Leica announces the Leitz Phone 1 smartphone, featuring 1”-type 20MP image sensor

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raydm6

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I am not seeing anything on their web site other than their May 17 announcement on the Sharp Aquos R6:
https://us.leica-camera.com/World-o...e-photography-segment-for-the-Japanese-market

Available in Japan only for now...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFv7hh1677M

Leica's very own Leitz Phone 1 is a rebadged Sharp Aquos R6
https://www.engadget.com/leica-leitz-phone-1-japan-softbank-price-availability-054216785.html

leica-leitz-phone-1.jpg



https://www.slashgear.com/leica-lei...mp-1-inch-camera-in-familiar-design-17678750/
leica-leitz-phone-1-2.jpg
 
Looks like fun! Also makes me want to check out this Sharp Aquos phone.


Just had a look. Darn it, I want one! It's just the kind of geeky rebranding that appeals to my Leica fetish. I wonder if the operating language can be switched to English? And if I can't get one, maybe I can get an Aquos R6, because that one inch sensor camera has got to be good.
 
1' is what makes phone camera as normal camera. Large enough to have some resolution on pixel level, which is absent on current phones. But lens is still not much protruding. I think Samsumg did it once with larger than now sensor, but lens, phone became too bulky. Hopefully more will follow. Sharp is unknown phone maker, it seems, at NA market. No support. Pity because they are known here for TV sets at least. And Leica, Leitz mix slapped on odd Sharp together with crapiest service in industry is no-no for smart phone users :) .
 
Leitz Introduces Leitz Phone 1

Leitz Introduces Leitz Phone 1

Wetzlar, 16 July 2021.
The Leitz Phone 1 will be sold exclusively in Japan from July 16. With the first smartphone of its own, Leica Camera AG sets another milestone in the company's 100-year plus history and once again underlines its constant pursuit of the highest quality technical innovations. The Leitz Phone 1 will embody Leica’s passion for concentration on what is essential – ‘Das Wesentliche’ – uncompromising quality, iconic design, and outstanding picture quality. Smartphone-photography has become a method for instantaneous communication – a visual language without limits. The Leitz Phone 1 strives to enable every user to become his own witness - to capture and share personal moments and experiences of everyday life with pictures of unique Leica quality.
The Leitz Phone 1 will feature a 1-inch image sensor with 20.2 megapixels, which is exceptionally large and powerful for smartphones as well as a Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 888 5G Mobile Platform. In combination with a fast f/1.9 lens and up to 6-fold digital zoom the integrated Leica lens technology of the Leitz Phone 1 delivers brilliant pictures in RAW and JPEG formats that will impress with high quality and true-to-life detail, especially in large- format prints. Every image taken with the Leitz Phone 1 will reflect the essence of Leica image quality and testimony Leica’s unparalleled optical capability and image software expertise. The "Leitz Looks" mode was integrated into the camera application specifically for this purpose. The mode, which is based on the visual language of the Leica M Monochrom, is the first integrated Leitz Look. Additional "Leitz Looks" will be made available with later firmware updates that harness the Snapdragon 888’s 6th Generation Qualcomm® AI Engine. A further highlight will be the pre-installed “LFI.Widget”. Presenting the best photos from the Leica Fotografie International Gallery - the curated platform for Leica photographers worldwide.
The unique iconic Leica design of the Leitz Phone 1, created by the company’s own design studio in Munich/Germany, is entirely new to the smartphone world. As with the cameras, Leica follows the credo "reduced to the essentials" here. In addition to the clear, minimal and intuitive handling characteristics, drawn from Leica cameras, the Leitz Phone 1 also sets an entirely new benchmark in terms of its looks. Its aluminium case in Leica silver is encased in a layer of glass in which a 3D Leica logo is seamlessly embedded in a matt-black background of Gorilla-glass. Sophisticated details such as the knurled edges of the aluminium frame not only epitomise the high degree of technical precision and passion for details for which the brand is renowned, but also underline the characteristic commitment to functionality and joy of use in the design of Leica products. The discreet and innovative lens cover with a magnetic attachment system is unique, complementing both the functional and emotional elements of the Leica design philosophy, with a nod to the brands enigmatic past. The clarity and the premium finish of the silicon case provides protection against dust and moisture and further highlights the premium and sophisticated aesthetics of all Leica products. Integrated into the display will be the Qualcomm® 3D Sonic Max, Qualcomm Technologies’ largest in-display fingerprint sensor for smartphones and works even when fingers are wet.


Dr Andreas Kaufmann, Majority Shareholder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Leica Camera AG: ‘Leica has a long-established tradition that is and always has been characterised by the constant pursuit of technical innovation. We welcome smartphones because they make a very valuable contribution to the world of photography. Never before have people taken as many pictures as they do today: billions of pictures are posted online every day. For Leica, the presentation of the Leitz Phone 1 is the next and logical step on the path to the technologies and markets of the future. Personally, it fills me with pride when I see that Leica Camera AG will once again set a significant milestone in both the history of the company and smartphone photography with the Leitz Phone 1.’

The Leitz Phone 1 will be produced exclusively for the Japanese market in collaboration with Sharp Corporation and will be distributed by the Operator SoftBank, Japan’s leading distributor of information and communications technology.
 

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I think that it's not called Leica Phone 1 is because LEICA is short for LEITZ CAMERA, and this is primarily a phone, not a camera.
Looks to be very similar to the Sharp phone and is priced higher, of course.
Maybe around $1500 ?
 
I'd have expected Leica to pair up with Apple, since both companies have customer bases that depend, to some extent, on customer loyalty. Fans of apple and Leica (I happen to be one of them) ought to be excited about a Leica Apple.
 
Apple would never, ever, allow another company's name to appear anywhere on its most valuable product, the iPhone.

The Leitz Phone is sort of interesting but I expect it will not make any more impact on the market than the Panasonic CM1 did a few years ago. (That phone also had a 1" sensor and a Leica-branded lens.)
 
"Leica silver"? The brand's "enigmatic past"?

Is this a bid for bringing new customers who aren't photographers to Leica? Or does it somehow signal a new direction for the company entirely, away from traditional cameras?

Maybe I'm just overthinking.
 
kkdanamatt said:
I think that it's not called Leica Phone 1 is because LEICA is short for LEITZ CAMERA, and this is primarily a phone, not a camera.
Click to expand...

If I were them, I'd have used the Leica name. They use the Leica name on all sorts of other equipment; microscopes, medical equipment, surveying instruments.... I'm not sure how the company divisions have gone over the decades, but they do all use the same logo.
 
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