so much because film has a beautiful look (which it does), but because the cameras tended to be so much better designed and intuitive to operate than most feature loaded digital cameras. They don't overwhelm you with useless info! Leica really seems to have gotten this point, and for that I think we should be extremely happy.

....

 

Stuart,

this exactly one thing I like a lot about Leica, their user interface works very well for me and doesnt distract me.

This is valid for all the x1,M9 and S2.

 

You dont forget that you habe the S2 in the hand though - because of its weight

But its very intuitive to work with, and besides the form facor the big viewfinder is also very nice.

[kidigital]

Per, great to hear that you'll soon be in the S2 camp! Looking forward to seeing some of your great shots in the larger format.

 

Stuart, it'll be interesting to hear about your experiences and see your shots as well. I love landscape shots from photographers who live in climates with lots of snow and ice ... they seem to have to learn how to see the nuances in light, sky and frozen features to be successful. Unlike Tom, I do find that I really do forget that I have the S2 in my hand as I'm walking around ... which is why I selected it over a variety of other competing systems that I had tried out. Certainly, it is not as lightweight as an M9, but I've found that I'm very comfortable walking around with the camera without a strap for hours at a time. It's probably because it has become the only camera that I pick up whenever I decide I want to shoot. After a while, it feels just like an extension of my hand.

[Guest #12]

...I am also quite happy with AF accurancy (which was my biggest concern before getting the S2)...

 

How good is the continuous AF on the S2? What is the Rollei AF like, compared to the S2? Thanks.

[tom0511]

How good is the continuous AF on the S2? What is the Rollei AF like, compared to the S2? Thanks.

 

Hi, I would say forget continues AF for any subject moving fast or moving towards you. For any type of "action" fotos I would prefer to prefocus on a certain point and try to catch the moment when the subject gets to the point.

 

Compared to the Hy6 I would rate the AF of the S2 more precise.

With the Hy6 I would prefer to manuel focus whenever possible, because when using AF I often got images slightly front or backfocused. With the S2 this happens not so often. For ecample I feel I can "target" very good on an eye when shooting a portrait.

With the S2 I feel the AF is more precise than my eyes.

 

However I have to say that as much as I love the S2 I sometimes also miss the Hy6, its viewfinder, and I really really liked the Rollei lenses and also the skin colors of the Dalsa sensor.

 

In the end I bring the S2 more often than I did with bring/use the Hy6 and thats probably the most important thing.

[Guest #12]

Am pretty late to the party...but I had some S2 questions.

 

What kind of percent discount should one expect on a new S2 and one lens?

 

What is the reason for the delay of the leaf-shutter lenses? What happened to the 100mm lens--seems like it was announced and then pretty quickly retracted.

 

Any chance of price increases coming in January?

Edited October 26, 2011 by #12

[futureancient]

I'm a lurker round here, and I'm very jealous of the S2 owners... but I'm one of those waiting for an S3, or something similar, but cheaper from someone else. With that in mind, and obviously, it isn't out yet, but the Nikon D800 is supposedly round the corner with 36MP, which I'm certain will be less than half the price of the S2, this would seem to offer some decent value and make the S2 look over priced, although clearly, the leica quality glass makes quite a difference.

[stephan_w]

just go and find a decent lens for the 36 MP Nikon that will come ..... someday. And a viewfinder that equals the one of the S2.