Seeking to address some of the Internet chatter that has been critical of the Leica S2's just announced pricing – $22,995 (body only) – Leica Camera's Vice President of Marketing Christian Erhardt talked to PDN Gear Guide about why he thinks the camera's not getting a fair shake.

"People always forget when looking at the camera the fact that it's actually a medium format solution with a sensor that is 56% larger than a full-frame 35mm digital SLR," Erhardt said. "Many people have been comparing it to SLR cameras and there are certain features (on the S2) that just cannot be compared to a DSLR."

He confirmed that the U.S. shipping for the camera will be in October. Though he wouldn't give a specific date, Erhardt said it would definitely be in stores by the opening of the PhotoPlus Expo 2009 show on October 22nd.

He noted that while pricing for the 37.5-megapixel S2 may be considerably higher than DSLRs on the market, it's in line with what medium format digital solutions are currently being offered for.

The 37.5-megapixel S2 is actually a blend of both a digital SLR and a medium format camera. Though the camera looks and feels like a DSLR, it uses a 30 x 45mm CCD Kodak sensor that puts it on the low-end – in terms of size – of the medium-format digital market. While it's 1.5 frames per second shooting speed is faster than most medium format digital cameras, the S2 wouldn't be able to keep up with even the slowest consumer-level digital SLR, which average 3 fps.