Follow up to our Chillout review of the Leica S Type 007 + Summarit-S 70mm f/2.5 ASPH CS camera system, here we present to you our photo report of recent horological events in Singapore photographed with the camera.
Leica S Type 007 + Summarit-S 70mm f/2.5 ASPH CS
The Leica S is a large, heavy camera system, which is designed for studio use where the bulk and weight is not an issue. But for the loaner we had from Leica SG for three weeks as a daily carry camera, we used it in all situations, especially to cover events.
Many people were skeptical that the Leica S Type 007 can be used for event coverage, but we present the photographs here for you to judge. We think its quite an effective tool. Great image quality, fast enough to react for posed portraits and incidental photographs. See the images of the dance in the Patek Philippe segment.
Almost all the photographs were made wide open at f/2.5, and all were taken with available light. The camera was set to AWB and Auto ISO (100-6400). All shot in raw, developed with ACR and minor adjustments on Photoshop CC 2019.
Nomos Red Dot Launch
Nomos collaborated once again with The Hour glass to launch the third Red Dot watch. This was the launch event at Shangri-la Hotel.
Richemont Boutique Openings in Ion
We also photographed the events for the openings of Richemont boutiques in September. All were in Ion. The IWC and Lange boutiques were remodelled, now slightly smaller, but with each brand’s DNA still very strongly evident. Roger Dubuis is a new boutique in Ion.
Stanislas Rambaud, Managing Director of IWC Southeast Asia 
Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO, IWC. 
Receiving blessings from the lion. 
Nicola Andreatta, CEO Roger Dubuis 
Laurent Toinet, MD SEA and Oceana Roger Dubuis. 
Yuki Pan, Roger dubuis. 
Kien Lee, Senatus 
Flowers at the Lange boutique. 
Wilhelm Schmid, CEO A. Lange & Söhne
The Vacheron Constantin boutique was also reopened in October, but we photographed the event with the Fujifilm GFX 50R and pictures of that event will appear in the Fuji report later.
Bell & Ross BR 05 Launch Event
Bell & Ross also celebrated their launch of a new genre of watches in the luxury sports line with the BR 05. The launch party was held in a club atmosphere with harsh, specular stage lighting. All photographs were shot wide open at f2.5. The Leica S did not have trouble nailing focus in the harsh light nor in the dark areas.
Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition
The greatest show to hit town this year – the Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition. We covered the exhibition with our interview with Thierry Stern. See here.
Here are further photographs of the exhibition, and portraits taken in-situ, including the dance sequence in the Official Opening Ceremony.
The huge center stage decoration. 
Geneva salon? 
The Caliber 89. 
Anita Porchet. master enamel artist. 
Making wood marquetry. 
Deepa Chatrath, General Manager at Geneva Master Time Marketing 
Philip Barat and Jusmina Steele, PP Geneva. 
Dancers in the Opening Ceremony. 
Another shot of the dancers. 
And yet another. As the dancers were moving very fast, I shut down the aperture to f/4. 
Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and Ministry of Communications and Information 
Thierry Stern, President Patek Philippe 
Philippe Stern, 
Dirk Paulsen.
Concluding thoughts
The rendering of the images with the Summarit-S 70mm with the S Type 007 is very beautiful. Images are very crisp and detailed, with the 3D medium format look and very smooth, creamy bokeh. Skin tones are magnificently and accurately reproduced. It is the lightest and most compact among the S lenses.
As it is modeled after the famed Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, the Summarit-S 70 create images with a similar look. This is the illusive Leica look sought after by many. And is different compared to technically superb, near perfect images produced by the APO-Summicron-SL 35, 50 and 90 on the SL Type 601. Of course, I am talking of very very small differences, more easily felt when viewing the photographs than to describe.
This approach is true for all Leica S lenses, which is optimized for beautiful draw first, then technical characteristics,.While the goal for the newer APO-Summicron-SL lenses is to be the all out assault as the best technical lenses ever made as a first priority. This is not to say that the S lenses are not near perfect, they are. It is merely the order of prioritization of these truly superb lenses, and makes the S special.
The Leica S Type 007 with the normal lens – the Summarit-S 70mm f/2.5 ASPH CS proved to be a useful tool in our three weeks in daily use. As mentioned, the down side is that the camera is large and heavy (and proportionally expensive, though becoming more approachable now that the S3 is near to being available). But we found it to be very versatile, and capable of producing very high quality images. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the camera system, and hope to be able to try the Leica S with the macro lens to shoot watches in the future.
