Leica has revealed a new smartphone, with the Leitz Phone 1 promising a hefty sensor for photography along with 5G capabilities. Although the camera company has co-branded smartphone cameras before now, the Leica Leitz Phone 1 takes a fairly atypical approach.
The Sharp Aquos R6 was revealed today with a set of features that make the rest of the smartphone world look silly. The Aquos R6 works with a 6.6-inch WUXGA+ IGZO OLED display with Dolby Vision, 2000 nit brightness, and the ability to reach up to 240 frames per second (image refresh rate). This device was co-engineered with Leica, which means we've got some intense camera power in the mix, too.
Although a well-established name in the photography industry, Leica has mostly been known in the smartphone market through Huawei's flagship phones, particularly the ones that took the top spots in benchmarks. That exclusive partnership has pretty much ended and other phone makers have been quick to pair up with the camera and optics maker. Apparently, OnePlus isn't the only one aiming for that distinction and Sharp's next premium phone might also bear Leica's name, though perhaps in an odd way.
In the tech and especially the smartphone world, Leica is perhaps better known for its partnerships with the likes of Huawei. Of course, it is also a popular camera maker and it launched the D-Lux 7 compact over two years ago to bring some of the smartphone goodness back to cameras. That said, the D-Lux 7 still lacked the immediacy of a smartphone camera, a flaw that the new Leica D-Lux 7 Street Kit is attempting to address by bundling a few accessories.
Leica has a new camera for its popular SL Series, and it's claiming the SL2-S is its best model so far for those who want to do both still and video work. Packing a new 24-megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor, the SL2-S trades the huge resolution of the SL2 in favor of speed and versatility.
Leica has launched a new version of its infamous Q line of cameras, with the Leica Q2 Monochrom promising to be the only full frame compact camera to use a dedicated monochrome sensor. Tapping the same processing hardware and design as the existing Q2, the new Q2 Monochrom switches out the color sensor for a specially-developed 47.3-megapixel monochrome version.
Leica has unveiled its latest camera, with the Leica M10-R digital rangefinder packing a new full-frame 40-megapixel sensor. In this case the "R" stands for "resolution," with a significantly higher pixel count than the regular M10 which clocks in at 24-megapixels.
In the traditional camera war on mobile camera phones, Leica's taken a daring strike with the Leica M10 Monochrom. This is a monochrome camera - a camera which omits all color filters in favor of ultimate photo power in black and white. Inside this camera is a brand new high-end 40-megapixel "true black-and-white" sensor paired with the newest in digital connectivity and up-to-date photo technology.
360-degree videos have become fashionable these days, even without the virtual reality factor, because of how they enable recording everything for manual editing and cutting later. Due to size constraints, sensors in most 360 cameras are often less than what you could get if there was only one sensor pointing in one direction. This forces consumers to make an upfront choice about what to buy or what to use for a specific occasion. What if you didn't have to choose? What if you could have all of those and switch between them at a moment's notice like you would switch lenses on a regular camera? That is exactly what Insta360 is promising with the Insta360 ONE R, delivering a 360-degree lens, a 4K wide-angle lens, and a 1-inch Wide-Angle sensor all in one bundle.
Leica fans, ready your wallets: the successor to the Leica SL is here, and you're probably going to want one. Revealed today, the Leica SL2 picks up where its full-frame predecessor left off, with better ergonomics and a whopping ISO 50,000 support in that same, classic style.
This week the folks at Leica revealed the Leica APO-Summicron-SL 50 mm f/2 ASPH lens, a new member of the SL lens family with twelve lens elements arranged in ten groups. In the mix are three lenses with aspherical surfaces in place specifically for correcting optical aberrations. Users will find this lens in stores online first, then in physical stores very, very soon.
The Leica company revealed today their newest handheld camera, the Leica V-Lux 5. This camera has a relatively giant lens up front with 20-megapixel 1-inch sensor inside. It has a fold-out and flip OLED viewfinder screen on its back. And it's connected, able to use both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to connect with the Leica FOTOS app.