Leica has announced that its compact top end professional S2 DSLR camera system will be available from October. The S2 sports an impressive 37.5 megapixel (MP) pixel count, has a 30 by 45mm sensor, a super fast Maestro image processor, an OLED top panel information display and a newly developed precision autofocus.
Leica’s sensor has been created and customized by Kodak. The 30 x 45mm KAF-37500 CCD image sensor in the S2 provides an image capture area which is 56% larger than traditional 35mm film. Continuing the Leica tradition, it utilizes a 3:2 aspect ratio that more or less corresponds to the human field of vision.
On the back there’s a three inch 460,000 dot color LCD display where soft menus allow settings to be taken care of and where image previews are displayed. Next to the thumb grip is a click-wheel which can be used to quickly change settings. As you can see from the sample image in the gallery, the viewfinder offers a clear, bright representation of the subject and as you’d expect, provides all of the important settings information you’ll need to take your shot. The control for the dual shutter system can be found to the left of the viewfinder.
Above the viewfinder on the body top is a flash hot shoe, a full color, high contrast OLED display to view camera settings and the physical settings dial. The dual memory card slots for both compact flash and SD/SDHC, the USB 2.0 port for data transfer, the HDMI and LEMO remote connectors are all found on the camera sides. Up to 400 photos in Adobe open DNG RAW format can be stored on a 32GB SDHC card and the processor allows for JPEGs to be saved simultaneously.
Leica has also gone into producing some new performance lenses for the S-system which, like the camera body, come with a waterproof seal. A 35mm wide angle lens, a 70mm standard lens, a 120mm macro lens and a 180mm telephoto lens are all available at the same time as the camera body.
Pricing information is reproduced below:
Product US Price UK Price
Leica S2 Black (body only) $22,995
£15,996
Leica S2-P Black * (body only) $27,995 £19,092
SUMMARIT-S 1:2.5/70 ASPH $4,495 £3,096
SUMMARIT-S 1:2.5/70 ASPH CS $5,995 £4,025
APO-TELE-ELMAR-S 1:3.5/180 $6,495 £4,541
APO-TELE-ELMAR-S 1:3.5/180 CS $7,495 £5,160
APO-MACRO-SUMMARIT-S 1:2.5/120 $6,495 £4,541
APO-MACRO-SUMMARIT-S 1:2.5/120 CS $7,495 £5,160
SUMMARIT-S 1:2.5/35 ASPH $5,295 £3,612
SUMMARIT-S 1:2.5/35 ASPH CS $5,995 £4,231
Multifunction handgrip S $1,295 £851
Professional battery charger S $399 £258
* Includes Sapphire Glass monitor screen and S-Body Platinum Service
CS = Central Shutter Lens
Prices include VAT at 15%
