Leica
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Leica APO Summicron-SL 50mm F2 ASPH lens review
Announced on 15 August 2019, the Leica APO Summicron-SL 50mm F2 ASPH is a relatively compact high-end lens for Leica SL cameras. Inside, the lens design is complex for a 50mm. But, it’s designed for a digital sensor so there are some prerequisites to satisfy. It has no less than 12 elements in total, with several AD (anomalous dispersion) elements to mitigate CA and fringing plus three with aspherical surfaces to reduce SA and distortion. The lens also adopts what some call. a ‘digital element,’ or a lens profile, to correct vignetting, distortion and CA, more as an afterthought in this case as the lens is so well corrected optically.…
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Leica Q3 review: the quintessential Leica
Leica’s Q series is the company’s best-selling digital camera to date and it’s not all that difficult to see why. Kevin Carter looks at the latest iteration, the Leica Q3 Small, light and unobtrusive the Leica Q embodies all that’s attractive of the Leica M with added the benefit of a Kabe-designed Leica autofocus 28mm F1.7 lens. This is the closest we have to an autofocus M series camera, and unless you’re adept at using one of those you’ll be more successful shooting at the initial aperture or close to it and far more discrete using a Leica Q. What’s more, the latest iteration the Leica Q3 is the fastest…
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Leica updates Summicron-M 28mm F2 ASPH with close focus
Leica has continued to add the close-focus feature to the venerable Summicron-M 28mm F2 ASPH, first seen with on the rather incredible (and hard to find) Summicron-M 35mm F2.0 APO. The new lens focuses to 0.4m instead of 0.7m, which is a huge plus when including people in the shot. The close focus feature can only be verified on-screen on a Leica M, with a visoflex (EVF) or the Leica app. It’s also a benefit on the Leica SLs, which seems obvious but is often overlooked. My thoughts are Leica is preparing us for a Leica M with a built-in electronic viewfinder, which will most likely be offered as…
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Leica announces the M11-P with new editing protection feature
Leica has announced the long-expected mid-cycle ‘P’ (Professional) update to the popular Leica M11, the Leica M11-P. As expected the new model features the Leica inscription on the top plate and shares the M11 Monochrom’s increase to 256GB internal memory, up from 64GB on the original M11. In an unexpected move, however, Leica has added a copyright protection feature ‘Leica Content Credentials,’ not previously seen on a regular production camera. Adopting specialised hardware in the new camera, the Leica M11-P can encrypt the image metadata at the time of capture to provide “reliable provenance” that the image hasn’t been altered during post-processing. This new LCC feature allows photographers and editors…
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Leica M11 Monochrom Review
Why Black & White? Photographing in Black & White or mono or greyscale or whatever you want to call it requires you to think differently than when photographing in colour. With a film camera, you can switch to B&W from colour and vice versa ad infinitum: the operation remains unchanged allowing you to become accustomed to the camera and ‘see’ either in light and shadows or in colour. In that respect, a modern digital colour camera echoes its predecessor, allowing you to choose between B&W and colour at will. However, a dedicated B&W camera like the Leica M11 Monochrom doesn’t; you’re forced to think in terms of light and shadows…
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Leica Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH Close Focus 2023 model: First impressions
The new Leica Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH Close Focus 2023 (11728) model follows the recent update to the Summilux-M 35mm F1.4 ASPH CF last year and adopts the built-in rangefinder decoupling or “double-cam” feature of the focus ring. The feature enables focusing down to 0.45m from the usual 0.7m – the former is the typical minimum focus of DSLR/mirrorless lenses of this focal length (50mm). The double-cam feature was first introduced on the Leica Summilux 35mm F2.0 APO and was quite stiff on the model I tried. To disengage rangefinder focusing, you push the focus ring through some slight resistance at the minimum focus distance marked at 0.7m in orange-coloured…
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Leica Q3 announced: 60MP BSI CMOS sensor and Tilting Screen
Update: Read my review of the Leica Q3 here. The Leica Q3 has been announced with a similar (but not identical) 60MP BSI CMOS sensor as the Leica M11 (and Sony A7 IV and V). The new model also features a fold-out LCD which is the first significant departure in design for the Q. The price is £5,300 inc VAT. The new Leica Q3 features the triple-resolution feature (pixel binning from the native 60MP, giving a choice of 18MP and 36MP options) seen in the Leica M11. Leica says RAW files are around 70 MB depending on the ISO/content, which appears to be lossless compressed RAW (DNG). In any case,…
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Leica M11 review
Leica M11 – what came before? The Leica M11 is the successor to the Leica M10, indeed to the uninitiated it looks practically identical. This is just as well as the Leica M10 was in effect a refinement of the Leica M (Typ 240), particularly with the larger, more durable rangefinder, more logical button layout, and improved menu operation. However, while there were some slight gains in noise and DR the M10 sensor’s similar pixel count likely hindered sales. Still, it wasn’t until the introduction of the M10-R some 18 months or so ago that we saw the real successor to the Leica M (Typ 240) models. As good as…
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Leica M11 announced: Leica’s best and most-rounded M to date
Leica has announced the latest update to its rangefinder camera, the M11. After numerous leaks online the Leica M11 is now official. Rather than go over what’s been leaked already, after speaking with Leica today at the press launch, I’m going to outline what I’ve learned. The price is confirmed as £7,500 body only, £600 for the new Visoflex 2. Both are inclusive of VAT. My concise review of the Leica M11 can be read here.
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Videos surface of the new Leica M11
Two new videos have surfaced showing some of the design elements on the forthcoming Leica M11. The rear screen is not flush, as I had hoped for but on the plus side the new battery looks large, which bodes well for capacity. Also shown is the rumoured new Visoflex. It is rather boxy looking but it is hinged for overhead viewing and it has built-in dioptric control. At present there are no details on the spec’s but the inferred low-light capabilities are encouraging.
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