Leica S2 Hands On
As you know, if you’ve been reading my mass of tweets regarding this sweet rhyme time? camera then you have probably been impatiently waiting for my impartial review. I say impartial because I’m not getting paid to advertise this camera thus there will be no censorship. I’m in love and deep hatred with it yet there’s something so wonderful and fluid while using it, you can’t help but admire it. What follows isn’t a super detailed article, it is purely about what I experienced and problems I encountered.
Before we get into the nitty gritty, what are the main selling points of the Leica S2? What I took from my personal experience with it and the people involved with the camera are 3 points:
- Unparalleled sharpness and image quality
- Medium Format in a familiar feeling SLR body
- Ease Of Use
Now that we have that established let’s start out with point number one.
Image Quality
First thing I notice is contrast and colour information is captured very well. That is until, and I got this point from a previous hands on that all that kinda goes down the pan when tethered to Capture One and/or converting in said software. Adobes RAW Converter handles colour tone and structure just right. Something I noticed myself. Minimal colour editing is required unless your the kind of photographer that makes excuses and will just go “I’ll fix that in photoshop” (you can slap yourself for that.) Skin retouching and getting rid of stray hairs is a given no matter what camera your using. The down side to the outstanding image quality is that you do actually have to work on them a lot more. Dust, scratches, bits of food in teeth are just some of the things you can run into that may show in your photo that previously you wouldn’t have noticed using a lesser camera. It may make you laugh, but inevitability add time to the work-flow.
The S2 shines in it’s resolution and the auto focus is incredibly accurate and fast. In some instances (not on my own photos) I noticed sometimes it would lock on to a hair that goes over an eye, slightly knocking the eye out of focus. Which was pretty mind blowing. Only prevalent when looking for it. Auto focus in low light areas is acceptable, you just hope that it could be better considering the investment you’ll make. Sometimes it would be locked and then when ready to shoot a frame either you move slightly or the model does and it falls of it a bit. A headache, but doesn’t occur that much.
Ease of Use
A good thing to point out is that the Leica S2 doesn’t have to be run with it’s own software, e.g shooting tethered. Whatever software you have adapted in to your work flow the S2 shouldn’t have a problem. The S2 only has a central focus point, so there is a bit of workaround in composing your photos, but this is where the focus lock comes into it’s own. With the body having a minimalist approach to design it means there are less buttons than you expect. My only problem with it is there are so many combinations it could be hard for you to remember. That said, I picked it up got confused then put it down. I picked it back up and all of a sudden I knew how to work it. It does become second nature once you forget about your own camera. I would have liked an independent ISO button as it does take a couple menu searching to get to it but as you may guess after reading this, the camera is really suited for studio use and not being able to change it on the fly may not be a problem
ISO
Oh boy, for a camera that is selling itself on image quality and size of a full frame SLR, the ISO capabilities are something to be desired. I wish I had taken some sample shots to back it up, you’ll just have to trust me when I say anything shot past IS0 640 was definitely lacking. Maybe that’s just me being super hard on it as I do majority of my work in low light and ISO is a big thing I look at. The S2 fell way short of my expectations. Noise sometimes creeps in at 320 or I’m just seeing things. I’m sure there are some good samples on the internet – like this guy Steve Huff Photo (with a more in depth review too)
DNG, oh no…
A file format that can be argued over and over again and no conclusion would be made. This really threw me off. I like that they have it in the camera as it is a format that will work with most imaging software especially Adobe for the rest of your life. I HATE that it’s the only choice you have with regard to shooting in raw. If you run into rendering speed problems in either Bridge or Picasa – the best RAW viewer I’ve used, the problem will only get bigger. The S2 outputs 75mb files which makes my hard drives weep. I asked why DNG was chosen and the answer….wasn’t known. To me it just seems like another ego macho boost thrown on top.
Sync Speed
Another concern? Yep. The lenses for the body has a limitation on sync speed on studio strobes and its a lousy 1/125. To combat this what do you have to do, wait for the leaf shutter lenses that will cost a lot more than the ones currently on sale and since my favourite is retailed at £3,375 for the 70mm f2.5 prime you going to need a big wallet.
Technical Specifications
End Notes:
Believe me that I’ve been as fair as I can on detailing my hands on with the Leica S2, it does seem I’ve just bashed it relentlessly but it’s not the case. I really do love this camera, my only real problem is that the whole concept of this camera oozes luxury and for the price you pay and then the problems you face, that whole concept rings ever true.
When I look at the images that come out of this camera, all the negativity goes out the window and I fall in love with it all over again. Not the greatest camera ever made but it definietly has some significant improvements over other medium format cameras.
Things I applaud:
- Image processor – colour and white balance information is nothing short of spectacular.
- AF system – the first time included in a Leica body. Very very accurate.
- Viewfinder – is incredible, huge, bright and clear.
- Size and design – Simplistic, smaller than a Canon 1Ds MK III, amazing feel to the grip.
- Weather proof – first MF to be so.
- Dual Slots – CF and SD.
And of course, the images them self.
Everything you see here was taken by me in the ridiculously amazing Slaughterhouse Studios linked here and also on the homepage. I’m going to be spending a lot of time there, not only because the studio is great but because of Ian and Sid, the two guys behind it. You couldn’t wish to meet a nicer pair of gentlemen. You can read more about them in the other post, “Welcome To The Slaughter“. Cameras provided of course by Leica, and you can visit them here
