LEICA CAMERA PRESS RELEASE
NEW ONLINE PORTAL FOR LEICA S PHOTOGRAPHERS
Solms, Germany (November 30, 2011) – In collaboration with Leica Camera AG, LFI Photographie GmbH presents a new online portal for the Leica S-System, www.S-League.net. The website illustrates the wide range of photographic opportunities covered by the Leica S-System and provides a platform for photographers to present work shot with the medium format Leica S-System to a broad international audience. In addition to viewing current advertising campaigns and editorial portfolios by prominent international photographers, visitors to the site can keep informed on the latest trends in commercial photography and explore S-Magazine, a new publication allowing professional photographers to freely publish contemporary photographic ideas.
Leica S photographers can submit their latest campaigns and editorials and also apply for a free loan of Leica S equipment on the website. An application for publishing work on www.S-League.net can be found in the ‘Apply & Take Part’ section.
About the Leica S2
The Leica S-System is a revolutionary digital camera concept to meet supreme professional requirements. With a resolution of 37.5 megapixels, the S2’s 30 x 45mm CCD sensor features an aspect ratio of 3:2 and an area nearly 60% larger than that of a traditional 35mm camera, resulting in stunning image quality. The S2’s full range of features includes autofocus, high-speed MAESTRO image processor, highly durable design and optimal size and ease-of-use for professional photographers.
While I love the Leica gear … shoot R mount lens on my Pentax K20 with Silver Efex the photos are giving me a feeling of film … I cant get excited about Leica S cameras yes $30 grand is a lot of money … Just remember that the Pentax 645 D will set you back $10 grand and 40 meg and fully sealed…
I’m really excited by all the new digital MF stuff. There are rumors that Hasselblad will bring some sort of component package back in their new digital MF. The Pentax looks great, wish I can play with one. I just have to play with MF in film format – which isn’t bad at all.
I have actually seen a few S2 large photographs (and also the files) and they were stunning (old cars in studio) – so I do not doubt its ability to produce excellent results. But I do wonder that, with the “conversion factor” of just 1.25 (645 has conversion factor of 1.5 and 645 is the smallest medium format – so S2 is the APS-C of medium format 😉 ) – did Leica just decide to make the sensor of the S2 large enough so that it can not use the R glass 🙂
Had the aquaintance once but was on the business end of the lens….in the hands of German photographer Thomas Struth. He was quite proficient with it and when he sat next to me I had a good look at his camera. It didn’t look as hughe as I had anticipated. Bit bigger then an R series, but not that much bigger as my old F5. Didn’t dear to ask Mr. Struth for a closer inspection……well I would have liked to have taken a picture with it. But that was then and this is now. I sold the Nikon and work with a real big camera now. A Fuji GSW690 and that combined with Provia, Velvia and some advanced multi field measuring device (my eye) makes for some lovely quality pictures. And on a shoestring budget compared to the Leica.
It kind of shows where the S line is headed..nowhere. A bunch of German magazines (coincidentally), fashion shots (who’s paying for the camera?) and the fact that for ANY of those, a $30,000+ system, is far from necessary. I hope Leica isn’t banking their survival on another over-priced medium format digital system.
Leica is not making money with the S System.
It’s like a Maybach. A S Class is (almost) as good.
A studio photographer (for whom this camera is meant to be) would rather buy A H4D or a Phase One 645D.
(Very nice photos on your website by the way. Great work)
Hi, there!
I like this posting about Leica Camera, especially for Leica S2. This camera will be the perfect one for any photographer. My father has been a photographer for more than 10 years.
The pictures taken by this Leica S2 were so incredible. I saw some of them in my laptop and my Sony KDL46NX810 HD TV. They’re even greater in that wide-screen.
I’ve just visit s-league.net and it’s cool. People can apply and take part from it. That’s great!
Is this a camera you would have wished you owned, Steve? I know you reviewed it and have used basically everything else under the sun, so 😉
Think you’d like it as much as the M9 for concert gigs?
Too rich for my blood. If I could afford it and were rich? yea, id own one. It is a lovely camera, a work of art really. Never used on at a concert and think it would be tough to use in that scenario anyway, but maybe not. Id prefer the M9 I think for the shows. Smaller, and probably quicker for me.
Hey Steve,
I love the fact that you provide news information about an medium format SLR that very few of your readers can afford, yet have no mention of the announcement of the Canon 1DX back in October. At least some of us can afford the 1DX and lenses to go with it, unlike the S2 system. Leica fanboy? Noooo….
I love your articles and reviews, but you gotta accept that you are being labeled as a fanboy, as in recent times you only review smallish cameras, at the same time posting news announcements about other smallish cameras… except when it comes to the S2, which is a beast. A nice beast, but still a beast nonetheless.
But it’s your site and if it helps get you traffic, by all means please do keep doing it as I’d hate for your reviews to stop. I just find it amusing that you’re a in denial of being a Leica fanboy!
Best,
David
(a Steve Huff fanboy)
Of course Steve is a Leica fanboy. Is it a surprise ? No. We all know that and this is why we come here and we’re all fanboys of our gear.
Now, I do not agree when you say “smallish cameras”.
I own a M9-P but I love my GXR (reviewed here) as much if not more.
I had a Ricoh GRDIII (also reviewed here), a GF1…
There are no bad tools, only bad workers, aren’t they ?
No matter the way, only the goal is important. Some of the best photos I made were taken with my Nokia N8.
At he beginning, I did not like this site a lot but reviewing micro 4/3s and other small sensors and comparing them to a M is a very good way to judge the IQ of our cameras.
I like the fact that the b&w grain I get with my GXR is close or equal to the b&w grain of a M9.
Does it mean that I made a good or better choice ? Certainly not ! I see it more like a “quality scale”.
Our habits have changed and I’ll never go back to huge, intrusive and heavy DSLRs. I know I’m not the only one.
So, Steve, keep on reviewing any camera you can get. This site is become the “bible” of modern amateur (or not) photographers.
Hey Kais!
I get the impression that you’ve misunderstood me a bit. By smallish camera, I mean by size. I don’t mean smallish camera in a degrotagory way as in they’re not good enough for me, not at all. I meant that Steve has only been reviewing small sized cameras for quite a while now (for over a year at least?). The only exception to break the small camera reviews has been the Leica S2, hence me poking fun at him being a Leica fanboy.
Personally I love smaller sized cameras myself. I’m in the process of getting rid of my medium- and large format gear, as soon as certain projects are done. I’m quite looking forward to only having small cameras as my inventory!
Best,
David
Dave… your post was so… stupid, I had to tell it.
Sorry, I don’t mean any harm by saying its stupid… but you put yourself on the frontline. If you have an opinion, fight for it.
Fanboy or homeboy or leicaboy or canon boy, its a website for people who just want to gain some or acquire more experience and knowledge and insight and inspiration and ideas and all that Steve offers from his website, so no need to be “poking fun” and then backtrack, just think twice. By coming here, you are following Steve in his camera (and life) journey. You could start your own website (and deal with all the headaches of dealing with managing it, which steve never ever complains about) BTW there are many “small camera” websites out there… just start some searches for your favorite small cameras et voila:-)
Let us all enjoy ones creativeness and live in peace.
( I am a Canon owner, just so its clear)
(I also really don’t know why your post bothered me so much it drove me to even take the time to write a comment….)
Hey David,
Im not a fan of Canon in general. This is why you do not see Canon stuff talked about on my blog (yet). When they release something I can get into I will write about it. As for me posting the Leica S2 blurb, why not? This site has a huge Leica audience. There are probably 500 Leica shooters to every one Canon shooter that come to this site so not sure why I would write about the new Canon when this is the case. Also, the Canon has been written about on a million other sites, so not much that I can add to that.
I love Leica cameras, but they also frustrate the hell out of me sometimes. Im not a leica “fanboy”, just like quality gear and results, and the results I get from Leica added with the usability and small size make it my #1 choice. BUT I also am just a flat out tech geek in many ways. I like all kinds of innovative cameras, and those are the ones I write about and enjoy using.
Fuji X100, Oly E-P3, Nikon V1, Sony NEX…thats the kind of stuff I like seeing as it opens up so many possibilities to so many more people than something like a Canon 1d series camera. The Leica S2 is nice, but it is not $30k nice. Still, I post it here for he readers who enjoy Leica as much as I do.
I guess you are a Canon fanboy? Take care 🙂
Steve
Hey Steve!
Thanks for your reply! It seems like you understood that I was just poking fun, glad it didn’t get misunderstood! I figured you didn’t mention the Canon camera for the reason you listed, but I recalled that you denied being a fanboy a while ago, but then news posts like this hints the opposite. That just brought a smile and wanted to share that 😀
I can’t say I’m loyal to any brand either. I had a Canon 1V (analog/film camera) before reading up on sites like yours that got me selling it and buying a used Leica MP back in 2009. Haven’t looked back since and I loved the MP, but did sell it off to finance an Hasselblad Xpan kit. You should try it out too one day… I’m actually surprised you haven’t mentioned it yet!!
Once again, keep up the good work I appreciate it a lot!! (even if they are from a Leica fanboy 😛 😀 😉 )
Best,
David