New Leica S-System

[cliff123]

Could be interesting... http://www.flickr.com/photos/29782425@N08/28790151...

Edited by cliff123 on Tuesday 23 September 09:27

[CVP]

If true, then an interesting development but just how much given (a) it's a Leica, (b) a 37MP sensor and (c) it's a Leica. My ballpark is GBP15-20k body only based on the M8 at 5k.

Surely however they are rather too late to this game as if you are a person in their target market then you will already either be using the EOS 1D mark 3 at 21MP or you are shooting on a digital back for your medium format machine.

Given the investment already made in either one of those two options then this product could have the ability to turn into a glaring white elephant of the highest order, or am I missing something completely?

Chris

[urban_alchemist]

I think the point is that they've just carved out a new niche. Near dMF quality in a 35mm dSLR shell, they've positioned the S2 into a crowded field of... 1

I don't know how long it'll take the big-boys of Nikon and Canon to launch a competitor (or even if they will - guess it depends on the size of the market), but for now, good for Leica!

(Yes, I'm a big Leica junky - I use film M rangefinders every day...)

[CVP]

urban_alchemist said:

I think the point is that they've just carved out a new niche. Near dMF quality in a 35mm dSLR shell, they've positioned the S2 into a crowded field of... 1

I don't know how long it'll take the big-boys of Nikon and Canon to launch a competitor (or even if they will - guess it depends on the size of the market), but for now, good for Leica!

(Yes, I'm a big Leica junky - I use film M rangefinders every day...)

I see what you mean about the likely performance but if you need the portability you're already likely to be using a EOS1 mk3 and if you need the ultimate in quality then you're already shooting on a digital back on your MF camera. To have executed on either of these options will have already cost you a significant investment, to trade in and re-equip will likely be a massive investment that I'm not sure many folks will make.

Nothing wrong with being a Leica junkie, an M6 is a lovely machine

Let's see what happens, I'm especially keen to see how eye-watering or not the price will be.

Chris

[urban_alchemist]

CVP said:

urban_alchemist said:

I think the point is that they've just carved out a new niche. Near dMF quality in a 35mm dSLR shell, they've positioned the S2 into a crowded field of... 1

I don't know how long it'll take the big-boys of Nikon and Canon to launch a competitor (or even if they will - guess it depends on the size of the market), but for now, good for Leica!

(Yes, I'm a big Leica junky - I use film M rangefinders every day...)

I see what you mean about the likely performance but if you need the portability you're already likely to be using a EOS1 mk3 and if you need the ultimate in quality then you're already shooting on a digital back on your MF camera. To have executed on either of these options will have already cost you a significant investment, to trade in and re-equip will likely be a massive investment that I'm not sure many folks will make.

Nothing wrong with being a Leica junkie, an M6 is a lovely machine

Let's see what happens, I'm especially keen to see how eye-watering or not the price will be.

Chris

€20,000 - not bad when you consider the opposition - both FF35mm dSLRs and MF backs.

I agree about the outlay many pros have already made, but if you take it as a given that the lenses are awesome (although I've only seen Sumarit f2.5 primes thus far) and the image quality will be closer to dMF than FF dSLR, we could see photojournalists trade up, whilst fashion guys trade down.

Best of both worlds IMO...

(And I absolutely adore my MP!!!)

Edited by urban_alchemist on Monday 22 September 21:16

Edited by urban_alchemist on Monday 22 September 21:36

[CVP]

Actually quite a reasonable price for the body, I was expecting it to be much higher. Agreed that could tempt people away from MF backs.

Chris

[tog]

Looks pretty good – kind of like a digital Pentax 67, but hopefully lighter!

[oagent]

For the price you could buy well into the following systems which would cover any situation with greater quality in the case of the RZ or greater portability/robustness/speed etc with the others:

Mamiya RZ67, Leica MP/M7, Nikon FM3A, Nikon D3
+ a fridge full of Portra, Astia, HP5+ and Velvia


im off to dream of a MP in a brown ever ready case....