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Leica S on the BBC (Countryfile)


wlaidlaw

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Wilson,

a back by phase one ist more expensive than the S,

Greetings,

Franz

 

Franz,

 

I am always amazed by the price of MF digital backs and the fact that unlike all other electronics, their price does seem to have come over the last 12 years. I suppose the yield from a wafer is quite low, as I am guessing that if you have spent £30,000 on a digital back, even a single hot pixel is unacceptable when new.

 

Wilson

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I think it is probably a pretty good camera but if I was looking for a camera in this class, I would always go for a modular one like the Phase or Hasselblad, so that I could update the sensor or body in stages. I am also not wholly convinced that 37.5 MP is enough for a professional camera. Most are now between 50 and 80MP. A modular camera is also more flexible, in that it is easier to use the digital back on a studio rail/technical camera than the Leica S/Sinar P3 arrangement. When I have used a digital back on a rail camera, it had a sliding back for focusing, with ground glass and a loupe. My guess is that this provides more accurate focusing on sections of the image when you are using tilt shift on the front lens plate of the rail, than the viewfinder of the S on the S/P3 combination.

 

Wilson

 

I think each has its advantages. Just at the weekend I have used the S in really heavy snow, I would not want to rely on a modular camera for this kind of environtment. Also the S body is smaller and less obstrusive so the camera can nearly be used like a 35mm DSLR.

You cant update the sensor you update the back, and you dont safe much if any money if you keep the camera body. Buying a new back is like buying a new S.

I think the advantage of the DB is slightly higher IQ (of the sensor not the lenses) and more flexibility in regards of using the back on tech cam and SLR vs the smaller size and weather resistance and excellent lenses of the S system.

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I think each has its advantages. Just at the weekend I have used the S in really heavy snow, I would not want to rely on a modular camera for this kind of environtment. Also the S body is smaller and less obstrusive so the camera can nearly be used like a 35mm DSLR.

You cant update the sensor you update the back, and you dont safe much if any money if you keep the camera body. Buying a new back is like buying a new S.

I think the advantage of the DB is slightly higher IQ (of the sensor not the lenses) and more flexibility in regards of using the back on tech cam and SLR vs the smaller size and weather resistance and excellent lenses of the S system.

 

Tom,

 

I get pretty much all of that with my M240, albeit with less pixels. I am guessing the next generation will have a much higher resolution EVF, which is the weakest point, when you are trying to use an M240 as an SLR. That is why if I was going to buy an MF digital, I would want it to be more differentiated from the M240 (or ?M280). In fact I am happy with my various film MF's, so to some extent this is a moot discussion.

 

However prior to buying the M240, where I also added a Noctilux and SEM 18 to my M lens collection, I gave some thought to buying an old stock but unused Contax 645 and a refurbished 40MP digital back and 4 lenses. It was the absence of repair facilities for the 645 that put me off, now that Alpha Digital in the UK is no more. Also the sample variation on the 645 lenses is higher than the norm for Zeiss lenses and was one of the many reasons for the break up with Kyocera and of course, no warranty on those lenses.

 

Wilson

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  • 1 month later...

Colin Prior apart from being a terrific landscape photographer is a straightforward man.

I believe he has been waiting for some while for Canon to bring out a serious upgrade to the one he has used for some time now. It could be he is losing patience and trying out the S.

I should mention that I have been on one of Colin's courses which he began by showing a series of beautifully composed landscape shots and then asking everyone to say which camera he used. The round table guessed everything form Canon to Nikon to Pentax. Colin then took out his iPhone...

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  • 2 weeks later...

If this is the Colin Prior I suspect, he has been an internationally renowned landscape photographer for decades, known especially for his panoramic work. I attended a seminar he ran many years ago and used to have a couple of his calendars, made for British Airways if I recall correctly. A very skilled and determined chap!

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