‘This is a long-term investment for Leica,’ says Stefan Daniel, one of Leica’s senion product managers. ‘We take this very seriously. The S2 is the new flagship in our portfolio and will become the technology platform for all future Leica products. We want to have the best professional camera system and set new standards, as well as reach new customer groups.

‘We saw an opportunity,’ he continues. ‘There was a very small window to get into the [high-end] DSLR market. We are first going to focus on the pro market before dropping the technology to other lower-priced DSLRs. Eventually we will launch models for amateurs and other pros. We’ve developed a technology platform and we will split it to the other systems. This is the logical step. This is a pro camera, but of course we will have something for everyone else. This is the commercialisation of what photographers are and have been looking for’.