The Leica S-System is a

medium format Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 35&nbs ...

digital single lens reflex A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...

camera system introduced by

Leica Camera Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, Telescopic sight, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetz ...

in 1996. Beginning with the Leica S1, a prototype top-end studio digital camera unveiled at

Photokina Photokina (rendered in the promoters' branding as "photokina") is a trade fair held in Europe for the photographic and imaging industries. It is the world's largest such trade fair. The first Photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, a ...

1996. It went into production at the end of 1997.

Leica S-System cameras

* Leica S1 – The Leica S1 Pro is a scanner camera with a very high resolution (26.4

megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the smal ...

s) for stationary use introduced in 1996. On a 36×36 mm² sensor 5140×5140 pixels are scanned and optically transferred to a connected computer. The object lens adapter system was exchangeable, thus object lenses of the systems Leica R, Leica M, Hasselblad, Mamiya 4, 5×6, and all mechanical objective lenses from Canon (FD), Nikon, etc. can be used with the S1. The software for the S1 is a special

SilverFast SilverFast is the name of a family of software for image scanning and processing, including photos, documents and slides, developed by LaserSoft Imaging. There are also other applications for image processing using digital cameras or printers a ...

version, originally developed by

LaserSoft Imaging LaserSoft Imaging AG is a software developer designing software such as SilverFast for scanners and large format printers. The company's headquarters are located in Kiel, Germany, north of Hamburg, and another office in Sarasota, Florida, United ...

for high-end

scanners ''Scanners'' is a 1981 Canadian science fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan. In the film, "scanners" are psychics with unusual telepathic ...

. Approximately 160 cameras were built and mostly sold to museums, archives and research institutes. Later on Leica introduced the S1 Highspeed with very quick scanning and the S1 Alpha with half the resolution to the market. *

Leica S2 The Leica S2 is a digital medium format DSLR camera announced by Leica Camera on September 23, 2008. It features a Kodak-made custom CCD sensor measuring 30×45 mm and containing 37 million pixels. This sensor has a 26% longer diagonal and ...

– In 2008, Leica announced plans to offer an S-System –

DSLR A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...

with a

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

-made custom CCD

image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to make an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of curr ...

measuring 30×45 mm and containing 37 million pixels. This sensor has a 26% longer diagonal and 56% larger area than a "full-frame″ 24×36 mm DSLR sensor and outputs an approximately 5000x7500 pixel image. The

is thus essentially a

medium format camera Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 35&nbs ...

in a " 35 mm SLR"-sized body. The new "Maestro"

image processor An image processor, also known as an image processing engine, image processing unit (IPU), or image signal processor (ISP), is a type of media processor or specialized digital signal processor (DSP) used for image processing, in digital cameras or ...

used in the S2 was developed by

Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...

based on the

Milbeaut The Socionext Milbeaut image/video processors are media processors in multi-processor system on a chip architecture. Started by Fujitsu with the M-1 Series in 2000 each generation (2013: 7th) has several variants regarding included modules and proc ...

and the autofocus system (Leica's first to see production) was developed in house. The S2 series body, lenses and accessories were available in 2009. *

Leica S (Typ 006) The Leica S is a digital camera. References

{{Leica Camera Digital cameras Leica S-mount cameras ...

– Leica announced the Leica S (Typ 006) in September 2012. It replaces the Leica S2, having a new sensor board with improved noise characteristics. *

Leica S (Typ 007) The Leica S2 is a digital medium format DSLR camera announced by Leica Camera on September 23, 2008. It features a Kodak-made custom CCD sensor measuring 30×45 mm and containing 37 million pixels. This sensor has a 26% longer diagonal and 5 ...

– Leica announced the Leica S (Typ 007) in September 2014. It replaces the Typ 006's CCD with a new

CMOS image sensor An active-pixel sensor (APS) is an image sensor where each pixel sensor unit cell has a photodetector (typically a pinned photodiode) and one or more active transistors. In a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) active-pixel sensor, MOS field-effec ...

. It offers improved noise characteristics, stills at 3.5 frames/second, and 4K video. *

Leica S3 Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, Telescopic sight, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetz ...

– Leica announced the Leica S3 in October 2018. The camera specs were finally released in early 2020, to be available for sale in the spring.

Leica S lenses

A series of new Leica lenses is manufactured specifically for the S2 and Leica claims they offer unsurpassed resolution and contrast at all apertures and focusing distances, even exceeding the sensor's capabilities. Lenses offered for the S2 include Summarit-S in normal (70 mm), wideangle (35 mm), and macro (120 mm) varieties, and Tele-Elmar (180 mm) portrait-length telephotos; these are available in versions that feature integrated multi-leaf blade shutters ("Central Shutter", or CS), in addition to the focal-plane shutter in the camera body, to enable higher flash sync speeds. * Super-Elmar-S 1:3.5/24 mm ASPH. * Elmarit-S 1:2.8/30 mm ASPH. * Elmarit-S 1:2.8/30 mm ASPH. CS * Summarit-S 1:2.5/35 mm ASPH. * Summarit-S 1:2.5/35 mm ASPH. CS * Elmarit-S 1:2.8/45 mm ASPH. * Elmarit-S 1:2.8/45 mm ASPH. CS * Summarit-S 1:2.5/70 mm ASPH. * Summarit-S 1:2.5/70 mm ASPH. CS * Summicron-S 1:2/100 mm ASPH. * Apo-Macro-Summarit-S 1:2.5/120 mm * Apo-Macro-Summarit-S 1:2.5/120 mm CS * TS-APO-Elmar-S 1:5.6/120 mm ASPH. (Schneider-Kreuznach design) * Apo-Elmar-S 1:3.5/180 mm ASPH. * Apo-Elmar-S 1:3.5/180 mm ASPH. CS * Vario-Elmar-S 1:3.5-5.6/30–90 mm ASPH.

References

External links

* {{Leica Camera Lens mounts

Leica S-System cameras

Leica S lenses

See also

References

External links