Just returned from Vienna. Amazing long-weekend with so many mega-
pixels in my hands. The report will be put together this week and sent
to a number of key responsible individuals.
However, the short story is this: The Mamiya 645AD with the Leaf 33 MP
digital back (sorry, the 40 MP was used elsewhere) was a disappointment.
The handling was unbalanced, more or less depending on which lens
was mounted. As in the next camera it felt like a plastic toy in my
hands. The buttons very small, forget wearing gloves and using this
camera body. Some of which very hard to get to. The digital back was
the next total disappointment. With an ISO setting of only 400 the
noise was visibly noticeable as if my Canon was shooting with an ISO
of 56200. ISO 800 was a disaster!
From the locals in Vienna we also had a Hasselblad H3 with a 50(?) to
110 mm zoom and a Hasselblad digital back, not sure of the size. The
performance was nice, unfortunately the handling felt like a plastic
toy. The buttons were like a cheap toy, rubber covered buttons that
were small, especially the buttons on the inside of the grip (where
your finger tips are), they were quite unexplainable. Sad side of this
tool is the limited shutter time of 1/800 second. Be prepared to stock
up on ND filters for use on a sunny day.
Cream of the crop is the new Leica S2. We had a fixed 70 mm f/2.5
lens to experiment with. With 37.5 MP, 74 MB DNGs direct out of the
body, the photo quality was outstanding - really, one to write home
about

. The handling was solid, a real good feeling, sat well in my
hands and well balanced in my finger tips. Usage is different with the
S2. The menu layout was different, the button layout very large, and
best of all very simple. Many times simpler as any Canon or Nikon on
the market - yet with all the bells and whistles like the current C and
N dSLRs. Four large buttons around the screen, on/off switch, large
wheel to set the shutter time and a rotating/push thumb wheel on the
back to make the changes and confirm them... of course the shutter
release too. Shortest shutter time 1/4000 second to 8 seconds and
bulb, f/2.5-f/22 with the 70 mm lens, ISO from pushed 80, standard
160 through 1250 with very little noise at 1250. This camera looks
like a dSLR, so it does not stick out like a sore thumb and draw
attention (ie. Mamiya/Hasselblad).
A real treat to use the S2, I took about 350 shots total with the S2,
only about 40 or so with the Hasselblad and Mamiya. My Canon 5DM2
enjoyed a relaxing 60 exposures. The main advantage (besides the
resolution) over the C and N dSLRs is the excellent dynamic range,
focus and shortened DOF.
We also had access to the laboratory to test the equipment. The
Mamiya lenses were good, Leica and Hasselblad lenses clearly the
best quality. The Leica had a sensor failure on one of the green
channels that is NOT visible in the photos. If I had paid out 22
thousand for the Leica S2 and found this failure, I would insist the
body be replaced, immediately.
We had a battery powered dual-head 400w/s flash with us... the lights
shut off at midnight while taking some long-exposure shots of the
museums on Saturday night. So, for the next hour, we pulled out
the flashes and lit up a statue at the Kaisers residence... for fun
Once the photos are prepared and the report is ready (in German), I
will post a link to it here. In the mean time, if you have any specific
questions, please do reply.