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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Anyone shot Leica S2 and Epic side-by sides?

Gunleik Groven

Gunleik Groven

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I have the chance to look at that, and the cameras are in the same pricerange, even though one is for stills and one for video

This summer we shot some testmaterial for a lifestyle campaign, and it seemed like they were kind of matchable in color-responce at least in daylight, but we didn't have time to run tests those days.

But thinking that they might be a good stills/film combo for commercial campaigns, I wonder if anyone else have used the combo?

Cheers

G
 
i am sure the S2 is a great camera althought the d800 which is pretty much the same resolution has surpassed it in DR, high iso, AF speed, handling and most of all price (1/10!)...obviously the glass is the major reason to look into this system...biggest issue especially in commercial application is the idiotic usb2 tethered connection...completely unusable with the file sizes the camera provides and 99% of bigger budget shoots require tethered shooting...so there you go...
funny thing is the m8, which is in no way a studio camera or made for commercial shoots, had maybe the best tethered solution available i have ever used, better then canon and nikon, on par with phase.....
hasselblad owns the commercial shoot market, even if it just to have the "big camera" sitting on the tripod while the actual files are coming from the 5DII handheld shooting:)
 
No personal experience to speak from, but Ming Thein and Lloyd Chambers both say the D800 is essentially a match in resolving power (at 1/zillionth the price) to the S2, and clearly ahead in low light image quality. You have to be more careful buying lenses, though. Every S lens is good, there's plenty of crap for Nikon mount.
 
I have both...

Lots of misinformation out there.

The D800 has a lot of pixels...sold my D700 and bought a Canon 1DX. D800 is not and never will approach a Leica S2. It is sharp and makes a
nice pic but lets get real...sort of like saying a Sony EX1R is similar to the RED One....both sharp good color DR. How many of you still pine for
the Sony?

To be a bit more on track...Graeme has done wonderful things with software and yes you can come close to matching files...EPIC and S2
if you are only looking at color. EPIC stills will seem wonderfully dense and palpable....the S2 files soar with an ethereal beauty...partly due
to the phenomenal lenses...and partly due to the old CCD in the body. No you cannot shoot at 1000+ ISO but when the conditions or the
lighting is correct...

My history is MF film...LF film to H3D II 39 to S2, Leica M6 to M7 to MP to M8...M8.2...M9...M Monochrome...Sony EX1R to RED One...RED EPIC
with Duclos ZF.2 and Leica lenses.

If you wish PM me off thread and I can send you a few files that might further elucidate my point.

Regards,

Bob
 
Lloyd Chambers Digital Advanced Photography has full-sized crops an architectural (mosaic and stonework) shot done with both the D800 w/ Zeiss 100 and the S2 w/ Leica 120.

You can very easily pick out which is which because the S2 suffers from horrible moire, but otherwise they would be indistinguishable.

It's subjective, but for me the S2 would have to be noticable-at-a-glance superior to the D800 to justify the price jump.
 
Hm... What I am talking about here, is matching the two for commercial campaign where a stills hirez camera is part of the deal. The vs 800 thing is interesting, I am sure, but not too relevant for my question as the option in an S2 and not D800...

From what I could see, we managed to quite effortlessly grade towards the S2 "master" stills, on the Epic. But these were daylight shots.
Curious if anyone have wider experiences with this combo.

Thanks for all rwplies, though!
 
I have shot plenty of both, while only for tests purposes, but I can tell you that while I love our Epic cameras, and sold all Still cameras, including all Canon D1 series and MF ones, had 3 of them, you just can't compared MF sensor to S35 sensor, so the Leica S2 with the S series Leica MF glass wins, and not because of more then double the Mega Pixel count, but because of the MF size sensor, for this I have been waiting for DRAGON, and more so for the EPIC 645, so that I can for ever stop missing shooting MF for still work.

Fact is that I have come to love shooting EPIC for motion and pull Still Frames that I can't ever go back shooting Still cameras, but at the same time Epic, with current sensor, can't compare to MF prints, but I am happy enough to have sold all MF bodies as well, so this should say something about EPIC for Still work, just don't expect it will be better or comparable to MF Stills, at list not yet.


As far as S glass on EPIC, we did talked with Jarred about some time ago, and I do hope that it gets made, just remember that S glass is a MF sensor designed glass, so you'll need much wider glass to get, well, wide on your epic... But the Telephoto glass, will really get you far;)
 
I do think that both camera's files will intercut extremely well...if Gallery prints are needed you have the resolution in the S2 files for larger prints. You can stitch with the
S2 to approximate the wider format of the EPIC.




Bob
 
Last edited:
Lee Saxon said:
That you're not considering the D800 is exactly why it was brought up. You should be.
Click to expand...

He's not buying...he just has a chance to shoot with one. He just wants to test the image quality vs. the Epic since they are the same price and near same image.
 
Hi Bob. Thanks! Very informative!

@ Lee, thanks, but Matt has that right...:-)

S2 and S glass is what I will have to make do with for now... :-)

Make the besti of what you have, kinda situation...
 
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