Leica UK has confirmed that its eagerly-awaited S2 camera will cost £15,996 and will go on sale in October, and not this summer as originally planned.
The 37.5-million-pixel DSLR will also be available in a version that includes a sapphire glass monitor screen, priced £19,092. This will be called the ‘S2-P’.
Leica will showcase the S2 at a dedicated Leica store, due to open in Mayfair, London in September.
When first announced, at last year’s Photokina, the firm said the camera would be available this summer.
Asked why the launch date has been put back a Leica UK spokeswoman told Amateur Photographer this morning: ‘No reason as such. It was estimated as “summer” but we didn’t give an exact date.’
Leica ranks the historic significance of the ‘larger than full-frame’ digital camera system on a par with the legendary Leica 1 launched 84 years ago.
The 37.5-million-pixel product, the first camera in the new ‘S-system’, is being promoted as a professional digital SLR that Leica predicts will fill a gap in the market.
The firm claims that the S2 will combine the benefits of a medium-format camera, with the handling of a digital SLR, while retaining the ‘look and feel’ of a Leica.
The ‘flagship’ model will feature a Kodak-made CCD imaging sensor measuring 30x45mm – 56% bigger than a frame of 35mm film.
Last year the firm said that the AF system and image processing technology, though primarily aimed at the fashion and advertising market, may eventually trickle down to enthusiast-level DSLRs.
Leica S2 full specification HERE
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