Leica S2 DSLR – an unexpected but very interesting announcement

With the announcement of the Leica S2, Leica surprised the photography world.

Beside the much larger sensor (30×45mm, 37.5 megapixel), the introduction of an autofocus system is also new for Leica SLR cameras.

The new systems looks very interesting. I think it is necessary for Leica to set themselves apart from current DSLRs. Against cameras like the D3 or Canon pro DSLRs they probably have not much chance. And with the recent introduction of high quality wide angle lenses from Nikon (the wonderful 2.8/14-24) they loose their advantage here too.

But with a much larger sensor they may have a chance. Hopefully more lenses will be available soon. They will need a lot more lenses to make this system successful. At least a wide ange and standard zoom. And probably a longer telephoto lens.
So far the lenses are all primes (probably of very high quality as expected from Leica). The longest lens is a 180mm lens.

If the sensor delivers high quality and the lenses are good (which I expect) then I think this is great for landscape photographers and studio photography.

Existing Leica photographers may still want a digital version of the R9 to use their current collections of high quality Leica lenses. Maybe a digital R10 will follow.

It will be interesting to see how much the new system and the lenses will cost and if it is enough to help Leica survive.