Las Vegas, NV – Leica's highly anticipated 37.5-megapixel S2 DSLR/Medium-Format camera is still on track to be delivered this summer with pre-production units possibly arriving on these shores as early as spring, the company told PDN at the PMA 2009 trade show in Las Vegas.

Pricing on the S2, which will use a medium-format-sized 30 x 45mm imaging sensor in a 35mm-sized camera body, won't likely be revealed until the camera begins shipping, Leica said.

"A lot of it has to do with fluctuations in the Euro," explained Leica Product Specialist Justin Stailey on why the S2 has not received a price tag since it was unveiled at the photokina show in Cologne, Germany last September. "All we can say is that it will be priced competitively in the medium format marketplace."

Stailey added that recent economic conditions have also had an effect on pricing for the S2.

"The medium format marketplace has seen a lot of volatility recently and we want to make sure the S2's competitive there," he noted.

Where just last fall when the S2 was announced, many industry observers predicted pricing could be between $20,000 and $25,000, or even higher, the camera now could sell in the sub-$20,000 range, which while not exactly "bargain basement," would put it in line with lower-priced medium-format models.

Hasselblad recently announced it was lowering its prices, with the 31MP H3DII-31 kit (body and 80mm lens) retailing for $17,995, and the 39MP H3DII-39 kit (body and 80mm lens) selling for $21,995. Meanwhile, the Mamiya DL28, which uses a 28MP Leaf Aptus-II 6 digital back, sells for $14,999 with a 80mm f/2.8 lens.

Stailey said that while the summer of 2009 was still the goal for the S2, the German company has declined to pick a specific date.

"We're not going rush the camera to market to meet a date. We'd much rather say it’s the summer," he said. "And it's actually a very short production cycle when you think about it, particularly for Leica, which is a small company."

A recent story in the British Journal of Photography stated that Leica has stopped production of its R9 film cameras in order to keep pace with the fast production cycle for the S2.