LeicaLEICA S2 is a digital single-lens reflex camera, made in Germany. Leica Camera was established in 1913 and I guess you could say that they are ‘the Apple of photography’. During the last century, the optics company became a worldwide renowned brand for high-end professional photography equipment.OpticsBut, to be honest, Leica is not necessarily the best camera manufacturer in the world. Their unique selling proposition is the quality of the lenses – as they’re an optical company and not a producer of all kinds of electronic equipment like Sony. Leica is highly respected because of their great optical performance.S2The best DSLR for professional photography that they offer is the LEICA S2, which was introduced in 2009. It combines modern technology and classic quality, something that is typical for the Leica S-System. And all this magic fits into a medium-size, beautiful and ergonomically designed camera body. So let’s have a close-up look!CompactThe developers managed to redefine a whole genre of mid-size digital SLR cameras with the LEICA S2. This model offers a lot of performance power inside a compact, light and ergonomic body – from a sensitivity up to ISO 1250 to an image sensor of 45 x 30 mm combined with a 37.5 megapixel processor for a high resolution.SolidOne of the challenges of professional photography is shooting under difficult circumstances, like in a warm and dry, cold or wet environment. Rest assured that the S2 will not let you down during a desert walk or boat trip. A bit of dust or splash of rain won’t hurt the solid camera body.FunctionalWhat I like about the LEICA S2 is that it’s very functional – the camera body just features a couple of buttons and wheels to access often-used settings and menus. All pre-sets can be handled from any laptop or computer with a USB 2.0 connection, through which you can import your photos with Leica’s Image Shuttle software.SoftwareThe S2 creates not only Adobe-compatible DNG files, but also more compact JPEG files, which can be stored on Secure Digital or Compact Flash memory cards. Leica’s S-System cameras comes with Adobe Lightroom software, which is a handy tool for photo management and image processing – that is, if you need any post-production.ImagesThe quality of images that come straight from the LEICA S2 without any processing is absolutely stunning with full colors, fine details and perfect lightning. It’s this wow-factor that makes the S2 a meticulous masterpiece. Using this camera makes you feel like Michelangelo while he was decorating the Sistine Chapel.PriceYes, the LEICA S2 is an expensive camera: you can buy a new car instead! But my opinion is that quality has a price and there can be no great results without an investment. If you’re looking for more than taking nice pictures – create real art, using highly reliable tools – this is the best digital SLR camera for professional photography.
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Development of Photography and the Truth Behind Digital Photography
Photography is the art of drawing with the medium of light. In today’s photography scene, a lot of advances have made photography a hobby and a profession for many. If we take a look back at the beginnings of photography, one will be amazed by how many progressions it did. Before the flashy 10 frames per second feature of digital SLRs today, there came a time that bringing a camera for a photo shoot is already an effort because of its size. But during that time, it has been shown that even with a bulky camera, it could suffice the requirement of producing art. Hansel Adams proved his point by creating the images of the wild west. With the right adjustment of shutter speed to a very minute f stop 32, he produced magnificent photographs of varying subjects.Then, camera manufacturers turned to their engineering department to make the cameras a little bit more handy than the usual. Then, though still loaded with film, specifically the medium format film more known as the 120 films; TLRs made its way to the market in order to provide people with photographs with a handy frame. But the dilemma with 120 films is that they create good portraits and photographs for that matter but if we come to think of it, 120 formats only come with 12 or 16 shots, something that displeases camera enthusiasts. Then came the 35mm format film cameras in order to solve the problem of lacking in shots. A roll of 135 film can be bought with a 12, 24 or 36 shot option. First came the rangefinders. Rangefinders unlike the SLR, functions without a mirror that simultaneously lifts to let light register to the film. A rangefinder directly focuses on an object via a double image provided in the eyepiece. Then came the SLR. SLR camera is more user friendly compared to its predecessor, the rangefinder. An SLR makes it possible for someone to create images in the easiest way there is.Today, everything has turned digital. Who would have thought that making photographs nowadays is actually as good as painting. Today, with the entry of digital SLRs, they make it a point that the post processing phase do the job in ironing out the lack in skill of a photographer. It is a fact that film based photography could make way better photographs made by digital photographers. A film could be bloated to whichever size a photographer wants it to be. Unlike digital format where boundaries of pixels prevent its expansion; film doesn’t experience this kind of problem. With the entry of digital photography, it makes photography not an art anymore but a gauge to how good a software could be in blurring lack of skill and talent.