Leica has made clear that it expects technology on board its soon-to-be-launched £16,000 professional DSLR, the S2, to be built into more affordable models lower down the range.
Leica’s flagship 37.5-million-pixel medium format DSLR is still on course to be launched in December.
Asked whether the S2’s technology will fall within the reach of photo enthusiasts in future Leica cameras, Leica S-System product manager Stephan Schulz said: ‘There is a lot of potential. On the one side, the autofocus technology we have developed, and on the other the digital image processing technology? The processor could also be used in cameras below this [S2] line. We can use all the firmware and image processing development for this camera for all coming products.’
Speaking in an interview with Amateur Photographer at Leica’s new store in Mayfair, London, Schulz added: ‘It has a lot of new technology and this [the S2] will be a platform for future products so we can use nearly everything we have developed for the camera for future cameras in Leica’s portfolio.’
Schulz hinted that we can expect an exciting new product from Leica at the Photokina show in Germany next year.
Originally Leica expected the S2 to go on sale in the summer but its launch was put back until October.
Leica then delayed its debut until next month, saying it needed more time to meet advance orders.
See below for the full interview with Stephan Schulz (the video was captured using Panasonic’s HD-enabled Lumix GH1 Micro Four Thirds camera).
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