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Almost a year and a half after first teasing it, Leica has announced its S3 medium-format camera is now available to pre-order.
The Leica S3 was originally set for a Spring 2019 release when we first had a hands-on at Photokina 2018, but it was continually delayed for unspecified reasons. Now, it’s alive and well, ready to pre-order for those who have deep wallets.
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At the heart of the relatively compact Leica S3 is a 64MP (45 x 30mm) Leica ProFormat CMOS medium-format sensor that features a 2:3 ratio, up to 15 stops of dynamic range and a sensitivity range of ISO 100–50,000. It can capture up to three still frames per second and records DCI 4K (4096 x 2160 pixel) 4:2:2 8-bit internal video at 24 frames per second using the full width of the sensor. All of this is powered by Leica’s Maestro II processor, which offers 2GB buffer memory.
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In addition to a Live View mode with a refresh rate up to 60 fps, the S3 also features an optical viewfinder with 0.87x magnification and approximately 98-percent coverage.
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The outside of the camera remains largely unchanged from its predecessor, the Leica S (Typ 007), and looks similar to the more recent Leica SL. The back of the camera features a 3” LCD with four programmable buttons, arranged with two on each side.
Also similar to the Leica S (Typ 007) is the S3’s two shutters that can be controlled with a switch on the rear of the camera. The ‘FPS’ mode stands for focal plane shutter, while the ‘CS’ mode stands for center shutter (leaf shutter), which will work with compatible S-Lenses. In our hands-on, the leaf shutter, which has a maximum shutter speed of 1/1000s, did sound noticeably quieter than the focal plane shutter.
As was expected, the Leica S3 doesn’t come cheap. The body-only version is available to pre-order for $ 18,995 (Adorama, B&H), with the first units expected to ship at the end of March 2020.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)