What is the crop factor of the Leica S2?

The Leica S2 is equipped with a medium format sensor, whose diagonal measures 54.1mm. The sensor has a crop factor (or format factor, or focal length multiplier) of 0.8.

The crop factor is defined as the ratio of the 35mm full-frame film diagonal to the diagonal of a digital sensor. This number indicates how a lens behaves in relation to the size of the image sensor.

Sensor size comparison with a film slide

With a crop factor of 0.8, the sensor in the Leica S2 is larger than the receptor area of a 35mm film slide or negative. As a result, a lens that is attached to the Leica S2 will offer a wider angle of view and provide shallower depth of field than a lens of similar focal length and aperture on a film camera. The equivalent focal length is obtained by multiplying the actual focal length of the lens with the crop factor. For example, a 63mm lens on the Leica S2 will provide the same angle of view and depth of field as a 50mm normal lens on a film camera (63mm * 0.8 = 50mm).

Sensor specs and performance

The table below compares the sensor specs of the Leica S2 to those of several similar cameras. The reported DXO values are indicators of the sensor's imaging quality (higher is better), covering color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape), and high-ISO noise (DXO Sports). Larger sensor cameras tend to outperform cameras of the same generation that are equipped with a smaller imager. On the other hand, larger sensors are more expensive and require bigger and heavier lenses than smaller light receptors.

Sensor Characteristics

		Camera Model	Sensor Class	Resolution (MP)	Horiz. Pixels	Vert. Pixels	Video Format	DXO Portrait	DXO Landscape	DXO Sports	DXO Overall
1.		Leica S2	Medium Format	37.5	7500	5000	none	23.9	12.5	2224	82
2.		Canon 1Ds Mark III	Full Frame	21.0	5616	3744	none	24.0	12.0	1663	80
3.		Leica S1	Medium Format	26.4	5140	5140	none	..	..	..	..
4.		Leica S3	Medium Format	64.0	9800	6533	4K/24p	25.6	14.4	3143	98
5.		Leica S Typ 006	Medium Format	37.5	7500	5000	none	23.9	12.2	824	76
6.		Leica S-E Typ 006	Medium Format	37.5	7500	5000	none	25.1	13.7	2763	93
7.		Leica S Typ 007	Medium Format	37.5	7500	5000	4K/24p	25.1	13.7	2763	93
8.		Nikon D3	Full Frame	12.1	4256	2832	none	23.5	12.2	2290	81
9.		Nikon D3S	Full Frame	12.1	4256	2832	720/24p	23.5	12.0	3253	82
10.		Nikon D3X	Full Frame	24.4	6048	4032	none	24.7	13.7	1992	88
11.		Pentax 645D	Medium Format	39.5	7264	5440	none	24.6	12.6	1262	82
Note: DXO values in italics represent estimates based on sensor size and age.

In the United States, the S2 was initially launched in September 2008 at a price of $22,995.

Check S2 offers at
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Camera to camera comparisons

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