THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO LEICA S LENSES
With the recently introduced Leica S3 now finding its way into the market, many photographers are taking a fresh look at the S-System. And while much of the attention is focused on the fourth-generation medium format DSLR and its brand-new 64-megapixel sensor with 15-stops of dynamic range, some may not be familiar with the range of lens options for the camera.
Given the maturity of the Leica S-System, the S3 has the advantage of launching with a full lens ecosystem. There are nine native autofocus lenses, broken down into eight primes and one zoom. Also in the range is a manual focus 120mm tilt-shift for tabletop photography, but I’ll be covering the more general use autofocus lenses in this article. When the first-generation S2 camera debuted in 2008, it did so alongside two initial lenses, the 70mm and 180mm. Shortly after, a 35mm and 120mm joined the ranks, forming the core optics of the system. Then, over the coming years, further designs filled in the gaps.