Thoughts after the break…
Posts Tagged ‘Leica S2-P’
Out with Emily Therese and Emmy
Saturday, January 9th, 2010Additional thoughts and images – Leica S2
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010Having had the camera for a week or so – and using it both on location and in my home (in a makeshift studio with profoto lighting…) has really given me an appreciation for the strength of this camera.
37.5 megapixels is so much data that my beast of a computer (Intel Dual Xeon 1.86gz + 16Gb ram + 64 bit operating system) slows down while trying to process the files in bridge. I have NEVER had this type of slow down before – and it’s purely from the sheer size of the file. I went back to test my 60mb raw files from my Leaf Aptus 75s and it did not have the same lag.
I will be upgrading my computer soon – as I have the need for a more equipped video editing system – so we shall see how things operate on a clean install. My tech guy also suggested that it’s the speed of my hard drives. I have 5400’s and 7200’s and apparently they aren’t fast enough with the data – so the lag is actually windows twiddling it’s thumbs… Not sure how accurate that is… but we shall see what happens with the new hard drive… that thing is going to have a dual 10,000RPM mirrored raid setup (plus the drobo + the online storage).
No hard drive slowage after that…
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I was shooting in my apartment over the past few days with my model friends Beck, Zerotia, and my girlfriend Emily. I used a Profoto Acute B2 power pack with either the Acute head or the Ring Flash. I find that kit is enough to keep in my house. I also have a 7B battery package with two heads and a ring flash – and that lives in my storage until I can get a new studio space here in new york.
Since I was working in close distance – I stuck with the 70mm lens. It proved to be a great focal length for me – as I had been shooting mostly with 50mm in the 35mm format. I shot wide open – even with the flash (low power as opposed to ND filters) and consistently my focus was sharp where I wanted it to be and the blurs were beautiful.
It doesn’t have the bokeh of the 180… but that is to be expected.
The 70mm is a really good compliment to the S2 since its weight is very minimal and the feeling of overriding the auto focus by hand is really … for lack of a better word… dreamy.
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The images were edited in post. The vignette was done in post. Surprisingly – the lens wide open – has little to no vignetting. It was kind of a disappointment as I had grown comfortable with it as a component of my aesthetic from shooting at 1.0 for so long.
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Due to the unique form of output for my thesis project, I edit my images within the profoto colorspace. This sometimes produces odd color shifts on certain browsers and certain screen s – especially laptops. I am sorry. I don’t care. I edit the photos for their ultimate output which in the case of my thesis – and the case of this particular series of images – are the brushed aluminum sheets.
Zerotia in the window seat.
Beck – fishnets and cigarettes.
Emily Therese – No fishnets but cigarettes.
The S2-P: First Look at the Greenhouse (My Opinion)
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009Wow. I assumed that having the first Leica S2-P would attract some attention… but I did not expect it would attract this much. As such – I am going to put a link to an FAQ page here in front – to answer some of the frequently asked questions.
This website is dedicated to my own personal fine art projects. I am not a professional photographer. I certainly could pursue photography commercially but I think it would lose the magic that has captured my attention this long. I enjoy photography for the art of it – and the fact that my images make some money, is a bonus.
In my own personal work – I do almost exclusively location based shooting. I don’t have (or enjoy) the benefits of having a controlled studio environment. In fact – quite the opposite, as I tend to enjoy shooting in long since abandoned locations.
There are a few factors I take into consideration when picking out primary camera gear for any of my projects. The first is size. I had been shooting mostly professional Canon cameras – as their portability and durability on location could not be matched.
However – their flexibility was a trade off for limited resolution and dynamic range. I moved to digital medium format in 2007, working exclusively with a Mamiya 645AFDII + Leaf Aptus 75s digital back. The size of the MF kit was quite large and bulky to be comfortable in the urbex environment. Not to mention – shooting in very low light levels was NOT its strong suit.
Example image from an exploration using the Mamiya and Leaf Aptus 75s Back
The Leica S2 seems to be quite the happy medium.
Considering the fact that the Leica S2 houses a sensor 56% larger than the Canon 5dmkii, I find it surprising that the size of the cameras with comparable lenses (180mm on the Leica, 24-70 2.8L on the Canon) was almost identical.
Furthermore, the S2 is fully weather sealed. Leica claims that it actually exceeds the standards set by the Canon 1ds line. In a previous issue of LFI magazine, it was exclaimed that the S series lenses underwent a cycle in the dishwasher – in order to reinforce the idea that this camera is meant for the cleanest – and not so cleanest – conditions.
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The camera arrives…
