Leica S2 åpner ny kameranisje

Nisjeprodusentene innenfor kameramarkedet får svært tøff konkurranse fra de to store i dSLR-segmentet. Løsningen kan være å komme opp med helt nye kamerakonsepter, som aldri vil bli volumselgere, men som definerer nettopp en nisje, mellom de relativt kompakte speilreflekskameraene for massemarkedet og de langt mindre portable mellomformatkameraene. Leica ser ut til å kunne oppnå dette med Leica S2, kameraet er nemlig bygd rundt en sensor med 37.5 megapiksler med en størrelse på 30 x 45 millimeter. Dette gir en flate som er 56% større en fullformat. Ifølge Leaica er den nye "Maestro" bildeprosessoren dobbelt så rask som de en finner i digitale bakstykker og det med lavere strømforbruk.

Spennende, og Leica mener alvor. Sammen med kameraet lanseres nemlig en rekke objektiver: 24mm ultrawide, 35mm wide, 70mm standard, 100mm kort tele, 120mm macro, 180mm tele, og et 30mm tilt-and-shift objektiv. Imponerende, men nok til en pris som blir i tøffeste laget for de fleste av oss.

Kanskje er dette det første resultatet av det annonserte samarbeidet mellom Leica og Phase One. Leica er ikke blant de produsentene som overbeviser mest når det gjelder programvare, et område Phase One synes å ha bedre kontroll på.

Leica S2 er utstyrt med både en gardinlukker i kameraet og en sentrallukker i objektivet, noe som blant annet skal gi raskere lukkertider med blitz.


Pressemelding fra Leica:

LEICA S2 - Remarkable new camera from Germany redefines the professional DSLR class with a custom 37.5-megapixel, 30 x 45 mm sensor built into a 35mm-sized body.

Some companies tweak the features. At Leica, we transform the concept. That's why the introduction of the flagship Leica S2 is not merely an incremental advance. It is nothing less than a watershed event that sets an entirely new performance standard for professional digital SLRS.

With a custom 37.5-megapixel, 30 x 45 mm sensor that is 56% larger than full frame, it establishes parameters of imaging excellence that are well beyond those obtainable by conventional pro-caliber DSLRs. In the Leica tradition, it utilizes the classic 3:2 aspect ratio that corresponds to the human field of vision and is widely acclaimed as the "Leica Format."

In designing this brilliant new camera, Leica's engineers took a close look at the best existing DSLR designs and then synergized them into a radical but practical new camera that combines the performance parameters of a medium-format digital camera with the ergonomics, form factor, and handling ease of a 35mm SLR. The result is the new Leica S2, an entirely new, finely crafted, professional tool developed in-house by Leica with hands-on input from some of the most renowned professional photographers in the world.

It incorporates an advanced new dual shutter system with in-body focal-plane shutter for fast lenses, and in-lens leaf shutters for high flash sync speeds, an ultra-high-precision autofocusing system, a new series of lenses designed for the highest possible performance with the new sensor, and a Maestro image processing system that provides twice the speed of comparable medium-format backs, reduces power consumption, and provides in-camera JPEG capability. Remarkably, all of this has been incorporated into a camera that is smaller than a full-size professional 35mm SLR, and still has the unmistakable look and feel of a Leica.

Like Leica cameras of the past, we designed the new Leica S2 from the inside out, and its robust styling is a classic example of form following function. We began with a cutting-edge, large-format CCD sensor and literally configured the camera around it rather than adapting existing technologies. In this way we achieved a new level of performance without sacrificing size or convenience. Yes the S2 Leica is our latest masterpiece, an unequivocal statement to the world that showcases our technological prowess. But it is more than just a technological tour de force.

It is a statement of Leica's continuing pre-eminence in the world of imaging that goes back nearly 100 years. Perhaps that is why our top executives in Germany have compared the announcement of the Leica S2 to the debut of the first Leica, the legendary model A in 1925. That seminal camera did nothing less than redefine 35mm photography in the 20th century and we believe that the Leica S2 may well do the same for DSLR photography in the 21st.

With Salzburg ACM Projektentwicklungs GmbH as its new owner, Leica Camera AG is entering a new era. Following in-depth and successful re-structuring, the business can now concentrate on investing in new products. Leica has made a quantum leap in the field of digital technology, enabling it to combine the advantages of highly developed digital technology with the classic Leica values concerning optics, mechanics and optimal image results.

The result of this is uncompromising cutting-edge technology; the LEICA S2 is the first to offer all these things to professional digital photographers. The LEICA S system sets the trend for future Leica products in terms of technology and leads the way for future product ideas from Leica Camera AG.