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Leica S2

jackal

By jackal
in Customer Forum

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ho_co

ho_co

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So I minimally want fixes to the original M8 in terms of baseline performance. You know--very very simple evolution that's probably actually sitting in Kodak's warehouse right now and that would only require a minimum rework of the M8 itself.

Jamie, I'd like the same, but I don't think the semiconductor industry works that way. My take is that Kodak won't worry about eliminating the green streak (which may occur once in a thousand shots) without other serious improvements to the sensor--a new generation, not a tweak. Remember, the M8 sensor is used only in that one camera because of its offset microlenses. Kodak will fix the problem in the next big jump, and that'll come in the M9 IMHO.

 

Now, if Leica can't get this right in their "cheap" M body, I have little confidence that a partnership with Sinar will yield anything like the DMR replacement I want.

 

I'm also very skeptical that a company with little electronic expertise is capable of revolutionizing MF shooting.

Many folks have never seen the green stripe. (There was a post here a week or so ago from a person just discovering it.) But DMR replacement doesn't use the M sensor and won't have the green stripe.

 

"Revolutionizing MF shooting" again implies to me going into the MF business. To me, Leica needs a breakthrough into a new field--like what the M3 was, like what the S1 was. I don't know whether Leica can do either of those.

 

I still want an R10, personally... something that just kills the competition in terms of IQ with a few tradeoffs.

Haven't they been doing that for the most part with the R? But today all the attention is on the various models of Nikon and Canon. Great IQ isn't sexy.

 

I'll be pretty peeved if they don't actually fix some of the issues with the M8 and outline a plan for the R system too :)

What I've always seen in Leica is the ability to surprise. We didn't expect a 90 macro for the M, or a WATE. No one expected the M3. That's the scary side of having a company that listens to its users: We can lose those surprising developments.

 

My feeling is that if I can think it up, it won't be enough to restore the reflex. It needs stronger forethought than mine.

 

I'll yield to you; I hope and think Leica will bring something that satisfies both/all of us. I'm looking forward to photokina!

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StS

StS

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Just found this link to the German patent and brand register in another forum -

 

https://dpinfo.dpma.de/protect/mar.html

 

Just enter for Aktenzeichen

302008040929.0

 

This is telling a Leica Camera AG have registered the 'brand' S2 on 25th June 2008

 

It also tells 'S2' will be an 'image taking device' especially for digital images such as rangefinders or SLR cameras. Very specific ;)

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jaapv

jaapv

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Interesting how disparate our views are on this one!

 

My view is that any future R camera can't be rebadged and can't be seen as a competitor to the Japanese. It must break new ground.

It might be the end goal, but right now it is impossible, Leica must worm its way back into the market. Think R3-Minolta. It took decades to arrive at the R8. And then the R9 got overtaken by technology...:o I hope I'm wrong and that we all be stunned at the Photokina offerings.:rolleyes:

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peterv

peterv

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Assuming the "S2" is real - there is no reason it has to stick with the slow scanning mechanism and bulk of the S1. There were big leaps between the Digilux, Digilux 1, Digilux 2 and Digilux 3 in operation and form factor (we'll leave aside whether there were "improvements").

 

Bigger singleshot sensors and compact fast 32 Gbyte storage cards (or even tiny hard drives) delete the need for tethering and slow scanning operation.

 

I.E. the name likely refers to heritage (high-quality, flexible digital that has little to do the with the former "35mm" paradigm except some lens compatability).

 

I can easily imagine a very portable, even hand-holdable "middle-format" camera that uses live-view (perhaps, or optional - don't panic!) plus a prism finder (removable) to capture, in different formats, images from M lenses, R lenses, and perhaps a new line of wider-field S lenses.

 

As a rough guess to form factor - perhaps the look and feel of a classic Hassy with a Polaroid back. Maybe configurable with external finders (prism removed) for use with wide lenses a la Hassy Superwide. Mount an R 19mm or M 21 (f/1.4 anyone?), crop for a 30mm x 30mm area of the sensor (adjustable cropping in camera has been around since at least the Nikon D2x) and - voila - Superwide digital at 20 megapixels that even the original Superwide can't (yet) duplicate.

 

Or flip it around, put the prism back on, set cropping for 24x36, and it can shoot sports with an R 280 f/2.8.

 

Pop on an S lens, turn off the cropping (40-50 Mpixels 36 x 48? I'm just roughing in the math here) and shoot studio fashion (with electronic moire reduction for fabric). Hand-held or tripod as appropriate - tethered to a computer IF that's what works in that situation.

 

Jeez - I'm so excited by MY conception of what the "S2" could be that now I'll probably be disappointed by the reality - which may just be a rebadged Leaf body.

 

(Edit) I'd also just point out that an S2 making use of live-view is actually a much simpler camera to build than an SLR - no need for the mirror mechanism with its fiddly levers and springs and cocking gears.. Just a box with a lens mount on one end and a sensor on the other, plus electronics, which can be modular assemblies farmed out to Jenoptik.

 

 

Andy and others,

 

I was thinking, wouldn't there need to be directed lenses on the sensor in order to take care of vignetting of the small flange M glass, like there are in the M8?

How would you make the S2 multi-lens-capable? I can understand adapters, but where would you put these lenses on the sensor? Could software possibly take care of that? Sorry if this is a stupid question...

 

Peter

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mgcd

mgcd

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I'm sure we'll all be "stunned" by the offerings. The question is "good" stunned or "bad" stunned? :eek:

 

Jamie - I've started rehearsing in front of the mirror: "Nik*n D3, repeat after me... Nik*n D3..." . Sad isn't it? ;)

 

Cheers,

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mym6is12

mym6is12

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Maybe it's an EVIL camera but at Leica's high-end price point rather then Panasonic's.

 

About the size of a MF digital back, with a LCD and possibly a shutter - similar to the early Hassy SWC. But with a tilt-shift mount for R lenses and a flat plate for M lenses.

 

For studio / architecture / landscape work.

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