A close-up look at the new Leica S2: Medium-format power in a 35mm body
Leica gave Ask the Photographer a unique, close-up look at the recently announced camera the company thinks may revolutionize 21st-century photography: The Leica S2, a camera designed to pack a medium-format punch in a 35mm DSLR-sized body.
Photo courtesy of Leica
By Steven J. Barry
With a constant barrage of incredible new camera technologies moving digital photography forward at a pace no one anticipated possible even just a few years ago, it’s becoming increasingly easy to accept major breakthroughs as a matter of course.
But the new Leica S2 DSLR is not a matter of course–it’s a matter of changing course, a device that could open up new directions in certain spheres of photography.
“It’s a new format, but the basic concept is to combine the superior image quality of the medium format backs, but put it into a housing that is as small as for a 35mm DSLR camera,” said Leica’s Maike Harberts, who works in the company’s product management team responsible for DSLRs.
Since its announcement at Photokina Sept. 23, the Leica’s housing size relative to its sensor size has been its most touted feature: Though the size of a standard DSLR, the S2 has a 30×45mm sensor, which is 56 percent larger than the sensors used in full-frame 35mm cameras.
But beyond its comfortable size, Harberts also said the S-2 is fully weather-sealed, making it not only an agile studio camera, but a new breed of high-end field camera. She said the S2 is ideal for “all the people who actually want the superior image quality, but the nice hand-held option of taking pictures. So more the moving kind of taking pictures.”
A camera with a sensor approaching medium-format size that’s light and durable enough to be toted (albeit gingerly) up into the Sierra Nevadas–and then can survive the elements you encounter there–opens up the door to a realm of smoother logistics and fascinating creative possibilities.
Photo courtesy of Leica
Would it actually be practical in such a setting? And an initial look at the camera gives you the impression that while it is designed for fashion and commercial photographers, yes, it would be.
The body of the hand-made, functioning prototype I was handed was 2.86 pounds (1.3 kilograms). Fitted with a 70mm lens–equivalent to a 55mm lens on a full-frame DSLR–it felt comparable to a Canon Mark III or a Nikon D3 fitted with a 70-200mm zoom lens, and you can certainly run around with either of those all day.
Ergonomics are of course the sort of thing you get a better idea about after handling something over the course of a few days, but my immediate impression was that Leica designed the S2 to be used heavily and frequently. It’s smaller than a full-sized, full-frame DSLR. I had been shooting that day with a Nikon D700 (no battery grip) with a 24-70mm f/2.8, and while the hand-made S2 was certainly heavier, it was anything but cumbersome.
It has a sturdy, well-molded, textured hand grip that lends the camera to being held with one hand without fatigue or a nagging concern that your prized, breadwinning device could easily slip tumble away. It felt just like it was designed to–like a standard DSLR. When released, the S2 will have an optional battery grip, and at that point the feel will likely be even more complete.
Additionally, even though each RAW image is a whopping 73 megabytes, the camera shoots quickly enough to lend itself to photojournalism-style applications. With its new Maestro image processing system, Leica says the S2 can shoot up to twice as fast as competitive medium format cameras–meaning it would be in the ballpark of three frames per second.
As Harberts put it, the camera is a “tool, not a toy,” and was designed specifically for advanced, high-end, professional photographers. As such, it is stripped of all buttons and controls aside from those most frequently used by professionals. The S2 has a shutter speed dial, an aperture control dial, the shutter release button, four soft buttons for menu control on the back and an on/off switch. That’s it.
“That’s all it takes to operate this camera. Very easy, very clean,” Harberts said. “We say professionals, they want to control their camera, but only with the essential buttons.”
The S2 is the first model in an entire new system from Leica that draws its name from the S1, the high-end digital camera Leica released in 1998.
The S2’s announcement was accompanied by the release of a complete new line of lenses:
- A 24mm super wide angle lens
- A 30mm tilt-shift lens
- A 35mm wide angle lens
- A 70mm lens
- A 30-90mm zoom lens
- A 100mm telephoto lens
- A 120mm macro lens
- A 180mm telephoto lens
- A 350mm telephoto lens
Photo courtesy of Leica
The system employs not only a focal plane shutter within the camera body, but also in-lens leaf shutters with every lens, enabling photographers to sync their shots with a flash at any shutter speed–a feature commonly found in medium-format camera systems.
No word yet on the price tag for the S2 or the lenses. Harberts said pricing will likely be announced closer to the system’s planned release in the summer of 2009.
“We are in the medium-format market and we want to be competitive not only with the product, but also price-wise,” she said.
Potential direct competitors include medium-format cameras from Hasselblad, Leaf and Mamiya.
- The 39-megapixel Hasselblad H3DII-39 sells for about $22,000 with an 80mm lens.
- The 33-megapixel Leaf AFi-II 7 sells for roughly $25,500 with either an 80mm or a 180mm lens.
- The 31-megapixel Hasselblad H3DII-31 sells for just under $18,000 with an 80mm lens.
- The basic setup for the 28-megapixel Mamiya DL28 Digital Camera System–a joint venture between Mamiya and Leaf–goes for around $15,000.
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