What Is the Leica S Typ 007 Digital SLR Camera?

The Leica S (007) is a large DSLR-style camera with full weather sealing, a 37.5 MP Max CMOS sensor that is 60% larger than the sensor in a 35 mm D-SLR, and an announced price of $16,900.

Three performance figures define it: 3.5 frames per second of sustained capture, a stated 15 stops of dynamic range at base ISO, and Cinema 4K video, which Red Dot Forum calls a first for cameras with sensors this large. Those numbers matter because bodies with big sensors were traditionally slow, and Leica built this one around speed.

Reviewers keep returning to the optical viewfinder and the lens performance of the S glass. Red Dot Forum’s reviewer carried the camera through Iceland rain and waterfall mist without any cover. Luminous Landscape pictures the buyer as a pro or a wealthy enthusiast rather than a casual shopper.

What Is the Leica S (007) and Where Did It Come From?

The Leica S (Typ 007) is the third generation of Leica’s S series, shown at Photokina 2014 and made available on August 25, 2015.

Its roots sit in Wetzlar, where Leica built the original S2. Red Dot Forum dates that camera to 2008, while Luminous Landscape places it in 2009, so treat the year as disputed. Across the generations Red Dot Forum counts 80 improvements, most of them modest. The sensor was the exception: Leica developed the CMOS design with CMOSIS, and ST Micro in France manufactures it.

Not everyone enjoys the naming convention, since each successor keeps the same name with only a code attached, which Luminous Landscape says muddles searches and used-camera listings. Rivals such as Phase One were then pairing legacy bodies with separate digital backs, while Leica followed its own Leica ethos of simplicity. GuruPicks says the system accepts the Summarit ASPH, although Leica’s own lens naming reads Summarit-S.

What Are the Key Specifications of the Leica S (007)?

The Leica S (007) is a medium format DSLR whose CMOS architecture sensor, rear screen, card slots and shutter are summarized below.

The switch to CMOS is what made live view and video possible, and it lifted the ceiling beyond the S006’s ISO 100 to 1600. Luminous Landscape adds a caution: Leica claims 16-bit raws, while Sony’s compressed raw is 11 bits plus a 7 delta offset despite advertised 14 bits, so hype is hard to separate from reality.

How Tough Is the Leica S (007) in Real Weather?

The Leica S (007) is a weather-sealed digital SLR that Red Dot Forum’s reviewer used in Icelandic rain with no bag or cover.

Its toughness has a backstory. Leica poured tens of millions of Euros into Projekt AFRiKA, the internal name of the original S2, partly to avoid what separate digital backs lack: sealing and tight alignment. A non-interchangeable-back body can be sealed as a single piece, and Luminous Landscape found the thick rubber covers on every opening convincing.

The field conditions were harsh: average temperatures near 45°F, winds up to 40 MPH, a rogue wave soaking the reviewer’s shins at Kirkjufjara beach near Vik, and knee-deep 35°F surf at Jökulsárlón. Meanwhile Nikon and Canon owners nearby were zipping their DSLRs into bags.

Smaller touches help in the cold: a large power-on switch beside the viewfinder, a rubber eye cup, and a plain look that Luminous Landscape calls Bauhousian clarity.

How Good Is the Image Quality of the Leica S Sensor?

The Leica S sensor delivers excellent image quality: a 30 x 45mm chip with an ISO 100 to 12500 range and, per Red Dot Forum, a readout built for speed.

That readout explains much of the leap: 7,500 A/D converters, one per column, each handling 5,000 pixels, versus four readouts on the earlier CCD. Together with larger photosites and revised microlenses, Red Dot Forum credits the change with about a 2 stop gain in dynamic range.

ISO behavior widened too. The M240 runs 200 to 3200 normally, with PULL100 below and PUSH above it up to 6400, so the S extends both ends.

Sensor size alone doesn’t settle things. One rival chip measures 32.8mm X 43.8mm with a pitch of 5.3 μm, while a smaller 35mm-format chip reaches 4.71 μm. Fine glass such as the APO-Elmar-S 180mm helps S files hold crisp detail, and Red Dot Forum found f/11 sharper than f/13.

How Fast and Responsive Is the Leica S (007) in Use?

The Leica S (007) feels fast because the Maestro II processor and double the buffer memory keep up with every playback and capture request.

On the mechanical side, the shutter has a rated minimum life of 150,000 actuations. The main switch selects either the focal plane shutter or a lens with a Central Shutter, which syncs flash faster, and mirror lock-up is delayed and reachable only through menus.

Luminous Landscape tested a pre-production camera first, then a full unit lent through Leica’s beta testing program. GuruPicks credits a magnesium alloy shell for durability and light weight, but neither Leica’s page nor the other reviews mention it, so treat that as unconfirmed.

Power was a design problem: the camera needs a 2300mAh battery, up from 2100mAh, and older packs trigger a warning. In dim light, Red Dot Forum still got usable frames with the APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120mm at f/2.8 and ISO 3200.

What Are the Viewfinder and Live View Like on the Leica S (007)?

The Leica S (007) pairs one of the largest and brightest reflex viewfinders on the market with live view refreshing at 60 fps.

Unlike a full-frame mirrorless body, this camera shows the scene through glass, with mirror blackout kept extremely brief and no shutter delay, a combination that rewards compositional precision. In video mode that optical finder goes dark, leaving the rear LCD as the only monitor.

Press the button on the top deck to start live view, which offers a 16:9 crop that does not match Super 35 4K framing. A joystick scrolls a zoomed image, and pressing it focuses by contrast-detection AF anywhere in the frame; it can also serve as AF-ON in manual focus.

Leica’s Wi-Fi app for iOS or Android streams the live feed, though it was unreleased at review time. Playback is equally quick: Red Dot Forum watched a Canon 5DS R show blurry previews while scrolling, which the Leica avoids.

Are the Controls and Menus on the Leica S (007) Easy to Use?

The controls on the Leica S (007) are simple and traditional yet arguably too sparse, so some functions force menu diving.

Leica frames its approach as Das Wesentliche, “The Essentials.” Luminous Landscape, shooting Firmware V1.0 for three weeks, never became fully comfortable, noting that the Pentax 645z it also uses puts far more controls on the outside. A level display and grid lines help in live view, and a very large diopter adjustment ring surrounds the viewfinder eyepiece.

The traditional layout supports good ergonomics, and enthusiasts who already own an S will find it familiar, while newcomers may call it old. Menu styling resembles the Q. Fitted with a lens like the Vario-Elmar-S 30-90mm, the body feels large and heavy.

One bug is worth knowing: the built-in GPS logs 0.0.0 N / 0.0.0 E when it has no fix, which wrongly parks photos in the Atlantic south of Ghana. A firmware fix is expected.

Can the Leica S (007) Shoot Video?

Yes, the Leica S (007) records video, and Leica’s S-System page lists Cine 4K for a later model, a lineage that began here, though Luminous Landscape stresses it is a deliberate tool rather than run-and-gun.

Inside Leica the project carried the codename Hollywood, while the S006 was nicknamed Beverly Hills, because you drive through Beverly Hills to reach Hollywood. Monitoring is the practical limit: with no electronic finder, the rear LCD or an external monitor shows the shot, and in live view focus peaking, a histogram and exposure simulation help.

An audio adapter in the box adds external microphone input. Because 4K crops the sensor, even a Super-Elmar-S 24mm will not feel truly wide, and Luminous Landscape notes  that at 4K the Sony A7R II competes nearly on equal terms, since sensor size matters less there.

Why Are the Lenses the Main Reason to Own a Leica S?

The lenses are the strongest argument for the Leica S, and Red Dot Forum’s reviewer judged every S focal length class-leading in sharpness, detail, colour and tonal transitions.

Leica’s head of optics, Peter Karbe, calls the S lenses the best the company has built. That confidence helps explain why Leica stayed near 37.5 MP instead of chasing the 51 Megapixel or 43 Megapixel sensors of rivals, since Red Dot Forum reports speed outweighed a 10-15% gain in linear resolution. Reduced crosstalk keeps files crisp, and shadow recovery stays natural in post.

Red Dot Forum’s reviewer carried 24, 30, 45, 70, 120 and 180 lenses and used the 45 and 120 most. The 24 and 30 behave like 18mm and 24mm in full-frame terms, but the 1.5X crop in 4K video limits wide shooting. For landscape, fashion and commercial work, a central shutter option for adapted lenses and practical handheld use help, and a broad line of accessories rounds out the system.

What Cards, Wi-Fi and Tethering Options Does the Leica S (007) Offer?

The Leica S (007) uses two card slots, 802.11n Wi-Fi and USB 3.0 tethering, and Red Dot Forum notes that Lightroom can drive it alongside Leica’s own software.

Video sets the card demands. Full HD at 1920×1080 can go to either card or out through HDMI to an Atomos Ninja, while 4K needs a fast SD card, a Class 10 U3 in Luminous Landscape’s words. The files are Motion JPG in .MOV at 349 Mbps.

At the sustained 3.5 fps, the processor handles 131.5 MP a second, and playback previews render at 320 MP/s, which Red Dot Forum puts at more than 8 fps for the 37.5 MP DNGs. The supplied audio adapter supports a microphone, and Leica recommends Sennheiser.

How Does the Leica S (007) Compare With Its Rivals?

Against its nearest rivals, the Leica S (007) offers a larger 6 μm pixel pitch and superb build, while image quality sits within about a stop, as the table shows.

On normal prints up to 20X24″, Luminous Landscape sees little difference between the Leica, the Pentax and the Sony. Thick gaskets and covers make the build a point of difference. The price began at $25,400 and fell by $8,500, and a soft market for used S2 bodies lowers the entry cost.

Adapted lenses show another gap. The S Adapter-H lets Hasselblad lenses use Leica’s focal plane shutter, whereas on Hasselblad’s own H body, daylight shooting at open aperture caps at 1/800th.

Who Should Buy the Leica S (007)?

The Leica S (007) suits professional photographers and affluent hobbyists who want fast, sealed, optically superb gear more than a crowded control layout.

• Leica Image Shuttle tethering gets longer reach from the 5m USB cable, handy in studios.
• ISO 1600 stays essentially noise-free, and ISO 6400 shows fine, monochromatic grain.
• 24 FPS video suits creators who accept a deliberate workflow.

Art and fashion photography features heavily on Leica’s own showcase pages, and the Elmarit-S 45mm was among the focal lengths Red Dot Forum’s reviewer used most. Purchases run through specially qualified dealers or Leica Stores; Leica Store Miami, owned by Red Dot Forum’s reviewer, sells it, which is worth keeping in mind when reading that review.

One caveat: Luminous Landscape notes that 11 months between announcement and shipping let rivals eclipse it in places, and a user-configurable My Menu would help daily work.

What Changed Between the Leica S (006) and the (007)?

The Leica S (007) differs from the S006 mainly in sensor, speed, display and controls, with smaller refinements to metalwork and tethering, summarized below.

Leica product manager Stephan Schulz walked Red Dot Forum through the updates, and one result is a softer shutter, quieter and lower in vibration. Luminous Landscape still calls the 007’s top panel OLED, so the sources disagree there.

For S006 owners, Red Dot Forum calls the upgrade worthwhile. The S006/S-E promotion and the new model pushed used values down, so keeping the older body as a backup is its suggestion.

Where Does the Leica S (007) Fit in the Wider Leica S-System?

The Leica S (007) belongs to the Leica S-System, which Leica calls purely digital and now leads with the Leica S3, built around a Leica ProFormat sensor, 64-megapixel resolution and ISO 50000 sensitivity.

Leica’s page highlights dust and splash proofing and rubber armouring as part of a robust build that stays comparable in size to a D-SLR. Photographer Mark Mann appears among its showcase features.

Adapters widen the lens choice. Contax 645AF and Hasselblad HC and HCD lenses keep autofocus and auto aperture, according to Red Dot Forum, while Pentax 67 and Mamiya 645 lenses mount without those functions.

On video, Red Dot Forum lists Cinema 4K at 4096×2160 with 1:1 pixel mapping at 24 fps in 4:2:2 compression, although Luminous Landscape could not confirm whether 4:2:2 is recorded to the card.