AlanJW Posted October 23, 2008 Share #1 Posted October 23, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I got to play with an S2 for a minute or two at the PDN show in New York today. It had the 70mm on it. My reaction is that this is an absolutely stunning piece of equipment. Its viewfinder is spectacularly bright; the focus is swift, the controls are easy and the displays very attractive. It is to lust for. But to me, the S2 also has a weight problem. It is HEAVY. This is not a camera everyone would want to haul around for long periods of time. In a studio it would be fine but a bag with an S2 and lenses (without any backup body) will weigh considerably more than I could tolerate. I am more likely to wait for a R10 than go for a S2. Having said that, if I happened to win the lottery I would buy one in a flash, just to be able to play with it and maybe from time to time schlep it. Also, if I happened to win the lottery, I could get an assistant to carry the bag. 8-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 23, 2008 Posted October 23, 2008 Hi AlanJW, Take a look here Quick hands on w/S2. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Gentleman Villain Posted October 23, 2008 Share #2 Posted October 23, 2008 Thanks for the post Did you try to manually focus the lens? If so, how did it feel? Also, were you handling the camera with or without the vertical grip attached? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanJW Posted October 23, 2008 Author Share #3 Posted October 23, 2008 Thanks for the post Did you try to manually focus the lens? If so, how did it feel? Also, were you handling the camera with or without the vertical grip attached? I did not try manual facus. Sorry, It did not have the vertical grip. The size is ok; just a bit bigger than a "35mm" DSLR. It is dense heavy -- lots of metal in that body. Couldn't build a Leica with plastic could we? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted October 23, 2008 Share #4 Posted October 23, 2008 Jealous. LOL Glad you got to play with it Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted October 23, 2008 Share #5 Posted October 23, 2008 If I remember correctly, this is full metal gear instead of magnesium alloy et al found in the Japanese cameras. As long as it takes spectacular pictures who cares about weight, size and the gimmicks ... that being said, I don't believe that we'll see obvious image quality differences between the S2 and the R10 if not none diffference at all, I'll continue to wait for the R10 and bump the threads here whenever I have some time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philinflash Posted October 23, 2008 Share #6 Posted October 23, 2008 I got to handle it a few days ago and I was actually impressed that it was lighter than I expected and lighter than it looks. It feels great in my hands, although they are probably larger than average. At the risk of sounding sexist, I think most women would have trouble handling this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJNY Posted October 23, 2008 Share #7 Posted October 23, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) It's sleek and beautiful, but hefty. I got to handle it as well at Photo Plus East. They attached the vertical grip, but it's a non-working piece for show only. The 120mm macro lens (under glass case) is nicely compact for being 1+ stop faster than other 120mm macro lenses on the market. I lust for it all, and wish it were available today instead of almost a year from now. Billy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted October 24, 2008 Share #8 Posted October 24, 2008 Thanks Billy . Weight i can deal with and actually prefer it. That word fast keeps ringing in my ear. LOL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildlightphoto Posted October 24, 2008 Share #9 Posted October 24, 2008 If I remember correctly, this is full metal gear instead of magnesium alloy et al found in the Japanese cameras. Magnesium alloy is metal. I don't believe that we'll see obvious image quality differences between the S2 and the R10... What do you base this belief on? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfarkas Posted October 24, 2008 Share #10 Posted October 24, 2008 It's great that some of the folks here are getting to try out the S2 at PhotoPlus. To answer the earlier question on manual focus, I've tried manual focus on the S2. Perfectly smooth focusing with great drag and feel. The viewfinder is large, bright, and easy to see sharpness. Relatively quick AF and very useable MF leave the choice to the individual phootographer. If anyone wants to know more about the S2, we'll be hosting a live online webinar with Leica technical speicialist Justin Stailey on November 15th. I'll post the details on signing up a bit later. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
guywalder Posted October 24, 2008 Share #11 Posted October 24, 2008 Magnesium alloy is metal. Ahh the voice of reason! I cant help adding that not only does the R9 have a magnesium top plate, but the base plate is 'fibreglass reinforced polycarbonate', so maybe the R9 is actually a japanese camera after all...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted October 24, 2008 Share #12 Posted October 24, 2008 Well, if they do put a "Made In Japan" label on the base plate, I'd feel MORE comfortable! In fact, the 2 most critical parts in the S2 are both not made in Germany, am I not correct? the sensor is from the US, and the CPU is from Japan. Back to Doug's comment on my post, suppose the R10 is going to use a sensor cut off from the same wafer the S2 sensor was cut from, you won't see any difference from the two cameras. 37mp vs. 24mp the pixel density is the same 6 microns, and the smaller 35mm sensor will consume much less power and generate less noise, it could only be better, not worse. Unless you want the extra pixels to print on a larger piece of paper, I see no reason to blow more money on the S2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildlightphoto Posted October 24, 2008 Share #13 Posted October 24, 2008 Unless you want the extra pixels to print on a larger piece of paper, I see no reason to blow more money on the S2. Bingo! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted October 24, 2008 Share #14 Posted October 24, 2008 In fact, the 2 most critical parts in the S2 are both not made in Germany, am I not correct? the sensor is from the US, and the CPU is from Japan. The CPU is not one of the most critical parts. It just has to move images from sensor to memory. It is fully replaceable by any similar component, with no effect on the image. The most critical parts of any camera system are the lenses. For digital, add the sensor and the firmware. The rest doesn't affect the image. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
guywalder Posted October 24, 2008 Share #15 Posted October 24, 2008 The CPU is not one of the most critical parts. It just has to move images from sensor to memory. It is fully replaceable by any similar component, with no effect on the image. that'll be why so much fuss was made at Photokina of the 'Maestro' custom chip Leica has had made for the S2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted October 24, 2008 Share #16 Posted October 24, 2008 Well, it affects performance, and since Leica is advertising the framerate as "double" the usual MF framerate, this is important. I think it is generally also just important to state your solution, making clear that it has been properly considered. But in the end a CPU is just a potential, realized with firmware. The CPU itself doesn't change the image, and as such, is a secondary component in an imaging system (perhaps with the exception of the sports DSLRs, where performance is probably more important than ultimate image quality!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelap Posted October 24, 2008 Share #17 Posted October 24, 2008 It's great that some of the folks here are getting to try out the S2 at PhotoPlus. To answer the earlier question on manual focus, I've tried manual focus on the S2. Perfectly smooth focusing with great drag and feel. The viewfinder is large, bright, and easy to see sharpness. Relatively quick AF and very useable MF leave the choice to the individual phootographer. If anyone wants to know more about the S2, we'll be hosting a live online webinar with Leica technical speicialist Justin Stailey on November 15th. I'll post the details on signing up a bit later. David Thanks David, looking forward to it. Oh and Simon, we all know that you'd prefer the R10 to come first, and I sympathise, I really do:). I'd like to see it soon too. But the fact is that Leica have chosen to do the S2 initially and that is what this sub-forum is all about. Perhaps you could ask the mods to put up 'future R10' forum;) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentleman Villain Posted October 24, 2008 Share #18 Posted October 24, 2008 To answer the earlier question on manual focus, I've tried manual focus on the S2. Perfectly smooth focusing with great drag and feel. The viewfinder is large, bright, and easy to see sharpness. Relatively quick AF and very useable MF leave the choice to the individual phootographer. That sounds wonderful...thanks very much for posting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJNY Posted October 24, 2008 Share #19 Posted October 24, 2008 I forgot to add.... ...the mirror/shutter action is quiet and dampened...somewhere between a Pentax645 and Contax645. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted October 24, 2008 Share #20 Posted October 24, 2008 that'll be why so much fuss was made at Photokina of the 'Maestro' custom chip Leica has had made for the S2 Well, Maestro is the CPU of S2, it is designed and built by Fujitsu on their Milbeaut platform. Without CPU, how does a computer run? Without a brain, how does one man post on the forum? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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