Gear

Anything to do with photographic gear, such as bodies - see also Lens.

Leica Q and the "Delight Factor"

Over on What Digital Camera is a story talking about "The delight factor of cameras" and interestingly enough, features the Leica Q. It's an intangible, hard to quantify feeling but as Leica shooters, we all know it. As they put it, "the delight factor may be an emotional response to a camera, but it’s as important as any physical feature." We'd have to agree. What about you?

A Year Later - Leica S (Type 007) Set to Arrive

Announced nearly a year ago the Leica S (Type 007) medium format camera is finally set to arrive in September of this year (next month). Granted, the original plans called for a "Spring 2015" release - so technically it's only half a year late. In terms of digital camera lifespan, that's not a short amount of time... Read more below!

New Leica X-U (Type 113) Camera Coming

It's that time again. Digicame.info is reporting on another RRA registration of a Leica camera - with the name "X-U" and of type 113. We'll monitor this closely and get back to you with details as they emerge!

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Ryan Mah On Shooting Video with the Leica M

Black Rhino Creative's Ryan Mah explains why the Leica M was the ideal camera to shoot the video documenting a thought-provoking day in the life of software artist, writer and educator Jer Thorp:

Jer Thorp & The Office for Creative Research: Behind The Scenes with Black Rhino Creative's Ryan Mah


EISA Awards Leica Q Premium Compact Camera 2015-2016

EISA has awarded the Leica Q (Type 116) camera the "European Premium Camera of 2015-2016." They write, "The Leica Q is a hugely impressive camera that combines state-of-the-art technology with traditional design. The 28mm wide-angle lens is incredibly sharp and the fast electronic shutter, means you can shoot wide open at f/1.7 even in bright sunlight. The 24-million-pixel full frame sensor gives superb image quality, even at high ISO settings, and the traditional control dials give intuitive shooting. The 3.7M-dot electronic viewfinder pairs well with the smoothly-damped focus ring for manual focusing, while the touchscreen makes autofocusing away from the centre of the frame easy. These elements all combine to make the Q the best digital camera Leica has yet made, despite its high price." Read more below for video!

Leica Invented Autofocus - Then Abandoned It

In an article over on Apple Mac site Cult of Mac called "Leica invented autofocus, then abandoned it" they take a look at how Leica spent nearly 20 years patenting technology in the late 70s that would take focusing out of the hands of the photographer - but then dropped it, figuring its customers already knew how to focus their cameras. Leica used its Leicaflex SL2 for the autofocus prototype and used a a 50mm lens with a servo motor. Two LEDs on top of the viewfinder assisted in detecting the highest contrast of a subject, while the motor turned the focus ring. Surprisingly, it worked well in low light but wasn’t that fast, because it took a number of gears for the motor to generate enough torque to turn the focus ring. Furthermore, the motor housing was converted to hold six batteries that lasted only an hour! Leica sold the technology to Minolta, which marketed the first successful autofocus SLR with the Minolta Maxxum 7000 just five years later...

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