Jump to content

please help with some questions on the S2


hoppyman

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi, I've used the M digital cameras for several years and have just now managed to obtain a near new S2 for studio work primarily. As yet the registration is not transferred into my name and I can't access the support area for the S system.

 

I have been thrilled with my first day of shooting with the S2 and got through about a thousand frames with it for some excellent results (plus about the same with my M). I have the latest firmware and the Summarit S CS 70.

 

Can anyone please tell me what the fastest standard is that the camera can take advantage of with CF cards?

In general I tend to buy the fastest I can even if the cameras don't currently take advantage of that. However I don't know if the S2 supports the latest standards? I only ever used SD cards previously with any camera.

 

In rapid series I was constantly saturating the buffer, which never happens with my M (Typ 240). I do realise the differences of course. Currently I have a lot of fast SD cards and can use those. However it might be convenient to make the primary cards for the S2 the CF designs.

 

Secondly, am I correct in assuming that the DNG compression option is not the lossless standard which started with my M?

 

Thanks for your assistance

Link to post
Share on other sites

x

Frequently asked questions // S-System // Photography - Leica Camera AG

The LEICA S2 features a SD- and a CF-cardslot. Pictures can be saved sequentially and parallelly. The camera is compatible with SD and SD-HC cards as well as CF card, which means from CF 1 to UDMA6. The camera’s performance depends on the memory medium. Therefore Leica recommends the usage of fast memory cards, e.g. SanDisk Extreme Pro CF 90MB/s.
Such as this:

<a href="http://www.adorama.com/alc/0011980/blogarticle/Lexar-Professional-600x-UDMA-6-Compact-Flash-Cards-launched"></a>

 

Can't answer the other question, sorry.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Jay. That's perfect for the CF Cards.

I knew that I couldn't access the firmware etc until I had the registration. I should have thought to look for a FAQ. In my defence I've only had a lens for the camera for two days so had to just shoot the thing a lot as I started to learn it. The files are ridiculously good. I have great lenses for my M too but side by side.......

 

According to the FAQ you pointed me to, the DNG compression option is lossless too. That is more good news for my storage.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Geoff for the S2, I buy cards differently as for M cameras from my experience with the digital M issues of recent years.

 

For the S2 I always buy the economically viable fastest cards there are.

I currently have a dozen SanDisk 16 GB cards, at least 90MB/s and faster, a handful of fast 32GB cards, and a few dozen slow backup cards (all SanDisk).

 

I use these cards in a pool with my Nikon cameras, which never ever complained about a card not working.

I always buy the cards in a reputable shop over the counter and immediately test the card in camera.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Just contact Leica support to release the serial # so you can register the S2 on yourself.

 

They won't. Leica can't compel the previous owner to de-register.

 

I had the same issue when I bought my pre-owned S2... I contacted Leica and they very swiftly responded advising that I needed to get the previous owner to de-register. Fortunately the previous owner was nice enough to do that when I requested.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Apart from the proper way of registering (having the former owner first un-register is the only option), I found Leica CS extremely helpful in any way to obtain what you would need and cannot get to due to this registering mishap.

 

If you need anything (info, software, firmware, …), contact Leica Customer Support for the S System and they will quickly sort you out for sure.

I found the customer service in regard of the S System very efficient, fast and always helpful, very different from the usual moaning about M system issues on this very board.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies. As the camera has been on-sold more than once I cannot contact the original owner. He was asked to de-register it by the next owner some time ago. and yes Customer Care tells me that they cannot de-register it unless that first owner does that.

 

I have always had a good relationship and experience with the Customer Care folks too. Their new home is VERY nice in Leitz Park also.

 

I have since found that I can obtain the firmware updates without that registration and the FAQ's also are available.

On the CompactFlash cards, I got some Sandisk 32GB ones (120MB/s) and switched to lossless compression.

Much better than using the fastest SDHC's I had. I shot another 700 frames in the studio yesterday without needing to wait for Writes for long after saturating the buffer. Easy to keep separate too of course.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Geoff, nice you got 120MB/s cards - my mainly used 16GB cards in the Nikon bodies and the S2 are 120MB/s cards and the speed difference while using the camera is indeed enormous.

 

On a different note, related to memory cards and workflow in general, I highly recommend to get a license for these tools (if you are using Macintosh computers):

diglloydTools

 

They have saved me a lot of grief already (particularly the integrity checker tool which I run regularly over my archives and backup drives).

I make it a mandatory part of my workflow to burn in newly bought memory cards and hard drives to test them on any defects.

 

The memory checking tool of the suit has revealed a RAM issue in one of my MACs, that went under the radar for some time, causing a lot of trouble (corrupted files, crashes, …).

 

The license fee for the suit is absolutely worth the peace of mind, knowing the memory in use is good and preventing expensive (time consuming) issues due to issues with cards and drives.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Very timely post Geoff!

 

SanDisk just replaced a corrupted Extreme Pro 32 gig 90 MBs card (which apparently is now discontinued), with a 32 Gig Extreme Pro 160 MBs version (I think the read speed is 160, and the write speed is150 MBs).

 

I was wondering if it was compatible with the S2P since it is a UDMA 7 CF.

 

Can you tell me if your 120 MBs card is a UDMA 7?

 

Another question I have is what level of SD card can be used that could keep up with such a fast write speed CF? Or doesn't it matter since when shooting Parallel capture the SD card is writing jpegs?

 

Thank for anyone's help here.

 

- Marc

 

BTW Geoff, have you tried any B&W conversions from your S2? … they are spectacular IMO.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Marc, the fastest cards I use in the S2 are SanDisk Extreme 32GB 120MB/s UDMA 7 cards.

I have had no issues with these cards on latest firmware (did not use them on older firmware though).

 

 

I do not use faster SD cards than the 30MB/s cards, that I share with my digital M bodies so I cannot comment on the SD cards, the S2 might be able to handle.

Link to post
Share on other sites

They won't. Leica can't compel the previous owner to de-register.

 

I had the same issue when I bought my pre-owned S2... I contacted Leica and they very swiftly responded advising that I needed to get the previous owner to de-register. Fortunately the previous owner was nice enough to do that when I requested.

 

they have in my experience

 

Leica usualy asked for proof of ownership, including a copy of the guanratee card and the hotshoe with the serial number (in this case it was an M9)

 

They then deregistered it for me

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...