Leica S Series

[shelly1170]

At one of Bangkok's mega shopping malls yesterday there was a Leica display.

After getting a sway up when I was told the price of the -oh-so-cute and retro rangefinder, I asked about the new S Series.

OH MY GIDDY AUNT! The body price alone would get you a nice car. Or would completely furnish a Canon kit with more lenses than I could lug!

Got me thinking, who Buys these cameras? Pros? Fanatics? People with ALOT more money than me! And are they THAT good?

[I @ M]

#1 who Buys these cameras? #2 Pros? #3 Fanatics? #4 People with ALOT more money than me! And are they THAT good?

#1 Dentists, plumbers and those who like to wear Rolex watches.

#2 Yes, some but they generally only sell images to those in the subset above ^

#3 Absolutely, but fanatical about what exactly? :D

#4 There is a distinct social level for those who have platinum amex cards and of course they are that good, just ask any other Leica owner. :rolleyes:

[JM Tran]

Hi Shelley, the Leica S series medium format is expensive because MF sensors are much bigger than a full frame sensor for DSLRs, slap on the Leica badge and the price rockets even higher.

However, they are only middle of the table when you compare them to the latest medium formats from Leaf, Phase One and Hasselblad, at twice the cost of the latest Leica S model.

They are also not very popular in the professional world due to lack of general support for equipment to buy and purchase and maintenance. There are only a tiny percentage that use them for commercial, fashion, editorial work but the majority stick to the aforementioned 3 brands.

[shelly1170]

Bahahahahaha! Andrew, that is GOLD! After years of researching, drooling and visiting countless watch shops, hubby just bought a Rolex last week! You think I could convince him that a Leica would be a good accompaniment?!

Thanks for the info, JM Tran. Interesting to hear about an area of photography I know very little about.

There is a photo expo here at the end of the month...wonder if the fancy-schmancy brands will be there. Might have to go have a look!

[arthurking83]

I'm not sure if they wear Rolex watches(or Philippe Patek, or soem other poncy sounding brand) or practise dentistry too, but apparently the hoi polloi of the Hollywood A List apparently have all turned to Leica and Hassleblad as the brands of choice.

Grab a Sony NEX7, slap on some woodgrain, and sell it as a Hassleblad NEX7H .. woodgrain edition for the price of a Beverly Hills mansion, and they'll flock to it in their droves.

From memory, those S series's use older Kodak MF sensors.

But if you were a serious pro photog and made zillions of bucks and required top notch lenses for your work, Leica do make some of the best available.
(I suppose it'd debatable tho if that level of quality will translate into actual higher earnings or profits for those that choose to invest in it).

[ricktas]

A watch is for you to tell the time by. A Rolex is for you to show to others for them to tell the time by! :D:o:);):p:cool:

[Bennymiata]

I like and own a few expensive watches, and I appreciate their quality and their mechanics, but I won't own a Leica.
A Hassleblad is on my wish list, but only after I have more dough than I know what to do with.

Back in the old days, mainly from WW1 up to the early 50's, Leicas were renowned for making excellent cameras, and there were very few cameras of that quality back then.
However, nowadays, their IQ and their features are sub-par, yet their prices are off the planet for what they offer.
You would think that such an expensive camera would at least have a decent rear screen, but Leica only use a very poor 320K screen, which is worse than many compacts use.
Considering that Canon use a 1040K screen on their entry level DSLR's, a 320k screen is very poor indeed, and as Ricktas said, their sensors are old Kodak ones which were not-so-good even when they were new.

They are nicely made though, and very tough and their lenses are very good, but a Fuji X-1 Pro would do a better job at far less $$$.

[arthurking83]

......
You would think that such an expensive camera would at least have a decent rear screen, but Leica only use a very poor 320K screen, which is worse than many compacts use.......

I suppose the reasoning is quite simple(and probably makes sense!)

Photographers that invest and regularly use Leica gear are a group of people that are highly unlikely to use the review screen to assess the images they've captured, so the use of and expense of a higher density review screen is probably not warranted nor needed.
The rear screen is more likely to be used for setting up menus and other such trivial matters instead .. so 320K for the simple matter of menu navigation kind'a makes sense!


In terms of camera .. then yes! the Fuji is probably a better value for money option, but I still think it's at least $500 to $1000 too expensive, so it's not really a value for money camera itself!
But the Leica is a full 35mm frame camera(well close enough to it) and the Fuji is an APS-C camera, and that makes quite a difference when it matters.
In terms of performance by numbers, the Fuji wins hands down .. but it's still an APS-C camera, and if used at base ISO(which I'm sure 99% of Leica digital M's will be) then the Fuji's 'superior numbers' will probably look even less relevant.

Don't get me wrong here tho, I'm not a fan of the bourgeois nature of the Leica branding, but I suppose if I had access to the elevated finances required, I'd probably have a Leica kit too
(why not! .... camera gear is camera gear and the more of it the merrier, I reckon!!)

[swifty]

Leica S is like a niche in a niche.
A lot of the price premium is in the larger than 135 format sensor (although not as big as other MF options around) but more has to do with the Leica brand. But perhaps even more has to do with economies of scale. I'm not aware of any other cameras sharing that sensor, so how many of it do they actually produce. I don't know if you can just walk into a shop and buy a Leica S but I wouldn't be too surprised if they're made to order and custom tested before delivery to each buyer. Maybe the same goes for other premium brands like Hassy, Leaf etc. If I could afford it, I would expect premium service from the premium brands so I hope that is included in the price.

Ignoring the price, there's much to like about the S.
Minimalist DSLR design and size, yet sports a larger sensor. Top notch and pretty complete modern lens range.

[ameerat42]

(Hmm! With regard to the foregoing, I would nevertheless Leica camera like that.)