cinnabar timurid: Leica S-System hands-on

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Leica S-System hands-on

More fun from Leica here at Photokina in Germany -- and this guy is big in every way. It's the S-System, the company's update to its pro-series medium format offering. The successor to the S2 is quite large (even in SLR terms) and is very, very heavy. In fact, you're going to want to work out that upper body before using this thing for any period of time -- that is, once you're done selling your first born child. Aesthetically, the camera looks a good deal like the S2, maintaining its nice looking design with a couple of key differences -- for one thing, there's an extra bump on the top of the camera -- this is where the integrated GPS lives.

The 3-inch LCD (which is capable of 16 million colors) is also covered with Gorilla Glass, so you're less likely to crack it if you're rough on the thing (though, again, at these prices, we assume you'll be nicer to it than your own offspring). Look inside the optical viewfinder and you'll get a meter that helps you determine how you're oriented respective to the horizon. The sensor, naturally, has been refreshed as well, now measuring 30 by 44mm, with 37.5 megapixels. And the shutter can do its thing as quickly as 1/1,000 of a second.

As for pricing, well -- the Leica rep we spoke with put the camera at (get ready) €19,600. The camera is also launching with four lenses, in case you have a few other kids you're interested in selling.

Gallery: Leica S-System hands-on